Candidates for Bellaire mayor, 4 council seats stage an oh-so-civilized forum

By Charlotte Aguilar
In what might have been the most representative moment of Thursday night’s Bellaire municipal candidates’ town hall, Position 5 Council hopeful Susan Downs was offered a juicy chance to pose a question to opponent Michael Fife.
Politely she asked Fife, who’s active on both the city’s Ad Hoc Committee on municipal facilities and a resident-driven beautification group, what opportunities there are for citizen involvement in those efforts. “We’re always looking for volunteers,” Fife smiled.
That was the forum: low-key, civilized, more of a thoughtful airing of community concerns about infrastructure, police, park funding and beautification than a pointed debate of widely divergent views.
The only off-kilter moments came from perennial mayoral candidate Robert Riquelmy, who declined a place at the candidates’ table to take questions. Instead, Riquelmy sat alone far on the sidelines among candidates’ tables of literature, frequently turning his back on the discussion to pace and peruse the handouts.
Moderator Corbett Parker – himself a veteran of two contentious forums as a candidate for City Council (successful) and mayor (not) – tried to stimulate controversy over such potentially hot issues as building multifamily housing, getting rid of the Metro Transit Station, and providing more public funding to develop Evelyn’s Park.
Nobody bit.
The 75 or so audience members were left instead to ponder candidates’ impressive array of backgrounds and community involvement — and an abundance of good intentions.
Andrew Friedberg, who resigned his council seat to run for mayor, talked about improved financial transparency by considering bringing back in-person financial reports from the city’s chief financial officer at council meetings instead of relying on online data.
Friedberg made a strong, pro-police opening statement, saying “the safety and security of our community is our No. 1 priority.”
Position 4 Councilmember Pat McLaughlan, running unopposed, emphasized beautification, saying Bellaire “doesn’t have that sparkle it should have.” He also said he would oppose any new bond issues to develop Evelyn’s Park, adding, “We should provide no more major funding” to support the city-conservancy partnership.
Position 5 candidate Fife, said she would look for new ways to get residents who don’t have time to serve on boards and commissions engaged in the community. Jill Bullard Almaguer, running for Position 2, agreed and suggested involving students more meaningfully.
The other Position 2 candidate, Trisha Pollard, used more than one opportunity to advocate for improved sidewalks in Bellaire, citing the challenges of campaigning door-to-door at 1,000-plus homes. Position 6 candidate Kevin Newman echoed those difficulties and made his main cause creating incentives to attract and retain police officers.
That drew the only applause of the two-hour-plus forum. There wasn’t a single hoot about anything.
Newman’s opponent, David Montague, stressed infrastructure improvements, such as sidewalks and flood control measures, and tied improved communication to those goals. “A lot of things are not well understood,” he said.
Some quotable moments:

• Downs commenting on the candidates’ tour of municipal facilities conducted by City Manager Paul Hofmann, and what she learned about the deteriorating City Hall: “I would not want to work here.”
• Fife explaining her support for infrastructure projects: “Streets and drainage are like laundry – they’re never finished.”
• Pollard talking about meeting residents on the campaign trail: “I’ve been offered eight dogs and one woman’s son.”
• Newman’s discovery while campaigning of seniors’ property tax burden, meeting people who “never thought their $12,000 house would be worth over $500,000.”
• Almaguer, who was raised in Bellaire and who returned to “pay 100 times what my dad paid” to buy her family home: “It’s a wonderful problem to have,” she said of the city’s growing property values, while pledging to “lower (tax) rates when we can.”
• Montague’s concerns that, contrary to the city’s comprehensive plan, housing doesn’t currently “accommodate the full range of the population – we’re pricing (seniors and) a lot of young professionals out of the market.”

The forum was coordinated by city watchdog Lynn McBee and facilitated by Margo Kendrick, both veteran organizers of the event that has come to be an integral part of Bellaire’s small town traditions.
It’s been updated, though. A city videographer recorded the forum, which will be available 24/7 on the city’s website at www.bellairetx.gov starting Friday, and will be broadcast daily at 11 a.m. on the city’s municipal channel, available to Comcast subscribers on channel 16.
Early voting begins Oct. 19, with election day Nov. 3.
For more on voting and the candidates, read your new Bellaire Essentials magazine, being delivered to homes starting Friday.