Fort Worth, Denton ISD Bond Measures Pass With Ease
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Voters in the City of Fort Worth and in Denton ISD approved high-dollar bond programs by large margins Saturday evening.
In Fort Worth, residents gave the green light to the nearly $400 million-dollar referendum.
Most of the money, $261 million, is aimed at improving the city's streets. That passed with 81 percent of the vote.
With 74 percent approval, residents agreed to borrow $84 million for parks and recreation projects.
Voters gave their nod for library improvements with 76 percent.
Fire safety upgrades for $12 million won approval of 83 percent of voters.
With 74 percent of the vote, residents said "yes" to making improvements to the animal care and shelter facilities. And 80 percent of residents approved upgrades to police facilities.
Mayor Pro Tem Dennis Shingleton said, "We in Fort Worth have enjoyed the last eight years or more of tremendous growth and I think our citizens realize that growth, and the only way we can keep up with the infrastructure support of that growth is to pass a bond referendum."
In the Denton ISD, 74 percent of voters agreed to a $750 million-dollar bond program. As a result, 24 new school campuses will be built and a number of facilities will be renovated.
In one of Dallas/Fort Worth's largest cities, residents voted for a new mayor of Garland.
Lori Barnett Dodson received 55 percent of the vote, defeating Louis Moore who had 34 percent of the vote and Leala Green who received 11 percent.
Dodson succeeds Doug Athas, who resigned with one year remaining in his term.
In Grapevine, Mayor William D. Tate won re-election after running unopposed for the third consecutive time.
Tate has been in office for 42 years and is one of the longest-serving mayors in Texas.
When he was first elected in 1973, Richard Nixon was president and DFW International Airport was just about to begin operations.
He served until 1985, when he lost a close election.
Voters returned him to office as mayor three years later in 1988, and he has served since then. "I think probably the greatest thing that motivates me is the encouragement of the people, the people stopping me on the street everyday and thanking me for what we've done in our community and telling me how much they enjoy living here," he said.
Tate said his proudest accomplishments include helping create the tourist convention bureau and establishing a hotel tax which helped attract a number of hotels.
He's said he's watched the small farming town he was born and raised in become a destination city.