Candidates for Pearland City Council, mayor debate local issues

Voters in Pearland recently attended a town hall meeting to hear from candidates running for municipal office in the upcoming May 2 election. Attendees were able to submit questions for the candidates to answer. What you need to know The Pearland Chamber of Commerce hosted the event March 31 at Glenda Dawson High School in Pearland, featuring a Q&A panel between Quentin Wiltz and Tony Carbone, who are running for mayor, and Toshila McClean and incumbent Mona Chavarria, who are running for Position 3 City Council member. About the candidates The forum opened with a Q&A for Chavarria and McClean. Chavarria, who currently serves on City Council, said she had previously served in leadership roles at the Pearland Chamber of Commerce and Pearland Economic Development Corp. and currently serves on the Pearland ISD Education Foundation. McClean said her decades-long career in education, including her current role serving as the principal of Navarro Middle School in Lamar CISD, qualified her to serve on council. The debate The future of multifamily developments in Pearland became a point of difference between Chavarria and McClean. Chavarria said she believed the city had reached its “capacity” for building apartments and pointed to her voting record opposing them. McClean argued that apartments allow young, new families to put down roots in the community while they work their way toward buying a home and that attracting young families to Pearland should be a priority for city leadership. “Saying no to apartments is saying no to families who have little ones,” McClean said. What else? One attendee asked the candidates what the city should do about water rates, which have steadily climbed since 2022, according to previous reporting from Community Impact. McClean said it was the city’s job to pay attention to residents who are hurting from other economic pressures, such as taxes and rising gas prices. Chavarria said residents should be aware that the increased utility rates cover the costs of massive infrastructure projects that help the city secure its water future, including the completed $175 million Surface Water Treatment Plant, which became operational in October 2024, and the ongoing $216 million Barry Rose Water Reclamation Facility project. "If anyone tells you that you're going to come in office and you're going to lower that water rate, I can tell you that there [are] obligations that have to be met,” Chavarria said. The Surface Water Treatment Plant has the capacity to pump 10 million gallons of the city’s surface water per day, decreasing the city’s dependence on buying water from Houston, according to previous reporting by Community Impact. Click here to read Community Impact's Q&A for this race. On the other hand The forum’s second portion fielded resident questions to mayoral candidates Wiltz and Carbone. Carbone currently serves on Pearland City Council. Wiltz brought up concerns he and residents expressed at a City Council meeting March 16 that the early voting window for the upcoming general election, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., overlaps with business hours, making it difficult for working people and families to vote, as previously reported by Community Impact. The city contracts with Brazoria County to conduct elections under a joint election services agreement, meaning Pearland cannot unilaterally extend early voting hours at just its own locations, City Attorney Lawrence Provins said at the earlier meeting. Carbone said after the March 16 meeting, he met with Brazoria County officials to discuss changing the voting hours and expects the issue to be resolved by the end of the year. Wiltz said he felt city officials should have taken more immediate action. “'We’ll fix it next time,’” Wiltz said, referring to that meeting. “We’ve heard this before, 'we’ll fix it next time.' Pearland residents deserve a mayor who is willing to fix it now.” Also of note A resident's question about how each candidate would retain and grow business in Pearland sparked a discussion about how funds from the PEDC, which is funded by sales tax, should be used. Wiltz said he felt the PEDC should focus primarily on attracting and supporting businesses in Pearland, not fund utility or beautification efforts on major roadway projects like the city's partnership with the Texas Department of Transportation to expand FM 518. “We’ve used the EDC to circumvent the city’s responsibility of maintaining our infrastructure,” Wiltz said. The city has entered into several cost reimbursement agreements with the PEDC, where the PEDC will fund the city’s portion of the project and is later reimbursed by the city, according to previous reporting by Community Impact. Carbone said the PEDC’s primary goal should remain attracting big employers, like Lonza and Mitsubishi, adding that growing the city’s workforce with those companies has cascading effects that support local small businesses. "If we can get the headquarters in, get the Lonzas in, get the Mitsubishis in, get the Kelsey-Seybolds ... those people have to eat somewhere for lunch, and they get other neighborhood services as they come and go from those office buildings,” Carbone said. Click here to read Community Impact's Q&A for this race. One more thing April 2 is the last day to register to vote in the May 2 election. To get to know the candidates on more local ballots, visit www.communityimpact.com/election. By Rachel Leland Government Reporter Rachel joined Community Impact in April 2023 and covers government in Pearland, Friendswood and the Bay Area. She graduated from Baylor University in 2017 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. When she's not writing, Rachel enjoys trying new recipes, listening to live music and spending time in the great outdoors.