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(Back
to Questions and Answers)
Dallas Morning News Voter
Guide: Answer Submission
(Also see all the Candidates Answers link at the bottom of this page.)
Campaign Questions
Q: Length of residency in the city:
A: since 1987
Q: Length of residency in the district (if a council candidate):
A: since 1987
Q: Occupation/main source of income:
A: IT Consultant, Owner of JMG Enterprises: Server & PC Networking, Domain
Hosting Services, Web Design Services.
Q: Current civic involvement/accomplishment highlights:
A: I regularly attend the City Council Meetings and workshop sessions, Precinct chair, Working at the voting locations and Election
judge, Lewisville Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association, various
volunteer work in the Community. I also created and maintain the Sounds Of
Lewisville website to have a list of free events in the area for residents.
Board member for Citizens for Immigration reform. Active member of the
following organizations: member of The Lewisville Chamber of Commerce (since
2000). Though the City Council is not a
partisan position I am a member of the following in Lewisville: Pachyderm
Club, Republican Men's Club, Lewisville Area republican club, and the Denton
County Republican Assembly.
Q: Previous civic involvement/accomplishment highlights:
A: Had served on the Transportation Board for the City of Lewisville in
2008. Volunteering for the Lewisville Volunteer Fire Department (1987 - 1993),
the Boy Scouts, along with my son, John, from (1989-2006), as well as,
lending a hand with many of the City’s events such as the Christmas Stroll,
Summer Blast, Western Days, Sponsor of The Sounds of Lewisville, member of
Old Town Business Association.
Q: Previous public offices sought/held:
A: none
Q: How much funding have you raised for your campaign?
A: Less than $500 at the time of this writing. Most of the campaign will be
paid with personal funds. However, I still welcome contributions to my
campaign as we still have a weeks before the election.
Q: Who are your top three contributors?
A: Susan Davis of Lewisville, Susie Burns of Lewisville, and Leroy and Jean
Towell of Dallas.
Q: Have you ever been arrested or involved in any criminal proceedings or
civil suits? Please explain:
A: No
Q: Why are you running for this office, and why should voters consider you
the most qualified candidate? What in your personal or professional
background most prepares you to serve in this office?
A: As a citizen of Lewisville, I care very much for this city as all the
candidates do. I am running for office because I think the City needs to
make decisions differently than they have in the past. I became active with
the issues of the city when the city council voted to build a day laborer
site. I think that decision was the wrong route to take. Sometimes enough is
enough. It is a decision that I would never have made for many reasons. I
would have pushed for enforcement. As a Christian, an American citizen, a
person of Hispanic heritage, I am affected like other Americans about the
issues caused by illegal immigration. As a business owner, I follow the
rules and run my business as a law abiding citizen. It is unfair for any
business (or individuals) to hire illegal aliens to cheat the system by not
paying the employee taxes, a fair wage, etc... I have a degree in Emergency
Administration and Planning and have 15 Hours of Public Administration
classes at the graduate level. I understand how a City works from the
inside. For many years, I have been involved with Lewisville and other
cities in the area: a volunteer firefighter for Lewisville (1987 – 1993), a
firefighter/paramedic for Coppell (1993 – 2000). worked part-time in
Carrollton on the Fire Chief’s staff in Emergency Management (1996 to 1999)
which started as an intern but became a part-time employee for 2 more years.
I currently own my own successful business as an IT Consultant which started
in 1982 part-time and grew to be a full-time business in 2000. I am a
graduate of the Lewisville Citizens Police Academy and a member of the
alumni association. I am on the Lewisville transportation board and attend
council meetings regularly.
Q: What are the three most important actions you would take if elected? How
would you push for them and pay for them?
A: I have many concerns but here are my top three: - The future of
Lewisville depends on what we do today. The problems that are caused by
illegal immigration have to be addressed since it affects many areas: our
schools, hospitals, public assistance like welfare, identity theft, etc...
It affects our City, County, and State. We must work with federal agencies
to enforce the laws of this Country. The United States does not have Federal
Police because we have the law enforcement agencies at the local level. It
is at the local level that this work must be done. We are responsible for
our city – our piece of America. We pledge our allegiance to the united
States and as elected officials take oaths to “uphold the constitution, laws
of this country, state, and ordinances of the city." We do this now or pay
so much later.
- Retail & residential redevelopment and maintenance. With the expansion of
I35 we have a great opportunity to give the area a greatly improved look.
Through Private-Public partnerships, we can improve properties along the I35
corridor and throughout the city.
- Transportation in the area is becoming a problem for Lewisville residents.
With many commuters traveling to/from Denton/Dallas, Lewisville is a focal
point of much needed transportation needs. The city can use dedicated funds
for beautification to help improve the look along I35 as the TxDOT works on
the expansion and rail system.
Q: What are the key differences between you and your opponent(s) that make
you the best choice?
A: - My opponent and the rest of the City Council voted to build a day
laborer site which a decision that I would have fought hard against if I
were on the council. When I heard about it, I spoke to the Council and have
tried very hard to get them to stop and make decisions in the other
direction. This action has since been stopped and the money was reallocated.
Building a Day Labor Site would just encourage more illegal aliens to come
to Lewisville. It would encourage companies and citizens to hire people
illegally. It would give the appearance that the city condones this type of
behavior. Instead of making it easier for illegal aliens to find work, we
should be actively enforcing the laws of this Country.
- My opponent has pushed for the Council to ban smoking in Lewisville.
