Mo. City Council Candidates Debate Issues At Forum, Reveal Business News
Mo. City Council Candidates Debate Issues At Forum, Reveal Business News
by Bob Dunn, Apr 20, 2007, 08 10 am
Most challengers for Missouri City Council slots called for change and cited complacency during a Thursday night candidates’ forum, while incumbents cited past accomplishments as evidence the city is in good hands.
News, or rumored news, also surfaced during the event:
→ District B incumbent Don Smith and District C challenger Barbara Gibson said a controversial so-called sidewalk ordinance – which makes citizens responsible for repairs to sidewalks, curbs and streets adjacent to their property – has been resolved, with the city agreeing to assume responsibility for repairs.
→ District B challenger Lou Hunter said he has confirmed that the Blockbuster Video store on Texas Parkway intends to leave that location.
→ Smith said he is “working right now” with Fiesta Mart Inc. “and you will see in a very few days that they are interested” in the Texas Parkway corridor.
→ District A incumbent Eunice Reiter hinted that the city is counting on a bill in the Texas Legislature that could somehow have a bearing on its consideration for purchasing Quail Valley Country Club.
Hunter, Gibson, Reiter and Smith are among seven candidates for three council positions who squared off at the season’s first public candidates’ forum at Missouri City Hall, put on and moderated by the Texas Parkway Alliance.
Businessman Rodney Griffin is challenging Position A incumbent Reiter; sociology professor Cynthia Lenton-Gary and mortgage banker Hunter are challenging Position B incumbent Smith; and health care administrator Kevin Tunstall and homeowner association president Gibson are vying for Position C, being vacated by Councilman Bob Burton.
“I believe that when people go unchallenged they grow complacent, and complacency begets neglect,” Tunstall said at one point during the forum. “I ran to challenge the status quo.”
“I think it’s time out for planning, and time for action,” said Lenton-Gary.
“I believe Missouri City is in good hands,” said Smith. “We’ve got growing pains, but we’ve got the right people in place.”
Reiter, an accountant, told the crowd of perhaps 60 people that Missouri City’s property tax rate has gone down every year for the past 10 years.
The Texas Parkway Alliance is made up of homeowners association representatives, members and business owners along the parkway corridor and Cartwright and Murphy roads. Candidates emphasized development and crime issues in the area, in part prompted by questions posed by TPA Treasurer and moderator Sonya Brown.
Griffin said he believes the city should employ “empowerment zones” such as Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones to induce new development along the three roads, and suggested the Texas Parkway needs to be widened and improved.
Hunter said he’s concerned the area is headed toward the high crime rates and business flight experienced by some blighted neighborhoods in Houston. He said he Blockbuster – which he called the last “national brand” retailer in the area – is moving out. And he chided city leaders for talking about buying a country club while on the parkway, “kids are walking to school in a ditch.”
Lenton-Gary, citing the need for more police officers, said she was
outside a store recently and saw three young men loitering nearby. One threatened a store owner and displayed a gun, she said, prompting her to call police. She said they never responded to her call.
Smith said despite contentions that the area is losing business, “there’s only one strip center that is less than 75% occupied. He said national real estate developer Trammel Crowe is prepared to put a major development in the city that will bring “jobs and a lunchtime crowd” to the parkway area.
He referred to a deal in which Trammel Crowe has about 160 acres at the Willow Wisp Country Club under contract, with plans to convert the land to a business park.
As for the possible Quail Valley Country Club purchase by the city, Tunstall said as a Quail Valley resident he would have preferred to see his homeowners association make the purchase, and would have been willing to pay a higher association fee in the bargain.
He added that portions of the club – a three-hole course and an executive course – will not be part of any deal should the city decide to buy the remainder of the club.
Reiter said it would hurt the whole city if the property values of the 3,000 homes surrounding the country club drop, but she also said she would not vote to buy the club if the cost to city taxpayers is not “reasonable.”
Smith said the city is “evaluating the math, and he is “in the process of trying to figure out what can we do? We must make decisions for all of Missouri City.”
At that point Reiter interjected, “tell them about the House Bill.” But moderator Brown cautioned Reiter about the forum rules, and Smith let the matter drop.
As for the so-called sidewalk ordinance – actually section 46.4 of the city code, Tunstall said when he learned of provisions that made property owners responsible for repairing city infrastructure, it led him to first question the city’s fiscal policy and eventually to run for council.
But, said Smith, “I’m on that sidewalk issue. That’s a done deal.”
Gibson agreed, saying “that has been resolved to some extent. The city is going to start repairing the sidewalks. But I’m concerned that there are contradictions” between the city code and homeowners associations’ deed restrictions.
“I’m glad it is a done deal,” Griffin said. “Because, yes, it should be the city’s responsibility. It’s a public place.”