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Candidates

Matt Irvine
Birdia Johnson
Vicki Byrd

Issues
1. Energy efficiency, weatherization, and resilience
2. Mitigating human-caused climate change
3. Renewable energy and protecting against winter storm price gouging
4. Expanding recycling and food composting access
5. Regional park at the former Gibbons Creek mine lands

Survey Responses

1. Energy efficiency, weatherization, and resilience

Question: Weatherizing homes and buildings to be more energy efficient can make our neighborhoods more resilient against inclement weather, reduce pollution that harms our health, and save residents money on utility bills. Increased energy efficiency could also help prevent future outages from severe weather. Do you support creating municipal policies that will hold our commercial and residential buildings to the highest energy and water efficiency standards and increase weatherization in order to eliminate climate and air pollution impacts from buildings? 

Question: As a Council Member, how would you work to help increase weatherization and energy efficiency in the community, especially for lower-income residents and people impacted by the February winter storm?

Matt Irvine:
Currently the city offers grants for solar and energy efficiency upgrades. The funding could be increased, and an information campaign could be launched to inform residents (specifically) of lower-income areas about these grants and assist in filling out the required paperwork to win the grant.

Birdia Johnson:
No response.

Vicki Byrd:
Team up with foundations that favor high environmental practices and connect it to the needs of the community.

2. Mitigating human-caused climate change

Question: Do you believe the City of Denton should prioritize solutions to mitigate human-caused climate change and make Denton more resilient against the impacts of climate change and inclement weather?

Question: What will you do to reduce climate emissions in Denton and to make the city more resilient, such as investing in local community solar or weatherizing power plants, against the effects of climate change and extreme weather?

Matt Irvine:
With the recent winter storm, it is clear that Denton seemed okay, but due to ERCOT demand we had to shed load. We need to find a way forward with a better deal with ERCOT, or ditch ERCOT by going solo or connecting to the national grid.

Birdia Johnson:
No response.

Vicki Byrd:
Work with City Administrators to analyze the highest producers and propose grants to assist those producers to execute a plan of action for relief.

3. Renewable energy and protecting against winter storm price gouging

Question: Will you ensure Denton keeps its commitment to using 100% renewable energy (wind, solar, and battery storage) and reducing our reliance on fossil fuels for energy and heating?

Question: Denton Municipal Electric paid over $200 million to ERCOT due to price gouging during the February winter storm while many residents were without power or potable water. What will you do to protect DME ratepayers from excessive charges from the February storm?

Matt Irvine:
I support the DME lawsuit against ERCOT to prevent the additional uplift charges. Unfortunately to my understanding, the city has already paid the $200 million. Going forward, we in Denton cannot be good stewards of our electrical investment and management while other cities and operators fail to invest in theirs to only allow ERCOT to dictate to us to shed load to cover other areas. Its an unfair burden to the citizens of Denton.

Birdia Johnson:
No response.

Vicki Byrd:
One possible notion is to set up a fund to assist homeowners up to 200.00 to cover excessive billing during that time.

4. Expanding recycling and food composting access

Question: Hundreds of Denton residents have written to the City Council in support of policies that would reduce solid waste by expanding recycling access and addressing food waste. Do you support creating solutions that would bring universal access to recycling and food composting to businesses and residences? 

Question: How will you work to ensure that the city reduces its solid waste and increase recycling access over the long term?

Matt Irvine:
Unfortunately, only so much ever gets recycled. While I’m not opposed to expanded recycling and food composting access, I think it would be wiser to streamline what we do recycle, and invest in a waste-to-energy facility with a top of the line filter system. This adds to our energy portfolio, and reduces the need to keep expanding our landfill.

Birdia Johnson:
No response.

Vicki Byrd:
I will rely on previous attempts to increase recycling efforts to see if it is a viable plan to restart the program.

5. Regional park at the former Gibbons Creek mine lands

Question: Will you support the creation of a regional park at the Gibbons Creek former mine lands that protects Texas wildlife and history while promoting local economic development and healthier communities?

Question: Additional comments you may have on question 5

Matt Irvine:
With it being decommissioned, we need to find a good partner to offload this to. Due to it’s distance from Denton, Denton residents won’t get to enjoy it, so we should make sure who looks over what comes next for the area are good stewards of it.

Birdia Johnson:
No response.

Vicki Byrd:
Can you eat the fish from the lake?

