Where do candidates for Arlington mayor stand on key city issues?

Several Arlington mayoral hopefuls fielded questions about defunding the police, transportation and city development Thursday evening at Mavericks Sports Bar.

Six candidates made their case to the Arlington Republican Club why they should succeed outgoing Mayor Jeff Williams, who cannot run under term limit provisions. Those present included Jerry Warden, a talent purchasing agent; Dewayne Washington, a programmer; Jim Ross, a business owner; Doni Anthony, a sales employee; Michael Glaspie, a minister and former at-large city council member; and Kelly Burke, a business owner.

Eight candidates have entered the mayoral race. Early voting runs April 19 through April 27, and election day is May Marvin Sutton, a District 3 City council member and retired air traffic controler, and Cirilo “CJ” Ocampo Jr., a GIS employee, did not attend.

Transportation

Several candidates said a bus system is not practical for a city like Arlington. However, the city should pursue more programs like its Via rideshare, which expanded citywide in January. Warden was the only candidate in favor of instituting mass transit.

“We need mass transit in Arlington, Texas,” Warden said. “We have over 400,000 people in this city.”

Voters in the past several decades have rejected efforts to fund a mass transit system. Via launched in 2017 as a replacement to MAX, Arlington’s bus service that rolled out in 2012 but struggled to gain ridership. The city has become the testing ground for multiple autonomous vehicle transportation programs.

Washington and Anthony said bus systems and other traditional forms of mass transit open the city to criminal activity.

“Having transportation within the city would help keep our Arlington safer, cleaner and more cost efficient,” Anthony said.

Instead, Arlington should embrace more point-to-point transportation methods, Washington said, which could particularly benefit the elderly and younger residents.

Glaspie said while the city should continue to embrace new forms of transportation, it must consider issues with traffic congestion, pollution and increased travel through Arlington to other parts of North Texas.

“It’s important for us to be able to get in and out of Arlington and allow people to come back and forth in Arlington,” he said.

Policing

Candidates vehemently disavowed the national movement to “defund the police” and said they’d oppose measures to defund Arlington law enforcement. Warden was the only candidate in favor of redirecting funds toward diversity training, a key tenet of the movement.

The rest of the candidates onstage disagreed.

“Our population is growing,” Anthony said. “Why would we defund or take any of the funds away from the police department in order for us to stay safe?”

“Hell no, we’re not defunding the police,” Ross, a former Arlington police officer, said. While he said there were social issues to confront while he was on the force, officers are required to take over 32 diversity courses a year. All four police associations have endorsed Ross.

While Washington said he was “profiled every day” when he first moved to Arlington, there were some officers who made a point of engaging with the community. Leaders should focus on community building, he said.

“If you’ve got a bunch of crime, there’s other problems in your community that we need to solve so that the police have less to do to begin with,” Washington said.

Glaspie said defunding the police would be a “crazy idea,” but the city should consider ways to improve safety through policing and community engagement.

Burke said he would like to strengthen the police force and said Arlington does not have a “racism issue,” but a “people issue.”

Term limits

Most candidates in the forum favored keeping the term limits voters approved in 2018, unless there’s enough public interest in revisiting the topic.

Provisions prohibit anyone from holding more than three two-year terms as a council member or mayor. The topic resurfaced again after a City Council-appointed task force recommended allowing candidates four two-year terms and the option to run again after sitting out for a term.

Glaspie, who represented at-large District 8 from 2012 to 2019, was among the first termed out council members. He said the people have spoken, even if some were confused about what they voted for.

“I’m not sure we actually vetted the process so that everyone could understand exactly what was happening, but if this is the way our citizens want it, this is the way it should be,” Glaspie said.

Washington said term limits allow voters a diversity of ideas and people to pick from at the polls.

“The honest truth is there wouldn’t be eight people running for mayor had there not been term limits,” he said.