Two UNT students running for Denton city council

by Chris Speight of North Texas Daily

With the Denton City Council elections quickly approaching, two UNT students are running for public office.

UNT general studies senior Andrew Teeter, 21, decided to throw his hat into the ring for the District 3 representative seat, currently held by councilman Jack Thomson. In addition, Sam Casey, 21, a recreation and leisure studies sophomore, is also vying for Thomson's seat.

Andrew Teeter has focused on trying to become the voice of the students, said Mike Sutton, Teeter's campaign manager and the former owner of Voyager's Dream on Hickory Street.

"Andrew feels that the city government does not take students into consideration," Sutton said. Teeter's campaign platform is titled "Take Back the Streets."

Teeter said he plans to make parking for UNT students a top priority, as well as making biking safer by putting in bike trails throughout the city.

"UNT students need parking," Teeter said. "It would be nice to have a parking garage. I'd also like to see bike lanes across the city. I don't want UNT students to have to park on side streets that are 2 miles away from the campus."

Teeter said his three main platform points include dealing with biking and parking issues, increasing student representation in local government and giving a voice to the voiceless.

"We need young, energetic people who are involved in local politics to step forward," said councilwoman Charlye Heggins.

Casey said he decided to run because as he progressed into higher levels of education in school, discussion and analysis on local, national and global issues got deeper and deeper. "I found myself saying to a lot of people, 'if you're passionate about something, do something about it,'" Casey said.

The basis of Casey's campaign is straightforward, he said. The actual platform is called "No Strings Attached." He said he does not represent a law firm or state firm, just himself.

Casey said he plans to push a new bus program, which would be an enhancement to the Denton County Transit Authority.

"In combination with the school transportation system, I propose we run buses on Friday and Saturday nights, into Sunday morning," he said. The bus stops would be between campus and the Fry Street area.

Casey said that in addition to that, he wants there to be busing from residential areas to the Courthouse-on-the-Square and back as well.

"If a family wants to take their kids out to dinner, but would still like to drink and not have to worry about who is driving home, this would be a great solution," he said.

Casey proposed a possible fundraising idea for the bus system, such as the city going green with its light bulbs.

"You go into city buildings and you still don't see contact florescent light bulbs," he said.

There are five total candidates trying to win District 3's seat. They are Andrew Teeter, Sam Casey, Jim Engelbrecht, a marketing specialist; Amy Manuel, a computer analyst; and Hatice I. Salih, a business owner.

There are three candidates running for the District 1 seat: Eliborio Beltran, a freelance journalist; Bob Clifton, 68, who is self-employed and incumbent councilwoman Charlye Heggins.

District 2 has four candidates: Dalton Gregory, a retired school principal; Michael Roby, an information technology manager; John Ryan, a property management company owner and Roger Strahan, a real estate appraiser.

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