The Eagle Recommendations: College Station Council

Eagle Editorial Board

Six people, including two incumbents and four political newcomers, are vying for two seats on the College Station City Council. There are many issues, from a nearly-complete comprehensive plan to growth, from a proposed convention center to a city hall rejected last fall by voters but still touted by some council members.


Place 4

Douglas Cummings vs. Councilwoman Lynn McIl-haney vs. Katy-Marie Lyles -- McIlhaney has ably served the people of College Station as council member or mayor for 22 of the past 27 years. She now is seeking another two-year term -- her last in Place 4 under the city's term-limitation policy. She points to her vast experience, saying she knows what questions to ask about issues coming before the council. McIlhaney said she is particularly eager to finish work on the city's new comprehensive plan that is expected to be completed in two to three months. She said the plan will span other plans such as business plans and implementation plans and will "set the stage for the community for the next 10 to 15 years." McIlhaney long has been a proponent of a convention center, which the city has been trying to build for close to two decades, saying it is important to grow the city's tourism industry. But, she said, the public needs to support a convention center and she would be willing to take the issue before the voters in a referendum. McIlhaney favors what she calls the city's present "conservative approach" to annexing land.

Cummings came to Texas A&M in the summer of 2000, leaving for a time to live in Japan before returning in the summer of 2004. He said he has a keen interest in politics, but noted that he made the decision to seek a council seat in a spur-of-the-moment decision. Cummings calls for more responsible growth for the city, preferring higher-density development with good public transportation to lessen dependence on automobiles rather than sprawl. He said the city could use a convention center to draw in outside dollars, but may not really need one. He said the city has outgrown its current city hall and it makes sense to build a new one on the originally proposed Krenek Tap Road site. He favors creating single-member council districts similar to those in Bryan. He said the city should annex land even if it doesn't intend to provide all city services such as water, sewer lines and city streets.

Lyles has lived in the community for seven years and is a bright and energetic person with a good understanding of various issues that come before the council. Director of college ministries at A&M United Methodist Church, Lyles says the city hasn't considered the faith communities at Northgate in its efforts to continue gentrification of that area. She believes some people on the council and city staff want the land her church sits on for commercial development. If the city pursues its quest for a convention center, Lyles said, it should go to the voters for approval to spend the money. She also said the voters turned down a plan for a new city hall and before it considers going forward at any location, it should go back to the voters. Lyles opposes annexing land that the city cannot or will not support with a full range of city services.

McIlhaney has served the people of College Station well and with distinction for nearly a quarter century. No doubt she would continue to do so. It is time, however, to shuffle the deck and bring new blood onto the council. It is time for the council to re-establish its authority over the staff instead of letting the staff manage the council. It is time to end the council- and staff-generated hostility to the city of Bryan. We are all members of this community, and the acrimony and bickering serves none of us well.

At 26, Lyles is 30 years and more younger than the current council members and would be only the second council member to live within the Earl Rudder Freeway-Harvey Mitchell Park-way area, the core of the city. She is young, she is energetic and we feel that she would be willing to ask tough questions of the staff and stand strong for her positions.

The Eagle recommends a vote for Katy-Marie Lyles for Place 4 on the College Station City Council.

Place 6

Clif Eggers vs. Council-man Dave Ruesink vs. Chandler Salome -- Some of the candidates are slyly referring to Ruesink's 75 years as an indication that he is too old to serve on the council. In his first term, however, Ruesink has shown himself to be more than up to the challenge of the job. He said he has pushed city staff members for alternatives to their proposals, including costs and consequences of what they want to do and who will be affected by the project. He said the council should be willing to consider any empty space in the city as a possible city hall annex before trying again to build a new city hall. He says the city isn't against the faith-based facilities in the Northgate area in its efforts to widen streets. He said he would prefer leaving the sidewalks as they are and overlaying the area streets at their current width.

Although he was born in Bryan, Eggers grew up in the Woodlands. A veteran of the U.S. Navy, he has taught shipboard fire safety with the Texas Engineering Extension Service for the past three years. He said he and others in the city are unhappy with the shear number of ordinances passed in the past by the city council three years. Eggers owns a duplex and was angered by the city's new landlord-registration ordinance. He favors building taller buildings, rather than constantly moving the city limits outward. He said the city is in a good position to make compromises in the Northgate area. He said the intentions of city staff are good, but sometimes they listen to the wrong people. He opposes the convention center, saying people are tired of paying for things they don't want.

Salome completes his service in the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets in May, but will remain at A&M until he graduates in December 2010. After that, he said, he is not planning on moving or quitting his seat on the council if selected. He said there is a rift between Aggie students and the more permanent residents of the community, in part because the council doesn't talk to students. He says he favors creating neighborhoods in which students could live, but banning students from other neighborhoods. He said North-gate will always be a student area and the city should stop trying to make it into the downtown it doesn't have. He said the city should wait until the economy gets better before pursuing a convention center, and when it does, it should go to the voters for approval. Eventually, Salo-me said, the city should go forward with plans for a new city hall, but not now.

While we think it is time for some new blood on the College Station, neither Eggers nor Salome seem quite ready to take a seat. Ruesink in his three years on the council has shown himself to be a good councilman, inquisitive and willing to look beyond the answers given for the information he needs to make a decision.

The Eagle recommends a vote for Dave Ruesink for Place 6 on the College Station City Council.