What are the three main reasons you are running for this office? Do you see any potential conflicts of interest?

I am running for re-election because I believe there is still more to accomplish and be done from my initial campaign. My experience has led me to better understand the role and how I can best represent the residents of The Woodlands in a conservatively fiscal and cultural manner.

I believe we are upon the most important issue the residents have ever faced and as a leader of that mission, I believe it is my responsibility to those who first elected me to see the mission through.

With new legislation (HB347) prohibiting annexation of smaller communities by larger/adjacent cities unless approved by voters, is The Woodlands still obligated to pay-off Houston ($1 million) and Conroe ($500,000) for that purpose?

Yes, HB347 has no impact on the contractual agreement between TWT and the cities of Houston and Conroe. Those payments will continue. Those payments will continue even if TWT incorporates as a city in the November 2021 election. The contract negotiated by the establishment members of the township board at that time did not take into consideration limiting the agreement upon early incorporation.

What, in your view, are the positive and negative aspects of the Township's current governance structure?

I have attended every board meeting and strategic planning session (I was a primary proponent of the board working with the General Manager to hold a strategic planning session this year. I believed we needed to review all things related to who The Woodlands is, how it got there, what its goals were and how do we get to where we see the vision of The Woodlands in the short, medium, and long-term planning.

The current form of governance of The Woodlands is ‘in my opinion is the most ineffective and at the same time, the most effective form of municipal governance.

The “City Manager” form of governance is I believe the most effective form of governance. That places the City Manager responsible for the day-to-day operations of The Township and responsible for the strategic vision and plan integration. He is a Partner with the CFO and the Board on the overall Vision, Strategic Plan, and Oversight of The Township staff and operations.

I believe the legal form “Township” has not grown with the demands and opportunities of governance, so it has become ineffective in its form. There are several instances to support this.

1. As we have continued to work with the state assembly, there have been several times we have been told, that the entitling legislation restricts things against The Woodlands, and if we want “that” then we should incorporate. We have learned that federal emergency funds such as the Cares Act and ARP include rules and regulations that restrict The Woodland’s ability to access these funds, despite the fact that The Township has incurred most of the reimbursable expenses and revenue losses due to the cultural, social, and financial impact of the pandemic.

Despite these exclusions and lack of recognition and respect to the fact that The Woodlands performs most of the defined rules of entitled municipalities, the federal government does not recognize a ‘township’ in the State of Texas, because the State of Texas itself does not officially recognize it as a properly defined form of governance as other states who do have legally defined and entitled townships within their governance system.

What most residents and citizens of the county don’t truly understand is The Woodlands Township pays for approximately 80% of all the expenses as a municipality. TWT pays for almost over 90% of the public safety expenses directed towards policing operations. TWT funds its own fire department, which is recognized as the highest-rated fire department rating in the country. No other fire department in the area has earned this rating.

Much is made of developers donating parks to TWT and its residents. And while I agree, it is a benevolent gesture, albeit in a symbolic sort of way, what residents don’t really know is most of these parklands were required to be used for water runoff, water drainage, and water subsidence for the developers/builders to obtain a housing / multi-unit / commercial building permit for the land plats. Most of these park’s water management infrastructure was paid for by the MUDs, which in turn billed to the residents of the MUD via MUD property taxes. Once the developer/builder had neared completion of the defined development plan, they place park equipment on the piece of land and ‘donated’ it to The Woodlands – with the expense to maintain responsible to the residents of The Woodlands into the infinite future.

The current form of governance does not allow The Woodlands to protect the residents from the continuing clear-cutting of trees (under the guises of elevation improvement in most cases), and the publicly declared (by Jim Carmen himself) continuing development of ‘high-density multi-unit family housing.

The current form of government provides no protection from the land use by developers and builders in a way that would create a more collaborative plan that would take into consideration the respective voice of the residents.

The current form also limits our access to many forms of grant programs (both federal and state) for infrastructure, parks and recreation, transportation programs, and community and economic development that would benefit the residents and The Woodlands as a whole.

Did you attend any of the Special Planning meetings on incorporation? If so, how many?

I have attended every board meeting and strategic planning session (I was a primary proponent of the board working with the General Manager to hold a strategic planning session this year. I believed we needed to review all things related to who The Woodlands is, how it got there, what its goals were and how do we get to where we see the vision of The Woodlands in the short, medium, and long-term planning.

Did you take a public position before the May 9, 2015 Road Bond election, and if so, what was it? And in a few sentences, explain why.

