Introduction

Gerald Stanford, president of United Methodist Men of First United Methodist Church in Irving, TX had a grand idea to invite all running candidates in the May 2008 City Election to a debate. He envisioned each candidate to come and to talk to all of Irving and tell them why they were the best candidate for their intended office. There are three candidates running for Mayor, the incumbent Mayor Herbert Gears and the challengers, Roland Jeter and Rigo Reza. For Place 3 there are two candidates, the incumbent, Allan Meagher and his opponent, Nancy Rivera. For Place 5, there are two candidates, the incumbent Rose Cannaday and the challenger, Sue Richardson. All of the candidates accepted Mr. Stanford’s invitation to take some time from their very busy schedules and speak to citizens of Irving at First United Methodist Church at 211 W. Third Street. One hundred thirty one people came to hear what they had to say.

Gerald Stanford and the Candidates on the stage of the FUMC Family Life Center

Gerald Stanford, the event Master of Ceremonies, started the evening by inviting each of the candidates to the stage and take their appointed seats next to which he pointed out amenities for the guests. He then introduced Sean Cawthon. Sean is the Minister and Director of Youth & Evangelism at First United Methodist Church. This evening he was the Sergeant of Arms. Sean reminded the attendees to give every candidate due respect and allow all to hear what each had to say. Therefore we are to put our cell phones on vibrate, meeting or off. He reminded us that we are in God’s house and that we needed to act accordingly. He began the evening with a prayer and afterward gave the floor back to Gerald.

Gerald went over the evening’s agenda. Each candidate would get 15 minutes of “stating their case” of “why they are the better candidate” for the upcoming election. The agenda called for each candidate to 1) give their background and qualifications and 2) present a plan on how or what they will do to make Irving a great city. The line-up was women first, with incumbent following. The actual order of presentation was Sue Richardson, Rose Cannaday, Nancy Rivera, Allan Meagher, Roland Jeter, Rigo Reza and then to finish, came Mayor Herbert Gears. Gerald also mentioned that anyone who wanted to write down a question for anyone of the guest panel could go to the back of the room where Rob Mellott was standing and he would handle that task.
The following is a summary of each of the candidates stated views on “Why They Would Be the Best Candidate” for May 2008 Irving general election.

Sue Richardson - Place 5 Bid

Sue said that she is a worker and a doer. She also has integrity and faith. Sue is a long term Irvingite. She has been married to same man for over 40 years. She helped start the Youth Action Council in Irving. One of her key statements was, “There are two types of change -The Right Change and the Wrong Change.” She is taking a stand on Immigration. One way she is planning to do this is by having the 287(g) implemented into the Irving system. Sue does not like the system of 24/7 that Irving is already using for the Immigration problem. She does favor “English” as the one and only language in Irving. She stands for ideology of “One Nation Under God”. She also wants (ICTN) Irving Cable Television Network allowed back into the city chambers during council meetings.

Rose Cannaday - Incumbent Place 5 Bid

Rose took over this position so that her husband, Lowell could run for Dallas County Sheriff. She grew up in McKinney, Texas and seeing what Irving was doing encouraged her. The programs and progress established for Irving’s Heritage District is like what she had in McKinney. She assures that New Change is coming and that it takes time for change to happen. Irving is in a cross road of change. She says that city’s code violations are being rewritten since most was written in the 1950’s. Level 4 buildings are coming down. Regarding immigration reform, she does not agree that 287(g) would be a good choice, as it will cost the city an excessive amount of money. The 24/7 system Irving is already using does not cost Irving anything with a full-time ICE officer in the city jail appears to working fine. 287(g) does not look at small or medium cities. They just trained people in Houston and will not do Carrolton/Farmers Branch. She says that the Fire Department is about to get a new ambulance.

For the water shortage problem we had last year, they are working on a way to receive water from additional sources. If continue using the same aquifer(s) here without investigating other sources, we will find ourselves again in a shortage. As far as wells are concerned, they do know that at 30-1000 feet the water is usually polluted so the city is going deeper. The City does have a vision program for the total water issue. Rose is very proud of the Senior Heritage Center, as it is the state of the art for its type of facility. Others from around the country have come to Irving just to see how it is set up and built so they can build one like it in their city. The Senior Center will be building additional buildings in Irving to help with residents in other parts of Irving and be close to them. Another building that is state of the art and being looked in a similar fashion is the new Animal Shelter currently under construction.

Nancy Rivera - Place 3 Bid

Nancy commented that she is 21 yrs old and single. What she may lack in years, she makes up for in enthusiasm. Nancy graduated from Nimitz High school in 2004. She wants to better parks and recreation centers for the people of Irving. These need to have better lighting to keep people safe and make them attractive for first-time users and all citizens. She also wants to see better after school programs for all residents of Irving. These sorts of activities may help keep the young people out of trouble and teach them about life and volunteering. She wants more Public Safety enforced. She is very excited about the new DART Orange Light Rail Line that is being built. Regarding immigration and race-relations, he made comment that there are “47 different countries that live” [or are represented] in the City of Irving.