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Candidates

Connie Baker
Daniel Clanton
Brian Beck

Issues
1. Energy efficiency, weatherization, and resilience
2. Mitigating human-caused climate change
3. Renewable energy and protecting against winter storm price gouging
4. Expanding recycling and food composting access
5. Regional park at the former Gibbons Creek mine lands

Survey Responses

1. Energy efficiency, weatherization, and resilience

Question: Weatherizing homes and buildings to be more energy efficient can make our neighborhoods more resilient against inclement weather, reduce pollution that harms our health, and save residents money on utility bills. Increased energy efficiency could also help prevent future outages from severe weather. Do you support creating municipal policies that will hold our commercial and residential buildings to the highest energy and water efficiency standards and increase weatherization in order to eliminate climate and air pollution impacts from buildings? 

Question: As a Council Member, how would you work to help increase weatherization and energy efficiency in the community, especially for lower-income residents and people impacted by the February winter storm?

Connie Baker:
I support taking better advantage of our municipal utilities free GreenSense program for energy. I think DME can look into taking that program to a higher level by being proactive. We could also explore options to partner with those willing and able to actually provide home efficiency improvements by helping people recoup those up-front costs over time with the energy savings.

Daniel Clanton:
No response.

Brian Beck:
The City of Denton’s Sustainability department recently updated their comprehensive Sustainability framework to include STAR & LEED energy conservation criteria. This along with the existing GSEER rebate and Education, Outreach, and Training offerings in schools and community events offer the most direct path into increasing residential household weatherization. More broadly, the recent Winter storms demonstrated how susceptible Denton is to so-called “single points of failure” that cascade into large and unfortunate consequences. I would press both DME and Water/Waste-water departments to finalize audits underway. The fact that these audits have already identified “pain points” that need to be fixed suggests that we likely need to audit more often.

2. Mitigating human-caused climate change

Question: Do you believe the City of Denton should prioritize solutions to mitigate human-caused climate change and make Denton more resilient against the impacts of climate change and inclement weather?

Question: What will you do to reduce climate emissions in Denton and to make the city more resilient, such as investing in local community solar or weatherizing power plants, against the effects of climate change and extreme weather?

Connie Baker:
Denton needs to recommit to maximizing use of renewables by the City, individuals, and businesses with solar and other partnerships. At the same time, we all need to realize that energy reliability must be the top priority. This includes implementing proper safeguards from weather disasters as best we can without pricing power too high.

Daniel Clanton:
No response.

Brian Beck:
Three areas I would like to explore with DME, the Sustainability office, and Development & Planning are : (1) micro-solar generation both (a) on residential rooftops as is already being done through the rebate program [which, by the way, should be maintained or increased] but also (b) on large surface area commercial rooftops like the mall or warehouses. The potential to continually migrate from fossil fuel sources towards more and more local rooftop generation without requiring additional land-use footprints is particularly exciting. I would also like to explore (2) roof top and vertical green spaces and vertical wall-gardens that not only substantially reduce cooling needs and help absorb carbon emissions, but also simply look beautiful and make Denton a more appealing place to live. (3) A focus on developing urban green-spaces will also go along with focusing the public and developers on maintaining and sustaining our existing natural riparian and upland habitat corridors and green-rights-of-way throughout the city.

3. Renewable energy and protecting against winter storm price gouging

Question: Will you ensure Denton keeps its commitment to using 100% renewable energy (wind, solar, and battery storage) and reducing our reliance on fossil fuels for energy and heating?

Question: Denton Municipal Electric paid over $200 million to ERCOT due to price gouging during the February winter storm while many residents were without power or potable water. What will you do to protect DME ratepayers from excessive charges from the February storm?

Connie Baker:
The City had a choice to roll or turn of electricity. We elected to roll in order to keep the citizens safer. We will most likely have an increase, but are trying to ease this over time so our citizens will not be overcharged all at once. I am one of seven Council Members and we work together to make better decisions for our community.

Daniel Clanton:
No response.

Brian Beck:
I completely agree with and support Denton’s lawsuit to prevent so-called “uplift” charges from ERCOT, but this will only go to mitigate additional charges to ratepayers. While a bit of a long-shot considering Texas’ overly favorable treatment of energy producers, in order to mitigate some of the already paid charges, I would support Denton joining with other cities in the Texas Municipal League (TML) to encourage the legislature to create retro-active rate-cap reductions that cover the storm period along with concomitant credits to cities like Denton. Finally, the departure of nearly all the commissioners of the Texas Public Utility Board and the excessive rate caps by ERCOT provide ample demonstration that Texas needs to rejoin the national grid. As such, although again a long-shot, I would also support Denton participating in TML and other efforts to allow cities to break-away from ERCOT and reconnect nationally where possible.

