08:42 AM CDT on Sunday, April 30, 2006

By Lowell Brown / Staff Writer

Shelley Shay worries Denton city leaders too often “bend over backward” to developers instead of demanding quality development. If elected May 13 to the City Council, she pledges to hold developers to stricter standards to protect homebuyers and other residents.

Joe Mulroy’s main focus is “absolute financial transparency” in city government, and he vows to continue his effort if voters re-elect him to the council.

Denton residents will choose between Shay, a former city of Denton webmaster whose position was cut last year in a major staff reduction, and Mulroy, a businessman and first-term in­cumbent, in the council race for Place 6, an at-large seat. Early voting starts Monday.

Joe Mulroy

Mulroy, 56, said he’s used his business background to tackle financial matters while on the council for the past two years.

“I hit head-on a lot of our financial issues, and the first issue is reporting,” he said. “I would say we spent the first two budget cycles that I’ve been involved with unraveling some accounting habits that never should have been.”

In the past, the council hasn’t been fully informed of the path and source of money, Mulroy said. In another term, he would work to make sure current and future councils get accurate and understandable information about where city money goes.

“I think we’ve set the tone that the expectations going forward are going to be for 100 percent forthright communication” be­tween the council and city staff members, he said. Doing so would offer council members a clearer picture of the city’s fi­nances and help them better determine spending priorities, he said.

“If the past councils were more fully informed, they would have perhaps made different decisions,” he said.

Mulroy, chairman of the council’s environmental committee, said he also would continue focusing on environmental issues.

“I’m not as passionate about the moment-to-moment, knee-jerk issues as I am about the long-term, watershed planning, energy efficiency of our building codes, protection of our environment,” he said. “And that’s an educational process with the community.”

As population continues to rise, the Dallas-Fort Worth region faces an impending limitation: the availability of water, Mulroy said.

“What may seem just altruistic to some segments of the community are going to be economic development and business realities, so I think all interests are going to converge in environmental stewardship,” he said.

Mulroy said he also would like to hire more police officers to support public safety and code enforcement workers to help sustain neighborhoods.

Shelley Shay

Shay, 38, worked as city webmaster from 1998 to 2005. She now works as a computer technician for a Plano technology company.

“I’m just an average citizen, and I’d like to get involved, and I’d like to make a difference,” she said. “I have no personal grudge against anybody that is running.”

Shay identified no “glaring” differences between herself and Mulroy; however, she questioned his call for “financial transparency.”

“I do agree with my opponent that we need to have financial transparency, but I am concerned about the council micromanaging the staff,” she said. “There is a difference between demanding accountability and counting paperclips. Our city is in the red because we are squandering money on pet projects, not because the employees aren’t doing their jobs.”

Shay said she supports development but is critical of how the city handles certain development issues.

“I think we should realize that we have a fantastic location along I-35 and be more selective of developers and hold them to a higher standard,” she said. “We need to have these developers competing for us instead of the other way around.”

Shay also criticized the city’s utility rates as “out of control” and said the council should do more to keep costs down.

“I’m not saying it should be free, but everything on that bill is too high for what we get,” she said.

Shay said city departments are still suffering from last year’s reduction of more than 50 jobs, including her own, and the decision to outsource certain tasks. She said the city has less control over contractors, which often leads to lower-quality work.

Shay also questioned the city’s recent annexations, saying officials should focus on providing services to current residents before taking in new ones.

“We can’t afford to pave the streets we have,” she said. “We really need to ask ourselves, ‘Do we really need to annex that now?’”

LOWELL BROWN can be reached at 940-566-6882. His e-mail address is lmbrown@dentonrc.com

Joe Mulroy

Joe Mulroy

Age: 56

Education: Bachelor’s degree in history, University of North Texas, 1980

Career highlights: Vietnam War veteran, U.S. Army, 1969-70; principal owner, CBS Mechanical Inc., 1982-2004; businessman with several interests in local businesses, 2004-present

Political experience: Denton City Council member, 2004-present; previously, he served on the Planning and Zoning Commission and Public Utilities Board

Contact: 940-382-3396

Shelley Shay

Shelley Shay

Age: 38

Education: Associate’s degree in arts and sciences, Richland College, 1991; bachelor’s degree in art, University of North Texas, 1992

Career highlights: Resident assistant/desk clerk, UNT, 1990-96; webmaster, Tribal DDB, 1996-98; webmaster, city of Denton, 1998-2005; computer technician, Plano-based innovative technology company, 2005-present

Political experience: None

Web site: www.largeatlarge.com