Garry Watts has little patience for boredom. Married for 46 years and the father of three sons, Watts has dabbled in semiprofessional baseball, owned a business and is now a mayor. When he was in high school, Watts idolized the businessmen he would see walking the streets in crisp white shirts and briefcases. He skipped college and went straight to work as a purchasing agent for Carter-Waters in 1968. Yet, Watts said he did not belong there. "[People would tell me] 'You're on the wrong side of the table,'" Watts said. "'You need to be on the sales side.'" Watts ascended to senior vice president of marketing at American International Group. In 2002, he retired from AIG to indulge his interest in travel. He and his wife, Helen, put 100,000 miles on his Tahoe. After a while, the itch to return to the working world returned. Watts now sells commercial and residential real estate for Bobek Realty Group while also serving as mayor. Watts has served as mayor of Shenandoah since May 2014. It is his second term, having served previously from 2008–12. What makes your city unique? Shenandoah has a small-city environment with big-city amenities. We have convenient shopping, dining and medical services, with quick access to I-45. Our location is paramount to the successful growth we've seen in the last few years. We are a sales tax city, which affords us the lowest property tax for a full-service municipality in Montgomery County. What are Shenandoah's most pressing issues? Our most pressing issues include properly managing growth, delivering water and sewer services, local and regional mobility, maintaining transparency and keeping residents informed about future planning. What are the city's short- and long-term goals? We're working on maintaining the highest residential quality of life while still allowing for the commercial and retail growth that surrounds us. Short-term goals include identifying alternate water sources and alleviating mobility problems. Our long-term goals include further integrating a business philosophy into our culture and always keeping an eye on political, economic, social, technological and regulatory factors that may affect our future planning strategies. What are the city's greatest challenges? Water and mobility are the greatest challenges that we face right now. Water supply is a statewide concern, and delivery of water and sewer services is becoming more costly. We have developed some regional partnerships to contain expenses and provide services to our communities, as well as meet regulatory requirements for groundwater conservation. Mobility problems come with the growth in Montgomery County, and with the cooperation of cities and various other agencies, a regional transportation plan has been developed. [The South Montgomery County Mobility Plan] identifies critical areas of concern and solutions to address them. What traffic solutions will alleviate congestion on I-45 without jeopardizing mobility? First of all, I-45 is a state issue. Due to the successful recruitment of companies, the abundance of residential communities popping up in south Montgomery County and the lack of funding for mobility projects, there is a problem. Shenandoah will do its part to alleviate some of the problems by making improvements to key areas in the city. A primary goal is to relieve congestion east of I-45 along Tamina Road and Research Forest Drive, and that is where our efforts will be focused in the immediate future.