Mayor Pro Tem Paul Meltzer, who first won the seat for District 3 last year, announced via social media that he would not be seeking a second term in the spring.
“I know it’s a bit early in the cycle to make a statement like this, but I wanted to give others plenty of time to get out, knock on doors and make their cases to the public,” Meltzer wrote in his Oct. 1 social media posts. “I’ve decided not to run for re-election next year. There are many outstanding, capable people in District 3, some of whom have spent years volunteering in public service roles and who would make great council members.”
Meltzer has been serving the city since 2018, first as a council member for Place 6, an at large seat, until 2022. Instead of seeking reelection then, he challenged Mayor Gerard Hudspeth for his seat and announced that he would “keep making Denton better, not just bigger.”
Meltzer lost the May 7, 2022, election only by 652 votes out of the 15,928 votes cast, according to the Denton County Elections Office.
In his Oct. 1 post, Meltzer wrote that he felt it was time to give others the opportunity to serve.
“I will not be a passive bystander but will put my support behind a solid citizen who will protect neighborhoods and who shares my concern for making Denton better, not just bigger,” Meltzer wrote.
For Meltzer, that person is Karen Jill DeVinney, someone whom Meltzer told the Denton Record-Chronicle has been “standing up for neighborhoods before it was cool.”
DeVinney, who has lived in Denton since 1992, was one of the people who Meltzer said helped with the creation of the West Oak Historic District when the area was under development pressure. She chaired the Historic Landmark Commission and has served previously on bond committees and the Public Utility Board.
“She has represented our interests in other innumerable ways — on bond committees, on the Public Utility Board and in a very real way as a Master Naturalist,” Meltzer wrote in an Oct. 1 message to the Record-Chronicle.
DeVinney was also Meltzer’s first campaign treasurer because Meltzer said that they have a shared set of priorities.
Now Meltzer has returned that favor by becoming DeVinney’s first campaign treasurer and chair.
“Karen is one of those super bright people who has been quietly contributing behind the scenes for years and years,” Meltzer wrote.
In a Thursday afternoon email, DeVinney wrote that she decided to run for District 3 due to concern about “our ballooning multifamily construction.” DeVinney wants to make sure that Denton’s rapid growth is managed wisely.
“I believe we need to preserve our neighborhoods and our green spaces,” DeVinney wrote.
“At the same time, I think that the documented shortage of affordable housing in Denton is being oversimplified. It is a complicated problem that will require complicated solutions, not just construction of more apartment complexes.”