Candidates in the state representative House District 3 race tackled public school finance, Marvin Nichols Reservoir and gay marriage at Tuesday [24 February] night's candidate forum at the Mount Pleasant Civic Center. The forum, sponsored by the Daily Tribune and East Texas Broadcasting, was a showcase for both the Democratic and Republican candidates.

Incumbent Mark Homer (D-Paris) attended, along with his opponent in the Democratic primary, Richard Bradley Weemes of Paris. The two Republican hopefuls, Jeff Cunningham of Sulphur Springs and Kirby Hollingsworth of Mount Vernon, were also on hand.

Responses to the question of support for the proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir drew small murmurs from the crowd, as the four challengers offered varying degrees of backing.

"I'm not going to stand opposed to the Marvin Nichols Reservoir," said Hollingsworth. "My number one responsibility is to represent the people of Northeast Texas, and it needs to benefit people in this district." Hollingsworth noted what a boon a lake can be for a county, citing his home of Franklin County. "I will protect the people of this district from a land grab and make sure this district gets its fair share," he added.

[COMMENT: SeRBiA President Judy Lee has allowed Hollingsworth to put campaign signs in front of her El Chico Restaurant merely because he supports Marvin Nichols. Conversely she denied lake-opponent Mark Homer the ability to advertise in front of El Chico. R.]

Cunningham spoke next, saying, "The problem with Marvin Nichols is that it's not a negative economic impact. But we need an exhaustive environmental impact study before we do anything. We don't know yet what the impact will be." Saying he believes that Marvin Nichols is on the table, "We still need to look at the impact of something that big and that massive."

[COMMENT: I'm not exactly sure what Cunningham meant by "the problem with Marvin Nichols is that it's not a negative economic impact." If the problem is that it's "not negative", then the problem is that it is a "positive" impact. Is that what he meant? Marvin Nichols will have a "positive impact" and that is somehow a "problem"? R.]

Homer cited his recorded stance on the issue, noting his opposition to the reservoir. "There are so many unanswered questions out there," he said. "They can't tell us how much mitigated land will be involved, meaning thousands of acres of land off the tax rolls." Homer pointed to the acres of virgin timber on the proposed site as well as Dallas' unwillingness to initiate conservation measures, even as the highest per capita water user in the state. "We are in the last vestige of water supply in Texas, and we need to be good neighbors," he said. "But I don't want Northeast Texas to become the supply closet for the rest of the state."

Weemes was unequivocally supportive of the reservoir, saying, "There is some timber there, but that's the only jobs that are there. People would like to have the opportunity to do something else, and this is an opportunity to bring industry and jobs to Red River and Titus Counties." He pointed out that the Dallas entities would pay for the cost of the venture, "and we could develop around it, increasing jobs and tax dollars."

On the always-popular topic of public school finance, candidates were also asked their thoughts on school vouchers. "I am totally against school vouchers," Homer said. "We already have a system that is strapped for cash, and vouchers would be an irresponsible use of tax dollars. The state constitution says we will have a proper educational system for our children. As to school finance, we will have to have a new revenue stream. Raise taxes? No. The system is too burdensome on the property tax. We have to look at fixing the franchise tax, sales tax exemptions and ways to generate more income."

Weemes said, "Vouchers are out of the question, and a state income tax is off the table. We're already paying; it's just not going the direction it needs to go."

Cunningham noted that he is opposed to vouchers as well, but showed slightly more flexibility on the other ways to finance the system. "We need to move away from the property tax, which is inherently unfair," he said. "Every single thing is on the table, and we will probably have a combination of several different tax systems."

Hollingsworth cited several statistics on education, noting that Texas is second in the nation in spending on public schools. "We're third in the U.S. as far as the percent of the overall budget committed to education," he said. "But we have a problem with our schools when [only?] 39 percent of graduates are prepared for college. There are so many problems, we can't pick the money up fast enough to throw at it."

In light of Tuesday's announcement by President Bush concerning his support of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, the candidates were asked for their thoughts on the issue, with all four citing their support of the defense of marriage act outlining a definition of marriage as one man/one woman.