In preparation for Sugar Land City Council elections, candidates for at-large positions 1 and 2 attended a forum at the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce office April 13. Mirroring a forum for Sugar Land Mayor held by the chamber that day, topics included infrastructure, boosting development and building on the city’s cultural diversity. Sugar Land City Council at-large position 1 candidates Diana Miller, center, and Himesh Gandhi, right, speak at a forum.[/caption] At-large position 2 candidate Peter Simons was absent. Naomi Lam, one of his opponents, said she wanted to see a greater mix of new development projects, including office space to bring in higher-wage workers. “Multifamily [housing] is not one of the good ways to develop,” she said. “I think we need to bring in some class A office buildings.” Lam, at-large position 1 candidate Diana Miller and mayoral candidate Myatt Hancock are being supported by the Sugar Land Votes organization, which petitioned in the fall against 900 multifamily units in mixed-use development proposal. City Council consists of a mayor and six council members elected by the voters for a term of two years, or until their successors have been elected and qualified, according to the city of Sugar Land. The mayor is elected at-large in even-numbered years. District 4 council member Harish Jajoo did not need to vacate his seat in order to run for mayor, and therefore can resume his office for the remainder of his term if not elected to mayor, according to the Sugar Land city secretary. Election day is May 7. Fort Bend County residents may vote at any of the county’s 79 vote centers regardless of their city of residence. View our recent Local Election Guide (PDF) for a list of vote centers in Missouri City and Sugar Land. For a complete list of vote centers go to www.fortbendcountytx.gov. Read local election Q&As Miller said she supported the petition and criticized ballot proposition 7, which would increase the minimum number of petition signatures needed for initiative and referendum. She also said City Council should gather more community input for infrastructure projects. “I feel like there are parts of our city that don’t get as much attention as others,” Miller said. “I don’t understand why we would move forward with very expensive bike trails when we have neighborhoods that are still flooding.” Miller’s opponent, incumbent Himesh Gandhi, said the city has to plan infrastructure projects on a long-term schedule due to funding constraints and the needs of the city’s Capital Improvement Program. “We’re a young city but we’re an aging city,” he said. “You can’t get everything done overnight.” Infrastructure and mobility will be more challenging when the city eventually annexes the New Territory and Greatwood neighborhoods, said Mary Joyce, an at-large position 2 candidate. “That’s a 30 percent [population] increase,” Joyce said. “We’ve got to maintain our services for our current citizens but we also have to, when the individuals are annexed, they need to be able to have the same level of service.” On the subject of diversity, Ronald Block, the fourth candidate for at-large position 2, said his time on the Fort Bend ISD board of trustees showed him the diversity of county residents and their needs. Making policy decisions with respect to cultural differences prompted both negative and positive feedback from the community, he said. “We tried very hard [to be considerate],” he said. “I think that this kind of attitude has to permeate through the city and City Council, and it’s something we have to be aware of.”