Jeff Cheney will run for the Frisco mayor seat in the 2017 city elections.[/caption]Cheney said he believes serving as the city's mayor is where his skills could best best used.
"I love this community," he said. "Frisco is in my blood, and I'm very proud of it."
Cheney had served on city council for nine years. Because of term limits, he stepped down from his seat in July.
The seat Cheney is seeking is currently held by Frisco Mayor Maher Maso, who will also be term limited next year.
With about 40 percent of the city that has yet to be developed, Cheney said the next mayoral term will move toward the second half of the vision for building out Frisco.
One of Cheney's passions is bringing unique and high-quality design to residential and commercial developments, he said.
"The northern part of the city has some beautiful terrain," he said. "That's going to give us an opportunity to do some very unique developments. It's important to me that we protect that amenity, use the elevation changes and the creeks and the beautiful landscape that's out there and develop [it] the right way."
Some of Cheney's other top goals include furthering the vision for the Parks and Recreation department, keeping a low tax rate, expanding tourism options and offering more arts and culture in the city.
Cheney said the city is on the cusp of a lot of change. Within the next few years, a new mayor will be elected, new people may join the council and some of the city's senior leadership may retire, he said.
"I think one of the big things the mayor and council are going to have to do is to make sure we get the right people on the bus going forward," Cheney said. "That second generation of leaders is going to build out the second half of the city."
Cheney owns two businesses: The Cheney Group—a residential real estate firm—and frisco-online.com—a community forum and aggregate news website. His professional background also includes being a certified public accountant for PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Cheney and his family have lived in Frisco for 13 years.
