Lewisville Leader > Opinion
Eakin: Lewisville fortunate to have tough council election choices
BY DAN EAKIN, My View
Dean Ueckert has done a good job in Place 4 on the Lewisville City Council since 1998. Some would say, now that he is running for mayor instead for re-election to Place 4, that his shoes will be hard to fill.
Fortunately, three strong candidates have filed to take his place in that seat.
They are John Gorena, Margie Rochelle and TJ Gilmore.
In my opinion, it’s too bad we don’t have a seat for each of them on the council.
Gorena served briefly on the city’s Transportation Board and has regularly attended council meetings and workshops at city hall for almost two years.
He sometimes comes across to some as a trouble maker. That’s because he is not afraid to challenge the status quo. He thinks the city should be doing more to corral the illegal alien problem, that expensive council workshop retreats should not take place at a plush out-of-town hotel, that candidates shouldn’t plaster the city with campaign signs and that the city should work closely with the county to help make sure people’s property is not appraised too high.
TJ Gilmore is obviously a very intelligent, level-headed man who has served the last four years as a member of the Community Block Grant Advisory Committee, and currently is its chairman. A former member of the Irving Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, he has experience with agendas and how to address the needs of a city. He is knowledgeable about plans to strengthen Neighborhood Watch programs in the city, and is on top of issues, such as TxDOT’s plans to widen Interstate 35 and DCTA’s plans to build stations and offer rail passenger service in Lewisville.
But then, Margie Rochelle didn’t fall off the turnip truck yesterday either.
She served 14 years as a police/fire dispatcher/supervisor and seven years as a property and evidence technician. She has served on numerous department and city committees and has been the recipient of numerous awards and commendations during her 21 years of service to the city.
Last Monday night, she was seen at the Crime Watch Board event and at the city council meeting.
As a member of the city council, she would offer the perspective of an intelligent woman. Lewisville has not had that benefit since Bobbie Mitchell resigned as mayor in 2000 to run for county commissioner.
If Ueckert is elected mayor, with the exception of Lathan Watts, Rochelle would likely be serving on the council alongside two gray-haired men and two bald or balding men.
In the end, voters should weigh the qualifications and views of each candidate against the other and decide how to vote on that basis. Voters should not vote for a candidate simply because they have heard his or her name, been asked for their vote by him or her, or because of a candidate’s gender or personal appearance.
Dan Eakin is a staff writer for the Lewisville Leader and covers the Lewisville City Council.
Fortunately, three strong candidates have filed to take his place in that seat.
They are John Gorena, Margie Rochelle and TJ Gilmore.
In my opinion, it’s too bad we don’t have a seat for each of them on the council.
Gorena served briefly on the city’s Transportation Board and has regularly attended council meetings and workshops at city hall for almost two years.
He sometimes comes across to some as a trouble maker. That’s because he is not afraid to challenge the status quo. He thinks the city should be doing more to corral the illegal alien problem, that expensive council workshop retreats should not take place at a plush out-of-town hotel, that candidates shouldn’t plaster the city with campaign signs and that the city should work closely with the county to help make sure people’s property is not appraised too high.
TJ Gilmore is obviously a very intelligent, level-headed man who has served the last four years as a member of the Community Block Grant Advisory Committee, and currently is its chairman. A former member of the Irving Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, he has experience with agendas and how to address the needs of a city. He is knowledgeable about plans to strengthen Neighborhood Watch programs in the city, and is on top of issues, such as TxDOT’s plans to widen Interstate 35 and DCTA’s plans to build stations and offer rail passenger service in Lewisville.
But then, Margie Rochelle didn’t fall off the turnip truck yesterday either.
She served 14 years as a police/fire dispatcher/supervisor and seven years as a property and evidence technician. She has served on numerous department and city committees and has been the recipient of numerous awards and commendations during her 21 years of service to the city.
Last Monday night, she was seen at the Crime Watch Board event and at the city council meeting.
As a member of the city council, she would offer the perspective of an intelligent woman. Lewisville has not had that benefit since Bobbie Mitchell resigned as mayor in 2000 to run for county commissioner.
If Ueckert is elected mayor, with the exception of Lathan Watts, Rochelle would likely be serving on the council alongside two gray-haired men and two bald or balding men.
In the end, voters should weigh the qualifications and views of each candidate against the other and decide how to vote on that basis. Voters should not vote for a candidate simply because they have heard his or her name, been asked for their vote by him or her, or because of a candidate’s gender or personal appearance.
Dan Eakin is a staff writer for the Lewisville Leader and covers the Lewisville City Council.
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