Coppell Chronicle Vol. 3, No. 10

Endorsements Made from Hither and Yon • Candidates Detail Spending (or Lack Thereof) • Coppell Officials Closely Tracking Legislation • City to Seek Easements on Plantation

I spent most of Saturday hanging out in the Town Center parking lot, because early voters are my target audience for this newsletter. Just for giggles, I brought a couple of vintage signs touting my own 2018 campaign for a school board seat and posted them among the current signs.

My friendly neighborhood financial advisor, Jack Carpenter, happened to be driving by, so he pulled into the lot to ask if I was a write-in candidate. “More like a writin’ candidate,” I replied. Hilarity ensued.

I received a grand total of 758 votes in that 2018 election. Meanwhile, as of this morning, the Chronicle has 734 paid subscribers. I need only 24 more to achieve a personally significant milestone.

OK, that’s far more than enough about me. Let’s get to the people who are really running for office this time around.

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Endorsements Made from Hither and Yon

“Politics makes strange bedfellows” is a truism that certainly applies to this year’s Coppell ISD elections. Five years after they faced off in a knock-down, drag-out campaign, Tracy Fisher and Ron Hansen are politically aligned. Both have endorsed the Place 5 candidacy of Julie Waters.

Fisher made her endorsement explicit on Friday morning — after four full days of early voting — in a Facebook post that said several things about Waters, including that she is “actively engaged in our schools,” “a perfect combination of caring & tough,” and “a lot like me.” Later that day, Fisher said she supports all four propositions in Coppell ISD’s $321.5 million bond package, proving that she and Hansen still disagree on at least four things.

On Wednesday, Hansen — who unsuccessfully challenged Fisher in 2018, after unsuccessfully challenging Thom Hulme in 2017, after unsuccessfully challenging Anthony Hill in 2016 — urged people to vote against all four bond propositions. He also urged voters to support Waters, Place 4 candidate Jonathan Powers, and City Council candidate Ramesh Premkumar. Because three names might be too many for his followers to recall, Hansen offered a memory aid that’s more moronic than mnemonic: “Water, Power, and Ramesh Noodles.”

(Hansen posted his endorsements in a Facebook group called “Coppell ISD Concerned Parents and Taxpayers,” which he administers along with Ginger Russell, a resident of Magnolia ISD in suburban Houston. Russell’s concerns are wide-ranging, as she also administers Facebook groups for “concerned parents” of Tomball ISD in her neck of the woods, of Comal ISD near San Antonio, and of Garland ISD here in Dallas County. I could probably find plenty more examples of Russell’s online activism, but I’ve already expended enough time and energy concerning myself with her misadventures in the land of likes and shares.)

Hansen’s recommendations were labeled “Coppell Voters Guide 2023.” Meanwhile, a website with an almost identical name (“Coppell Voter Guide”) offers an endorsement for Coppell ISD Board President David Caviness, who has occupied the Place 5 seat since 2017. That website also endorses Ranna Raval for the Place 4 seat and Jim Walker in Coppell’s lone City Council race, and it urges passage of all four Coppell ISD bond propositions.

Poke around on that website enough, and you’ll find that its endorsements were “developed by a broad cross-section of your neighbors led by long-term residents and those new to the community, representing all demographics of our town. Contributors include [former Coppell Mayor] Karen Hunt, Kim Mobley, and Kristi Valentine, as well as other residents of Coppell and Coppell ISD.” The site also includes this statement: “We do not raise funds for candidates, make campaign donations, or issue ‘scorecards,’ and we are not a PAC.”

They may not be a political action committee, but Yes! Committed to Our Schools is. The pro-bond PAC has been sharing lists of people who endorse passage of all four Coppell ISD propositions.

That list includes Raval, Powers (whose first name is misspelled), and the third Place 4 candidate, Samit Patel, as well as Caviness, but not Waters. During last Monday’s forum at the Coppell Senior and Community Center, Waters was asked about the bond election.

“I am not anti-bond. You know, there are good parts to the bond,” she said. “But, really, what I want to focus on are the differences — just like I do with my kids — between wants and needs. This bond is 321 million dollars. There is no new school building attached to it. So you really have to ask yourself, what is going into this bond? What is worth 321 million dollars? Is it wants, or is it needs?”

