Saturday, April 26, 2008

Duncanville candidates’ forum doesn’t disappoint

By Brian Allen of Best Southwest Citizen

Things got a little dirty at the Duncanville candidates' forum.

DUNCANVILLE — It was a packed house in Duncanville City Council chambers last night at the Annual Candidates Forum. This election is being touted as one of the biggest in the city’s history and council contenders held nothing back.

Mayor David Green and his opponent Rose Renfroe presented radically different takes on his four years in office. Green talked of development, economic prosperity and helping the community through lean financial times. Renfroe said Green’s time in office had been marred by “chaos on the council” and “good ol’ boy development deals.”

Green attacked Renfroe’s lack of experience in Duncanville politics.

“My opponent served on the Dallas City Council 30 years ago,” Green said. “And when you hear her speak of things such as cronyism, favoritism, backroom dealing, etc, folks, this has not been my experience here in Duncanville. It may have been the way they did it on the Dallas City Council 30 years ago, but not in Duncanville today.”

Renfroe went for the jugular, bringing up the notorious Cherry Pit. The swingers’ club earned Duncanville national negative attention when neighbors lobbied the council to do something to stop it. In response to a question about crime, Renfroe let that public relations hand grenade loose.

“We need to get this city some favorable publicity rather than talking about the Cherry Pit because that’s all people seem to know about Duncanville,” she said. “So let’s get together, get the police officers what they need and go forward from there.”

Renfroe also accused some of the current council of taking expensive vacations at taxpayers’ expense but Green said he found “no truth” in that statement. Renfroe drew a good bit of applause talking about the council’s chaos, crime and cronyism. She also took him to task for his “guarantee” of victory May 10, made during an argument with Councilman Paul Ford at the recent Duncanville ISD Education Foundation Gala. She called it a “pompous statement that shows sheer disregard for the average voter.”

Renfroe scored points with several audience members, but a question asking the candidates what they had done for Duncanville prior to seeking this position threw her for a loop.

Green listed some of his lengthy local resume including the Duncanville Education Foundation, Rotary Club and of course his time on the council.

Renfroe went back to attacking Green about the Cherry Pit but provided few specifics on her contributions to the community.

“For the last seven years under the present mayor’s watch we’ve had the Cherry Pit,” she said. “And everybody knew that was in all these organizations knew about the Cherry Pit but nobody did anything about it. It was a traffic hazard, it was a health hazard and it violated every zoning ordinance under the sun. This is the reputation that Duncanville has.”

Toward the end of her response, she added that she had “helped many citizens vote early.”

After the mayoral debate District 2 Councilman Scott Cannon and his opponent Eva Simecek took the stage.

This one hinged on economic development. Cannon said he had helped provide the leadership that got Duncanville through tough straits after businesses like Wal-Mart and Circuit City pulled out. He listed developments like Pappadeaux, Main Station and the Shops at Waterview Park as reasons to put him back on the council.

Simecek said while it was great to bring it businesses from the outside, as a landlocked community Duncanville should work harder with those already here.

“I don’t think the necessary answer is always bringing in new people and new businesses, and new buildings and new growth,” she said. “We need to take care of what we have. We are landlocked, we have nowhere to go but within.”

A question about utilizing 4B economic development funds caused the debate to turn, at least in some people’s opinions, ugly. Simecek called for the 4B processes to be more open to everyday people.

“4B to me as an average citizen is kind of a scary prospect for me,” she said. “Where the money comes from, how is it spent? Who is it reported to? How does it take all of us in consideration? It’s a big mystery right now to me.”

She termed the workings of 4B an “unknown” to average citizens. Cannon took umbrage at those comments.

“Well, first of all, I want to address my opponent’s lack of knowledge,” he said. “The 4B meetings are public meetings. She can come to any meeting, anytime. All of the minutes of 4B board meetings are public record, she could access those minutes anytime. So to stand up here and say she hasn’t done her homework may be indicative of how she will lead.”

This brought out some boos, but after the debate Cannon stood by his comments. This race’s debate gave way to the main event match of this evening, District 4 incumbent Deborah Hodge versus Grady Smithey. Hodge unseated Smithey, an 18-year veteran of the council, two years ago. No one, least of all Hodge, figured Smithey would go gentle into that political good night.

This debate’s best moment came when one of its randomly selected questions fell perfectly into place.

“How do you view transportation issues within the context of the future of Duncanville?” Moderator Jim Tilger asked. Smithey, such a proponent of regional transportation issues he’s earned the nickname “The Road Warrior,” was nearly salivating at the question. After finding out he was up first, he looked to the sky and said “Thank you, Lord,” to thunderous laughter.

“During my first tenure on the council our roads were pitiful,” he said. “Right now I’ll put our roads up against any of the roads of any city the size of ours in the Metroplex... We’re sitting in an area where all this trade comes through. We’ve got the Allen Group immediately to the east of us. We’ve got all kinds of new things going on where we’re going to have more employment here. ”

He said transportation was vital to drawing new businesses and employment to the area. Smithey cited his experience in helping form the Dallas Regional Mobility Coalition. He said the state gave Duncanville $715,000 for service roads “just to shut him up” about the disparity between what the Houston area was getting and what Dallas was getting.

Hodge disputed those who say she doesn’t have the votes on the council necessary to affect change.

“Let’s consider what happens when a speeding driver sees a police car,” she said. “They slow down, right? So why is that? You all know it’s because most of us will change our bad behavior if we know that someone is watching. They’re right, I only have one vote. But my message is coming through loud and clear. Someone is now watching out for the taxpayer.”

Hodge too alluded to the “good ol’ boy” network and said they would return to the “good ol’ boy days” if District 4 gets returned to them. She was an opponent of the Anthem housing development that Steve Madison brought before the council, saying the council was giving money to board members.

During that heated council debate, the city attorney said that an Attorney General’s ruling made a distinction between 4B board members like Madison had been and city board members. Hodge didn’t agree then and still doesn’t.

“We gave $209,000 out and we’re now being told this was a good deal for the taxpayer because for their $209,000 we are now getting $256,000 of infrastructure. Taxpayers, infrastructure collects zero tax revenue. That is not a benefit to the taxpayers of Duncanville.”

Things got even more heated when both candidates accused the other of campaign finance irregularities. Hodge said that Smithey had taken $2,000 from two transportation lobbyists.

Smithey said when he found the donations came from corporations, he gave the money back. Hodge countered that she didn’t know when he had done that but “may have had a change of heart” tonight.

With that door open, Smithey accused Hodge of not listing a $1,000 campaign contribution she had received. The incumbent said the donation came in after a March 31 report deadline but that she would report on the next scheduled date.

As vicious as it got during some parts, several longtime Duncanville residents considered this forum to be tame. If accusations about swingers’ clubs, campaign finance fraud and political graft are tame, one wonders what an exciting forum might have yielded.

Pegasus News content partner - Best Southwest Citizen

Related stories

• Best Southwest Citizen recaps races on the iMedia network (May 4, 2008)
• Pegasus News Week in View: Mayday Edition (May 1, 2008)

See more stories in:

• Politics and Government > City Government > Duncanville