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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1970 Mayor Anderson Announces Bid for Re-electionTHE DAILY EAGLE— SECTION A Page 4 Bryan - CollegetSation, Texas Sunday, February 22, 1970 Council Election Call Slated The Collage Station City Coun• cil will consider an ordinance calling for a general municipal election for mayor and three council posts during a regular meeting at 7 p.m. Monday. The three councilmen whose terms are expiring this year are C. H. Ransdell, 0. M. Holt, mayor pro -tem, and James H. Dozier. The ordinance calls for the meeting to be held on April 7, and will fix the time, place and manner of holding the election and appointing the judges and clerks. The council also will consid. er an ordinance fixing and de- termining the general service rate for nautral ga3 to ,residen. tial and commercial consumers. Five public hearings for re- oning will be held. The coun- in CS cil will consider the respective ordinances for rezoning follow- ing the public hearings. The other ordinance under consideration amends t h plumbing code and provides for mobile home parks. The council also will consid- er an agreement with the Tex- as Highway Department in con- nection with the extension of FM 60 from State Highway 6_to the East Loop. An agreement with the A&M Consolidated School District for erection, of a baseball practice field for Little League at South Knoll Elementary School will be considered. Discussions will be held con- cerning a taxi ordinance, and the process for naming a street in the newly annexed area along. State Highway 6. MAYOR ANDERSON �6 ANNOUNCE BID ID � FOR RE ELECTION D.A. "Andy" Anderson announced Saturday that he will be a candidate for re- election to the office of mayor, City of College Station, in the city elec- tion to be held on April 7, I take this step, the mayor said, in response to many requests re- ceived from citizens that I be a candidate. "While my views on the immediate and long range needs of the city are known to many, I shall relate them in the days ahead so that all can be informed ", Anderson re- lated. Workable program status with subsequent action on housing, re- solving of the critical sewage disposal matter, specific action on city streets and thorough fares, personnel eval- uation and action thereon for greater efficiency in city government, aquis- ition of and operation of a land fill area are but a few of the pertinentneeds now facing our city, Mayor Anderson contin- ued. Of importance in what- ever is done, the mayor said, is fiscal responsib- ility. To this end I pledge my support. I believe my past two terms as mayor will bear out a record of perfor- mance at minimal cost, he said. I am, he con- tinued, for College Stat- ion in all that I do, Anderson formerly served three terms as city councilman, two years on the planning and zoning commission, and two terms as mayor. 2 CS Council Members Seek Re- Election College Station City Manager Ran Boswell told the Eagle Friday that City Council members James H. Dozier and C. H. Ransddll had filed for re- election. He added that they were the only incumbents who have filed for re- election so far. O t h e r incumbents whose terms expire this year are 0. M. Holt, mayor pro -tem, and Mayor D. A. (Andy) Anderson. Holt said at last Monday's council meeting that he was in no position to say tVhether he would run for re- election or not. Anderson said he would release a statement later. The election was set for April 7 by the council during their last meeting. The council also set next Friday as the last date for filing, March 17 as the first day for absentee voting, and April 3 as the last day for ab- sentee voting. Boswell said everyone will vote on all three council posts and for mayor. "This means the councilmen and mayor are elected at large," Boswell said. Anderson announced early Saturday that he will seek his third term as mayor. "While my views on the immediate and long range needs of the city are known by many, I shall relate them in the days ahead so that all can be informed," Anderson said in a press release. Anderson formerly served three terms as city councilman, two years on the Planning and Zoning Commission, and two berms as mayor. ` Money, Improve; Issuer in CS Cou ci Race ent Policies By Bob Robinson Battalion Staff Writer Candidates for the only con- tested seat in the Tuesday College Station City Council election dis- agree on the handling of finances, as well as the present "pay as you go" policy for city improve= ments. In separate interviews with The Battalion Thursday Mrs. Mary Bryan called the "pay as you go" policy ineffective, while Dr. Cecil B. Ryan supported it. Both are seeking the seat vacated by councilman O. M. Holt, who is not running for re- election. Councilmen James H. Dozier and Dr. C. H. Ransdell, as well as Mayor D. A. Anderson, will also be on the ballot Tuesday for re- election, but the positions are uncontested. Ryan, associate professor in Texas A &M's Poultry Science De- partment and 14 -year resident of College Station, said he's always been interested in civic affairs and "feel its my duty to partici- pate." Ryan said he wants sound zon- ing for the community and under- stands the c o u n c i I studying a proposal for both zoning and subdivision ordinances, which he supports. He also said he's in favor of the "pay as you go" policy pres- ently used by the city in financ- ing its developments and street improvements. Under this policy, a petition must be signed by 60 per cent of the property owners on a street requesting the city to pave it. It is done at the cost of about .