(If you’re still asking yourself what is going into this bond, then you must have missed “Bonds’ Fate Now Lies With Voters” in last week’s Chronicle.)

You may want to say “to heck with these endorsements” and make your own decisions. If so, the candidates will be happy to chat you up in the Town Center parking lot during early voting, which is happening until 6 p.m. today and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday. Election Day is Saturday, when the polls will be open from 7 to 7.

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Candidates Detail Spending (or Lack Thereof)

Local candidates and political action committees are required to turn in campaign finance reports 30 days and eight days before Election Day. I broke down the reports that were due on April 6 in the April 9 edition. Let’s dive into the reports that were due Friday.

Coppell City Council Place 1

Jim Walker’s report was easier to digest than the doughnut I gave him on Saturday morning; he reported no contributions and no expenses.

Ramesh Premkumar reported spending another $942. Demonstrating that he and Walker can find common ground, Premkumar purchased $301 worth of T-shirts from Marni G Designs. That Coppell-based business was mentioned on Walker’s 30-days-out report, which said he spent $2,636 there on signs, push cards, postcards, and door hangers.

Premukar reported a $100 contribution from Siva Rumala of Coppell and a $2,000 contribution from “IMPACT” in Houston. At first, I thought this might have been a refund on the ad he bought in Community Impact, the only newspaper advertising purchased by any Coppell candidates this year. Premkumar explained that Impact, also known as Indian American Impact, is an organization that supports candidates of South Asian descent. “They put you through a rigorous process to make sure you are running to represent all communities,” he said.

Coppell ISD Board of Trustees Place 4

Jonathan Powers’ report was only slightly more complicated than Walker’s. Powers reported a single expense — $405 worth of flyers and postcards from Canva — that he paid for with personal funds. His report was turned in too late for immediate posting on Coppell ISD’s website, but he sent me a copy, so this is information you can’t find anywhere else! [Cue the Coppell Chronicle’s yet-to-be-composed jingle.]

Ranna Raval reported $319 worth of contributions, including $100 from Srini and Prashanthi Anumala and $100 from Eric McConnell, all of whom — like Raval — reside in the Irving portion of Coppell ISD. Raval’s only reported expense was a $3.23 fee for credit card processing.

Samit Patel reported no contributions and $1,483 worth of expenditures made by credit card, including $1,046 spent on signs and $195 spent on door hangers, all purchased from Imprint.com.

Coppell ISD Board of Trustees Place 5

Julie Waters reported $4,049.47 worth of contributions, but the vast majority of that amount ($3,749.47) came from Waters herself. She also received $200 from Shawn Hester of Coppell and $100 from Asher Ahmed of Coppell.

Waters reported spending $2,127, including $1,640 on signs. She also supported some Coppell restaurants by expensing food and beverages at Feng Cha, Hemingway Brunch, and Tea Latte Bar.

David Caviness’ report says he spent $4,057, but after a back-and-forth with the candidate, I figured out the actual total was $2,458. His fillable report counted a $1,599 purchase at Print Place twice because Caviness swiped his Chase card to buy postcards, then used political contributions to pay the bill a week later.

Speaking of contributions, Caviness reported $790 worth of them, including $500 from LeRoy Wilkerson of Coppell and a pair of $100 gifts from Quay Bratton of Coppell.

Yes! Committed to Our Schools

The pro-bond political action committee reported a single contribution of $50 from Lana Mayer of Coppell. The PAC also reported spending $2,324 (88 percent of which went to Super Cheap Signs), and all of those dollars were categorized as “expenditures made by credit card.”

The report did not disclose whose name is on that card (or cards). I emailed that question to PAC co-chairs Gaby Anene and Trudy Baade on Saturday. They had not yet responded by the time I published this edition.

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Coppell Officials Closely Tracking Legislation

Last week’s edition included an article called “Bill Would Make Coppell’s Lawsuit Moot.” The Coppell City Council received more details on that legislation, and the legislative process, during their meeting on Tuesday.

As I reported last week, state Rep. Morgan Meyer’s HB 5089 would shift sales taxes for online transactions from the seller’s city to the buyer’s city. This is the same desired effect of Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar’s Rule 3.334, a proposal that led Coppell and other warehouse-heavy cities to sue Hegar. The House Ways and Means Committee, which Meyer chairs, voted 10-1 to advance his bill to the Calendars Committee during a “formal meeting” on April 20.

