City of Rollingwood residents elected three new City Council members in the Nov. 2 election. Alec Robinson won a seat with 23.93% of the votes, followed by Brook Brown with 22.45% and Phil McDuffee with 22.09%.

During their campaigns, candidates consistently stated interest in addressing the city's water infrastructure, given Rollingwood’s history with frequent water line leaks and subsequent boil notices for residents, according to their candidate forum Oct. 19.

During this forum, candidates also mentioned focusing on increasing government transparency and building comprehensive communication with the community about important information, including City Council agenda items.

Robinson is an engineer who has lived in Rollingwood for over a decade with his wife and two daughters. With an electrical engineering background in product development, operations and financial modeling, Robinson said he wants to focus on increasing communication with the community and fixing the water infrastructure in Rollingwood. Robinson said he went door-to-door in the community speaking with residents about issues they wanted resolved in their city.

“The process of going door-to-door campaigning really confirmed what I believed to be true when I started this, which is that our community is ready to see some new faces on the City Council,” Robinson said. “I’m super excited to be part of the team to serve the community, and I’m eager to get started.”

Brown has been a resident of Rollingwood since 1980, serving as a volunteer municipal judge for three years in the late 1990s and as a member of the board of adjustment this year, according to the candidate forum. She also served on the Comprehensive Plan Strike Force, a committee created in October 2020 tasked with developing a mission for the city based on community feedback and communicating those recommendations to the City Council, Brown said.

Brown said the city is facing three major problems: its water system, drainage and the road expansion project on MoPac South. Brown also said during the Oct. 19 candidate forum that she wants to focus on transparency—a major issue residents brought up on the Comprehensive Plan Strike Force survey in the past year—and building consensus among community entities to bring long-term capital projects to fruition.

“I feel an awesome responsibility to continue to support the community and do the work they elected me to do,” Brown said. “Rollingwood is a very special place, and I’m humbled to be elected to represent it.”

McDuffee has been a Rollingwood resident for 17 years and has a background mainly as a computer programmer, working at engineering firm Parsons Corporation on financial planning and infrastructure design, according to the candidate forum. In addition to the issues revolving around water and transparency, McDuffee said he would like to facilitate comprehensive analysis on projects to determine true cost and cement community buy-in.

“We’re very grateful and humbled by the trust that has been given to us by the community,” McDuffee said. “I had never run for political office before and never had any desire to do so, but I met a lot of really amazing people in Rollingwood and got to know them on a deep level. I’m excited to serve them.”

Rollingwood residents also approved a measure Nov. 2 to renew a $0.025 sales tax on goods purchased in the city to generate funds for maintenance and repair of municipal streets. The city estimates the tax will generate $150,000 annually, having collected over $1.3 million since its introduction in 2009 and subsequent reauthorization every four years.