In a Feb. 1 vote at its bi-month meeting, the council, by a 3-2 vote, agreed to consider to agenda item on Feb. 15 that would allow this year's Position 3 and Mayoral candidates to accept $1,500 more in political contributions.

Derek Townsend, Bill Webb and Mark Stoll each agreed to put on the Feb. 15 agenda an ordinance that would increase single contributions a candidate can accept from $1,000 to $2,500. Webb, along with Mayor Gretchen Fagan, are both up for re-election this year.

Feb. 8 marked the first day candidates can file for a place on the ballot, but two city residents have already announced their intentions of running. ChristBridge Pastor Rick Brown will oppose Webb, while Judith Wilson has filed forms to appoint a campaign treasurer in the race for City Mayor.

Following the 2007 election in which the same two positions were up for vote, the city council passed an ordinance to limit single campaign contributions to $1,000 after the five candidates in the running raised more than $80,000.

"I think they (the 2007 council) thought that was a little excessive," Fagan said at the Feb. 1 meeting.

At the time, there was no limit on campaign contributions.

Townsend and Stoll sponsored the agenda item.

"The money you spend on a campaign has gone up," Townsend send. "I'm not opposed to having a cap on it. $2,500 is not unreasonable."

Stoll said he was not of the opinion that "whoever raises the most money gets elected."

"Just because someone receives more money doesn't mean they're going to win," he said.

Councilmen Warren Driver and David Quinn, both of whom opposed the plan, said they believed increased campaign contributions would discourage citizens from running for office.

"It discourages folks from running," Quinn said. "Some of these expenses are way out of hand."

"This is not a good thing for Tomball," Driver added. "It smells a little. Its going to lead to the choices we don't want."

Applicants have until March 8 to file for a place on the ballot.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed