North Richland Hills voter guide for May 4 election: Mayor and City Council
Mayor
Jack McCarty
Age as of May 4, 2024: 61
Campaign website: www.jackmccarty.com
Occupation: retired, CPA
Education: BBA TCU, MBA SMU
Have you run for elected office before? (Please list previous offices sought)
Yes I was on the Birdville school board for 10 years
Please list highlights of your civic involvement:
School board 10 years, Taught 6th to 9th grade at church for 30 years. Started with my wife a 501c3 for FFA students at Birdville to give scholarships of their projects. Mission trips with students from church. Bible study at work for 9 years.
Who are your top three campaign contributors?
Sid Grant, Tommy Cunningham and myself
What are the 3 biggest issues in this race?
Rising debt, Over crowding and Lack of civility in city council meetings toward citizens that come to speak.
Tito Rodriguez
Age as of May 4, 2024: 69
Campaign website: titofornrhmayor.com
Occupation: Retired as of 2014 (State of Texas 30+ years, last 23 years: Office of the Attorney General, Child Support Enforcement as a Special Investigator)
Education: Bachelor of Science in Business Administration / Financial Services, Columbia College
Have you run for elected office before? (Please list previous offices sought)
Current: North Richland Hills, City Council Place 1: 2011 - Present
Please list highlights of your civic involvement:
Birdville Independent School District, committee member, mentor and volunteer
Community Enrichment Center, board
Northeast Richland Lions Club, member
United Way of Tarrant County, Board
United Way of Tarrant County, Area Agency on Aging, Chair
Mid-Cities Pacesetters Rotary Club, President
Northeast Leadership Forum Foundation, Board
Northeast Tarrant Chamber of Commerce, committee member
NCTCOG, Regional Transportation Council, member
Trinity Metro, Board Vice Chair
TML, President
Who are your top three campaign contributors?
Oscar and Carol Trevino, Robert and Vanessa Copeland, TREPAC: endorsement and contribution.
What are the 3 biggest issues in this race?
1. Revitalization of some older areas of the city. 2. Street maintenance 3. Public Safety
Council Member, Place 2
Ricky Rodriguez
Age as of May 4, 2024: 38
Campaign website: www.rickyrodriguez.org
Occupation: Realtor/Insurance Agent
Education: Graduated from Richland High School and a degree in Political Science from The University of North Texas
Have you run for elected office before? (Please list previous offices sought)
No
Please list highlights of your civic involvement:
Helped with county wide campaigns, Outreach Representative for Congressman Ron Wright, Communications Director for State Representative Jeff Cason, Executive Director for the Tarrant County Republican Party, and Member for North Richland Hills Parks and Recreation Committee.
Who are your top three campaign contributors?
Mona Bailey, MetroTex, Anna Hoff
What are the 3 biggest issues in this race?
Advocate for taxpayers, prioritize public safety and infrastructure, and increase transparency in city government.
Rita Wright Oujesky
Age as of May 4, 2024: 62
Campaign website: RitaforNRH
Occupation: Financial Advisor / Raymond James & Assoc
Education: BBA Petroleum Land Management / University of Oklahoma
Have you run for elected office before? (Please list previous offices sought)
Yes - I currently sit on NRH City Council Place 2. 12 years. I ran 12 years ago.
Please list highlights of your civic involvement:
NRH City Council Place 2, North Texas Commission Board of Directors, Birdville Education Foundation Board of Directors, BISD Leadership, HCA Medical City North Hills Hospital Board of Directors, Meadow Lakes HOA Treasurer, TIF Reinvestment Zone 1 & 2, Health Facilities Development Corp, Industrial Development Corp
Who are your top three campaign contributors?
Campaign Finance Reports Filed
What are the 3 biggest issues in this race?
Development of remaining areas of NRH (close to build out) Revitalization and energize aging areas of NRH. Continue to encourage additional business/commericial/restaurants
Council Member, Place 4
Matt Blake
Age as of May 4, 2024: 44
Campaign website: www.VoteMattBlake.com
Occupation: DJ
Education: Associates Degree
Have you run for elected office before? (Please list previous offices sought)
Ran for BISD School Board previously
Please list highlights of your civic involvement:
Active with local schools in Watch DOG program. Volunteer at charity events benefiting the Tarrant Area Food Bank. Work with the North Tarrant Chamber of Commerce on events throughout the year. Work, yearly, with the organizers of Holiday Hangover 5K (benefiting suicide awareness) as a sponsor.
Who are your top three campaign contributors?
Blake Vaughn, Ronney Dickey, Sherry Gensler
What are the 3 biggest issues in this race?
1) Reestablishing transparency, trust, and accountability within the city council.
2) Restoring citizens’ voices in city decision-making processes and defending their property rights.
3) Our city needs to re-invest in law enforcement to fill vacant positions and protect our community.
