The county’s large Republican voting base kept the national political sands from shifting locally, even with the record turnout of Democratic voters in 2008.

The faltering economy, while it has hurt some area businesses and residents, has not yet dominated decision-making among local government officials.

Instead, a handful of high-profile arrests, scandals and other controversies dominated local politics in 2008. Besides big elections, several big policy changes also made memorable headlines for local government in 2008:

TAXING DISTRICT

In November, the Denton County Commissioners Court denied the city of Denton’s proposal to participate in creating a special tax district for downtown improvements. A similar request by Little Elm in December was also refused in a 3-2 vote. “Capping future revenues for the next 30 years, that’s the problem,” Commissioner Andy Eads said.

COLEMAN IN PRECINCT 1

Republican Hugh Coleman emerged from Election Day as the new county commissioner for Precinct 1, defeating his Democratic opponent, Phyllis Wolper. In March, Coleman edged out incumbent Cynthia White in the Republican primary by 58 votes.

ROBISON WINS JUDGESHIP

Steve Burgess was not able to sustain his first-place finish over Doug Robison in an April runoff election in the GOP primary to replace Vicki Isaacks as judge of the 393rd District Court. With the victory and no November opposition, Robison will succeed Judge Vicki Isaacks, who is retiring, on the bench in January.

COUNTY BOND PACKAGE

Both Denton County’s roads and computer systems will be upgraded after voters approved a $495 million bond package on Nov. 4.

TASER LAWSUIT

Deanna Dwyer and her son, Blake, named as defendants three Corinth police officers — Kevin Tyson, Craig Hubbard and Carson Crowe — in a $1 million federal lawsuit over a July 2007 incident in which officers allegedly shocked the boy with a Taser multiple times as he emerged from an epileptic seizure.

LAKE DALLAS MAYOR

Lake Dallas, which hasn’t had a contested municipal election in several years, had a three-way race for mayor that began in the summer and did not finish until Dec. 13, when council member Tony Marino won. His journey began last spring, after Marjory Johnson won the bidding on a historic Sanger home in foreclosure, moved her family there and resigned.

GAS PIPELINE PROPOSAL

Barnett Shale cities large and small have asked the Texas Legislature for more authority over natural gas pipelines. Many energy companies have formed their own public utility, capturing the power of eminent domain. The resolution, first proposed by Dish in July, has been endorsed by nearly 30 cities in the past five months, including Fort Worth and Lewisville.

ENERGY COMPANY SUES ARGYLE

XTO filed suit against Argyle in September, claiming the financial burden of its current road ordinance was egregious. The lawsuit was the third filed by an energy company against a Barnett Shale city in 2008, pushing back against ordinances cities have written for its residents.

DENTON’S TREE CODE

Denton continued working its way through revisions of the city’s property maintenance and tree protection codes — both subjects of controversy in years past. The proposed new property maintenance code is expected to reach the City Council early in the new year. But a year into Denton’s latest overhaul of the city tree code, officials are still struggling with major issues and have no clear timetable for completion.

LAKE CITIES FIRE CHANGES

The four Lake Cities mayors extinguished the Lake Cities Fire Department and restarted service through the city of Corinth in February.

Corinth began providing fire service to Hickory Creek, Lake Dallas and Shady Shores while Lake Dallas kept the title to the firehouse in that city. The new five-year contract closed a chapter on a cooperative venture that often became contentious at budget time.

Staff writer Lowell Brown contributed to this report, which also includes material from the Denton Record-Chronicle archives.

PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com.