07:22 AM CDT on Friday, April 21, 2006

By Lowell Brown / Staff Writer

Candidates for Denton mayor and City Council clashed Thursday night on the proper handling of annexations, the necessity of the city hiring consultants and other spending priorities during a candidate forum at City Hall.

Perry McNeill

Bob Clifton

Justin Bell

The seven candidates also explained their qualifications for office and answered questions from the audience during the two-hour forum, sponsored by the Denton Neighborhood Alliance.

Election day is May 13. Early voting begins May 1.

Entrepreneur Justin Bell, businessman Bob Clifton and engineer Perry McNeill seek to replace Mayor Euline Brock, who can’t seek re-election because of term limits.

For City Council, Place 5 incumbent Bob Montgomery faces a challenge from retired university professor John Paul Eddy, while Place 6 council member Joe Mulroy faces opposition from former city webmaster Shelley Shay. Both are at-large seats.

Most of the candidates spoke in favor of a long-range annexation plan to deal with bringing in areas surrounding the city limits, and many said it’s overdue.

Mulroy, 56, said such a plan would be a priority for him if voters allow him a second term.

But Shay, 38, worried that the city is “too eager to land grab” and cannot adequately provide services to the area it’s currently responsible for.

Clifton, 65, sharply criticized the current City Council throughout the forum, accusing officials of inaction on important issues, including an annexation plan, and misuse of public money.

“Make these incumbents tell you what they have done, not what they intend to do,” Clifton told the audience.

Some candidates said the city spends too much money on hiring consultants and argued city staff should be able to do the work instead.

“I think these incumbents need to tell the citizens where the tax money goes,” Clifton said. “Why do we have consultants? Why do we have staff?”

Eddy, 74, said consultants have their place but that city workers have told him consultants often get paid for ideas they had first. Montgomery, 70, disagreed, saying most requests for consultants come from city staff members.

McNeill, 69, and others argued that consultants are necessary as the council considers specialized issues about which city staff doesn’t have expertise.

“The times I’ve voted for [consultants], we’ve needed them,” McNeill said.

Bell, 28, agreed that some projects need specialists but said using a staff member should be the ideal choice.

Some candidates said the city should step up its code enforcement. Mulroy said he would like to add two to six new workers in that department to be more proactive, instead of just waiting for complaints. Shay said the city should enforce the ordinances it has, but she would rather help people when personal issues cause their homes or lawns to fall into disrepair, not “kick them when they’re down.”

After the forum, Denton resident Marilyn Smith said she enjoyed the event because it allowed her to watch candidates react to questions on the spot.

“It’s fun to listen to the candidates and support the democratic process,” she said.

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