4. Expanding recycling and food composting access

Question: Hundreds of Denton residents have written to the City Council in support of policies that would reduce solid waste by expanding recycling access and addressing food waste. Do you support creating solutions that would bring universal access to recycling and food composting to businesses and residences? 

Question: How will you work to ensure that the city reduces its solid waste and increase recycling access over the long term?

Connie Baker:
Denton needs to keep its place as one of the most aggressive and innovative cities in the state in recycling and waste reduction. Multi-family recycling must be revisited to make access easier. That area is our biggest opportunity for big improvement.

Daniel Clanton:
No response.

Brian Beck:
The two lowest hanging fruits would be to expand recycling options to all residential and commercial addresses (including more multifamily) and to allow for both residential and commercial food waste collection for composting, but this would only mitigate some of the waste. Some barriers to zero-waste are that the municipal and infrastructure costs are hidden to businesses and consumers. But throwing everything in the garbage means the City and citizens have to pay in the long run. The EPA has a number of potential tools that cities use, but one way we could mitigate hidden charges is to either upcharge/surcharge commercial waste that could be re-used/recycled but isn’t, or also similarly provide rate incentives when commercial waste is redirected to recycling/re-use efforts. Finally, for city purchases, we need to expand our green procurement programs for office and building products (similar to how we mandate renewable energy sources for our power consumption), and encourage companies with city contracts to do likewise.

5. Regional park at the former Gibbons Creek mine lands

Question: Will you support the creation of a regional park at the Gibbons Creek former mine lands that protects Texas wildlife and history while promoting local economic development and healthier communities?

Question: Additional comments you may have on question 5

Connie Baker:
The sale of this property has been finalized by the City. The staff and Council are always interested in preservation. The City can partner with a non-profit to improve the area of local economic development and healthier communities, but whatever we do will be worked out with our partners at a later date. Therefore, at this time, I cannot support donating the former Gibbons Creek land and generation facility in the the Bryan/College State area. The Council Members will work together to make better decisions for our city and it’s residents.

Daniel Clanton:
No response.

Brian Beck:
Texas has a well-established dearth of regional and state-parks relative to most states, making us less attractive for professionals and professional businesses to move here. These parks not only provide potentially lucrative recreational and play opportunities while contributing to the quality-of-life of Texans, but they also help preserve rapidly dwindling wildlife and floral habitat, preserve historical and pre-historical archaeological sites, and provide outdoor-education opportunities. Economically, Gibbons creek would not only provide recreational opportunities and be a selling point for relocation, but the TMPA is proposing selling the land for ranches and ranchettes at substantially UNDERvalued levels relative to nearby comparables: this is not good stewardship of the tax-payers investments. The better and higher use of this ALREADY government land would be to support the citizens that paid for it in their utility rates. Citizens will never again be able to reclaim this land once we sell it off.

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Candidates

Jesse Davis

Issues
1. Energy efficiency, weatherization, and resilience
2. Mitigating human-caused climate change
3. Renewable energy and protecting against winter storm price gouging
4. Expanding recycling and food composting access
5. Regional park at the former Gibbons Creek mine lands

Survey Responses

1. Energy efficiency, weatherization, and resilience

Question: Weatherizing homes and buildings to be more energy efficient can make our neighborhoods more resilient against inclement weather, reduce pollution that harms our health, and save residents money on utility bills. Increased energy efficiency could also help prevent future outages from severe weather. Do you support creating municipal policies that will hold our commercial and residential buildings to the highest energy and water efficiency standards and increase weatherization in order to eliminate climate and air pollution impacts from buildings? 

Question: As a Council Member, how would you work to help increase weatherization and energy efficiency in the community, especially for lower-income residents and people impacted by the February winter storm?

Jesse Davis:
To begin, I plan to support adoption of the 2021 International Building Codes when they come before City Council this Summer. We still operate under the 2012 code, if you can believe it. And many of the updates in the 2021 code relate to energy efficiency. That said, I also think it’s important to balance regulation with what regular people can afford and unintended consequences (like increased home prices). Which is why I would also support a residential winterization utility bill credit. It couldn’t be a huge program, because we don’t have the budget for it. But we can start somewhere.

2. Mitigating human-caused climate change

Question: Do you believe the City of Denton should prioritize solutions to mitigate human-caused climate change and make Denton more resilient against the impacts of climate change and inclement weather?

Question: What will you do to reduce climate emissions in Denton and to make the city more resilient, such as investing in local community solar or weatherizing power plants, against the effects of climate change and extreme weather?

