Mayor Bret Baldwin Seeks Reelection

Mayor Bret M. Baldwin, PhD, has filed to run in the May 10th election for a second term to “keep the momentum” during this critical time of growth and development in Murphy.  He stated, “Now is not the time to shift gears and change directions.”

The accomplishments he is most proud of, as Mayor, include keeping taxes steady, fostering council’s ability to work together, and updating the Comprehensive Plan. He said, “We have one of the lowest tax rates for comparable cities, and keeping it steady has improved the outlook on our bond rating.” 
 
“Council has developed into an effective and cohesive group. We are strong-minded individuals with differing opinions, but we work together to develop the best policies and procedures for Murphy. My role as facilitator is essential to a highly functioning and effective Council.”

“The Comprehensive Plan will provide a map to the future and help us make important decisions about traffic, beautification, parks, etc.”

Murphy’s Vision Statement has guided and will continue to guide the Mayor’s priorities. Those include maintaining fiscal responsibility, promoting sustainable economic development, addressing traffic problems throughout the city, upgrading aging infrastructure, beautifying common areas, and improving neighborhood parks.

Mayor Baldwin reiterated a campaign promise made three years ago, “Transparency and open communication are essential. As your Mayor, I will continue to promote policies and procedures that increase the availability of information to the residents of Murphy.” 

The Baldwin family resides in the Windy Hill Farms community.

Former City Manager, Craig Sherwood, Running for Mayor

“The City is in serious financial trouble. After seeing what has happened these past nine months, I can help.”  This is what former City Manager and now Mayoral Candidate Craig Sherwood says he wants to do – help the city get back to financial stability. 

Last year when Mr. Sherwood resigned as City Manager the City issued him a check for $311,743.64 that included salary of $255,000; 400 vacation hours for $23,268; TMRS (retirement) for $29,440.75 and Medicare taxes of $4,034.89.  He points out the following:  “I didn't receive $311K.  The city payment was less taxes and deductions plus paid vacation that I was owed; since, I worked without vacation for a few years.  Paying for vacation time due is not severance pay.”

Now Mr. Sherwood would like to return to city government as a non-paid Mayor. He states that any additional money he receives from the City, i.e. the $75 per council meeting, will be donated to charity.  

Proud that he once turned the financial picture of the City around, Mr. Sherwood feels he can do it again. His experience as City Manager and his working knowledge of city projects would be a major benefit to the City. “There is so much more I can do for the city as a Mayor than I could do as City Manager. My connections can be invaluable in moving projects forward.”

In addition to healing the financial health of Murphy, his priorities include traffic and economic development. Sherwood said, “Traffic is a huge issue facing the city. I want to focus on moving quickly to plan and resolve traffic problems, which will compound as commercial property on FM 544 is developed in Murphy and in Wylie. We also need to make sure Murphy marketplace stays on track, and work on developing other commercial property to bring in more tax dollars. We need those revenue to provide the services the citizens want and to enact our Comprehensive Plan.”

To the question: As a Mayor, would you want to know ahead of time if the City is going to be involved in a televised sting operation? He replied, “No … those types of things should be conducted on a need-to-know basis.”

He feels that the flow of information to media and residents should be closely controlled to ensure accuracy, and regarding Mayoral communication via emails and telephone calls, he said, “The City should adopt a policy for response time. People need to get over their fast-food expectations and have a little patience.”

Mr. Sherwood is also concerned about the morale of city employees. He says morale is at an all-time low. To prove his point, when asked about the decline in the number of tickets being written by police officers compared to a year ago, he responded that unhappy officers do not write tickets.  “The Police Department is very aware they do not have the support of Council.”

Mr. Sherwood would like voters to know that he cares deeply about the city; that he is ready to serve and his candidacy has nothing to do with “revenge.” He wants to restore the city once again to sound financial footing and by electing him Mayor, his leadership and expertise can be used at no cost to the City.

David Scarborough – Mayoral Candidate

David Scarborough has filed to run for Mayor in the May election.
A native Texan, David, his wife Kristen and daughter Hannah make their home in The Ranch.  The Scarborough’s are expecting their second daughter any day now.

Although admittedly Candidate Scarborough has only attended one City Council meeting, there are things he would like to see changed in Murphy.  He said, “I see things that are and are not going on in the city.  I want to help the process.”  One of the things he sees is a lack of roads in to adequately handle traffic and wants to see something done with North Murphy Road.  And what he doesn’t see is how the city can be $300,000 over budget. He is anxious to see why. 

Candidate Scarborough would like to pursue several revenue producing opportunities. He suggests installing red light cameras (with lengthy caution lights to prevent potential accidents) for added ticket revenue and making the city jail operational for additional funds. David is a huge fan of Murphy Police, Fire and Rescue Departments.

He feels working well with city council is very important. He is also interested in hearing from residents about their wishes for Murphy.  He stated, “It’s about what the residents want instead of the status quo.”  As part of his campaign he will soon launch a website, www.votescarborough.com, where he will address each council meeting agenda item and explain the way he would have voted.  

Candidate Scarborough is a Sales Director for a software company and also breeds horses. He is a member of the American Quarter Horse Assn., American Paint Horse Assn., American Arabian Horse Assn., and the N.E. Texas Horsemen Assn.