Fort Worth props; Keller schools

Fort Worth props

In the city charter election May 7, let’s support Prop 3 to raise the salaries of the mayor and City Council members as a first step to make sure all city workers are paid a fair wage. Fort Worth values hard work and deserves a fair wage.

Regardless of whether you agree with the mayor or City Council, they all work very hard, far beyond 40 hours a week. This pay increase would also allow those who aren’t independently wealthy to consider serving. And it would counteract any corrupting influences of special interests.

After we raise the pay of city leaders, it’s time to raise the minimum wage of all employees of the city and city contractors to $11 per hour in the upcoming budget.

Vote for fair wages! Vote for Prop 3.

In the city charter election: Vote no on Props 1, 3 and 4. Vote yes on Prop 2.

1. Longer terms only benefit incumbents.

2. More City Council districts is not about race or ethnicity. It’s about representation for everyone in a city that covers more than 325 square miles. That’s big!

3. The City Council hires four people: city auditor, attorney, secretary and manager. As it’s been for decades, council members only make policy. They don’t manage the city. Millions in tax breaks means fewer dollars for neighborhoods. Bad policy! At $75 per meeting, the position was public service. At $45,000 per year, some will make it a lifetime job with a nice pension as they become entrenched and reap more campaign funds.

4. Have a council vacancy? Hold an election. It’s only in the district that has the vacancy. The council gives away hundreds of millions of dollars in tax and development deals. It can find money for an election.

Keller schools

Please vote for incumbents Jim Stitt, Karina Davis and Cindy Lotton on the Keller school board. Their experience, community involvement and financial conservatism are proven.

They made budget cuts, saved district taxpayers $100 million by refinancing bonds and never voted for a tax rate increase.

Their challengers lost the bond election and now want to overturn the will of the people. Calling the incumbents big spenders and liberals isn’t proof. The challengers seem to want to label others as liberal transgender advocates, cut staff and budget and fire Superintendent Randy Reid.

Label, cut, fire — is that who we are? They haven’t voted in several past school board elections and haven’t attended board meetings. Why?

For Stitt, Davis and Lotton, hard work, community input and tough decisions are their legacy. I’m a conservative Republican, pro-life Catholic. Join me in supporting Stitt, Lotton and Davis.

This story was originally published April 26, 2016 at 6:12 PM with the headline "Fort Worth props; Keller schools."