UPDATED: Collin County Republican’s 2009 Plano election preview

Updated 08:31 a.m., May 6, 2009

by Scot Walker of Collin County Republican

Early voting for the local municipal elections began on April 27th and runs through May 5th. Election day is May 9th, Saturday.

I've been asked what my views are in regards to the candidates for Allen, Frisco, McKinney and Plano. I'm not knowledgeable enough on the candidates in Allen, Frisco and McKinney to have an opinion, but here is what I look for.

What I'm looking for are candidates who do not support new taxes for rail, do not want to increase the density of housing, are willing to make cuts in budgets outside of public safety and understand that it's important to attract companies to the suburbs.

The Arts of Collin County is also a local issue candidates are weighing in on. This $80 million dollar theatre they want to build at Custer and 121 will cost the Plano, Frisco and Allen taxpayers at least $1.5 million per year, of which Plano will be responsible for $900,000 because it's split based on population. Last year, the Richardson taxpayers picked up a $1,000,000 tab for the Eisemann Center. These theaters don't make a profit, they run a large budget deficit every single year. The taxpayers will have to pick up that bill, every single year, forever.

Would a 2,100-seat theatre be cool to have off of 121? Of course! Can we afford it right now? No, we can't. We have a multimillion dollar deficit. How can you call yourself a fiscal conservative and want to add at least $900,000 to the Plano budget when we have a deficit?

So here is how I'm voting in this election in Plano:

Plano mayor - David W. Fincannon or Phil Dyer

This one is a no-brainer, I'm voting for David. David is a free-market, less government kind of guy. He is against the new mobility taxes for rail. Phil Dyer is a true believer of rail and wants more taxes for it. David questions the spending on the Plano Centre and the ACC. Phil supports ACC. David wants more transparency from the government and questions the effectiveness of the economic incentive program. Transparency is always good. The city has raised our property taxes to create an economic incentive fund. How effective has it been at what cost?

The only viewpoint of David's that I disagree with is he seems to be more strict than me on water use.

Place 2 - Susan Plonka or Ben Harris

I'm voting for Susan. Both candidates are for ACC and regional rail taxes, but I read a quote from Ben Harris that promoted high density "nodes".

Place 8 - Greg Myer or Lee Dunlap

This is another no-brainer, I'm voting for Greg. Lee Dunlap is the only incumbent running. Lee voted to give $1 million in taxpayer money to Fehmi Karahan to help pay for a private fountain in the Shops At Legacy, despite a vocal opposition by his constituents. Lee supports raising taxes to pay for rail. Greg Myer is against it. Grey Myer said he supports more cuts to city services, citing Live Green Plano and the Plano Television Network programs as examples.

PISD Trustee Place 7 - Robert Canright or Missy Bender

I'm voting for Robert. Robert is critical of Plano's curriculum and cronyism and I agree with him. PISD is rated as Acceptable versus Frisco/Allen/Richardson's Recognized rating while Plano is spending the most per pupil out of those four. There are big questions about Plano's math curriculum where they don't teach 3rd graders math facts. There needs to be a change in PISD.

PISD Trustee Place 6 - Steve Navarre or Marilyn Hinton or Nathan Barbera or Rama Lavu

To be honest, I'm not as knowledgeable about these candidates as I would like to be, but I have read everything I can get my hands on and I'm voting for Steve because of his emphasis on transparency and accountability.

UPDATE: Opinion on Prop. 7 has changed:

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