Accomplishments

The Mayor and Council can only pass ordinances and policies by a majority vote of the Council. Since my election to City Council in 2000, the City of Frisco has added approximately 75,000 new residents, opened Stonebriar Mall and other retail totaling over 5 million square feet. We have also opened Pizza Hut Park, Dr Pepper Ballpark, Dr Pepper/Stars Center, Along with a very balanced tax base to keep our homeowner property taxes low, these developments add to our quality of life and sustainability as a city. Public safety has improved to one of the best in the country and park development has increased substantially. You can find a list of all accomplishments that I was a part of on many different sites including the City of Frisco and Frisco Economic Development Corporation.

Your Mayor and City Council felt so strongly about my ability to help lead our city that I was appointed as the Mayor Pro Tem a record five times until I reached term limits in 2007. In that role, I helped negotiated with business partners, represented the city at local, regional and state functions, testified in front of other governmental entities and fulfilled other roles of the Mayor of Frisco when our Mayor was not available.

By reviewing the projects and programs that I helped institute in Frisco, I believe it is clear that I was your hands-on representative and I did more than just campaign and talk. I took action to protect our City and plan for the future. I am proud to match my record of action and results against my opponent.

Reduction in Multi-Family Zoning

One of the first platforms I ran on when I was first elected in 2000 was the critical need to reduce the apartment zoning in Frisco. In 2000, we had approximately 65,018 units of Multi-Family (MF) zoning. That was a very serious problem for a city when our comprehensive plan recommended only 15,000 units city-wide. My 3-step plan was put into action by the City Council at our work session in 2000 and since then, we have reduced MF zoning by 35,347 units. We are currently at 29,671 units with a pending reduction of 450. So, we still have a ways to go and I am committed to bringing the number of apartment zoning down to level that will provide housing for our residents yet not over-saturate our city.

Capital Reserve Fund

As the Chairman of the Budget and Audit Committee, which is a Council Committee, I brought a project to our City Staff that would ensure the long-term health of our City and allow us to keep our tax rate the lowest in North Texas. The Capital Reserve Program allows Frisco to perform maintenance on streets, alleys, fire and police stations and other capital projects without the need to acquire high-interest bonds. This program is very successful in a neighboring city and our City Council and staff has adopted this strategy. However, this is a long-term program that I would like to see to completion. It is very important to our future financial well-being and I am proud that our Council agreed with me on the need to put this program into effect.

Sidewalk Initiative

Another platform that I ran on in 2000 was an improvement in our parks and hike and bike trails. One of my pet peeves was the width of the sidewalks in our neighborhoods, where a family could not walk side-by-side while pushing their baby stroller. At times, the sidewalks were so close to major streets, it was dangerous for our young boys and girls to even ride their bikes as cars zoomed by at 45mph. I promised to improve this situation and I did. Through three years of research, negotiations and proposals, I was able to convince our City Council for the need to go wider sidewalk requirements. All new subdivisions and developments now meet the newer standards.

Neighborhood Revitalization Program

As your elected official, I studied ways to keep our city vibrant and sustainable. One of the programs I researched is the neighborhood revitalization program. By attending conferences on this subject, I was able to identify a program that works for Frisco. I interviewed a neighborhood revitalization director about a similar program in a nearby city and worked with our city staff to study ways to implement a similar program for Frisco. Funding, partnership, time-line, staffing, implementation and other aspects of this effort were all part of research. I am happy to say that the Frisco City Council and city staff have supported this initiative and it is moving forward.

Lighted Street Signs

Anther project that I helped encourage, support and drive was the change to using lighted street signs at intersections. Our citizens asked me to look into this issue and, after researching our options, I worked to bring these signs to Frisco. It has helped newcomers find streets as well as make our streets much safer.

Economic Development

One of my roles was to help our City succeed by attracting corporations and development to Frisco. I have attended the annual International Conference of Shopping Centers in Nevada where I took part in direct negotiations with mall developers General Growth (Stonebriar Mall) and Forest City. I have also met, as the City of Frisco representative, with many other developers interesting in building in our City. I have been trusted by our Mayor, Council and City Staff to represent our interests over many years.

Not all of my projects were ones to bring something to Frisco. Several were to protect us from negative changes. Most visible of these negative changes was the tolling of State Highway 121. I was the only City Council representative to consistently oppose this double-taxation method of building roads. I was not only vocal in my opposition; I took the time to give dozens of presentations tour local citizens as well as regional partners. In fact, I testified at several hearings in Austin as well as met with out State Elected officials. I was the only Council Member out there fighting to protect our Citizens from this over-priced initiative to put the burden of the State's shortfall directly on the backs of our Citizens. Without this effort, State Highway 121 would have been sold to Spanish conglomerate, Centras.

I look forward to continuing my service to you and, with your support, finding new ways to keep Frisco the best place to raise a family.