Lubbock mayoral debate highlights differences between Steve Massengale and Mark McBrayer

With the June 15 Lubbock mayoral runoff quickly approaching, the Avalanche-Journal partnered with KAMC News to host a debate between the two remaining candidates, Mark McBrayer and Steve Massengale.

Former councilmen Massengale and McBrayer joined the A-J's Alex Driggars and KAMC's Jen Phillips and Bryan Mudd in the studio to answer questions from the moderators and Lubbockites on a variety of topics, including taxes, public safety, city infrastructure, transparency, quality of life and more. The debate aired Thursday evening.

Video of the debate, as well as a few online-exclusive extra questions, are available at lubbockonline.com. The program will re-air Sunday at 11:30 a.m. and 10:35 p.m. on KAMC, channel 28.

More: Watch the 2024 Lubbock Mayoral Debate between candidates Steve Massengale and Mark McBrayer

McBrayer and Massengale are headed to a runoff after neither received more than 50% of the vote among a field of six candidates in the May 4 municipal election. McBrayer received 11,537 votes, or about 37%. Massengale received 8,720 votes, or about 28%.

Massengale was the District 4 councilman and is a Lubbock small business owner. He was first elected to the council in 2016 when he unseated then-Mayor Pro Tem Jim Gerlt. Massengale was re-elected to a second, four-year term in 2020.

McBrayer was a first-term city councilman representing District 3. He was first elected in 2022 in an uncontested race and served half of his four-year term. He is a local attorney and entrepreneur and said he plans to retire from law to focus on serving as mayor, if elected.

Early voting in the municipal runoff — which also features another race in city council District 2 — runs June 3-11 with Election Day the following Saturday, June 15.

The A-J has chosen a few of the questions from the debate to highlight the candidates' differences in this story. They are transcribed below, edited for clarity. Readers can find the rest of the questions and responses at lubbockonline.com.

On property taxes

Phillips: The Lubbock City Council voted to raise the tax rate last year by 3.17%, which means the average Lubbock homeowner would pay an additional $103 per year. Mr. McBrayer was the only councilmember to vote against this measure; Mr. Massengale was among the six who voted for it. If that vote happened today, would each of you vote the same way you did then, and why did you vote that way in September?

McBrayer: Yes, I would vote the same way today, and the reason I voted that way is not because I'm absolutely against ever raising taxes, but when you have a situation where your average household income does not keep up with inflation, and people fall behind, that's tough times. We have to always remember taxes come out of the pockets of our citizens, and when they have to make tough choices, cities have to make tough choices as well.

I just believe that we're going through some tough times here in Lubbock. The first year I was on the council, we voted for the no-new-revenue rate. I thought it was appropriate for us to do that again this year. I was the only (no) vote but I stand by that vote because I believe that was the best thing for the taxpayers given the conditions that we were in.

More: Lubbock City Council approves budget decrease, tax increase on first reading

Massengale: It's hard to say in a new budget because you haven't seen the tax rolls at this point. I think you always work to have a lower tax rate. What we're up against every year is making sure we can fund public safety, and that incremental adjustment in the tax rate this past year was to fund public safety. It staffed the firefighters at (future) Fire Station 20, it bought new body cameras and some other resources, so I think you have to take that case-by-case, and it's hard to pass judgement on a budget that you haven't seen.

I think what's important to know about that budget vote is Mr. McBrayer's no vote voted against first responder salaries I just want to make sure the record's clear: I've always voted to make sure our first responder salaries are competitive.

McBrayer: That's commonly what a lot of politicians will say is if we don't raise your taxes, we're going to have to cut public safety; that's where they always go. But there are other areas — non-essential areas — that are important, people like them, they're quality of life, but that's where you go to find the cuts. You don't go to your public safety, you don't go to your first responders. So, we could have looked elsewhere to find that money and still done what we needed to do for our first responders, but I really reject the idea that if we don't raise your taxes, we're going to have to always go to cutting public safety.

On neighborhood development

Driggars: The city council recently blocked two proposals for student housing projects in central Lubbock near Texas Tech which wound up being pretty controversial. With one of the projects coming back on the city council agenda soon, and with future projects, how will you balance the need for growth and progress while protecting neighborhoods, especially in the older parts of the city?

Massengale: I think it's vital that you protect neighborhoods, but at the same time, you've got to respect growth. I'm a pro-growth candidate. My opponent is anti-growth. These projects are vital to our tax base, and we've got to find ways as the zone cases come up to balance the needs of and the compatibility with neighborhoods and allow these developments to be built. The two developments are not exactly the same; one's in a much more blighted part of of the city, and I think it's easier to look at that one and see that it's an improvement, and those are coming back in front of the city council.

More: Developers resurface plans for debated South Overton student housing project

McBrayer: First of all, let me just address the fact he says I'm an anti-growth candidate. I'm not an anti-growth candidate. Lubbock is going to grow; it's grown ever since I've been here. I remember in 1960 the population was 128,691. I've never forgotten that. We're now 150,000 people beyond that number. Lubbock is going to grow because it's an inviting place for families to come, for businesses to come, and we have a fantastic, amazing university here. I'm pro-growth. I'm pro-Texas Tech.

But people live in neighborhoods, and neighborhoods are important. These people who make Lubbock their home have their concerns and their interests that have to be protected and have to be balanced against the needs of students who are here for four years to go to Tech. So, we can't have a development that disrupts an established neighborhood. (It is a) balance between the need for growth and development and protecting existing neighborhoods. I don't know that either of those neighborhoods would say that they are blighted, but my decision was to try to protect them.

On swimming pools

Morgan Kirkpatrick (via video): I would love to know, and I know a lot of other people would love to know, whether each candidate has a plan to bring pools back to Lubbock. It is really sad to know that there are very pools available, and those are fairly expensive and so not accessible to all citizens of Lubbock.

More: Clapp Pool, Lubbock's only remaining city pool, to be closed this summer

Massengale: I think pools are important. I think we're in a situation where the pools have outlived their useful life. I heard Mr. McBrayer say that in the general fund, he's identified essential and non-essential (areas). Maybe pools are non-essential to him, but what I hear is that our citizens say pools are important.

As mayor, I'm prepared to have a discussion with the community and with our council to find a solution moving forward so that our citizens have (pools). People have talked about an aquatic center, and that's going to cost money, but I think it's something that is not a council decision. This is a council-plus-community decision, but we've got to find a solution for pools for Lubbock moving forward.

Mudd: Mr. McBrayer, are the splash pads that have been put in enough?

McBrayer: Splash pads will address a particular community, and parents with young kids can enjoy that, but the concern is where teenagers go for the summer. Our different pools in Lubbock had different issues, different problems they faced. They also had different use. Some were heavily used; some were not used very much at all.

It does always come down to what's the most effective use of your taxpayers' money, and where do you put that, and is it towards something that a lot of people use, or very few people use? A problem with pools is they're very expensive, but they're only open for a few months during the summer. I think we really need to investigate other kinds of quality-of-life issues that make available opportunities for people, including teenagers all year round, and not just something that is used for just a few months.

We are going to keep one of our pools open, so there will be that resource, and we've also had programs by which we could bus kids to those pools during the summer so they have that opportunity to do that and we will keep doing that I'm sure in the future.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock mayoral debate: McBrayer, Massengale differ on some issues