SUNDAY: West U candidates’ debate will require straight talk
In what will surely be the campaign event of West U’s political season, the three mayoral candidates and the eight city council will congregate at the West University Place Community Center on Sunday, April 23, at 6 pm.
There will be no “Gotcha” questions. All candidates will receive each question by 5 pm on April 22. No political hyperbole will be allowed, if the candidates waiver into irrelevant political rhetoric, they will be GONGED.
“I get nauseated when I hear political debates,” said West University Essentials Publisher George Boehme, “Because they don’t answer the questions. These candidates will get the questions in advance, so I will expect clear and concise answers.” Time limits will be strictly enforced.
You can send suggested questions up until 5 pm on Friday, May 21. Send them to [email protected].
We intend to pack 18 hours of information in two 45-minute segments — one for the eight city council candidates, the other for the three mayor hopefuls.
Every other May, West University Place residents choose five of their neighbors to be mayor and city 
councilors. And those jobs only have one statutory responsibility – they must adopt an annual budget that spends their neighbors’ tax monies . Sound simple? It is simple, but it is not easy.
The three applicants for mayor are current Mayor Susan Sample, Sonny Brandtner and Greg Micek. For City Council, there are eight candidates vying for four positions. You can vote for up to four.
For City Council, there are eight candidates vying for four positions. You can vote for up to four.
They are Councilmember Burt Ballanfant, Councilmember Mardi Turner, Kellye Burke, Dick Yehle, Wayne Franklin, Michael Kaplan, Bruce Beneke, and Bob Higley.
The five survivors will take office in June.
George Boehme is the publisher of InstantNewsWestU.com and West University Essentials magazine.
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I am not expecting honesty from those in office. The current mayor is campaigning on monitoring expenditures. She didn’t look at the fee increases at the budget workshop, yet approved them! The mayor states she encourages input from citizens. If so, why did she refuse to let a long term senior citizens speak at a council meeting? Why did she wait years to address flooding, but doesn’t attend flood control meetings? Why does she wait to “Account for Every Dollar Spent”? She talks of services, but refuses services to select disabled citizens. Why should anyone vote for a mayor who clearly is NOT abiding by the will of the people, ALL the people!
The last election was easy for her as no one ran against her. Now we have 2 great candidates. One, Sonny Brandtner intends to use his talents to lower property taxes, improve crime prevention, and increase city services.
Greg Micek wants to improve public safety and create economic independence. His ethical leadership and strong moral compass will help guide our community into the future.
I hope the citizens realize the need to change mayors. Anyone who has attended a city council meeting has seen the mayor’s uncivilized behavior. Maybe the police chief should tell her SHE can’t have services unless SHE apologizes?
It must be easy to misstate facts when you are ashamed to put your name to them. Susan Sample has 6 years of service on City Council and ran unopposed because no one chose to run against her. She did an admirable job in a very difficult situation. Susan is the only mayoral candidate qualified to serve as the next Mayor of West U.
Your inexperience and lack of judgment is evident by your assertion that a candidate “has talents to lower property taxes, improve crime prevention, and increase city services.” Can you name any elected official in any office who had or has those “talents”?
George – any chance there is a recording of the event? Most phones and ipads do 4k video and can easily be posted (happy to help if needed).
yes
I hope you’re going to ask them about their opinion on having trash cans versus putting trash bags out. Seems to always fire up the West U crowd.
And also the BS about how speed bumps are not allowed “because firefighting trucks cannot get through”. Add in the non-enforced “parking across the driveway” violations for a trifecta!
Why in the world would anyone want speed bumps? They are a nuisance!