Thursday evening’s League of Women Voters Denton City Council candidate forum featured plenty of back-and-forth between the six hopefuls, with campaign finance and the city’s recently-passed non-discrimination ordinance among the most heated topics.
Thursday’s forum, hosted by the League of Women Voters of Denton at City Hall, was the latest to give the six City Council candidates the chance to answer a myriad of questions, in this case submitted by attendees. All were in attendance, including Daniel Clanton and Brandon Chase McGee for Place 5, Amber Briggle and Chris Watts for Place 6 and Paul Meltzer and Gerard Hudspeth for Mayor.
Unlike some other forums, candidates weren’t vying for an endorsement this time around. League co-president Linnie McAdams said the organization is non-partisan, so it won’t be endorsing any of the candidates. McAdams moderated the two-hour event, which gave each candidate one minute per question, along with introductions and closing remarks.
Candidates went down the line for numerous submitted questions, including their visions for downtown Denton, addressing homelessness, dealing with climate change and increasing citizen engagement with government.
The candidates often worked their opponent into their answers by bringing up their viewpoints or past votes on certain issues. That was typically followed up by the candidate in question addressing whatever was leveled against them, using up some of their 60 seconds in the process.
Those jabs were thrown throughout the night, with campaign finance and the city’s recently passed non-discrimination ordinance spawning some of the most vivid answers. One of the questions asked candidates if office-holders who accept industry donations should be forced to recuse themselves when related decisions come before council.
That issue has come to the forefront in recent weeks, spearheaded by Mayor Pro Tem and Mayoral candidate Paul Meltzer. Tuesday, it led to campaign finance being brought up, including when Watts pointed out non-monetary contributions Meltzer made to Briggle — Watts’s opponent — and McGee.
“We’re up against some big dollars here and Denton’s a big city, so we’ve got to pool our resources together if we want to make an impact,” Briggle said. “I have not taken any PAC money. I’ve never taken any PAC money.”
McGee then referred to “the attack we just heard” as what happens when someone is “afraid to actually go out to the people and actually raise money on the phone.”
“I haven’t been bought,” McGee said. “Nobody owns me. … I know it’s hard, fundraising is challenging, but that’s how this thing should be done. It’s an honest and it’s a fair way to do this. Not just giving the money to yourself or taking the money from a few big wealthy donors.”
Another question asked candidates if they would uphold or repeal the city’s non-discrimination ordinance. Meltzer, Briggle and McGee outright supported it and Watts said he has no intent to repeal it because the city already made the decision. Hudspeth and Clanton did not give a definitive answer either way, though Hudspeth said he’s never filed a motion to reconsider.
“The problem I have is there’s no budget associated to it,” Hudspeth said. “Candidly, I’d like to have that conversation. … I just want to tell people how much it costs and let the citizens decide if they’re ok with that or not.”
After Hudspeth’s response but before Clanton’s, Briggle slammed both on the topic. She said Hudspeth didn’t say “a single thing” when he voted no on the ordinance, while Clanton shared on social media his endorsement by the Denton County Conservative Coalition. She listed some of the group’s ideals, suggesting the organization would oppose the ordinance.
“A group which rails against critical race theory, believes trans kids are being groomed and sexualized by their loving parents, believes that lynching should not be a federal hate crime,” Briggle said. “I don’t have much faith in [Hudspeth and Clanton].”
Clanton said the ordinance is “the law of the land here in Denton,” then said, “if it comes back up, that would be another discussion.”
“I’m not saying whether I would go for it or not go for it, because it happened before I got to council, and I can’t speak on it now,” Clanton said.
That response prompted a few attendees to shout that Clanton didn’t answer the question, but they were quickly quieted down by McAdams.
The League will also be hosting a forum for Denton ISD school board candidates. That will be held Tuesday at DISD’s Stephens Central Administration Building, 1307 N. Locust St.
Briggle had her turn next and responded directly, saying she wrote a check to Meltzer as well. She also cited the several hundred individual donors she’s reported to date, and said her campaign is “true grassroots.”
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