Cedar Park Politics Get Heated As PAC Joins Fray

CEDAR PARK, TX — It's been said all politics are local. But in Cedar Park, pre-election machinations have taken on a form normally seen at the national level marked by sniping between the mayor and a political action committee he labels as outsiders trying to disrupt the municipal makeup ahead of a council election.

The City of Cedar Park will have a General Election on May 4, 2019, to elect Council Places 1, 3 and 5. April voting for this election that began on April 22 is scheduled to wrap up by tomorrow (Tuesday, April 30). Three incumbents, Stephen Thomas, Anne Duffy and Heather Jefts are hoping to regain their council seats against Tim Kelly, Hulyne Christopher and Rodney T. Robinson in Place 1, 3 and 5, respectively.

In an unusual move for a sitting mayor, Corbin Van Arsdale took to social media to lambaste the challengers — painting them as nothing more than pawns for a wealthy Leander resident looking to upend local political operations fueled by a PAC calling itself Citizens for Cedar Park.

"Getting questions about who the heck this group is," Van Arsdale wrote in an April 27 post on his Facebook page. "Answer: it’s a political action committee (a PAC) that’s gotten heavily involved in our current city election thru their fliers, mailers, and social media posts — many of them outright false. It’s actually a small group of people, some of whom aren’t even Cedar Park residents!"

Van Arsdale adds: "And as of yesterday, a third person — a wealthy Leander resident who’s trying to take over both the Leander and CP city councils with his money and thru his “Uncensored” FB pages — is now dumping money into the Citizens for “Cedar Park” PAC. You can’t make this stuff up!"

Not so fast, says the Citizens for Cedar Park PAC in its own Facebook post responding to the mayor's allegations. They paint Van Arsdale with the same broad brush as he does its candidates, referring to him as "...a lifetime politician beginning his political career almost 20 years ago in the Houston area." They don't end their umbrage there, either: "As many politicians, he does not let facts get in the way of a good story, which is clearly seen in the letter and post he recently sent to Cedar Park residents."

Ouch.

The PAC refutes Van Arsdale's assertions of lavish campaign spending by candidates: "Heather Jefts, Anne Duffy, and Stephen Thomas have out spent their opponents by almost $30,000, but the Mayor wants you to believe otherwise." The PAC added the mayor is spreading information about the challengers "...to discredit the truth from being exposed," largely rooted on "...a political agenda and ambitions that depend on keeping control of the council."

There's more from the PAC on this front: "His goal is to convince Cedar Park residents there is a 'boogie man' out to get them," the PAC wrote. "However when the actual facts are laid out his claims fall away like the darkness in a room when you turn on the light."

Van Arsdale gives as good as he gets in invoking seasoned political experience as a pejorative in his PAC attack: "You should know that until yesterday, 75 percent of this PAC’s money in this election came from just two people, both ex-politicians—and not from their personal funds, but from their old, unused campaign funds. The PAC’s treasurer is also an ex-politician, and the PAC’s money is being used to pay another ex-politician, who also lost his campaign. It’s recycling two ex-politicians unused campaign money into another ex-politician’s pocket as personal money."

Double ouch.

The fray appears to be a case of conservative infighting, an electoral trial by fire to determine the degree of right-leaning bona fides. The Citizens for Cedar Park PAC recently reportedly paid for a mailer comparing Duffy and Jefts to controversial U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Hill Country News reported, accusing them of implementing New Green Deal-style initiatives locally.

Formed more than three years ago, Citizens for Cedar Park PAC describes its platform as one designed "...to promote and support candidates that have a heart for the citizens of Cedar Park. It is made up of Cedar Park residents, community leaders, and Cedar Park business leaders. In the last three years, we have supported both incumbents and new candidates, in their elections much like the Police and Fire Associations have supported their candidates of choice." Its mission statement is described as one dedicated to promoting individuals and leaders that will improve the life of all residents of Cedar Park.

For his part, Austin attorney Van Arsdale is a Republican former member of the Texas House of Representatives who represented District 130 outside Houston in northwestern Harris County who resigned from office before his last term in office expired. He served two terms on the Cedar Park City Council before being elected as mayor with 70 percent of the vote.

The election to determine the makeup of the Cedar Park City Council is scheduled May 4, with polls opened from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. For a list of Election Day voting locations, click here. Tuesday, April 30, is the last day for early voting. Polling sites open for that last early voting day can be seen by clicking here. There's a sample ballot here, and the notice of election here.