Two Euless council seats are up for grabs Saturday

Council incumbents Tim Stinneford and Eddie Price are facing challenges from political opponents who say that the city is overspending and needs to stop giving economic development incentives to companies and developers.

Election day is Saturday.

The Place 1 race pits Stinneford, a senior property manager, against Tim St. Clair, 46, who has run for office in the city previously.

In Place 3, Price must defeat Aaron Lindeman, a security systems designer, to win a second term and his first full one.

A closer look at the two races:

Place 1

Stinneford, 62, is seeking his fourth term on the council and said he was first elected in 2007 as the Great Recession hit.

At that time, Euless chose to keep its tax rate low when other cities increased theirs, he said.

Stinneford said that during his time on the council, the city has built a senior center and an aquatics center without going into debt.

The Glade Parks development is booming, and the Midtown development is getting underway, he said.

“The work is not finished yet, and I want to see it through,” he said.

Stinneford said his background in development has been instrumental in helping the city move forward with projects.

“I feel that I can bring a lot to the table that others can’t because of my background,” he said.

Stinneford said he is impressed with the city government and how employees care about the residents.

“The only platform I run on is, ‘Do the right thing. What is best for Euless citizens.’ ”

St. Clair, who is self-employed, said he is not happy with how he and other small businesses are treated by city management.

He also said oversight is needed to make sure that projects are done in the best interest of taxpayers.

He gave an example of sidewalks and wheelchair ramps that were built in areas where people in wheelchairs would have a hard time using the ramps.

“There is a weak structure in leadership. The city needs new leadership to look out for the benefit of the taxpayer,” he said.

St. Clair was also critical of Midtown Express property negotiations, saying that Euless “gave away” land for the project.

Place 3

In Place 3, Price is running for his first full term on the council, as he was elected to serve the remaining term of Linda Martin when she was elected mayor in 2014.

Price, a consultant, said things have gotten better since the recession but that there are still challenges.

During the recession, there were staff cuts, and Price said the need for city services, including fire and police, is growing.

Another concern is the rising cost of water and wastewater passed on to the city by the Trinity River Authority, Price said.

“I know we had relief this year because of rain, but there are going to be conservation issues. How will we pay for it,” he said.

Price has lived in Euless for over 25 years and said he is “sensitive to families and their needs.”

Lindeman said he decided to run for office after he began attending council meetings and wasn’t happy with decisions on how Euless is spending money.

He said Euless needs to focus on projects that will improve infrastructure such as roads and water lines and said he did not agree with a decision to create a public improvement district to fund the park/public plaza and parking garage in the Glade Parks development. The estimated cost of the improvements is about $3.2 million; property owners in the improvement district will pay half the cost via property taxes, and the city will sell bonds to pay for the other half of the costs.

Lindeman said Euless also needs more businesses with unusual concepts such as TopGolf to attract people from outside the city.

A lot of expensive homes are being build in Euless, Lindeman said, and he is concerned that the trend will lead to higher values for existing homes.

Lindeman moved to Euless four years ago and serves on the H-E-B Teen Court board.

This report includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.

This story was originally published May 2, 2016 at 3:02 PM with the headline "Two Euless council seats are up for grabs Saturday."