SPRING ELECTIONS

It is not too early to start thinking about the spring elections. In College Station the mayor’s seat and place 2, currently held by John Happ, will be up for grabs. Due to term limits, neither incumbent will be able to run for their current seat. I have not heard who may be interested in running for place two, but there is a rumored slate for the mayor’s seat that will likely grow before filing closes.

One person rumored to be considering a run for mayor is Ben White, who currently holds the place 1 council seat. Former councilman Dennis Malone has also indicated that he will probably run for mayor. These are both citizens’ candidates who have shown a balanced approach to business and citizen interests. Both seem to be pro-business and in favor of protecting neighborhood integrity.

Malone stepped up to take a strong stance against the Weingarten request for rezoning of the Rock Prairie property. Councilman White voted against the rezoning, but made it clear that, if the traffic problems could be solved, he would gladly vote for it.

Another potentially strong candidate, who will draw financial support from the development community, as well as the traditionally conservative community who want to limit the involvement of city government in the affairs of citizens and business, is Councilman Ron Gay who currently holds place 3. Gay used the Weingarten public hearing to stump for reduced government regulation while supporting the rezoning request. While this was not a popular stance with those at the hearing, it was a brave move that put him in a position to speak for this broad-based camp.

It seems that a councilperson is not required to resign their current seat in order to run for the mayor’s seat. Please correct me if I am wrong about this. Nonetheless, resigning seems to be the considerate and proper thing to do. If a sitting councilperson were elected to a different seat on council, a special election would have to be held to fill the seat that they were vacating. This would cost the city a good deal of money. If this were the case, it could be justly suggested that such a candidate had his/her own best interest at heart, and not that of the city.