Kennedale May 3, 2025 Elections
May 3 Municipal Election
Early voting will be Tuesday, April 22 – Tuesday, April 29. Election Day is Saturday, May 3. Kennedale's voting location will be held at Dover Fellowship Hall at 208 Municipal Drive, instead of the Community Room at the Kennedale Public Library.
Ballot order:
Place 1 – Bobby Goff, Glover (i).
Place 3 – Ryon Ray, Amanda Hollins, Michels (i).
Place 5 – Nevarez (i), James Connor, Megan Burns (write-in).
I have given the candidates the opportunity to address the six top issues as I see them. Yet, many times I am asked for whom I would vote. So, if you do not wish to know, fine, just skip.
First, let's talk about TGAA (Texas Government Accountability Association). To the best of my knowledge TGAA has given no money to any candidates, this year or last year. Some candidates did hire a political consultant firm, run by someone with ties to TGAA, that evidently has had Texas Ethics violations in the past. So, there was money flowing that way, from candidates to the political consultant, but not in the other direction. To the best of my knowledge the candidates being tied to TGAA have received no money from TGAA and NO PAC (Political Action Committee) money. [So, what is the belief? TGAA owns their vote because they didn't pay the candidates, and the candidates paid a consultant? You have a better chance of convincing me of the tooth fairy, or that the administration is implementing the senior tax freeze as planned.]
Running as a group works when voters do not recognize their choices and now, if they vote for one candidate they do know, they might vote for all three candidates. Running as a group can backfire if one member of the group has negative issues, or as in this case they get tied, correctly or incorrectly, to a negative item/issue. This certainly appears to be the strategy in this election.
On the other hand, one of the individuals pushing the anti-TGAA agenda, Bryant Griffith, did receive Arlington PAC money last year, from the power brokers in Arlington. His business (so it will NOT show up on any campaign reports) received an interest-free loan from the City of Arlington. [I do NOT know what influence, if any, the power brokers had on that.] He would be more of a concern to me than the candidates who are being tied to TGAA.
History has taught us to follow the money.
How to vote? The biggest one thing I would say is to select candidates that are NOT rubber-stampers. If something does not pass the smell test you need someone who is smart enough and has enough courage to ask more questions and possibly vote NO. You need to look for council members who will listen to you, your neighbors, and the businesses and place a priority on you over developers' desires.
If you look on the city's website (bottom of this page: https://cityofkennedale.com/108/Elections-Elecciones, they try to display the governance model as citizens being on top, electing a city council, who directs the city manager, etc. Well, if the situation has a majority of the city council who are rubber-stampers, the citizens are no longer in control.
So, yes, this is opinion based. I weighted the six questions, plus a seventh “our evaluation” category and scored within each 0 to 4 points, for a maximum of 100 points. My top issue would be the Senior Tax Freeze, or more importantly, the lack of. I still feel Kennedale seniors were dealt a major injustice.
| weighted | 5 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | |
| question | Past Decisions | Property Taxes | Senior Freeze | EDC | Commu- nication | Issue | Our Eval | Total |
| Place 1 | ||||||||
| P1-Bobby Goff | 2.5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2.5 | 71 |
| P1-David Glover | 2 | 2.5 | 2 | 2.5 | 4 | 4 | 1.5 | 56 |
| Place 3 | ||||||||
| P3-Ryon Ray | 1.5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 32 |
| P3-Amanda Hollins | 3 | 3 | 3.5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 89 |
| P3-Kenneth Michels | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 62 |
| Place 5 | ||||||||
| P5-Jeff Nevarez | 0 | 3 | 1.5 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 36 |
| P5-James Connor | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 100 |
| P5-Megan Burns | 4 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3.5 | 93 |
| Incumbents in bold |
Based upon the scoring, based on my opinion, the three highest scorers were James Connor, Megan Burns, and Amanda Hollins. If they were running for three different places that would make life real easy, but, of course, they are not.
Place 1: My Choice would be Bobby Goff
( http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_79.html )
Mr. Goff is a political newcomer. He scored higher on not being a rubber-stamper.
( http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_47.html )
Mr. Glover, the incumbent, has a current Kennedale Observer grade of “D”. He scored a majority of his points on the Crestview Townhomes in February 2024, relatively early in his council career. If that vote was held today, I am not convinced he would vote the same.
Place 3: My Choice would be Amanda Hollins
( http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_50.html )
Mr. Ray is a political newcomer. He did not answer several of the questions. Past votes tell us how a person might vote on similar items in the future and therefore, are legitimate questions.
( http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_21.html )
Ms. Hollins is a political newcomer. She scored very highly in the scoring system and potentially will make an excellent council person.
( http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_80.html )
Mr. Michels, the incumbent, has a current Kennedale Observer grade of “C”. As a former employee, he has a lot of “Kennedale” knowledge. He voted in opposition of the rubber-stamp in November 2023 of the nuisance ordinance update.
Place 5: My choice would be James Connor
( http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_78.html )
Mr. Nevarez, the incumbent, has a current Kennedale Observer grade of “F”. He is a rubber-stamper.
( http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_57.html )
Mr. Connor was on the city council from 2021-2023. During that time he earned a Kennedale Observer grade of “A”. His opinions on the issues very much align with ours.
Megan Burns (write-in)
( http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_46.html )
Ms. Burns is a political newcomer. She scored very highly in the scoring system and though I did not select here, potentially will make an excellent council person.