Update: TSB apologizes for our error identifying Mayoral candidate Derrick Johnson as the pastor of Cornerstone Church in McKinney. He is the the pastor of Independent Baptist Church in Como.
Check back with TSB for more upcoming information on Mr. Johnson.
The deadline to file for the May 11 local elections passed Friday, with McKinney Mayor Brian Loughmiller finding out that his re-election campaign won't go uncontested.
Derrick Earl Johnson, a 44-year-old local pastor, filed in the last hour to challenge Loughmiller, 52, in the race.
Loughmiller said he was surprised about the filing only because it came in so late yesterday, at 4 p.m.
"You can't begrudge anyone who wants to run for public office," Loughmiller said Saturday morning. "I feel like I've done a good job (as mayor) and I want to continue to serve the public."
Johnson is Senior Pastor at Independent Baptist Church in Como, which is near Sulphur Springs, and is a 10 year resident of Stonebridge.
Loughmiller has served as mayor of McKinney since 2009 and announced his plans to run for a second term in December.
Check back to TSB early next week for staff writer Ben Lane's preview of the 2013 elections across McKinney.
On Dec. 20, 2012, Loughmiller released an announcment stating his intentions. Please see the text of the statement below:
LOUGHMILLER'S STATEMENT DEC. 20
It has been an honor and privilege to serve as Mayor of McKinney for the past 3 1/2 years. During the past 3 1/2 years, we have taken positive steps forward in the development of our city, in the areas of increasing commercial tax base, infrastructure improvements, quality of life projects through our parks and recreation department, and regulatory changes to make our local government more efficient.
Our City Council has continued a commitment to a balanced budget. And despite a difficult economy, we have continued to provide quality city services necessary in a fast growing community while maintaining healthy reserves. During my tenure as Mayor, our Council has maintained a policy of balancing our city budget with no tax increase. During my time of service on City Council and as Mayor, we lowered the tax rate three times and have maintained our current tax rate for the past six years without any increase. Our City Council has had - and continues to have - challenges as we live through the expansion of State Highway 75 and other major road projects that will ultimately pave the way for the next phase of development in our growing community. We appreciate the community’s patience as we work through these construction projects.
McKinney has received national recognition over the past few years, moving up the list of Money Magazine’s Best Cities in America: From No. 14 in 2008 to No. 5 in 2010 and No. 2 in 2012. We have also been recognized as one of the safest cities in America, one of the top 100 cities for young people, and one of the top 10 cities in which to relocate, according to Forbes Magazine in 2009. Through expansion and redevelopment we have a historic downtown that other cities emulate and try to replicate. As we move into 2013, as Mayor, with the support of our City Council, I remain committed to our strategic goals of bringing quality economic development to McKinney, while continuing to promote a family centered environment for all of our community. I will continue to focus on policies that promote cooperation between private business and local government; and a conservative regulatory environment that meets the needs of our citizens while encouraging private investment in McKinney.
I have my business in McKinney, and I am proud to call McKinney my home. My wife and I have enjoyed raising three children, Chelsea, Reece and Cameron, in McKinney. And we have enjoyed the friendships that we have established over the past 23 years. I want to thank the citizens of McKinney for allowing me the opportunity to serve as the Mayor of McKinney since 2009. My goal has always been to help make McKinney the kind of place our children and grandchildren will want to call home, when they have families of their own. It is with the support of my family and friends that I announce my intention to seek reelection in May of 2013, to continue to serve you as your Mayor for the next four-year term.
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Comments
Angie, I am glad that you corrected the misinformation about Pastor Derrick Johnson. This gentleman sounds like an honorable man who can provide some insight into segments of our community that have often been ignored. Although Brian Loughmiller is an experienced and formidable candidate, Mr. Johnson's voice needs to be heard.
Numerous comments here have extolled, with justification, the performance merits of our current Mayor. Even against a qualified opponent, which remains to be seen, Mayor Loughmiller should prevail in the coming election, owing to his many powerful political connections within the community. However, under the leadership of Mayor Loughmiller, the McKinney City Council has a very poor record regarding ethical government issues. In many other Texas communities, at least one of these issues would have already caused the Mayor’s removal from office. So let us all try to keep an opened mind in the coming election, regarding both qualifications and records.
Good Morning to the City of Mckinney, and to the readers of the Town Square Buzz.
My name is Derrick E. Johnson, and yes, I am the candidate that is running for Mayor of the City of Mckinney. First of all I would like to start off by saying that I am NOT the Derrick Johnson that pastors the church that is mentioned above, and as one writer stated I DO NOT pastor a church from a rented home! I am the pastor a church that happens to have a 130 year history. The Independent Baptist Church is located at 1696 CR 2437, in Como, Tx. 75431. I am posting this comment because I was just informed that this information was listed, and upon reading it I found the errors about myself, and the church. I have contacted the paper about this error, and I assure you that an official statement and a re-print will be requested. In the statement that I will release to the paper, I will also give more information about me. Also if you google me, you will only my name which I happen to share with a few thousand other people. I am looking forward to working with the entire City of McKinney, and together we can all make a difference.
Hi Mr. Johnson: Do you have a FB or Twitter Account? I would love to support a new Candidate and would like to learn more about you. Looking forward to TownHall :-)
Thanks
Hello , I did not want to appear to ignore your message. I do have a FB, Just type in Derrick Johnson, I'm sure a lot of responses will come up, but I'm the one in McKinney obviously, :). I don't have a Twitter account, but you can email me @ pastordej@hotmail.com. I wil be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Take Care,
Derrick Johnson
Thank you for contacting us Mr. Johnson. We have made the correction about the location of your church and as soon as we receive your statement, we will post it.