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Allan Meagher - Incumbent Place 3 Bid

Allan was not able to talk very long or very loudly as he was getting over Laryngitis. He did say that he is very encouraged with what is happening in Irving. He likes how the council works together. He said the council is behind the scenes all the time and that the current council is not transparent. They do what they can, by listening to the people, by accepting phone calls at their home and read emails. Sometimes depending on the topic they receive too many to read, but go through what they can and answer. Council members will even go to people’s homes to talk to them if that is needed.

Roland Jeter - Mayoral Race

Roland is from a family of generational graduates from Irving High School. He himself graduated from Irving High in 1971. Roland is also a 1975 graduate of Baylor University. One of his big concerns is the Irving water shortage issue. He believes a solution is the construction of the water pipeline from Cooper Lake to Irving. His first time as a council member the city had dreams and visions. They were broad-reaching visions of where you want your city to be and a vision of what is happening in your own city. Some of the visions that actually came to fruition also have offered concrete results and benefits for the city and people of Irving include Texas Stadium and DFW airport. Both of these projects have made Irving what it is now. Irving has reached a “vision crossroad” where there are multiple paths the city can take into the future. It all depends on the leadership to drive it. He then gave his resume. He commented that he was a Scout Master and during his 3 years as a Scout Master, he had 25 young men receive the rank of Eagle. His commented on the Immigration problem and said, “Neighbors, if you are here in Irving legally then God Bless You and welcome. If you do not have the proper paperwork and are here illegally then you need to leave”

Rigo Reza - Mayoral Race

Rigo is a former building inspector. He was impressed with Irving from his visits here. That is why he eventually came to here to live. He originally checked out Grand Prairie, Dallas and other cities, but Irving left him with a big impression. He wants to see Irving have and to walk side-by-side with the Glory of God and with Integrity. He will sacrifice his time, to work the extra hour, so all will benefit. He wants to see more outreach with the community – more input from the private sector. He asked, “What can we do in the public sector to engage with the community?” He said to understand and listen. He kept commenting that the council is only as good as the people. [The people need communicate with their City Council.] Irving is committed in Honor, Respect and Values. Rigo said, “we [City and people] can stand together to show as an example and that we have all have the values and standards that other cities will want to follow”. He would like to see more bus lines especially in the South Irving Area. He said on the topic of rebuilding and destroying [Urban Renewal] when the city is in the business of urban rehabilitation, do not forgot the lives of those displaced, particularly those of the lower socio-economic scale They do not have the means to recover quickly from displacement.

Herbert Gears - Incumbent Mayoral Race

Herb discussed a couple of main topical issues. One is the over abundance of multifamily dwellings in Irving. He stated, in three years nearly a thousand sub-standard buildings and apartments have accumulated as blight on the city of Irving. While he was Mayor, Irving has demolished most of these. Herb commented that the Mexican Consulate made an official warning to Mexican nationals to “stay out of Irving” because of the 24/7 Alien Program that in effect. The Consulate told them that if you stay in Irving you might be deported back to your country of origin. Herb said that several cities want what Irving has in the 24/7 with a permanent ICE officer. He commented that only two out of eleven hundred cities [of comparable size and culture] are using the 287(g) program. He said that Irving is an International City. The 287(g) programs require a bilingual translator – a luxury Irving cannot currently afford without a tax hike. Herb stated the 287(g) is not doing well in cities where it has been established and then reminded the attendees that the 24/7 program does not cost Irving a cent so it is no problem until something better takes its place. He reiterated on several occasions that to have the 287(g) program working and in place, we will have to raise taxes.

Job growth is at its lowest point in DFW in many years. There are several projects that the city has just finished, and some just about to start. He talked about the Valley Ranch Board Members having issues and since they are appointed by the Council, the Council will check on the issues and fix what is wrong. To close, he said, “Issues drive elections. The major issue will be in November 2008 when the Beer/Wine Sales in Irving comes back before the people for a vote.”

Conclusion

The guest speaker portion ended at 8:30 PM. At this time, they brought forward all the questions that had been written by the audience. Gerald Stanford went through them and presented the rules for this portion. He would ask the question and each candidate would be given one minute to answer. There were four questions. The most controversial question was about the Beer/Wine Sales in Irving. They all answered that they would all not support this and would do what they needed to do to make sure it did not get passed. Gerald Stanford thanked the candidates for coming and thanked the audience. He called the evening forum to a close.

We believe this little snippet of information is definitely not sufficient information to make up your mind regarding your choices for public officials. Therefore, for more information on each of the candidates, the election and on the election process, visit the League of Women Voters web site regarding the Irving election:
http://www.lwvtexas.org/LLirving.htm.

written by Connie Riley, Doug Pierson