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Two candidates are vying for Bee Cave mayor in the May 7 election. Incumbent Kara King will be up against John Colman, who previously worked in the financial industry.
The last day to apply for a ballot by mail is April 26. Early voting will run from April 25 through May 3, and election day is May 7.
Candidate responses may have been edited for length, style and clarity.
Why are you running?
I believe in community service, leadership and communication. My husband and I love raising our three children (and multitude of pets) in Bee Cave. I want to ensure our city continues to grow responsibly and be a sustainable city for all residents for decades to come.
What is your top priority for Bee Cave?
Maintaining our Hill Country quality of life while managing our continued growth through responsible leadership. I look at every idea and every proposal with the lens of “does this improve the quality of life for our residents?”
What other priorities for the city are important to you and why?
The expansion of the library into a learning center (with a “dark skies” viewing area on the rooftop) as well as continuing to improve our parks and completing our trail system are items I hope we can see through in my next term.
Why are you running?
I am running because I believe recent Bee Cave council actions have unduly restricted public access to council's deliberations. As a result, council operates with minimal public oversight. I will change this. In addition, I believe council has failed to effectively communicate its recent large capital investment decisions to its residents. Council has failed to secure a consensus with its residents for spending over $100 million of taxpayers' money. I will make these investment decisions more inclusive, and as a result we will all collectively and responsibly manage our growth.
What is your top priority for Bee Cave?
Many businesses are suffering. We need practical and effective ways to increase their revenues. Perhaps a Bee Cave sales tax holiday would help? We need additional focus on ways to help our businesses. Bee Cave has a BIG traffic problem. This will only become worse as growth occurs within and around our city. Our council is proposing to add five traffic lights on Hwy. 71 and Bee Cave Parkway, and redirect traffic from Hwy. 71 to neighborhood roads. These are just two examples of how council's proposals will simply create new congestion and dangers. We need additional focus on alleviating our traffic problems.
What other priorities for the city are important to you and why?
Bee Cave City Council stopped holding all city Zoom meetings in November. Now the only way for our residents to participate in any city meeting is to attend in person on a busy workday evening at dinnertime. I will bring back virtual council, Planning & Zoning and Economic Development Board meetings to make it easier for residents to participate in these meetings and voice their opinion.
