Fort Bend Independent

Page 1

VOL 3 No. 19

Phone: 281-980-6745 PRSRT STD

www.fbindependent.com

U.S. POSTAGE PAID STAFFORD, TX PERMIT NO.10

FORT BEND FAIR. BALANCED. INFORMATIVE. WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 2010

P. O.BOX 623, SUGAR LAND, TX 77487-0623

Owen, Wyatt, and Nguyen register big wins in Missouri City By BARBARA FULENWIDER Missouri City voters on Saturday said they definitely approve of the direction Mayor Allen Owen is taking their town because they overwhelmingly returned him to the job he’s held since 1994. Owen received 3,012 early votes or 57.70 percent to challenger and former council member Cynthia LentonGary’s 2,208 votes (42.30 percent). Again, early voting showed nearly the same results with Owen receiving 1,567 early votes or 59.65 percent to Gary’s 1, 060 early votes for 40.35 percent of the total votes cast. Missouri City incumbent Councilman Jerry Wyatt was also overwhelmingly returned to his at-large position 1 seat with 3,179 votes or 65.08 percent of the vote total to challenger Anthony Maroulis’s 1,706 votes or 34.92 percent of the total votes. It’s rare that when four candidates run for the same office one candidate is able to poll more than 50 percent of the vote totals over the other three. Such races usually end up no candidate receiving more than 50 percent of the total votes cast so it puts the top two vote getters in a run-off. That was not the case in Mis-

souri City’s at large position 2 race. First time candidate Danny Nguyen put away the pack by finishing with 55 percent of the votes. Nguyen received 2,776 votes (55.33 percent) to Yolanda Ford’s 1,407 (28.04 percent), Kevin Tunstall’s 697 (13.89 percent) and Judith Neil Dupre’s 137 votes (2.73 percent). Missouri City voters by a wide margin approved a proposition banning smoking in public places. The vote total was 4,257 (82.34 percent) for and 913 (17.66 percent) against. By a much more narrow margin, Missouri City voters also approved adopting an ordinance to require all home owners to participate in a city-wide consolidated municipal trash collection program with the exception of those who currently have a sole source contract until their rate is no lower than the city’s base rate. The proposition received a total of 2,718 votes (54.57 percent) in favor and 2,263 (45.43 percent) opposed.

371 votes (25.12 percent) and ShaMekka S. Pratt-Simmons, also an incumbent trustee, who received 351 votes (23.76 percent). Challenger Kim Gibson got 326 votes (22.07 percent).

Meadows Place

Owen

Wyatt

Mathew

Sorbet

Ken Mathew polled 618 total votes for 36.70 percent of the total votes cast; Cecil Willis received 493 votes (29.28 percent), and Robert Sorbet won with 368 votes (21.85 percent). The challenger, Mike Guer-

ra, a former Stafford Municipal School District trustee, lost. He polled 205 votes (12.17 percent).

Vote of confidence or indifference?

FBISD to freeze salaries

Despite the abysmally low level of participation of voters in local city and school board elections, the democratic process worked as it should. Surprises were few, if any, and incumbents easily won. While the winners would call it a vote of confidence, voters’ indifference and apathy to civic matters cannot be ignored. This May election cycle was devoid of any real campaigning, or debates on issues, but, surprisingly the number of contested elections helped increase the voter participation, at least marginally. In the 2008 Missouri City mayoral election, 4,044 people out of the 32,454 registered voters participated. This year, 5313 people voted. In last year’s FBISD election, out of 181,338 registered voters only 5,620 voted. This year, 8,454 people voted. That is not a bad sign because the school board election had no incumbent on the ballot and the election was not a referendum on the existing board or trustees. The most keenly watched election has been in Missouri City where Mayor Allen Owen won his ninth term. He has served as council member for eight years prior to that. Days before the election, Owen said, in response to some critics, “I can’t make everyone happy and don’t try to. I do what people elected me to do and what they expect me to do. Guess that is why

Stafford

In Stafford four candidates sought three city council seats and all three incumbents won re-election.

