Aside from the race for mayor, the only contested race for Waco City Council this spring involves the District 1 incumbent, the Rev. Wilbert Austin, a longtime community activist, and challenger Carol Dugat, an executive assistant at The Dwyer Group and a community blogger for the Waco Tribune-Herald. She has discontinued the blog during the campaign. Election Day is May 8 with early voting beginning Monday. Below are excerpts from interviews with the two candidates, conducted by the Tribune-Herald editorial board and staff writer J.B. Smith.

Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune-Herald

Q You were elected to the Waco City Council in 2006. Why are you running for re-election?

A  The reason I want to run is because we have gotten some things going that are going to be beneficial for District 1. It has sort of been ignored for over 40 years and now that we have a council that is sensible and knows the needs, if we are going to have economic development in Waco, it has to come to East Waco. There’s no way of getting around that. It’s a blessing for us to have a research center going up over at the old General Tire building. That’s going to be a big plus for us in District 1 because now a lot of the old houses and old properties are going to have to go and new things are going to be coming.

Q  What will spark capital development in East Waco, especially in places like Elm Street?

A  First thing you have to do, no matter who you are, no matter where you come from — if you are going to build a house, you have to clean off the spot and then lay your foundation. And then you build your house. In District 1, that means cleaning up all the corruption.

Q  What do you mean by corruption?

A  You got the drug dealers, the prostitutes. When I came on board, there were seven or eight fatalities a year in District 1. I was crying and begging for a crime unit to be put back on the streets over there. They’re now back on the streets over there. Crime is down (throughout) Waco 8.6 percent and that’s saying a whole lot. On Forrest Street, those old people — they couldn’t sleep in their beds on Friday and Saturday and Sunday nights for all the shooting. We stopped that. On Elm Street, you couldn’t get down Elm Street on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. It was parked four-deep down there. And every Monday morning the merchants had to get the brooms out to clean up the place because it was just like a dump ground. The police weren’t really patrolling or doing anything.

Q  So if I go down there on a Friday night, it’s going to be pretty spic and span on Elm?

A  You can have church on any block you want to. I mean, it’s cleaned up and I’m proud of that.

Q  Haven’t some of the bars closed on Elm?

A  All the bars. There’s no bars on Elm Street. But it didn’t matter if there were bars there. People were parking there because of their drinking and smoking and dope and hanging out. The community clinic over there, they had to have people over there Monday morning to clean up bottles and trash. It’s not there anymore.

Q  Where did they move to?

A  I hope they moved to Elm Mott or something. (Laughter by all.) What has to happen, and I don’t care who you are or where you come from, you have to have the nerve to address those people and let them know you’re not going to stand for it and you’re not going to scare off. I’ve gotten three death threats since I got on (the council), but I’m not afraid of that. I knew (that) when I got on the city council. I’ve been involved in politics and civic affairs for over 40 some years. In fact, about 35 years ago, I was one of the complainants who filed a suit against the city of Waco to get single-member districts. I don’t know whether you knew that or not.

Q  Your challenger says that maybe it’s time you conclude your work, that it’s time for new blood on the council to accelerate certain matters that she feels you haven’t been aggressive enough about.

A  Well, that’s her opinion. If you check our track records, you’ll see who’s been aggressive. At the Estella Maxey projects on J.J. Flewellen, the drug dealers were out there selling drugs. The day care there couldn’t let the kids go outside because there was a shooting. They can go out now. If you’re not going to attack the problem, you might as well get out of the business. I’ve stayed pretty busy for a man with a sick wife with cancer. She understands and encourages me to keep doing it because she knows I love doing what I’m doing. When young men and women lose their lives, I’ve gotten on the radio and knocked on doors and gotten enough money to bury them. I go all over town cutting lots for old people, no charge. You’ll see me on my tractor. And that’s what it’s all about. It’s not about just making some things happen. You got to make all things happen.

Q  You said you’ve made some accomplishments but you’re not finished. What big challenge do you hope to tackle in your next term?

A  My big challenge is to get some businesses over in District 1. I’m not talking about the little grocery stores. We know we can’t get an H-E-B or anything of that size. But you can get a Golden Corral or something like that. If you go to Golden Corral now on (Valley Mills Drive on) Sundays, 90 percent of the people there are from East Waco. They have no place to eat over there after church. City Manager Larry Groth is working with me and the rest of the council understands what I’m trying to do and are helping to get some businesses to come there.

Q  The “Imagine Waco” process for charting downtown growth will reveal its plans in a week or two. Early on in the process, when I went to the Fred Batts luncheons, there was some skepticism about the whole planning process. It was like, “Here we go again — Urban Renewal II.” What do you think about the process and what’s going to come from it?

A  If anyone can tell you about “Urban Removal,” I can. I grew up between Second and Third streets on Walnut where the Baylor Law School is now, right down from Second Baptist Church. When they bought our property from us, it wasn’t even enough to go and buy another house, so we had to move into Estella Maxey, which had just opened up. We moved there for a couple of years till my dad got enough money to buy us another home. But I’m not against urban renewal or whatever it takes to better the city of Waco. I think citizens of Waco, when you’re living in poverty like we were living down there, it gave us an opportunity to move up a little bit in life. Yes, it was hard, but I accepted it. I have no animosity.

Q  But as far as current plans, which do include East Waco and pretty significantly, is this whole process something you are behind?

A  Putting plans on paper is one thing, making it reality is another. That’s why you got to be careful until they lay it out and show you what they’re going to do. I can’t make a statement on something that is just bits and pieces.

Q  There has been some discussion behind the scenes about the city taking over the Hippodrome Theatre. How do you feel about that?

A  I’d like to see it continue to stay but on the course it’s on now rather than the city trying to take it over. We have enough to try and do.

RELATED SEARCHES

• Q&A with Waco City Council candidate Carol Dugat
• EDITORIAL: Carol Dugat for City Council -- and a tip of the hat to Rev. Wilbert Austin