Q&A: Meet the candidates for Argyle City Council Place 2

Why did you decide to run for council?

I was appointed to the Argyle Town Council in 2019 to fill an unexpired term. Since then I have served as mayor pro tem and ran unopposed for mayor in 2021. My accomplishments on the council have been focused on professionalizing the town’s operations. Under my leadership we have upgraded road construction standards, rebuilt seven major roadways, put high-quality streaming video coverage of town hall meetings in place, upgraded the town's social media presence and communicated regularly with residents about what the town government is doing in a variety of other ways. As mayor, I have worked to build relationships with Argyle’s neighbors in Northlake, Roanoke, Denton, Flower Mound and Denton County. Those relationships have been helpful in paying for road construction, working through challenges like the problems faced recently by Denton County Emergency Services District #1, and negotiating to prevent Oncor transmission lines from damaging our neighborhoods, future commercial sites and schools.

What are some of the biggest issues facing the city?

Argyle’s form of town government, however, does not allow the mayor to vote. I have had to stand by as growth has driven the need for major policy changes that went unaddressed by this council, which has had six years to put policies in place to build up our commercial property base and has failed to act. Argyle relies on residential property taxes for 80% of its budget and most of our sales tax receipts come from internet purchases delivered to the town. That is a very unhealthy situation. Most Texas cities have much larger commercial property tax and sales tax percentages in their mix of revenues.

What do you hope to accomplish on the council, and is there anything you’d like to see the city pursue or accomplish?

It is imperative that we put a comprehensive plan in place that promotes investor interest and creates the commercial tax base on I-35W that we urgently need to fund both the town and the Argyle Independent School District, which is reliant on our commercial tax base growth. The process must begin with public input on the uses residents want to see and where to put them. That will allow the town’s leaders to promote the town as a commercial development destination.

According to census figures, the city grew by a little more than 1,100 people from 2010 to 2020. How do you think the city is doing with regard to managing growth?

Although we have a big challenge to overcome when it comes to policies that will attract quality investment in our commercial tax base, we can and will remain a town that respects and preserves its rural, small-town roots. We can and must restrict most commercial uses to the I-35W corridor and keep the central and eastern parts of town looking as they do today.

As the city grows, is the city doing enough to meet its demands for public services or could it do something different?

Eight-two people are moving into Denton County every day. Tens of thousands of new residents will be living within 5 miles of our town limits by 2030. Argyle and the Argyle Independent School District need funding to provide education, road maintenance, police protection and other essential services. A determined and professional effort to create a commercial tax base on the I-35W corridor is overdue. Without it, we will not be able to build a new police station, repair or replace a town hall that is falling apart, fund escalating road maintenance, and solve the town’s flooding problems. And most important, we will not be able to support the finances of our school system. If we don’t act now, the quality retail and other commercial will go elsewhere. And our spending will fund other towns and school districts.

Why did you decide to run again for council?

When I ran the first time in 2017 it was because residents did not like the direction the previous leadership was taking the town. I won that election with an overwhelming popular vote of 73% against an incumbent. Since then, I believe I have accomplished what I had promised I would, namely to find ways to preserve our charming small-town community. I also helped revise the town’s Comprehensive Plan, helped create the largest “shovel-ready” inventory of commercial properties for the retail amenities the citizens desire, led the town in a budgeting process which has created the largest surpluses all the while launching the largest road reconstruction project, just to name a few.

What are some of the biggest issues facing the city?

Traffic from surrounding areas, creating a Comprehensive Plan for “One Argyle” and maintaining our financial sustainability. The Comprehensive Plan is a vision of what the town itself would like to see in the future. It identifies property uses and the need for roads and other infrastructure among other things. We need to create a Comprehensive Plan supported by ALL of Argyle which I believe can be done, since for a large part our town is still relatively untouched. Our finances have never been better, and we need to assure through careful planning that this does not change, all the while finding ways to continue to reduce the tax burdens on our residents which we have done for 4 years in a row.

What do you hope to accomplish on the council, and is there anything you’d like to see the city pursue or accomplish?

My goals include reviewing and revising Argyle Comprehensive Plan for “One Argyle,” protecting the small-town charm while adding commercial and retail amenities for our citizens, increasing Sales Tax Revenue by 30% in the next two years and to ultimately reduce the tax burden on residents, lowering the property tax rate; seeing more town sponsored community events; identifying ways to better support local businesses making Argyle more business friendly; continuing to serve ONLY Argyle residents - no outside special interest groups; continuing to improve Argyle’s roads and infrastructure, including drainage issues; seeing quality development along the I-35 corridor while protecting the current property owners; improving the transparency and citizen engagement of the town’s governance; continuing to be transparent and citizen focused leadership to the Argyle voters. Since serving on the Argyle Town Council I have always maintained an open door policy for the citizens of Argyle. Always, I serve you!

According to census figures, the city grew by a little more than 1,100 people from 2010 to 2020. How do you think the city is doing with regard to managing growth?

It has grown probably that much again since 2020, but we have been able to manage that growth through creative management like outsourcing tasks identified largely and isolated due to the growth. We have recently outsourced our street maintenance which will allow us to recognize a 13% savings over what was originally budgeted. Moreover, the last Comprehensive Plan revision has set residential lot sizes to be no less than 1 acre, which will alleviate some of the infrastructure pressures normally experienced by other townships. Lastly, we have a good staff that is well qualified and will be able to adjust to any growth pressures that may arise in the future, which most likely will be more commercial/retail in nature.

As the city grows, is the city doing enough to meet its demands for public services or could it do something different?

I believe it is at the moment, but only expect it to get better as time passes. We have substantially increased our public safety services, which in 2017 only provided one patrol officer on duty at any given time, while now we are up to three patrol officers during the evening shift hours. Our development team has increased in size and scope as has our financial team. We are working hard on developing processes which we feel will make these teams more efficient, effective and sustainable going forward, allowing us to be more nimble doing more with less.