First Impressions of Candidates for Local Elections

The deadline to file for a place on the May ballot was February 17, 2023. The lineup for elections for City of Richardson City Council and Richardson ISD Board of Trustees is now set. Here are some mentions of the candidates in opposed races from The Wheel's archives. There is more to draw on, but these will do for first impressions. Some of these are from endorsements from past elections. Do not take any of these old quotes as an endorsement in 2023. Which candidates are worthy of endorsement in 2023 remains to be seen. Stay tuned.

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City of Richardson

• Place 1:
  • Curtis Dorian: He did not appear in The Wheel's archives.
  • G. Scott Waddell: He did not appear in The Wheel's archives.
• Place 2: Incumbent Jennifer Justice is unopposed.
• Place 3:
  • Dan Barrios:
    When Barrios ran in 2019, this is what The Wheel said:

    Dan Barrios has called for a citizen-led ethics commission to strengthen our Code of Ethics and has made other concrete suggestions for strengthening the code. He is personable, intelligent, and focused on service. I think Richardson would be in safe hands if Dan Barrios is elected.

    Source: The Wheel, April 22, 2019.

    In my words about Dan Barrios, I said, "He is personable, intelligent, and focused on service. I think Richardson would be in safe hands if Dan Barrios is elected."
    That was before he went negative with a direct mail attack ad against another candidate for Place 3. I would describe him in different words today.

    Source: The Wheel, April 27, 2019.

     
  • Stephen Springs:

    Regular readers know that The Wheel is not too impressed with the appointees on the CPC, starting at the top. One exception to that is Vice Chair Stephen Springs, but the Great Mentioner is silent about whether Springs has any interest in higher office.

    Source: The Wheel, November 17, 2022.

    Obvious postscript: He does.
• Place 4: Incumbent Joe Corcoran is unopposed.
• Place 5:
  • Incumbent Ken Hutchenrider:
    This is what The Wheel said in 2019:

    Ken Hutchenrider is the President of Richardson Methodist hospital, one of the largest employers in Richardson. I want a City Council that provides independent oversight of big businesses, not one that includes the top executives of those businesses, adding government power to their already considerable business power. Hutchenrider is a good man and an asset to Richardson. I wish that he would have decided to continue to serve the residents of Richardson right where he is already. I also wish he would have spoken more about the needs of neighborhoods. His campaign website has 929 words on its "Issues" page. "Neighborhood" isn't one of them. (In contrast Janet DePuy's "Issues" page has 553 words. Thirteen of them are "neighborhood," including in the title of the first section, "The Power of Our Neighborhoods.") But Hutchenrider did decide to run for City Council. He clearly has a resume and reputation that qualify him to serve. The Wheel endorses Ken Hutchenrider for Place 5, but with reservations.

    Source: The Wheel, April 22, 2019.

     
  • Todd Hunter: He did not appear in The Wheel's archives.
• Place 6: Incumbent Arefin Shamsul is unopposed.
• Place 7 (Mayor):
  • Mayor Pro Tem Janet DePuy:
    This is what The Wheel said in 2019:

    Janet DePuy has done something I didn't think could be done. She has attracted the endorsements of both the Richardson Coalition and Amir Omar, who were on opposite sides of the bitter mayoral election of 2013. Color me gobsmacked. She has a decade's experience as HOA president. So she has working knowledge of what our neighborhoods need. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Art from UT-Dallas and is a board member of the Arts Incubator of Richardson. So she has the understanding of how the Arts can overcome cultural differences and bring people together. She has called for review and strengthening the City's Code of Ethics, including adding a section on proper use of social media. She checks all the right boxes for me. The Wheel endorses Janet DePuy for Place 3.

    Source: The Wheel, April 22, 2019.

     
  • Bob Dubey:
    This is what The Wheel said in 2019:

    Bob Dubey has been a respectable city council member for two years. Before his tenure, the City experienced the worst scandal in its history. Its Code of Ethics proved totally inadequate. Nothing has been done about that and Dubey says no changes are needed now. I wish he would have had some ideas for reform.

    Source: The Wheel, April 22, 2019.

    Commenting on Dubey's sole "no" vote on an application for a restaurant to allow hookah smoking on an outdoor patio, The Wheel wrote:

    Alluding to the cultural attraction of hookah, Dubey said, "My question is 'Why does the culture need to come to Richardson, Texas?'" That's a singularly bad look for Dubey, for any City Council that might share Dubey's thinking, and for the City of Richardson as a whole. Dubey alluded to the small share of revenues the applicant expected to make from hookah smoking, "I don't understand why a restaurant believes that 15% is gonna make or break their business." Someone who spent his career in education and now serves on City Council presuming to tell a small business owner how much profit he needs to be successful in business is another really bad look for Richardson.

    Source: The Wheel, October 12, 2022.

