PLATFORM

LIST OF ISSUES

Incorporation

There is no need to rush to incorporation as a city. It should be a thoughtful process that will bring benefit to the community without increasing the tax burden. If that cannot be done, then it should be tabled. In other words, don't fix what's not broke. While I like the concept of being able to call The Woodlands a city , we should not be doing it for status purposes.

Transportation

A community our size should be offering more than free trolley service between business centers like Hughes Landing, Market Street, The Woodlands, Mall and Town Center. Relying on Uber and Lyft is not really enough either. I propose we look at the possibility of a small fixed route bus system and a dial-a-ride for the elderly and disabled. I have extensive experience in this area and it need not be provided all with local funds. There are Federal grants available that we could possibly leverage.

Flood Mitigation

Of course, we must take apropriate measures along with the County and the State and Federal Government to ensure that our Community is protected as much as possible from flooding.

Diversity

Greater efforts must be made to include and respect all members of our community, regardless of ethnicity, country of origin, race, religion, gender identity, etc.

Water

Clearly, we must have a reliable source of pure water or we cannot continue as a community. There are issues that must be addressed that may add costs to how we get our water. I will seek to find the best solution to keep our costs down, while not being penny-wise and pound-foolish. We cannot be shortsighted, but must look to the future of the community, not just for ourselves, but for future generations too.

As an 18 year resident of The Woodlands, I've seen a lot of change, some for the better and some for the worse. We love the variety of restaurants and other businesses throughout our community in our Villages and in business concentrations such as Town Center, Market Street, and Hughes Landing. It’s great place to live and for many of us there is no need to drive all the way into Houston. It's a great community.

That said, the price for such progress is that we have increasing traffic congestion and are losing more and more of our natural environment, turning us slowly from a lovely green suburb into a small city. My number one priority is to keep and improve on the community we live in, while causing the least amount of disruption to its residents, and keeping tax burdens steady, or even decreasing them if possible.

That raises the primary issue facing us at this time of incorporation. There is no need for this to even be an issue any more. There was a time when we were threatened by annexation by the City of Houston and to avoid that we entered into an agreement in which we paid Houston millions of dollars for Houston roads and other amenities, as I understand it, that we may or may not have ever used, and in exchange we were able to avoid annexation if we incorporated by the year 2057. Annexation is no longer on the table since the laws have changed so that for us to be annexed by Houston, we would have to vote on it. I'm all for incorporation at such time that it can be proved it improves our lives. True, it will bring us a larger voice in the County, but at what price? Again, I'm all for incorpo9ration if it improves our quality of life while keeping our taxes low or even decreasing them.

I'm also concerned that the Township Board took the step of assuming incorporation was going to be a fait accompli and created a multi-million dollar reserve fund for that purpose and preemptively bought property with a building on it that could serve as a future city hall. The Woodlands belongs to all of us, not just those who have lived here for over 30 years and are part of the established good ole boy network, acting in the best interest of the Developer, The Howard Hughes Corporation, which I believe is likely the largest landowner and lessor in The Woodlands. I don't know any other communities that have been around as long as this one and still have outsized input from a Developer. I realize that we are a master planned community, but at some time the Developer needs to go away or at least take a back seat.

So, the largest issue, as I see it, other than incorporation, is to ensure that the Board is not leaning towards the special interests of the Developer, but looking out for the interests of the average Woodlander. According to one source, the average income for a resident here is $51,865 a year, while the US average is $28,555 a year. The median household income here is $108,635 vs $53,482, overall in the US according to Sperling's Best Places. So, obviously we are doing well and are a pretty affluent community, but not all of us own million dollar homes or are millionaires. I have my suspicions that the focus of the current Board of Directors is geared more to the wealthiest among us.

I think it’s past time for there to be some new blood on the Board, and diversity of thought and experience, and I offer that. This is a pivotal time in the history of The Woodlands, and that is largely why I stepped up to the plate and decided to run for the Township Board at this time.