“This is almost exactly the opposite of what it sounds like,” lobbyist Jennifer Rodriguez told the City Council on Tuesday. “In a ‘formal meeting,’ the committee meets in a side room off the House or Senate chambers; they can meet at their desk during a break, or they can meet elsewhere in the Capitol. It’s an announced meeting, but you’ll see a lot of stakeholders or lobbyists literally running to the Capitol when it’s announced they’re going to meet, because this is when they take up pending business. There’s no public testimony allowed, and the meeting is not streamed or recorded.”

Next week will be key, Rodriguez said. If a general bill like HB 5089 has not been considered by the full House before midnight on May 11, then it’s effectively dead. “A bill could be revived as an amendment to another bill or if there’s a Senate companion that’s coming over,” Rodriguez said, but there is no Senate companion to Meyer’s bill, as far as I know.

Mayor Wes Mays and Deputy City Manager Kent Collins went to Austin on April 17 to testify against HB 5089. (Go to the 2:11:14 mark of this video to watch their testimony.) During Tuesday’s council meeting, Mays said Meyer mercilessly grilled Collins while not asking the mayor a single question. “It was kind of weird,” Mays said.

Even if Meyer’s bill doesn’t move forward, we can assume he’ll try again in two years, because he filed similar legislation in 2021. Texas House elections are on the ballot every other year, and Meyer has represented District 108 — which includes North Dallas, the Park Cities, Downtown Dallas, and a chunk of East Dallas — since 2014. Democrat Joanna Cattanach gave him a couple of scares when she secured 49.86 percent and 48.03 percent of the votes in 2018 and 2020, respectively. But Meyer had an easier time last year against Elizabeth Ginsberg, who was supported by 43.55 percent of voters.

Whichever Democrat challenges Meyer next year would be smart to solicit campaign funds in Coppell.

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City to Seek Easements on Plantation

Barbara Bailey has been upset for months, and the passage of time has not curbed her outrage.

As I wrote last July, Bailey believes the directional curb ramps that were installed along Plantation Drive, in an attempt to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), are dangerous to pedestrians and cyclists. (See “Compliant Corners Cause Complaints” in Vol. 2, No. 23.) Since I published that article, Bailey has spoken up at nine more City Council meetings, including the most recent one.

“I started coming to the City Council because I had a skull fracture when I was 15, and the recovery was long and painful, and I don’t want anybody else to get hurt, and these are trip hazards, and these return curbs are just flat-out dangerous,” she told the council on Tuesday.

Tuesday’s meeting also included a briefing by Kori Allen, the city’s ADA and Capital Programs Coordinator. As she did in July, Allen showed the council this graphic that illustrates the aspects of a compliant corner.

Allen said a registered accessibility specialist — Marty Mullins of TexasAbility — worked with the city during the installation of Plantation’s ramps and curbs, but the city retained another registered accessibility specialist — Ross Thomas of Accessology — to assess that work.

“As designed and constructed, the pedestrian elements located at Plantation Drive and Magnolia Drive, in Coppell, TX, meet or exceeds state and federal accessibility requirements,” Thomas wrote. He also told the council on Tuesday, “They’re the best and safest ramps that are designed today.”

Allen highlighted a new page on the city’s website that explains Coppell’s accessible intersections. She said such work has been completed in several locations around Coppell, but the only complaints have been about the directional curb ramps on Plantation.

Council Member Don Carroll said the potential trip hazards on Plantation could be highlighted by reflective tape or paint, but John Jun — who is, in this reporter’s opinion, the council member most eager to give squeaky wheels some grease — wanted to know how the corners on Plantation could be altered to alleviate Bailey’s concerns. Allen said some of the installations on Plantation were limited by the amount of land available to the city; making the curbs less of a trip hazard would require acquiring more land.

The council told Allen to approach Plantation homeowners about potentially acquiring easements, although Mark Hill pointed out that land purchases were not a factor when the costs of complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act were calculated.