Jesse Davis:
I am a big support of Denton’s 100% Renewable power plan, which we actually surpassed during my first year on City Council (yes, we sometimes produce more than 100% of our power needs). As a member of the Committee on the Environment, I also support and advocate for policies that reduce the City’s share of emissions. Programs such as using electric or hybrid vehicles when practical and allowing certain positions to work from home (both of which we do) can make a difference. I would also like to add more money to our solar rebate program, as the budget allows.

3. Renewable energy and protecting against winter storm price gouging

Question: Will you ensure Denton keeps its commitment to using 100% renewable energy (wind, solar, and battery storage) and reducing our reliance on fossil fuels for energy and heating?

Question: Denton Municipal Electric paid over $200 million to ERCOT due to price gouging during the February winter storm while many residents were without power or potable water. What will you do to protect DME ratepayers from excessive charges from the February storm?

Jesse Davis:
First, I am a big supporter of the City’s lawsuit against ERCOT, going on right now. The purpose of the suit is to prevent the City from paying certain fees and charges to ERCOT that we never should have been stuck with. We are also advocating in the legislature for accountability and structural changes at ERCOT that will prevent crises like this in the future.

4. Expanding recycling and food composting access

Question: Hundreds of Denton residents have written to the City Council in support of policies that would reduce solid waste by expanding recycling access and addressing food waste. Do you support creating solutions that would bring universal access to recycling and food composting to businesses and residences? 

Question: How will you work to ensure that the city reduces its solid waste and increase recycling access over the long term?

Jesse Davis:
As one of my first major acts on City Council, I called for the City to investigate and adopt a comprehensive solid waste strategy, with the goal of adopting a Zero Waste Strategy. This plan is still in the investigatory stage, but I’m hoping for a report soon.

5. Regional park at the former Gibbons Creek mine lands

Question: Will you support the creation of a regional park at the Gibbons Creek former mine lands that protects Texas wildlife and history while promoting local economic development and healthier communities?

Question: Additional comments you may have on question 5

Jesse Davis:
I clicked yes to this question, because I absolutely support the idea. However, there are many practical considerations to work through before it could become a reality. We don’t own the land outright–we co-own it in partnership with 3 other cities. If they would rather sell the land, but Denton refuses, we’d end up in a stalemate. It’s also not at all clear where the money would come from to build and maintain the park infrastructure. I’d estimate at least a few million dollars, and perhaps much more, would be necessary for things like entrance gates, restrooms, campsites, roads, and basic trails. Texas Parks and Wildlife has not shown any interest in running the park, so we’d have to provide staff and pay them. I’d love to see it happen, but we may have to find a compromise somewhere, or settle for less.

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Candidates

John Ryan
Alison Maguire

Issues
1. Energy efficiency, weatherization, and resilience
2. Mitigating human-caused climate change
3. Renewable energy and protecting against winter storm price gouging
4. Expanding recycling and food composting access
5. Regional park at the former Gibbons Creek mine lands

Survey Responses

1. Energy efficiency, weatherization, and resilience

Question: Weatherizing homes and buildings to be more energy efficient can make our neighborhoods more resilient against inclement weather, reduce pollution that harms our health, and save residents money on utility bills. Increased energy efficiency could also help prevent future outages from severe weather. Do you support creating municipal policies that will hold our commercial and residential buildings to the highest energy and water efficiency standards and increase weatherization in order to eliminate climate and air pollution impacts from buildings? 

Question: As a Council Member, how would you work to help increase weatherization and energy efficiency in the community, especially for lower-income residents and people impacted by the February winter storm?

John Ryan:
Denton has several ways to help residents increase the energy efficiency. This includes funds for low-income residents to pay for home repairs and weatherization and DME energy audits and rebate programs for high efficiency equipment and solar panels. Policies on new construction and major remodels are already in place. I don’t believe we should force building and home owners to have to upgrade existing buildings when they are not doing a major remodel. I believe the key is education, true cost recovery timelines. As an example if a single speed pool pump costs is $800 and uses $120 worth of electricity per month and a variable speed is $1200 but only uses $60 worth of electricity, in month 7 the $800 pump had cost you more the the $1200. If you replace a working $800 pump with a $1200 pump it will pay for itself in 24 months.

Alison Maguire:
The city has a Homeowner Repair Assistance Program and a rebate program for homeowners who make energy-efficient improvements to their homes. I would like to see the city expand both of these programs and also be more proactive in connecting residents with state and federal resources for folks whose homes were damaged in the winter storm.

2. Mitigating human-caused climate change

Question: Do you believe the City of Denton should prioritize solutions to mitigate human-caused climate change and make Denton more resilient against the impacts of climate change and inclement weather?

Question: What will you do to reduce climate emissions in Denton and to make the city more resilient, such as investing in local community solar or weatherizing power plants, against the effects of climate change and extreme weather?