    After listening to Wayne Olsen give a report on a Richardson Police Officer's accusation that the RPD was operating an illegal ticket quota system, The Wheel wrote:

    Dubey praised Olson as someone with "no dog in the fight" (in fact, Olson was hired by the City and admitted up front that all his legal experience is in defending cities and police departments, so yeah, defending police is kind of his dog). Dubey then praised the thoroughness and rigor of the investigation (Olson interviewed only two of seventy-two patrol officers, one of whom agreed that the City ran a quota system). It was like Dubey and I were watching two different movies.

    Source: The Wheel, July 25, 2021.

    After the City Council's biennial meeting to set City Council's goals, The Wheel wrote:

    There are seven council members. There is bound to be some tension in their attitudes towards the benefits of, even the need for change and continuous improvement. That tension on the Richardson City Council is captured by these quotes:
    Bob Dubey: "You got to be careful you don't change just to change, just so we could say on this little chart that we changed."

    Source: The Wheel, September 27, 2021.

    That's enough for a first impression.

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Richardson ISD

• Single-member District 1: Not on the ballot in 2023.
• Single-member District 2: Not on the ballot in 2023.
• Single-member District 3:
  • Vice President Debbie Renteria:
    After a board update on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Debbie Renteria had this to say:

    This work...is a commitment that we all have to all of our students, regardless of what the demographics are, because it's every child, every day. Every day, all the time. So, again, I just want to commend you on all of that.
    It's not just about racial equity. It's not just about race. So many times we see equity and we think oh, it's black and white and brown...That emphasis [on other areas] is so important because it's just so much more than that.
    I'm just so so grateful to you and your department.

    Source: The Wheel, August 29, 2022.

     
  • Bonnie Abadie:
    At a 2014 candidates' forum, there was this Q&A:

    Question: Are you in favor of school vouchers?
    Bonnie Abadie answered yes.

    Source: The Wheel, April 28, 2014.

    This was The Wheel's post-election analysis in 2014:

    In two tries for school board, Abadie emphasized her interest in improving education for special and gifted students. Abadie always called attention to her service on the RISD Council of PTAs SAGE (Special and Gifted Education) committee and her own experience raising a gifted child. So, in my opinion, Abadie stumbled badly when, in answer to a question at the League of Women Voters forum regarding a recent dyslexia audit conducted by the RISD, Abadie said, in part, "I don't know how I missed that audit. I have not seen the audit results, either." This was her home run pitch and instead of knocking it out of the park, Abadie whiffed.

    Source: The Wheel, May l2, 2014.

     
• Single-member District 4: Not on the ballot in 2023.
• Single-member District 5: Not on the ballot in 2023.
• At-large Place 6:
  • Incumbent Eric Eager:
    After a board update on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Eric Eager had this to say:

    I want to commend Ms. Lee and her team because I was part of that Strategic Planning Committee in 2017 before I joined the board, and there were so many things that came out of strategic planning. In my experiences, strategic plans become dust on a shelf if there's not people in there executing to make the thing happen. And you and your team are making it happen...As my friends and colleagues have said, it's so needed and it is going to be so rewarding for our kids and our community.

    I knew we were the fifth in the state [in diversity] but it surprised me we're the 50th most diverse district in the entire country. And that is a huge opportunity for our kids. Because I just know in the workplace, out in the real world, that having cultural awareness is one of the top three skill sets that employers have in such high demand. If we think about it, we have an opportunity in our community, for our kids, and for everyone involved to learn and appreciate from these cultures and all these communities. That is going to give our kids a chance to be that next step up. It's going to give them an advantage in leadership. When they cross across that stage and have those diplomas, they're going to be better equipped and have higher skill sets than other kids in other districts. And that's something we should all be proud of.

    And so I commend you and thank you for the hard work you're doing. It is needed and it's going to affect generations of families and kids.

    Source: The Wheel, August 29, 2022.

     
  • Blake Sawyer:
    Blake Sawyer finished third in a seven candidate race in 2021, capturing 14.9% of the vote. The Wheel had only one reference to his candidacy, a comment about Sawyer's answer to a school bonds question asked during a candidate forum, an answer that The Wheel didn't understand.

    Blake Sawyer: "I know the bond is a lot of money. It’s not something fun and exciting. It’s not like we’re building a new band hall or football stadium."
    I scratched my head on that. The RISD used bonds to build band halls and press boxes on the football stadiums, and, most recently, multi-purpose activity centers (MPACs, better known as indoor football practice fields). These were the most controversial bond items in my memory. I don't recall them being considered by the voters as "fun and exciting." Contrary to the implication in this sound bite, it's the air conditioning, it's the replacement roofs, it's the new classrooms to relieve overcrowding that voters accept most willingly.

    Source: The Wheel, March 2, 2021.

     
• At-large Place 7: Not on the ballot in 2023.