Last night at Humperdinks, I had the pleasure to attend the Arlington Republicans Candidate forum. I saw the candidates square off and it was interesting to hear what they had to say concerning those in office. Mr. Dodson who is Robert Shepard’s opponent was clearly an unorthodox individual. While Mr. Shepard showed professional respect for the forum and office by addressing the crowd of 100 plus Republicans in a coat and tie, Mr. Dodson had a baseball cap on and shorts. His platform was to empower the 18-25 year old voters. I feel that this fell on deaf ears since the average age of the audience was around 60 years of age. His overall platform was such that I would not consider him a serious contender for the at large position in district 6. The legalization of marijuana for any purpose is something that the Texas
From the looks of the race for district 7, Jimmy Bennett has a challenger with substance. Gerald Kern was business like in appearance, and showed respect for the forum with a coat and tie, same with Jimmy. He was articulate, same as Jimmy. And his platform was well articulated, same as Jimmy. Mr. Kern was a bit forceful in his delivery, and Jimmy was calm and comfortable in his responses. I can see this race shaping up to be an interesting event. Since Mr. Kern lives in district 3, it could be that he is getting actual face time and experience if he falls short in this challenge. Robert Rivera is positioning himself for a Mayoral run next year, which would leave the district 3 seat open.
Kecia Mays is running for the School Board seat vacated by Tony Pompa. The biggest laugh of the evening was when she stated that her biggest qualification in the race against her opponent is that she was present. The opponent said she would attend and didn’t show up. Kecia is a very professional young woman that lost her race against Gloria Pena two years ago. I’m certain that she will prevail this time.
Excellent review of the meeting. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThe sad part is that no one really votes accept in November of a Presidential cycle in big numbers and in the 30's for Governor November election year. I would love to see this city really rid the May election altogether since the latest turnout is always below 10 percent. I have seen most turnouts based on a few last elections and having the May election every year is not a wise idea and money is wasted by the Tarrant County elections board. Would be nice to follow the lead of El Paso voters did and it abolished its May elections and in 2018 would follow the regular election cycle. I only see a few areas in Tarrant now that don't hold elections in May but in November. The school district should do the samething if Arlington decides to move the election to November every 2 years during the Presidential and Governor General election. The really great part is that the county won't have to use any Arlington location for early voting every year unless AISD decides to keep its May election intact.
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