Inside Track By Seshadri Kumar they have kept electing me for 24 years now. I have always said, that we have term limits in Missouri City. Every two years people have an opportunity to vote people out of office. They also have the ability to keep those they think represents their interests.” Owen was right and people endorsed his performance by keeping him in office for another term. Owen’s opponent Cynthia Lenton-Gary’s platform was that some parts of the city were neglected and she would like to see all parts of the city improved. She was an alternative voice on the city council, if and when she chose to air her views publicly, but she gave up her council seat in her ambitious mayoral bid. Barely three years in office, she probably took a premature step, instead of staying on the council and trying to make a difference. As I had noted before, Missouri City has distinctly different neighborhoods, with varied demands or interests and consequently, it is hard to

Seconds can save lives

win citywide support for any issue that does not affect the city as a whole. The voting reflects this trend as only in about half-a-dozen precincts, Gary could beat Owen, showing her strength is confined to certain neighborhoods. Similarly, Councilman Jerry Wyatt lost to challenger Anthony Maroulis heavily in just two or three neighborhoods. The most interesting outcome in Missouri City has been the straight victory posted by Danny Nguyen. In an open seat, vacated by Buddy Jimerson, Nguyen garnered support citywide and handily defeated three others. Clearly, the negative publicity against Nguyen, on issues totally unrelated to the city, worked to his advantage. Perhaps, a section of the Vietnamese community members did a great favor to Nguyen, by holding demonstrations against him and thus, enhancing his profile. A lesson here is that immigrant communities should think twice before introducing their “domestic squabbles” in a local election. The issue should be relevant and legitimate. Often, some personal rivalry or professional rivalry, takes the form of a legitimate election campaign for or against a candidate hailing from the immigrant community. In Nguyen’s case that seems to be the case. Send your comments to editor@fbindependent.com.

SMSD

In the Stafford Municipal School District trustee election four candidates vied for three

By SESHADRI KUMAR Fort Bend ISD is planning to freeze the salary of all its employees at the current level for the next academic year. Chief Financial Officer Tracy Hoke made the proposal at a budget workshop on Monday. The starting salary for a teacher will remain at $44,500. The salary freeze is, however, subject to a legal opinion from Texas Attorney General. According to one interpretation of the state law, teachers’ salaries cannot be frozen. If that view is valid, then the district may opt to freeze the salaries of non-teaching employees. The school board also adopted a proposed tax rate of $1.04, keeping at the current level. The debt service tax rate, however, will be increased by 3.5 cents to 30 cents per $100 valuation. Hoake pointed out that the debt service tax rate increase is within the 11-cent increase, originally anticipated during the bond election. The school board will hold a public hearing on the proposed tax rates at its next meeting on May 26. In the proposed $511 million budget, the anticipated shortfall is $22.8 million of which $19.8 million will be saved by the “reduction in force.” Other savings come from transportation, UIL student insurance coverage and 4-day work week in summer.

In Meadows Place the only contested race was for City Alderman, Place No. 2. Candidate Shirley Isbell received 159 votes (53.36 percent) to beat opponent Scott Holland, who got 139 votes Nguyen (46.64 percent). Other Meadows Place incumbents who ran for reelection and had no opponent are Mayor Charlie Jessup and city council members Heidi Case and David Wilkens. Meadows Place voters also overwhelmingly approved a proposition to dissolve the 4A Meadows Economic Development Corp., and replace it with a 4B EDC with a sales and use tax at a total rate of one percent. Half of one percent will be used “for the reasonable exWillis pansion of the property and seats. Voters elected one new- investment within the city and comer and two incumbents to improvement of municipal infrastructure to expand busithe three open positions. Newcomer Ed Castillo ness enterprises and develop polled the most votes with new business enterprises for a total of 429 (29.05 per- the city” and the other half cent) followed by incumbent will be used to reduce propTrustee Greg Holsapple with erty tax rates.

Rice, Babb elected FBISD trustees

Babb Rice Voters decided the two newcomers they want to serve on the Fort Bend ISD board of trustees are Jim Rice and Jim Babb. Rice received 4,311 (66.08 percent of total votes) and his opponent for trustee position 3, Clay Alumbaugh, got 2,215 or 33.94 percent. Jim Babb easily beat his opponent Gerald Hawkins to win the trustee position 7 on the FBISD board. Babb won with a total of 4,331 votes for 63.59 percent of the total votes cast. Hawkins received 2,480 (36.41 percent) of the votes. Early voting showed Babb and Rice winning by a margin of 2 to 1. Rice and Babb will take the positions of Bob Broxon and David Reitz, who decided not to seek re-election at the end of their first term in office.

10701 Corporate Drive, #282, Stafford, TX 77477 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 623, Sugar Land, TX 77487 www.fbindependent.com Seshadri Kumar Publisher & Editor 281-980-6745 Fort Bend Independent is published every Wednesday (for a subscription rate of $20 per year) by Fort Bend Independent, LLC., 10701 Corporate Dr., #282, Stafford, Texas 77477. Periodical postage application pending. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Fort Bend Independent, P.O. Box 623, Sugar Land, Tx 77487.

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