Spending most of her three-decade career in the energy industry, McCutcheon previously served as a City Council member for eight years before stepping into the mayor role, previously held by Joe Zimmerman, who served the maximum amount of time allowed by the city.
McCutcheon, who was in her final term as a council member, said the timing was right to run for mayor with Zimmerman finishing his term limit.
Community Impact spoke with her about settling into the new role, her goals as mayor and her plans for redevelopment. Answers have been edited for length and clarity.
What has your first couple of weeks serving as mayor been like?
It's been great—the outpouring of congratulations and support for me as mayor has really been heartwarming. It's been just a huge amount of support. I'm just really excited to be in the role, and I'm working hard.
We have four brand new council members out of the six total council members, so [we are focusing on] just really getting people working together as a team.
How has serving on City Council prepared you for serving as mayor?
It prepared me really well. It would be tough to step into mayor without having served on City Council for at least a number of years. Having that experience on council, having the historical knowledge ... is pretty important.
How would you describe your leadership style?
My top priority is public safety, and my leadership style is one of collaboration, listening and transparency ... I think that it's important to get input from a variety of perspectives, and it gives diverse perspectives, gives you a better answer and it also encourages buy-in as well.
What are some of your goals this year in your role as mayor?
Sugar Land recently bought the Imperial Historic District, and that is going to be our big focus.
The first thing on our plate, with respect to that, is a plan to stabilize and preserve the historic Char House. That's going to be workshopped with the council on Aug. 5. After that, we'll have public engagement to hear what the community would like to be developed there. Then we'll prepare a vision for the site.
We'll hire a designer to design the plan, and then next year, we will enter into agreement with a master developer to develop the site. It will probably be done in phases ... I would think that they would be breaking ground sometime in 2027.
A developer [also] recently purchased [the] Lake Pointe redevelopment district and they are going to be redeveloping that site into residential, so that's also something that will be on our plates.
[I am also focusing on] the implementation of the bond project ... and getting the new animal shelter constructed.
What is your plan for redevelopment as the city reaches build-out?
Our current focus is redevelopment of the Imperial and the Lake Pointe sides, and those are pretty big projects that will take us a while to do.
Also, there is a 50-acre piece of land that a developer owns across from [the] University of Houston-Sugar Land. Developed plans will probably be coming forward to the council sometime in the next number of months.
We also have some property on the northwest corner of Hwy. 6 and [Hwy. 90A] that we would like to make into an industrial park.
You’re Sugar Land’s first female mayor. How does it feel, and how are you breaking the barrier for women after you?
I do hope that by me being mayor, it will encourage girls and young women to set goals, follow their dreams and work hard, and I hope it will encourage other women to get involved and get into elected office, because women are underrepresented, generally speaking, in elected office.
As far as my role being mayor, it's the same regardless of gender, but a lot of people are very excited to have the first woman mayor of Sugar Land.
