The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce hosted a candidate forum for The Woodlands Township Nov. 7 board of directors election Oct. 12 at the Sam Houston State University The Woodlands Center on College Park Drive.
The candidates
The following candidates for The Woodlands Township board of directors attended the forum:
Position 5:
Tricia Danto
Position 6:
Ann K. Snyder
Position 7:
Cindy Heiser
Tom Chumbley
Position 5 candidate Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, Position 6 candidate Tom Chumbley and Position 7 candidiate Ann Perry did not attend. Two candidates named Tom Chumbley are seeking different seats on the board. Snyder and Sekula-Gibbs are incumbents.
The breakdown
Each candidate was given two minutes to speak about themselves before entering questions. Individual questions were given to each candidate in the first round with group questions in the second. All of the candidates answers questions regarding:
- The Conroe ISD 2023 bond proposition
- Handling growth within The Woodlands
- Mobility and mass transit
- Current public safety issues
- Water usage and rights
- The topic of incorporation
- Community service
Here are some remarks from candidates attending the forum on issues and topics they said were important to them.
"We are already a very safe community; we're the 13th safest in the nation," Danto said. "I would like to see us become the No. 1 safest community in America, and I think that's an achievable goal."
"Our ability to expand is very limited," Chumbley said. "People aren't going to tolerate cutting down trees, and people are not going to be overly happy about increased density either. We do have a limit as to what we can expand, and our biggest problem going into the future is going to be the growth that's going to be happening around us."
"I have a great passion for my family, my faith and this community, and I believe in its foundation," Snyder said. I had the opportunity many years ago, we moved here in the '80s to meet with [George] Mitchell, and what he shared with me is the true foundation of this community. It's a community that's for all faiths, all ethnicities, all cultures, all social economic groups and all ages."
"The beautiful thing, and really the township's job, is to be the counterbalance to the developer," Heiser said. "Quite honestly, if y'all know, that was part of the reason why the township was developed. So we are going to hold [developers] accountable. So we definitely need to hold them accountable for reforestation of the areas where they do cut down trees."
Learn more
Community Impact will provide coverage on election night at www.communityimpact.com/election.
