Q&A: Meet the candidates for Flower Mound Town Council Place 2

Why did you decide to run for council?

I have been serving on Planning and Zoning, Smart Growth, and Capital Improvements Boards since 2015 and I want to use that experience to ensure Flower Mound continues to be one of the best communities to live in.

What are some of the biggest issues facing the city?

We have around 2000 acres on the west side of the town where the zoning has been approved and ready to be developed. We need future projects that will support the residents needs who live in the area. I want to ensure that we have a smart, controlled, and a measured approach while planning ahead for the future. I also want to reduce the disparity between what the residents pay in taxes to the town. Right now, homeowners are paying about 80% of the taxes and that needs to be reduced. If we can bring in the right commercial, we can lower the tax rate for the residents.

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

I would like to see some stabilization on our boards and training. I would like to get a performing arts center in our town.

How do you think the city is doing with regard to managing growth?

The master plan and smart growth was set up as blueprint and guide to maintain that small town country atmosphere. I moved here 24 years ago and loved the trees and the fact that we make it hard to clear cut land to build. Flower Mound was not on the map when I got here and most people had never heard of the town. Today we have more trees than what was here when I came to town and we are ranked the 4th best place to live in the US! Newcomers gush about the trees and small town feel. So I would say the master plan and smart growth have been a big win for the town.

The city grew by more than 11,000 people from 2010 to 2020, according to census figures. As the city grows or has grown, is the city doing enough to meet its demands for public services or could it do something different?

Traffic is one of the concerns, especially with the growth of residential on the west side of town and no commercial to support their needs. They have to come to the east side of town if they want to shop, dine out, or work. That brings extra traffic on to our roads out east. We can reduce that traffic once we get high quality commercial that offers the amenities the residents want as well as the convenience to shop and dine closer to where they live. This will bring jobs closer to home and tax revenue into our coffers. It’s win win for everyone!

Why did you decide to run for council?

I am running for Town Council because I have a passion for community service and a desire to continue making Flower Mound one of the best communities in Texas. I’m a lifelong resident of the Flower Mound area. I grew up here, graduated from Marcus High School and came back to raise my family. The decisions I make in Town Council will affect me and my growing family for the rest of our lives. I am the best candidate for the position because I support no more apartments, lower taxes and honoring the master plan. I will uphold our town’s master plan, strengthen the development standards that maintain our quality of life and reduce the overall tax rate for our residents by being fiscally responsible with our town’s spending. I also have extensive experience in managing large financial budgets, am currently a planning and zoning commissioner, and have the drive to make our town the best place it can be.

What are some of the biggest issues facing the city?

The biggest issue in Flower Mound right now is the growing property tax burden on our residents. Our residents are being taxed out of their homes. The town of Flower Mound accounts for 25% of those taxes. We need to spend in a more responsible manner. We cannot continue to increase taxes 10% year over year. We must maintain spending plus inflation, reduce our bond debt and stop isolating tax revenue in certain areas of our town. We have a large portion of our town’s tax revenue isolated to certain areas via tax incremental reinvestment zone. We need to disband those isolation districts and utilize those funds to reduce the tax rate.

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

I hold a unique perspective of a decade of complex budget management experience. My automotive experience will help facilitate the town's different traffic improvement projects. I am very interested in using new technologies to improve our traffic. My years of resident advocacy show me constantly seeking to improve the quality of life of our residents. I want to further reduce our town’s tax rate year over year by applying my financial management experience. We should strengthen development standards to improve the quality of life of our residents, like SMARTGrowth. I also want to make sure we have no additional high-density apartments in our community since 10,900 have been previously approved, with 7,900 still to be built.

How do you think the city is doing with regard to managing growth?

The town of Flower Mound is doing a lot to help mitigate the ill effects of growth in our community. We are expanding town amenities and adding additional traffic infrastructure to reduce traffic. As our community grows, we need to make sure we maintain the quality of life for all residents, which can be done by honoring and utilizing the town’s master plan. This plan evaluates traffic patterns and provides our town with a diverse mix of uses to support a flexible and sustainable tax base for the town as whole.

The city grew by more than 11,000 people from 2010 to 2020, according to census figures. As the city grows or has grown, is the city doing enough to meet its demands for public services, or could it do something different?

The town is doing enough to expand town facilities as our demand and population increases. We are evaluating new town amenities, like the tennis center, and utilizing the proper democratic process to approve those facilities. I support additional budget measures going to the ballot for a final approval. I would like to see additional investment in our roads. Traffic in our town has increased heavily, and we need to both investigate and budget for new technologies, like traffic light synchronization. These systems improve the efficiency of our roads and maximize traffic flow throughout our community.