$4 a foot to each property owner, with the city paying the rest. The same type of policy is used to put in sidewalks along a thoroughfare, only the Petition has to be signed by 100 per cent of the property owners. Ryan said College Station's de- velopment must be in line with its income. "You can't have instantaneous development," he said. "If the money is spent in an orderly fash- ion and developments completed as the funds are available, the city's financial structure stays in line." When a city gets into financia trouble, he said, taxes go up an people start moving out. "Right now," he added, "tax are in line with the services re ceived." (See CS Council, page 3) CS Council Race (Continued from page 1) Another point Ryan mentioned was traffic safety. He said one of the things_ he wants to do was en- courage the citizens to look for visual obstructions at intersec- 0ions, such as shrubbery and trees, that may cause hazardous driving. He also said additional traffic controls are needed in some areas to handle increased f ?ow of traf- fic to and from the A&M campus daily. He said he wants to develop a large park for the community, with nature trails, a youth build- ing as well as a lake and other facilities. Mrs. Bryan, wife of associate physics Ronald Bryan, has been a resident of the community al- most three years. Mrs. Bryan divided the topics she is concerned with into two major areas, the future growth of the city and present problems in the city's neighborhoods. She said that it is important the city use the plans available in the application of zoning and sub - division ordinances. The city paid to have a zoning ordinance planned over two years, she said, and then let it sit. She added that there is a "feeble" effort to review it, but more than half of the area presently ioried has been done within this period of time. She stressed the fact that Col- lege Station is presently an un- spoiled environment but because of the city's growth rate, a deci- sion will have to be made soon on how the city will grow. "I would stop zoning and issu- ing construction permits until I got the ordinance passed," she said. She said the sub - division ordi- nance is necessary because it forces the contractors and sub- contractors to include sidewalks, parking facilities, parklands and other improvements in their de- velopments. Mrs. Bryan said she thinks the "pay as you go" plan isn't work- ing and is one of the reasons for the city's present problems. "We need paving," she said. "The overall street plan is incon- venient. Major arteries don't cut through, they just stop. And there's a gross.1ack of young peo- ple's recreational areas." Under the present policy, she said, needed sidewalks for the safety of children can only be built with signatures from 100 per cent of the property owners. But some property in each block is held by absentee landlords as well as people who can't pay the assessment, she noted. "You consider the alternatives," she said. "You may issue a bond, or possibly use money within the city's revenue to do these things." She quoted the approximate cost of putting in a sidewalk as between 50 cents and $2 a front foot. "These are minor assessments and can be solved," she said. "It's just got to be done. So far the sidewalk problem has been char- acterized by poor planning and improper procedure." Mrs. Bryan also gave housing as a major problem that should be solved. "Close to half of the student and non - student population has poor housing facilities and it's a problem about which the city can do something," she said. "The city can get the documents together showing a workable zoning ordi- nance, street and utilities plan, and show suitable building codes and a need for housing to get federal help." With this, the city can request workable program status and be- come eligible for federal funds, she said. "But we ought to do this and get on with it," she said. Mayor Ande College Sta I am honored by being re- elected to a two -year term,'as Mayor, City of College Station. I 'real- ize that the office of May- or is the highest its cit- izens can bestow on any person, and I accept it with deepest humility and with a desire to be of ser- vice to all citizens. Needless to say, I am most appreciative of the confidence of the people as expressed in the el- ection. rson Thanks tion Citizens The problems of our city are many and var- ied, but I know that the City Council will work harmoniously together toward finding solutions to them, including those of a priority nature, keep- ing in mind fiscal respon- sibility. I pledge to all citiz- ens that I will work for the advancement of our city in all areas, for the benefit of all people.