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Chronicle Crumbs

• The Coppell ISD Education Foundation hosts an annual banquet to honor the top 5 percent of the senior classes at Coppell High School and New Tech High @ Coppell. Last Tuesday, I had the pleasure of attending one of these banquets for the first time. I was impressed by every student who appeared on stage — alongside an influential teacher of his or her choice — but I was gobsmacked when I learned that Blake Hawkins has written two books, one on quantum mechanics and another on Einstein’s general theory of relativity.

• As a proud sponsor of the Coppell High School baseball program, I’m happy to report that the varsity Cowboys secured a postseason berth by recording a pair of comeback wins over Plano East last week, improving their district record to 8-6. Coppell will open the playoffs against Denton Guyer, who won their district’s championship by going 13-1 in league play. Nobody has said when or where the game (or series) against Guyer will happen.

• On Tuesday, the Coppell City Council unanimously voted to give City Manager Mike Land a 3 percent raise “for cola and merit,” according to the motion made by Kevin Nevels. I briefly wondered what soda pop had to do with anything before I realized that COLA is an abbreviation for “cost-of-living adjustment.” Land also received a one-year extension on his contract, which now runs through Sept. 30, 2025.

• Way back in Vol. 1, No. 37, I showed you concept art for “Sands of Time,” a sculpture commissioned by the developers building a pair of hotels at Sandy Lake Road and State Highway 121. The piece by Brad Oldham and Christy Coltrin has been placed along Sandy Lake at Royal Lane.

• Charleys Cheesesteaks is expanding to Lewisville, specifically to the space on Round Grove Road formerly occupied by Helen’s Hot Chicken, according to a form filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

• In Vol. 2, No. 52, I reported that DART was about to begin placing its elevated Silver Line tracks above South Belt Line Road. That project still hasn’t begun. Last Tuesday, the City of Coppell said the work was finally going to happen on Friday night, but the severe weather ruined those plans. The latest update is that DART will try again this Friday, which means the north end of South Belt Line will be closed overnight. But what do you care? You’re so smart that you stopped driving on South Belt Line months ago, right?

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Community Calendar

Rotary Club of Coppell meeting: Speaking of the Silver Line, DART spokesman Robert Sullivan will be the featured speaker when Coppell Rotarians get together at 6 p.m. on Thursday at 8840 Cypress Waters Blvd., Suite 130. The public is invited to attend. Park in the back, and enter the door with the Rotary emblem.

Old Town Anniversary: Lawn games, food trucks, and a performance by the band SMITH will draw residents to Old Town between 7 and 9 p.m. on Friday.

Health & Wellness Expo: You might expect this event — which is scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday at the Coppell Arts Center — to include fitness classes, stretching sessions, and chair massages. What you might not expect is the opportunity to compete in a firetruck pull with a few of your friends.

Caregiving Heroes: The support group for people who are assisting loved ones with aging or other concerns will host its monthly meeting at 10 a.m. on Saturday in the library of Coppell’s First United Methodist Church.

Meet Your Neighbor — Discussions on Faith: Panelists will discuss their faiths and beliefs and answer questions from a moderator between 2 and 3:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Cozby Library and Community Commons.

Muse — A Concert Inspired by Art & Artists: Inspiration and imagination will be key elements of the Coppell Community Orchestra’s performance at 3 p.m. on May 7 at the Coppell Arts Center.

Inked Fingerprinting Services: Because some companies still require ink fingerprints as a part of their hiring practices, the Citizen’s Police Academy Alumni Association of Coppell will start offering this service on May 9. They’ll be in the lobby of the Coppell Police Department between 5 and 6:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesdays. The cost will be either $10 or $15, depending on whether customers provide their own cards. Payments will be accepted via cash or check only.

Four Day Weekend: The acclaimed improv comedy troupe will be at the Coppell Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. on May 11. Other shows are scheduled for June 8 and July 13.

Coppell Cowgirls Sand Volleyball Tournament: Middle and high school students are invited to form teams of eight to 10 players for the 21st annual tournament, which is scheduled for the evening of May 12.

Run to Fund: The Coppell ISD Education Foundation’s annual fundraiser, which features a 5K race and a 1-mile fun run, is scheduled for May 13 at Andrew Brown Park East. The prices go up tomorrow, so register today.

Coppell 5K: The annual race benefiting Coppell’s Special Olympics teams is scheduled for June 3 at Andrew Brown Park East.