Yes, I was against the road bond and am not in favor of some of the current road mobility plans supported by the county. Moving The Woodlands Parkway extensions (that was soundly defeated by the residents) less than ¼ mile to the south to Mansions Way is an attempt to mask the intended effect of the original WPX to the residents and mobility demands of The Woodlands.  There are other issues, but that is the primary one. I had a sign in my yard supporting the opposition to the road bond and a sticker on my vehicle window.

List all civic, political or union organizations or individuals to whom you have contributed time or money in the last five years.

Wow Ok, Trump. Cruz, Gordy Bunch, Bruce Rieser, MCTP, Patriot PAC, several protected PAC’s associated with conservative rights groups and automotive-related issues, The Woodlands Arts Festival. Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, Sheriff Rand Henderson, Constable Ryan Gable, Commissioner James Noack, Tammy McRae, national and local right to life groups, VEL, Crimestoppers, 100 Club, my church’s various outreach programs (above our tithing), NADA, Constable Philip Cash, JP Wayne Mack, Interfaith Hometown Hero Celebration, various junior high and high school donation campaigns, a lot more smaller veteran-focused organizations, and animal rescues – including the one I own with a partner. There may be more, but that is most of them off of the top of my head.

It's been reported that The Woodlands comprises only 20% of households in the county, yet provides almost double that (35%) of the county total in property taxes. What would/could you do to correct this gross imbalance of tax inequity?

I am not sure I can do anything to correct this issue. The more disturbing issue with these numbers is the county only re-invests about 50% of what the residents pay into the county property tax fund coffers back into The Woodlands, and significantly less when you take into consideration TWT pays all of the expenses to maintain the streetscapes on the county road right of ways because they were either being taken care of poorly or not at all and TWT pays another approximately $14mm for law enforcement services, despite the fact that Texas Constitution, Article 5, Section 23 clearly places the responsibility (and expense) of law enforcement services in unincorporated areas on the county government – one of the 2 primary reasons the county places a property tax on residents in these areas – the other being infrastructure.

What three major changes would you like to see implemented by the Township?

1. Incorporate – I believe the time is now to get more than 20 government entities out of controlling The Woodlands and put the residents in control of oversight for development and operations. Upon incorporation the transition would be made from a general law to a home rule city structure – under the “City Manager” operating method. That means there would be a mayor and 5 council members (1 less than currently serve on the board of directors) who would function in a very similar manner as the board does today. They would provide oversight, strategic planning, vision, and collaborate with the City Manager – who would be the CEO of the city.  The mayor would be a non-voting member – so the only votes would be from the council. They would all be ‘non-paid positions. A citizens constitution committee (city charter committee) would create the City Charter and it would be put to a vote to the residents for approval. At the time the residents could vote to require many things – one being that the mayor and council would always remain unpaid unless the residents placed a referendum on a ballot – of that the only way that could change would be by presenting a ballot to the residents for vote by the council. This continues with the “residents in control” rules.
2. A Zero-Based budget plan to review and justify all expenses annually within the township/city budget. I use this model in my businesses and find great benefit for it. My leadership team justifies every member of the team and every item we spend money on on an annual basis.
3. A comprehensive position/pay review to compare the current personnel structure and pay system to other similar size municipalities and businesses to ensure we are responsible and competitive to our competition when it comes to recruiting the best people for the staff of the Township.

The township budget funds all reserves 100% yearly. What is the current surplus and should any of it be returned to the residents or retained in a rainy day fund and if so, how much and why? Any other options for the surplus?

The current reserve balance is approximately $105mm. That reserve fund is broken up into 4 categories:

Operating Reserve = $30mm – this is to support the Operating Budget in case of emergencies and challenges – such as weather-related catastrophes and pandemics. The attempt is to maintain this at about a 25% level, which is the desired level for maintaining our AA+ bond rating. This represents approximately 3 months' worth of Township operating expenses.

Capital Replacement Reserve = $39mm – The Township operates from a 30-year capital replacement budget -which allows it to replace many capital items by paying cash as opposed to having to issue debt.

Other (Non-Discretionary Reserves = $15mm – This comes primarily from savings and expense gains in our Transportation Fund, Debt Service savings due to our excellent bond rating, undesignated hotel tax, Visit the Woodlands expenses savings during the pandemic, health insurance reserve savings, and other smaller items.

Incorporation Reserve = $21mm – this reserve has been accumulated through favorable budget variances since 2016. These variances primarily have come from expense items and revenue items that are not tied to the property tax rate. Any use of these whether incorporation passes or not – could not legally be used to lower the property tax rate – as these are “one-time non-property tax revenue related savings” and thus can only be applied to non-property tax rate items. Also, these represent one-time savings, so the fund isn’t perpetual. If you could use it to reduce the property tax rate, you would then be in the deficit significantly the very next year, because you would not have the reserves to make up the expense structure associated with the revenue stream.

