Cade, who was the overwhelming leader among candidates in the May 7 election, finished with 46% of the vote. The second-place candidate, Zach Boyer, finished with roughly 23% of the vote. Despite the gap, however, Cade could not be declared the winner because it takes over 50% of the vote for the council race to be called in Brazoria County.
“I am staying the course for the runoff and not really making major changes,” Cade told Community Impact Newspaper. “I am still block walking and working at the polling location nearest me all day, every day that it is open so I can talk to the voters—meet the voters—and answer any questions.”
Cade said her campaign for the runoff has focused on reaching out to her supporters to remind them to come out and vote one more time. She acknowledged voter fatigue in the county is a real issue. Early voting for the runoff election on Pearland City Council’s Position 5 seat will last through June 7. Election day is June 11.
Public safety
During her initial campaign for the May election, Cade said her No. 1 priority is public safety. Cade said she wishes to see the Pearland Police Department training facility start date moved up. According to the city of Pearland, the facility is planned to start construction this month and open in May 2023.
Additionally, Cade wants to see the city’s budget allocate more funding for new police department officers in 2023, she said.
Revenue opportunities
Another one of Cade’s goals is for the city to increase its revenue collections. One instance of it was with short-term rentals, Cade said. Pearland City Council in mid-April passed an ordinance that puts it on path to collect revenue from short-term rental owners beginning this summer.
Cade agrees with those regulations in place, she said. She believed the city was missing out on an opportunity by not collecting revenue from a short-term rental tax, Cade said.
Similarly, she thinks more can be done in different areas within the city to both revitalize aging parts of Pearland and its infrastructure as well as create more revenue opportunities, one of which is the city’s Old Townsite district in east Pearland.
“I really feel strongly that we could do something special with the Old Town area,” Cade said. “With the Sullivan Brother’s gorgeous development coming in, it’s time to do something in [the Old Townsite district] to create tax revenue for the city.”
Water billing issues
When it comes to Pearland concerns, water billing is high on the list. The problem arose in April 2020 when Pearland City Council approved the 32/30 tier structure for water billing. The plan was created to solve an issue caused by the city moving to a 28-day billing period at the end of 2018, which created a 71- to 78-day lag in revenue between the city’s water customers’ billing read date and bill date.
Since then, several residents have brought complaints to City Council about the system. An ad hoc committee that was created to look at the issue recommended doing away with the 32/30 water billing plan altogether. Cade is against the 32/30 plan, she said.
“I have never agreed with 32/30,” Cade said. “I wanted someone to tell me how much I owed—how much was I behind? Then give me the option to pay it outright or make a payment plan. The current plan was never presented to residents for a vote, and no resident that attended City Council and spoke about it supported it.”
To read about Cade's challenger, Boyer, in the runoff election, click here.