Though I do not like smoking, I don’t feel that the council has a right to
govern how a business should be run, however give them the option of their
choice. Patrons can then decide whether or not to do business with them.
Smoking may be part of their business model and how they compete with others
in their market. It is legal for them to have smoking. I commend those that
have taken the step to have a smoke free establishment and encourage other
establishments to do the same.
- I am more conservative on abatements. I would not have voted for
abatements on certain office buildings especially since we have much retail
that is not leased in Lewisville. I do not think that the city will recover
the lost property tax revenue in some of these cases. I believe that these
investors would have built their office space regardless of the abatements
due to the great location and what the City has to offer. Abatements are
sometimes necessary in order to help with redevelopment but not in the cases
in which I am referring. The lost revenue from these property tax abatements
could have been used for revitalization in other areas.
Q: Development challenges vary from city to city. Where does attracting
residential and/or commercial development to your city rank on your list of
priorities? How would you evaluate the job your city has done to date in
attracting such development?
A: This is a very high priority. The City has done well in attracting
development. Lewisville is getting closer to a point where most of the city
is built up. While we still do have some room to build up new areas, we
should start focusing on redeveloping older areas. Historic Downtown area
was a good start for revitalization. Lewisville has a great location in the
Metroplex and is a great place to invest. Those investing in new building
construction usually do not like to build in an area with older
deteriorating areas. Redevelopment of older areas is a very important to
attract new development.
Q: What demographic changes are happening in your city that the rest of the
region should know more about? How is your city dealing with those changes,
if any?
A: I perceive Lewisville to be like Farmers Branch and Irving was about 10
years ago. We know from current events what issues they are facing with
illegal aliens in their community. You can say that the writing is on the
wall. Lewisville has about 27% reported rental properties which is about 10
times more than Flower Mound (2.3%) and Highland Village (3.5%). Also, our
mean rent is $775 which is about half of the cities mentioned. If a certain
population is going to fit as many people as they can in a single dwelling,
they usually do not go for the higher rental areas. We must find ways to
control the number of people living in a single family dwelling or
apartments.
Q: Do you favor or oppose a seamless regional rail system, and if you favor
it, what steps would you take to make it happen? Do you favor or oppose a
local option sales tax election and why?
A: I favor a seamless rail system. The plans for the area are already near
finalization. I agree with the plans that I have seen. It will connect the
cities from Denton to Lewisville with the rest of the Metroplex. This will
benefit commuters greatly. When the I35 expansion is completed with the rail
system, I think the improvement will be a good one. I do not support a local
option sales tax and I do not think toll roads should be used to pay for
these ventures. I think toll roads should be used only to pay for the road
that is being tolled and then stop taking tolls once the funds have been
achieved to pay for the road. Every year citizens pay the county for vehicle
registration which is supposed to be used for maintaining roads. The rail
system should be self supporting with fees paid for by those using the
system.
Q: Identify other issues you think your city and North Texas could benefit
from greater regional cooperation, and what would you do to encourage
regional partnerships?
A: For the most part, I think the regional relationship is very good. Police
and Fire have mutual aid agreements to assist when needed. Though it would
be nice for every department to have every specialty mastered, most
departments have taken the responsibility to specialize in a few areas so
that they can assist when needed. Some of these specialties are dive teams,
trench rescue, etc…
Another issue has to deal with Illegal Immigration. Cities should get
together and help enforce the laws of this Country. A cooperation to assist
in funneling illegal aliens to ICE. I encourage all elected officials and
police to join this fight for America.
Q: Farmers Branch and Irving have taken an aggressive stance against illegal
immigrants. What changes in local laws should your city adopt to address
this issue?
A: The oath of Police and Elected Officials contains, “…protect and defend
the Constitution and Laws of the United States and of this State and the
Charter and Ordinances of this city…” and enforcing the laws is honoring our
oath. National security begins at home and Lewisville is our piece of the
United States for which we are responsible. If all the cities would take
action then we would not have a problem like we do. The Pro Illegal Alien
groups like La Raza (the race), the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund (MALDEF),
League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) are trying to circumvent
our already relaxed immigration laws. These organizations are bullying many
areas to not do anything and accept what is coming to them. These threats to
lawsuits will be expensive to a few cities if they fight this alone. If we
all stand united instead of cowering in fear of a lawsuit, we can defeat
this problem and save America. As Americans, we brag of our capitalist
system and our rule of law. I believe that our capitalist system will work
best when the law is applied to everyone. We should do what we can to
enforce the law.
Q: Do you think that your city delivers services in the most cost-effective
manner to taxpayers? If not, what changes would you recommend?
A: Yes. Lewisville is blessed with employees that really care how well they
do their job. As active as I am and interact with city staff, I can see that
they are good people. It is that personal service that brings value to the
residents of Lewisville. The City Manager and his staff are doing a great
job from my vantage point as a citizen. The budget reports that are
available on the internet are a detailed summary. If I am called by the
voters to be on the Council, I will be able to look more closely at the
details.
Q: What is an uncomfortable truth about your city that voters must confront?
A: There are several things that citizens of Lewisville need to keep in mind
and be prepared. - Lewisville is about to have a large amount of disruption
along the I35 corridor with the expansion. This will take years to complete.
It is unavoidable and we must stay focused on the finished project. -
Lewisville is getting older and certain areas of our city will need to be
redeveloped to maintain a good local economy. - Lewisville will have to
address the problems caused by illegal immigration. With lower rental rates
and a larger amount of rental properties when compared to our neighboring
cities, Lewisville’s problem will get worse.
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