Mulroy and our money

A recent letter to the editor supported Mr. Mulroy’s candidacy based on his giving money to worthy causes. Those gifts are praiseworthy, but they do not address responsible decision-making on the council. 

Mr. Mulroy and Dr. McNeill cost the city more than $210,000 by interfering with the bidding process on the building of the new Denton Airport Terminal building.

The original bids were $200,000 over the architect’s estimate. The overage was clearly understood by and communicated to the council by the airport advisory board: There had been a sharp increase in building material costs because of large purchases by China. McNeill and Mulroy convinced two other council members otherwise and forced a re-bid. 

Council members Montgomery, Kamp and Thompson strongly opposed the rejection of the original bids and pointed out that a re-bid would raise the price even more. 

Construction was delayed more than eight months and the re-bid was $210,000 higher than the original.

The low bidder on the original issue had been a local contractor. An out-of-town contractor received the re-bid. 

Frankly, the actions of Mulroy and McNeill were political grandstanding to make it look like they were protecting the taxpayers’ dollars. In fact, they were doing the opposite.  Then they blamed the airport board for causing the re-bid. 

I hope the voters will reward those who acted responsibly and remove from the council those who played politics with public money. 

Don W. Smith,

Denton

McNeill for mayor

We are writing this letter to encourage the voters in Denton to vote for our incumbent mayor, Perry McNeill. We have known Perry and June McNeill for 15 years, and believe they are both sincere in their desire to serve our community.

We respectfully ask you to consider just a few specifics regarding Perry’s service:

Perry helped to unify our community by working as mayor with our local business community, city government, neighborhoods and the schools to achieve more communication, cooperation and planning.

Denton now enjoys the lowest utility rates in the metroplex, due in part to the leadership skills that Perry has used for seven years while on the board of the Texas Municipal Power Agency.

Businesses now consider Denton a good place to do business. Perry’s prior experience in academia and business made him sensitive to the problems encountered by newcomers to Denton, and his actions have started to make a difference in the way we do business.

As board chairman of the chamber of commerce, Perry saw a need to encourage the growth of tax-paying businesses, and as mayor he has been instrumental in promoting our city to potential corporate neighbors such as ALDI Grocery Stores and IDI.

Perry McNeill is the best candidate to fill our city’s critical needs during this explosive growth period in our history.

Please stand with us and vote for our re­spected friend and neighbor, Perry McNeill, for mayor.

David and Pam Arthur,

Denton

Burroughs’ conflict

Mr. Burroughs continues to uphold his position that it is OK to be mayor and to continue to collect unpaid taxes for the city, county and school district.

Also that these entities do not really pay him for that service; instead he collects penalties and fees that are added to the tax bills, as if that should make everything OK. I am appalled about how he seems to view the intelligence (or maybe the gullibility) of most voters.

Has this contract generated over a million dollars in income to Sawako/Burroughs law firm in the last three years? The answer is yes.

Does Mr. Burroughs want the contract renewed this summer? The answer is yes.

Has Mr. Burroughs publicly stated that this contract would have no effect on his ability to act in the best interest of the city of Denton if elected to office? The answer is yes.

Are his similar contracts with other neighboring cities generating significantly more income than the Denton agreements? The answer is yes.

How could Mr. Burroughs represent Denton’s best interests if a conflict arose, either within Denton or between Denton and another entity that provides hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars to his business? The answer is he couldn’t.

It is impossible for the mayor not to influence the council and others whether he votes or not.

Why should Denton have a mayor who should not function in so much of the city’s business because of personal interests?

Danielle Bennett,

Denton

Elect John Ryan

John Ryan is the best candidate for District 2. From what I know of him, he is the one candidate for our district that has the conservative values I want to keep in Denton.

What I know of his volunteer work and involvement in the community, is that he is hard-working and will carefully think things through and ask hard questions before rendering a decision. He will look at all sides of the issue and investigate options when necessary.

I know he will do a good job for Denton and is a candidate I can trust. I will be voting for John Ryan for district 2.

Michael Roby,

Denton

Mulroy’s generosity

The Cumberland Presbyterian Children’s Home has been providing healing and hope to children and families in Denton since 1932. In 2003, Bette and I had the privilege of co-chairing the only capital campaign the home had ever undertaken.

Since both of us experienced the good fortune to personally serve with Joe Mulroy on various boards including the Salvation Army, Greater Denton Arts Council and Denton Community Theatre and were aware of his generosity toward each of those worthy efforts to improve Denton’s quality of life, I asked Mr. Mulroy to consider the capital needs of the children’s home.

He became the first significant Denton donor to the campaign, supported it throughout the life of the campaign and continues to this day to contribute toward the operating needs of the home.

Mr. Mulroy not only “talks the talk” of improving the quality of life for Denton citizens, but he “walks the walk” through the generous gift of his time, wisdom and treasure.

He continues to make a marked and positive difference in the lives of many in our fair city.

Bob Sherman,

Denton