Browse > Home / Community / Local Elections Won’t Lack for Drama

Local Elections Won’t Lack for Drama

March 23, 2007

By LOYD BRUMFIELD / Today Newspapers

With four people aiming for one seat on the Cedar Hill City Council and one former incumbent challenging a current one on the Cedar Hill School Board, the May 12 election doesn’t lack for interesting subplots.

In other races, three incumbents can just sit back and watch the returns.

Eleven-year council veteran Makia Epie faces a challenge on three fronts, as Jason Russell, Wirt Stoney Jackson and Valerie Banks - a current member of the school board - seek his Place 5 spot.

In CHISD, Amy Allen is running unopposed while six-year incumbent Terrel Nemons faces a challenge in Place 1 from James Charles, a former board member who lost his seat to Sonya Grass in 2006.

“I’m just lucky like that,” said Nemons of drawing a challenge from his former colleague. Nemons, who was first elected in 2001, has been challenged both times he has sought reelection.

The first time Nemons ran in 2000, he was beaten by Charles when they were both challengers. Now, Nemons is the incumbent.

Charles had one major reason for running again: “Unfinished business,” he said. “It’s all about the kids. Our kids are not getting educated the way they need to be.”

Cedar Hill Mayor Rob Franke, aiming for his fifth term in the middle chair at council meetings, is running unopposed along with Place 3 incumbent Wade Emmert, who is finishing up his first term.

Epie, born in Cameroon, has been challenged three times since he has been on the council, and twice had to get past multiple candidates.

“Everything about Cedar Hill matters to me. Everything,” he said. “I’m looking at it probably from a little bit of a different angle. There’s not a thing in Cedar Hill that I take for granted. It’s a gift that I can breathe freely, that I can speak with you freely, that I don’t have to worry about waking up in the middle of the night without somebody shining a flashlight in my face and saying, ‘Hey, what are you doing here?’”

The election marks a potential change of roles for Banks, a longtime member of the school board who will have to resign her seat if she wins a place on the council.

“The city council was always my first vision,” she said, adding that serving on the school board seemed like a good place to start to gain experience in public service while her daughter was enrolled in school.

“I think my experience (on the school board) has helped me,” she said.

Banks said her platform emphasized economic development, public safety and proper uses of property tax dollars.

Russell, managing partner of Panera Bread Co., has been a longtime presence on municipal advisory boards and a regular attendee of council meetings.

Banks, too, regularly attends meetings.

“I’ve lived here for seven years and served on several committees and boards, and the city has been very good to me,” Russell said. “I like to serve, and this is the next step for me. This is how I can give back to the city.”

Jackson, a Cedar Hill resident since 2004, is a former member of the U.S. Marine Corps who served in the first Gulf War.

He serves as chairman of the St. Luke Community United Methodist Church’s media ministry and is the president of the Southwest Dallas County Democrats.

“I’ve seen how the area has changed and will continue to change,” he said. “I think it’s important to preserve the quality of life here in Cedar Hill.”

Jackson says there are three planks to his platform: Preserve, protect and produce.

“We have to preserve the small-town feel of our community,” he said. “It’s something residents have become accustomed to and part of what makes us special.

“We have to make sure we stay protected. I know one thing that is on a lot of people’s minds is crime,” Jackson said, adding that his neighborhood has been burglarized at least four times recently.

“And we have to produce quality education programs that make us top of the line.”

Preserving Cedar Hill’s quality of life is important to Epie, he said.

“It’s important that people can come to Cedar Hill and they can shop in safety and want to come here,” he said. “When they go to bed at night, they need to know that they are living in a safe place, and that’s why public safety matters so much.”

Russell and Banks both said public safety, continued retail development and parks and recreation needs were priorities.

“We want to grow, but we want to grow responsibly,” Banks said.

Russell echoed that.

“We want to make sure that, as we grow, it’s done at a conservative pace,” he said. “We don’t want to look back 10-15 years from now and say we did it too fast.”

Banks said the four-way race will be compelling and that maybe it’s time for a female face on the council.

“I think it’s time for a female voice,” she said. “We are a premier city, and we need to make sure we have council members representative of our diversity.”

Experience on the council is a key aspect that has helped the city grow, Epie said.

“We have a team on the council, we’re a relay team,” he said. “We haven’t yet reached the finish line, but we can see it ahead of us. I am looking forward to the challenge. It keeps me invigorated.”

Nemons is proud of the school board’s accomplishments while he has served.

“When I first ran, I promised my constituents we wouldn’t run any kind of a deficit,” he said. “We balanced the budget during my first term and turned it into a nice fund balance.”

The bottom line for any school board has to be the children, he said.

“First and foremost is my desire to see the children of Cedar Hill attain their highest possible achievements,” he said. “As go the schools, so goes the community.”

Charles said an organized campaign sprung up last year to get him off the school board. He also said he received at least one letter that contained racial slurs.

“The last time I ran, some people took it upon themselves to write letters saying some of the things I had done wrong and hurt the district,” he said. “I decided that wasn’t true, and I wasn’t going to be run off.”

The district can improve in several areas, Charles said.

“We have schools that aren’t performing,” he said. “We have dress codes that don’t get enforced. I know we have schools that need help and I can’t do it by myself, but hopefully I’ll get some help from the citizens.”

Similar Posts

Comments