Q&A: Get to know the two candidates running for Montgomery mayor

Why are you running for election?

I love my city, and believe I have the skills to bring together our City Council and management in a way that will help us become more effective and productive.

What are the two biggest challenges the city faces in relation to growth, and how would you address them, if elected?

Infrastructure, including traffic flow with water and sewer needs for over 800 homes to be added within 3-5 years, and relations with current and future businesses are our two biggest challenges. I expect a near $3 million MEDC balance at the end of fiscal year [2021-]22. This will enable us to almost exclusively pay for the first part of our revitalization of downtown, which will allow the city budget to commit the maximum toward major infrastructure growth needs. Our community relations will improve once we change procedures in permitting and granting financial assistance in more equitable objective ways. We will also reroute traffic from the main roads and channel them toward the new lights we have coming from [the Texas Department of Transportation] hopefully soon.

What will be your top three priorities, if elected?

1. Improve relationships internally by establishing my desire to share in where the “buck stops” with my city administrator. When we create a “we” instead of “me,” we can now work collaboratively toward leading our city together. 2. Establish a [tax increment reinvestment zone] district, which is less bureaucratic than [municipal utility districts] or [public improvement districts], along our two main highways. 3. Establish equitable and fair permitting policies and practices for current and future businesses while helping our MEDC to objectify the process for businesses applying for financial assistance.

Why are you running for election?

I believe I can help influence meaningful change in my very own community. My children are watching, and they are the future for our city, our county and our nation. I want to make certain that they have a future that is secure and built on solid ground so that even their children can one day live, work, play and pray in this city.

What are the two biggest challenges the city faces in relation to growth, and how would you address them, if elected?

1. Time: We are already behind the timeline of the incoming growth, and there isn’t much we can do to catch up. However, if we don’t do anything, then the developers will just pop up all around us and won’t be inside the city limits. The bad side here is those people will still be using and accessing city amenities. We need to become visionaries of balancing the growth. I believe we can do this by adjusting our zoning regulations just slightly, by being more straightforward with regards to communications and by controlling access to services better. 2. Money: Our contracted engineer for the city, WGA is suggesting a $58 million price tag for the needed infrastructure for the next five years. The city does not just have that sitting around. No one wants to hear the word bond. But the reality is that I am not really sure how we can accommodate the growth at the pace that it is coming without a bond or without being completely left behind altogether regarding services for our existing citizens.