John Ryan:
DME has one of the best rebate programs in Texas of Solar rebates. DME is also evaluating the best way to weatherize the Denton Energy Center and will be bringing those back to council in the near future. The fleet department continuously works at replacement vehicles that are hybrid or electric. The largest producer of GHG in the city is the landfill, we must continue to find diversion methods and educate the public on how the can reduce how much and what goes into our landfill.

Alison Maguire:
Our three biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions are in electricity, waste, and transportation. I would be very interested in exploring the feasibility of DME acquiring greater solar or wind generating capacity, either through the distributed generation program or the building of solar or wind farms. However, with or without generating capacity, we need to continue making progress toward our goal of DME going 100% renewable. We need to revisit some of the solid waste policy changes of the last few years to see how we can reduce landfill emissions and divert more trash from the landfill, including through commercial and multi family recycling and composting programs. On a small scale, the City of Denton can reduce vehicle emissions by transitioning our city’s fleet to low- or zero-emission vehicles where possible. However, we must also prioritize making it safe and convenient for residents to choose modes of transportation other than cars. That means promoting dense, mixed-use development and investing heavily in pedestrian, bike path, and public transportation infrastructure.

3. Renewable energy and protecting against winter storm price gouging

Question: Will you ensure Denton keeps its commitment to using 100% renewable energy (wind, solar, and battery storage) and reducing our reliance on fossil fuels for energy and heating?

Question: Denton Municipal Electric paid over $200 million to ERCOT due to price gouging during the February winter storm while many residents were without power or potable water. What will you do to protect DME ratepayers from excessive charges from the February storm?

John Ryan:
The final cost will most likely not be known until at least late summer. The $200 million is what DME paid for the electricity used but don’t not take into account what DME was paid for the electricity they put on the grid or what DME paid for the fuel to run the Denton Energy Center. When we get to the final number we will use long term revenue bonds so the ratepayers will see less of an increase than the decreases we have put in place the last several budget years.

Alison Maguire:
I am glad that the City of Denton has filed a lawsuit against ERCOT to protect us from further charges, and if elected I will pursue every available avenue to hold officials at ERCOT and other state-level agencies accountable for the man-made disaster we experienced and for the price gouging they engaged in or condoned. Due to the large amount of debt we were forced to take on after the storm, I can’t promise that rates won’t need to be raised keep DME financially viable. However, I can promise that I will place high priority on the concerns of DME ratepayers, and I will do everything I can to ensure that this debt is handled in a responsible and equitable manner.

4. Expanding recycling and food composting access

Question: Hundreds of Denton residents have written to the City Council in support of policies that would reduce solid waste by expanding recycling access and addressing food waste. Do you support creating solutions that would bring universal access to recycling and food composting to businesses and residences? 

Question: How will you work to ensure that the city reduces its solid waste and increase recycling access over the long term?

John Ryan:
Education of the residents is key. The “brown” carts we started using a couple of years ago help with some of the food waste for “pre-prepared” and spoiled produce. On the recycle side if a load is contaminated beyond 10% the recycle center has the right to refuse it which means it is haul to and buried in the landfill. Better education, especially of dumpster users, is the only way we can eliminate loads being refused.

Alison Maguire:
Commercial and multi-family recycling must be made available across the city right away, and I would like to run a pilot program to explore the feasibility of curbside compost pickup. I would also like the city to invest more heavily in recycling education programs, through communications and through Denton ISD, to work to reduce contamination in our recycling program.

5. Regional park at the former Gibbons Creek mine lands

Question: Will you support the creation of a regional park at the Gibbons Creek former mine lands that protects Texas wildlife and history while promoting local economic development and healthier communities?

Question: Additional comments you may have on question 5

John Ryan:
I may be open to it, but because there are several cities involved in the ownership it is a much more complex issue than just yes or no.

Alison Maguire:
The former mine lands surrounding the Gibbons Creek Power Plant are densely forested. Preserving forests and mature trees is a high priority when it comes to air quality and carbon sequestration, and as a City Council member I would fight to protect those trees.

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The following survey was created by Texas Campaign for the Environment for the purpose of nonpartisan voter education on local environmental issues. The survey was distributed to all 2021 Denton City Council Candidates.

Candidates’ responses are organized by council district. If you don’t know your City Council District, you can look it up here.

Candidate Survey Responses by District

District 1        District 2

District 3        District 4

Voter Information:

• Early voting is Monday, April 19 to Tuesday, April 27.
• Election Day is Saturday, May 1st.
• Find your City Council District here.
• You can find information on voting times and locations here.