Growth Battles at Ballot Box
Two Hill Country towns struggling with growth issues saw two different responses from voters on Saturday, with Bee Cave residents apparently satisfied with the village’s pro-development leaders but Dripping Springs voters removing one of the town’s pro-growthers from office.
In Bee Cave, the re-election of Mayor Caroline Murphy and her husband, Alderman Mike Murphy, could clinch a proposed retail development that opponents say will lead to the degradation of the village’s rural character and the waterways that feed into Barton Springs. Despite this opposition, a four-person slate of challengers that likely would have deep-sixed the proposed Shops at the Galleria failed to secure seats on the village board. Had residents in the village’s extraterritorial jurisdiction – who will bear the brunt of the project’s impact – been able to vote, the outcome may have been altogether different. As it turned out, the Bee Cave mayor won re-election by a 54-vote margin over Sage Johnston, while her husband captured 15 votes more than the second top vote-getter, Mike Monthei, who will also fill an open seat on the board, along with newcomer Jim Boushka.
Across the county line in Dripping Springs, residents appeared more willing to rock the status quo with the defeat of incumbent City Council Member Mike Firle, whose 70 votes were insufficient to return him to his seat. Incumbent Doug Phillip got enough votes for a second term, but the big surprise was the top vote-getter – Joe Volpe, a member of the city Planning and Zoning Commission, who took 87 votes in the low voter turnout. (Twice as many votes were cast in Bee Cave as in Dripping Springs, which is over twice as large.) In an e-mail wrap-up of the results, Rob Baxter, president of the Friendship Alliance, a development watchdog coalition in Hays Co., praised Volpe as a voice of reason. “And now he can bring that reason to bear in council chambers. We couldn’t be more pleased,” he said, “even if it is 7,000 or so ETJ plat approvals too late.” – A.S.
This article appears in May 21 • 2004.