Knowing nothing about this candidate, I applaud competition for council seats. I have been a proponent of reducing city spending: $200,000 every day ($74,000,000 per year) in salaries and benefits; $190,000 city manager salary, this is a silent and ticking time bomb for McKinney taxpayers. The current city budget earmarks $600,000 per year for council use, yet all council members are unpaid. Would we not attract more candidates if we used some of the council earmark for council compensation? This would allow private sector workers to justify the significant time commitment to council business and help break up the "gang of four" council majority that controls city business and spending.
Your view that the McKinney City Manager salary is a “time bomb” or in any way excessive, is not supported by neighboring Collin County City Manager salaries. It is also not supported by municipalities within the Dallas Metro area; some with populations much smaller in size to McKinney.
Flower Mound Town Manager 2012 Salary $187,995
2011 Population 65,117
Plano City Manager 2012 Salary $232,000
2011 Population 261,888
Allen City Manager 2012 Salary $223,196
2011 Population 84,246
Frisco City Manager 2012 Salary $201,251
2011 Population 117,871
McKinney City Manager 2012 Salary $190,000
2011 Population 136,067
The McKinney 2012-2013 Projected Personnel Expenditure for salaries and benefits, including adding 15.9 employees, raises and market based adjustments is $71,632,108. Even if you fired every city employee tomorrow, you would still not be able to meet your projected $74,000,000 annual savings, because the City of McKinney does not currently spend that amount on employee salaries and benefits.
Pretty exclusive club isn't it? Sorry, Code14, my writing is imprecise: The FY 2013 Budget, page 15 shows $62,791,251 for salaries and benefits plus $12,127,170 in benefits and wellness, totaling $74,918,421 per year. This works out to $89,188 per year per employee over the 840.1 full-time-equivalent positions. There is also the approx. $40,000,000 unfunded pension liability. I'm sure you are aware the per capita private sector income in McKinney was approximately $31,000 in 2011, with almost no benefits. Most visible employees earn closer to $10/hour on average. I do not advocate the elimination of city salaries, only to reduce them. I do not understand why McKinney needs to spend over 3 times the private sector average wage for municipal employees to provide and manage essential services. Did you happen to read about Tommy Gonzalez, Irving City Manager in Dallas Morning News a few weeks ago? I wonder if our city services would cost as much if they were privatized? I am fairly sure that most McKinney taxpayers are unaware of our fiscal obesity. The fact that other nearby town councils fall victim to similar spending schemes is not evidence of good stewardship. Just my opinion. Thanks for the exchange.
Good Conversation. Thanks for your reply. The Wellness funding referred to on page 15, is considered systemic and not part individual salary and benefits. The figures I used came from page 37, which also shows total personnel expenditure as 30% of budget.
Your assessment that most McKinney taxpayers are unaware of our fiscal obesity is absolutely correct, because for most of us, this condition does not appear to exist. An article posted on January 14th by McKinneyNative 1, contained figures which show McKinney has an outstanding fiscal record, particularly when compared to other Cities with similar populations.
According to figures posted by both the U.S. Census Bureau and McKinney ISD, the 2011 McKinney median income was $32,528. Community median income is a composite of unskilled, skilled and profession salaries. No private company or government body uses community median income to determine position compensation. Compensation is determined by job description, skill classification and factors such as level of education requirements, level of skill requirements and level of experience. The greatest percentage of McKinney private sector employment is in retail sales and the service sector. Generally, these jobs are classified as unskilled, below community median income and are without benefits. Community median income is not applicable to skilled or professional wages. If you have a software engineering position, you use wage market research analysis to find what other companies pay for similar software engineer positions. No one would compromise software engineering compensation with a salary comparison to someone working as an unskilled laborer in a retail store, which is exactly what you are doing when you insist on comparison to median income.
The City of McKinney uses market research analysis to determine fair compensation for all employment positions. The same system is used by all our neighboring Cities and most of the Dallas Metro area. Your attempt to reduce government cost is laudable, but the methods you advocate are not obtainable. Your recommended 74 million dollar reduction is over 100% of existing salary, benefit budget and would cause the termination of every current employee. You could not even attempt a 30% reduction without breaking laws. Applying a 30% reduction to the $10 per hour jobs would cause the resulting wage to be below federal minimum wage requirements. This size of wage reduction would run off the current skilled work force to competing cities and greatly discourage qualified people from applying for any resulting openings. Others have tried a system of compensation that lacked competitive incentive and was without consideration for skill, experience or education. It is called socialism and has never worked very well.
I look forward to learning more about Mr. Johnson, as we all should be. It will give both candidates the opportunity to have their view points of how to better McKinney. It is always good to have a different oppinion and play the role of the "Devil's Advocate."
I look forward to hearing what Mr. Johnson and Mr. Loughmiller believe is the best dirction for McKinney.
OK, democracy is good. I think qualified opponents help a candidate define their position. Unfortunately, it appears that Mr. Loughmiller's opponent may not provide that. In researching him, the "church" he is a pastor of is run out of a rented home? And, when I google Mr. Johnson's name all that comes up is arrest records. Seriously!?! If this is the case, then all this does is waste time and money that our Mayor could better use in his current position.
Wrong Mr. Johnson in the case of arrest records. We are working on getting correct information to share with our readers.
Although I know Brian and plan to vote for him, it is important that he has an opponent where both candidates can present their ideas and platform to improve city services. In a democracy, city leadership should not be handed to one person for lack of an opponent. Let's hope that both men mount a spirited campaign so that important issues are raised to continue improvements to our growing population.
This is PERFECT!! Without an opponent, it sounds silly for Brian to talk about his accomplishments. Now it will sound great! While Brian is right, "You can't begrudge anyone who wants to run for public office..." I feel that any opponent must feel that he can do a better job than the incumbent and I don't think there is any room to fault Brian's performance.