Tracy Bennett
Age as of May 4, 2024: 50
Campaign website: tracyfornrh.com
Occupation: Actuary
Education: BS Actuarial Science, Maryville University 1995
Have you run for elected office before? (Please list previous offices sought)
NO
Please list highlights of your civic involvement:
Former Pastoral Assistant for local church - multiple years, Former Head Coach of NRGSL - multiple years, Former Head Coach for RYA Cheer, Former Liberty Village HOA President (2013-2016ish), Current Milestone Church Member & Occasional Small Group Leader
Who are your top three campaign contributors?
TREPAC/MetroTex, Mona Bailey - Precinct Chair, and Myself
What are the 3 biggest issues in this race?
1)Financial Responsibility - Identify areas of inefficiency in the budget to redirect funds to other priorities like additional funding to the police/fire departments, maintaining roads & infrastructure. Be proactive in attracting quality businesses to increase revenue generation through sales tax.
2)Development / Property Rights - This ties somewhat into the first point in that we need to provide a comprehensive review of zoning, available land for future development (<7%) and possible zoning inconsistencies. The vision 2030 was finalized in 2019 pre-covid & warrants a fresh look given life has changed for businesses and residents. We can not neglect the long time residents.
3)Accountability & Transparency- proactive efforts to engage the residents. Many residents feel disengaged or not informed of matters in a timely manner. I am committed to timely communication to residents and finding a quantifiable way to measure if we are increasing the engagement.
Jeff Arwine
Age as of May 4, 2024: 62
Campaign website: JeffForNRH.com
Occupation: Bell Helicopter (Senior Training Analyst)
Education: North Texas State University
Have you run for elected office before? (Please list previous offices sought)
No
Please list highlights of your civic involvement:
Served on both NRH Parks and Recreation Board and NRH Sub Standard Buildings Board
Who are your top three campaign contributors?
Oscar and Carol Trevino, Larry Cunningham, Marvin Smitharvin Smith
What are the 3 biggest issues in this race?
Street Repairs, Multi-Family Housing, Economic Development
Council Member, Place 6
Brianne Goetz
Age as of May 4, 2024: 45
Campaign website: Brifornrh.com
Occupation: Accounting Dept. for Best Maid Pickles.
Education: Some college.
Have you run for elected office before? (Please list previous offices sought)
No.
Please list highlights of your civic involvement:
NRH Planning and Zoning Commission/Capital Improvements Advisory Committee, Keep NRH Beautiful Commission, NRH Charter Task Force Commission, NRH Citizens Police Academy Graduate, five years serving HomeTown HOA( half as President), along with various volunteer roles with Birdville ISD PTA.
Who are your top three campaign contributors?
Kimberley Arenz, Oscar Trevino, and Metrotex Association of Realtors PAC
What are the 3 biggest issues in this race?
Maintaining/improving quality of life, thoughtful development of remaining space/redevelopment of current aging development, and street maintenance.
Russ Mitchell
Age as of May 4, 2024: 70
Campaign website: russfornrh.com
Occupation: Insurance Agency Owner
Education: Bachelors
Have you run for elected office before? (Please list previous offices sought)
Yes- served as City Council Member NRH 1998-2002
Please list highlights of your civic involvement:
Currently serve on NRH Park & Rec Dept, Serve in NE Lions Club, NE Chamber of Commerce
Who are your top three campaign contributors?
Myself & small contributions from different contributors
What are the 3 biggest issues in this race?
Transparency-Property Rights-Parks & Streets
Sean Nutt
Age as of May 4, 2024: 25
Campaign website: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556657611343
Occupation: AWS Cloud Support engineering
Education: 4 years of college for Electrical and computer engineering
Have you run for elected office before? (Please list previous offices sought)
No
Please list highlights of your civic involvement:
I am new to the civic involvement front and have no current experience under my belt. The best analogue to civic involvement I have currently is 2 years of student senate in college.
Who are your top three campaign contributors?
My mom and dad - I am running a near 0$ campaign as a goal. My total contributions/expenses (including filing fee) amount to under 300$. My mom made some buttons to help out and I have purchased one poster for events and that is the sum total of money/goods in or out for my campaign
What are the 3 biggest issues in this race?
Resident engagement, Accessibility, and Transparency.
I believe that through higher rates of accessibility and transparency in our local government we can get a higher engagement and voter turnout and ultimately form a more representative government of the people.
In our city there have been calls lately for better transparency. I believe this is caused by an outdated website design and lack of practical accessibility. Our officials are accessible in the sense that if you reach out they have been known to answer questions, but I believe the key to communication is active participation on both sides.
On the practical side of Accessibility, I would like to see regular town hall sessions in our city. On the transparency side I would like to see quicker and more frequent uploading of meeting minutes and recordings and revamping the city website and communication avenues to ensure that people are informed and have many swift and effective means of reaching out.
