June 23, 2012 Runoff Recommendation

June 23, 2012 Runoff Recommendation

 District 1 Recommendation - Charlie Parker

May 12, 2012 Recommendations 

ArlSpectator Recommendations:

Get Out and Vote.

AISD – Place 1 – Kecia Mays.

AISD – Place 3 – Aaron Reich.

Arlington – District 1 – Ben Franklin Bruce, but also very happy with Charlie Parker

May 12, 2012 Recommendations - AISD School Board

The Arlington Spectator staff has made their evaluations for AISD school board. There are three places on the ballot. In Place-1 the incumbent Gloria Pena is running against Kecia Mays. In Place-2, school board president Peter Baron is running unopposed. In Place-3 the incumbent Aaron Reich is running against Bridgett Davis.

In school board races, not that it matters this year, there are no runoffs. The May plurality wins the race, no matter the percentage. This year, with a maximum of two people in a race, it makes no difference.

Our staff has looked at the Place-1 race. We recommend Kecia Mays for your vote in Place-1. The Place-1 race has two fine candidates, but we feel Ms. Mays is more aligned with the philosophy with our staff. Ms. Pena is the longest tenured school board member and definitely has a lot of knowledge, especially with TASB items. However, we feel Ms. Mays has a more experienced, watchful eye on accounting and budget items.

We have looked at the Place-3 race. We recommend the incumbent, Aaron Reich. Ms. Davis has been absent from many of the events on the campaign trail, we believe because of some type of family event. From last year’s race we remember her being very enthusiastic. Mr. Reich is a perfectionist that continues to work for the citizens and their students.

ArlSpectator Recommendations:

Get Out and Vote.

AISD – Place 1 – Kecia Mays.

AISD – Place 3 – Aaron Reich.

Early Voting starts Monday, April 30.

Early Voting ends Tuesday, May 8.

Election Day is Saturday, May 12.

May 12, 2012 Recommendations - Arlington City Council

The Arlington City Council has five seats up for election. The normal four seats for even years (Districts 1,2,6, & 7) plus a special election for District 8 caused by Gene Patrick's resignation.

District 1 is a single member district, generally described as north Arlington and has 8 candidates running with no incumbent. 1. Mike Becknal, 2. Cliff Richardson, 3. Ben Franklin Bruce, 4. Kim Feil, 5. Ron Smith, 6. Bill Verkest, 7. Charlie Parker, 8. Karl Warren

District 2 is a single member district, generally described as southwest Arlington with two candidates, the incumbent, Sheri Capehart, and the challenger, Darrell Castillo.

District 6 is an at large district with two candidates, the incumbent, Robert Shepard, and the challenger, Phillip Benge.

District 7 is an at large district with two candidates, the incumbent, Jimmy Bennett, and the challenger, Jerry Pikulinski.

District 8 is an at large district with five candidates running with no incumbent. 1. Faith Jimmie Chatham, 2. Charla Hawkes-Vinyard, 3. Will Clark, 4. David Edward Berg, 5. Michael Glaspie

Winners of the May election must have a majority of the votes, or there will be a runoff election in June. The date will be June 23 for the runoff date.

In District 1 we have an extremely rare situation, eight candidates battling for votes on election day. That is eight candidates after some have already dropped out. This extremely rare situation has caused us to divert from the norm and make one and a half recommendations. We choose Ben Franklin Bruce to be our recommendation, but would also be very happy with Charlie Parker, giving a ½ recommendation.

If you have a crystal ball that tells you who the top three voter getters will be in this field with a runoff election extremely probable, logic says to vote for the best of the three and try to get them in the runoff. Unfortunately, our crystal ball is not that good.

We would love to have both Bruce and Parker on the council. It would make the council so, so much better. However, at most only one can win this year. We give Bruce the nod over Parker based on his stance of TIFs.

In our scoring system, the next four candidates (Smith, Verkest, Warren, and Beckal) were all very close. For some reason TIFs were all very popular with these candidates.

Feil wishing to spend dollars on transportation and buying up gas wells and transportation, did not win our support. Richardson rounded out the field.

In District 2 it is a clear choose between a Reagan conservative and an Obama-loving progressive. The Arlington Spectator staff recommends Darrell Castillo. Capehart not only voted for the hike & bike master plan, she added additional parameters to the motion adding to the madness.

In District 7 we evaluated the biggest difference between candidates. Candidate Jerry Pikulinski easily outscores the incumbent. Bennett is a perfect example of what is wrong with the city council, Austin, and Washington. During one candidate forum, given a choice of any ordinance he selected a limit on debt (talking a good talk while at home, then vote like the devil). His record: he voted for resolution 08-389 to increase the debt per capita ratio. Pikulinski will bring a much-needed, strong economic background to the council. Our staff strongly recommends Jerry Pikulinski.