Jump to content

Denton City Council Election

UNTflyer
 Share

Recommended Posts

mad dog Newbie

mad dog

Posted
Posted

Best of luck to you. If I might make one suggestion...

Running on a platform of achieving a certain ad valorem tax rate for its own sake may be a great way to get elected. However, most local governments the caliber of Denton are managed by first selecting a service level and then setting a rate which, in conjunction with your other revenue streams, balances the equation. If you are elected, and come in with both guns blazing on freezing or lowering the tax rate, you may find it difficult to interface with elected officials and city staff. However, if you couch everything in terms of expected service levels, you may find that lowering or freezing rates are the byproduct of those discussions.

In the three cities I've worked for, I have seen councilmember after councilmember come in with a full head of steam, hellbent on slashing everything to the bone. But I have only seen one of those people stick with that idea for more than a couple of months into the budget process. This is not because they get brainwashed by a conniving City Manager of pressured into passing bloated budgets. Rather, they come to see that local governments (especially those in our region) do a pretty good job of keeping costs low, relative to the desired service level in the community.

If you are looking to achieve a reduced level of service, you can do a lot of things which will save you money: you can close rec centers and libraries, defer park and street maintenance, outsource office jobs, cut police and fire staffing and equipment levels, consolidate core functions, reduce employees compensation packages, or a combination of all of the above. What you, as an elected official, are responsible for is gauging the community's receptiveness to the consequences of those actions.

It may be that you figure no one really cares about some of these items, and you can reduce or eliminate those costs. In my experience, whenever ANYTHING is proposed for deletion, you'll hear about it from a vocal group within the community. Ironically, many of those same people will be the same ones who elected you to office on the promise of lower taxes. Everyone wants everything on the table, but they do not want to pay for any of it.

But the burden of those choices is on the council - they make the million dollar decisions as the true voice of the governed. Every city manager I've ever met operates under that idea. They will do whatever a majority of the council wants them to do - that's how they keep their job - unless it is unethical. On rare occasions, I have heard of managers taking a stand on other grounds, but those were almost always decisions that would have truly disastrous consequences for the community (emptying fund balances to build a pool, or something along those lines). And even then, it is more of a pre-emptive action because when it goes wrong (and it usually will if the Manager is comfortable taking a stand on it), they know they're going to get thrown under the bus and fired anyway. Better to leave with your professional integrity than because you went along with something that you knew was not in the best interests of the City.

In closing, it is great to see people interested in civic involvement. I know you to be a man of integrity with a reputation for getting things done. I am just hopeful that, if elected, you can make as smooth a transition in as possible.

Good luck!

UNT90 Newbie

UNT90

Posted
Posted (edited)

True. But there is a "donate" button. :D

F'n politicians. Always with a hand out.

I guess I'll get it back in beer on Sept. 10? Your first Quid pro quo! So proud. ;)

Edited by UNT90
  • 2 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Tell a friend

    Love GoMeanGreen.com? Tell a friend!

  • What's going on Mean Green?

    1. 12

      Hodge wanted to set us up for success

      Some of ya'll don't understand! And some of ya'll are just bitter jerks! It isn't always a conspiracy! Ross deserved a promotion...he earned it with hard work, winning, and enduring a lot of crap from fickle fans, bad attendance, a crappy league, and no money to compete with in the NIL age. There were teams that won a bunch of games with Ross and Grant that were full of little pricks. Some of those teams (despite winning 20+ games) were very toxic and hard to coach. There were a handful of players over the years that were very unlovable! Players who were cancerous in the locker room and created unnecessary drama that had to be dealt with constantly. Ross repeatedly said all year long that this group was different in how they worked together, how they built each other up, how they hung out together outside the gym. It was a special group of kids who enjoyed being around each other and laying it all on the line for one another. He stayed because he LOVED this group. He didn't stay to notch his belt...he already had the other job. He stayed because this is a TEAM that he believed in and wanted to maximize his time with them because they had made his job fun. I'm sad he left, I'm happy for him, and I'm thankful that he gave this school 100% for 8 years. He is a diamond and I wish him all the success at WVU and wherever else he may end up. He's that good...He could be at any of the dozen or so basketball powerhouse schools in the next 8-10 years if he wants to be.
      • 1
      • Upvote
      2020 Sucks in Mean Green Basketball
    2. 7

      First family arrival photos

      This is a joke right? She's getting on a plane - comfort first and foremost. No one is shading the dudes for wearing sweats and hoodies.
      • 2
      • Thanks
      • Upvote
      meangreenacct in Mean Green Basketball
    3. 1

      Some creative ways we could raise NIL monies at UNT

      I noticed at the nutsac game last year that if you wanted to round up to the next dollar on concessions, It would go to NIL.
      Hunter Green in Mean Green Basketball
    4. 83

      PAC soon on the Prowl again for more Football members...

      Which only helps reinforce why us joining a West Coast based league is not a great move. It might be better than where we are if it helps translate to NCAA tourney bids...but long term we'll get less exposure out West than where we are today if we move and regress as a bball program (fail to take advantage of the extra bid potential).
      TIgreen01 in Mean Green Football
    5. 1

      Some creative ways we could raise NIL monies at UNT

      Me and my girlfriend have a lot of student debt and are both unfortunately unemployed at the moment (she is soon to be teaching part time this summer) so we don't have a lot of expendable income to donate to NIL. I thought it would be fun to start a list of grassroots ideas for raising money for NIL at UNT. 1 - Car Washes - we could have players and coaches out there holding signs and offering to wash cars down on eagle drive or other busy traffic spots 2 - Raffles. UTSA is evidently doing this a lot and we could also benefit from them. Everyone enjoys winning a chance to go down the tunnel with the team and ride on the team plane and whatnot. 3 - Bake sales - We could get some of the cheerleaders and have a big bake sale weekend and sell everything at a football or basketball tailgate. 4 - Create a UNT NIL beer that 50% of the proceeds go to the NIL These are just a few of my ideas. I would be interested to hear if you all have more.
      cousin oliver in Mean Green Basketball

  • Popular Contributors

  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      15,549
    • Most Online
      1,865
    AshleyB
    Newest Member
    AshleyB
    Joined

  • Most Points

    1. 1
      El Paso Eagle
      El Paso Eagle
      172,379
    2. 2
      NT80
      NT80
      152,873
    3. 3
      KingDL1
      KingDL1
      143,375
    4. 4
      greenminer
      greenminer
      137,535
    5. 5
      TheReal_jayD
      TheReal_jayD
      110,674

  • Biggest Gamblers

    1. 1
      EdtheEagle
      EdtheEagle
      26,593,419
    2. 2
      UNTLifer
      UNTLifer
      4,929,114
    3. 3
      untphd
      untphd
      899,261
    4. 4
      MeanGreenFan94
      MeanGreenFan94
      697,580
    5. 5
      flyonthewall
      flyonthewall
      674,718
    6. 6
      3_n_out
      3_n_out
      578,480
    7. 7
      SteaminWillieBeamin
    8. 8
      UNT_FH_FR_YR
      UNT_FH_FR_YR
      494,051
    9. 9
      cousin oliver
      cousin oliver
      448,120
    10. 10
      meangreenfaninno

WE BELIEVE IN THE MEAN GREEN!

News

Recruiting

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. Please review our full Privacy Policy before using our site.