Four of the candidates for The Woodlands Township board of directors attended, and event organizers said the other three candidates were not able to attend.
Community Impact has previously conducted Q&As with all of The Woodlands candidates as well as other candidates on the ballot in The Woodlands area for Nov. 5.
For Position 1, incumbent Brad Bailey faces opponent Dylan Gonzales; incumbent Linda Nelson is unopposed in the race for Position 2; incumbent Richard Franks faces Elvin Misut for Position 3; and Position 4 sees Craig Eissler facing Jaime Viteri.
What they’re saying
The three incumbents were asked what accomplishments they feel they have made in their terms.
“I would say I think the collaboration with my fellow board members here is what I’m most proud about,” Nelson said. “We did not know each other when we came in and ran as a slate, and I am still very proud of what has been accomplished in our 22 months together.”
“We’ve successfully passed the lowest tax rate in the history of The Woodlands; we gave our first ever homestead exemption tax to our homeowners; we added 13 police officers ... [and] we put in over a million dollars into reforestation,” Bailey said.
“One was the presidents’ council; village presidents now meet monthly with various sundry people that talk and share ideas, programs, suggestions, problems. and I think that’s worked very well.” Franks said. “The second thing ... [is] great communications.”
Eissler, who is not an incumbent, said he is running because he is interested in preserving The Woodlands’ character.
“I believe in the limited form of government, and want to carry that baton into the next generation,” he said.
Dig deeper
Candidates present at the forum also discussed topics such as economic development, public safety and aging infrastructure.
Each of the candidates present answered a question about what they think are the biggest challenges and needs in the township.
“I think crime ... if you're not a safe community, you lose a lot of your positives. ... What's going on, coming from Harris County and the laws they put in place, affect us. ... So making sure we invest in our public safety is critical,” Bailey said. “No. 2, I think a big thing that we're seeing come in our ways, is our aging village centers.”
“It’s not only the police force ... but continue vital and economic development in terms of the right businesses locating here, right new businesses locating here, ensuring that our shopping centers and areas are up to speed and that we get that kind of revenue that we need,” Franks said.
“Public safety is No. 1,” Eissler said. “I'll add on ... the sales tax growth ... again, being built out on the residential, I think it's going to be very important to recruit the right businesses to that economic development.”
“Virgil Yoakum was a big builder, and ... he said to me one time, ‘The Woodlands is starting to age and they’d better be careful.’ ... We just want to make sure that we are the place to keep coming to,” Nelson said.
What's next
Responses to a Q&A from Community Impact from all candidates in The Woodlands Township board of directors race can be found on the listing here.
Early voting begins Oct. 21, and Election Day is Nov. 5.