The Woodlands is basically built out, except for some land held by Howard Hughes Corp(HHC). Are you concerned they(HHC) may use that to build multi-family housing? And what are the pros and cons of that?

There is serious concern over the buildout plans of HHC for the remaining 700 acres of development property they maintain in The Woodlands – even more so since Jim Carmen stood on the stage at one of your recent meetings with a local commissioner and stated it was their intention to build more high-density apartment complexes – “very high end of course”. This should concern everyone.

First the potential impact on infrastructure and population density to the “way of life” the residents of TW currently experience. Second, the fact that they will be “very high end” does nothing to address the lack of affordable housing development in The Woodlands. The original vision included a plan for continuing affordable housing development so there could be multiple generations of families living in the same community. That is almost impossible today with the lack of entry-level homes for young families.

High-Density apartment complexes similar to the two in Hughes Landing are the most appropriate place for this type of development. Once you move into the residential neighborhoods and the surrounding major road corners of the community the potential for negative impact is supported by many studies that show this type of development leads to more crime from external entities and more traffic accidents.

Whenever The Woodlands wants to replat land inside it's jurisdiction, it has to go through either Cities of Houston or Conroe. How does this benefit The Woodlands and wouldn't this go away with incorporation?

The Woodlands does not have the authority to replat land within its boundaries. Apart from a few parcels of land, all land plat is controlled by the developer and they go through the represented cities for replat approval authority. Upon incorporation the city of The Woodlands would be able to maintain control over plat – replat decisions and also other development decisions

Were you in favor of allowing the residents to vote on the incorporation question, once the incorporation planning process was complete? Why or why not?

Yes, I was and still am. The first reason is when I ran for my initial election, one of my promises to the residents is I would put them in a position to determine the government structure and control of their community as soon as it was prudent and responsible to do so. I believe now is the time. If not now, then when.

The incorporation model clearly shows that incorporation can successfully be managed without an increased impact on the residents from a property tax perspective. Yes, there ‘may be an increase in access or franchise fees, but no one really knows the potential increase in this impact. HH has finally admitted that they collect from Comcast and now they say that is the only one they collect. For the last 18 months, they have publicly stated and confirmed to the board that they collect “zero” franchise fees. It wasn’t until a local resident got Comcast to admit they pay these fees to a non-profit created by HH to collect them.

Now I don’t know about you, but if you tell me, you aren’t doing something time and time, and then it becomes aware that you are doing that in some way and then you state that well, that is the only one we are doing it with – should you really believe them?

How many more non-profits are out there collecting these same fees. I have personally spoken with 3 communications companies and one other utility, and the very guarded reply has been “We don’t disclose our fee structure in detail, we prefer to provide our customers with a simple monthly billing system that is a ‘one price for everything.” No one will know for sure unless The Woodlands becomes a city.

We do know they collect a significant amount of access fees already that aren’t disclosed.

If The Woodlands residents vote to incorporate, will their tax obligations to the county be reduced, remain the same or increase. How much in any case?

If the residents vote to incorporate their tax obligation to either county would not change. They would still pay the same amount of property tax to the respective counties. While local county government could decide to lower property taxes as a whole to the entire population (since the service demand would be incrementally decreased by the reduction in the responsibility of services to The Woodlands), it is highly unlikely that would happen. They would just have more free money to use for their projects that don’t show up in a transparent way on the agenda each week. This is actually hypocritical to one of the opponents’ primary arguments against incorporation – that “we (the opponents) care about you and the amount of property taxes you pay” – if that was truly the case, the upon incorporation take the commensurate expense invested into TWT and determine the appropriate pro-rata per resident and lower the overall property tax that by amount.

One other point that would help to address their sincere concern regarding the property tax burden of the residents of TWT, is if incorporation does not pass, then step up and do the right thing, and fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities under state law and fund 100% of the law enforcement services currently being funded by TWT (about $12mm in MOCO) and also take the burden back to maintain the streetscapes of the county road rights of way – which equals about $6.8mm. If incorporation does not succeed, and the county agreed in writing to do this into perpetuity, I would be the first person to place an item on the board agenda for consideration to lower the TWT property tax rate commensurate with the reflected impact of these services (approximately $.08/$100 value) or about $360 on the average household value in TWT.

What are your thoughts about the Incorporation Financial model? Do you feel there are any shortcomings of it?

I feel quite confident in the model. The model was developed over 1,000’s of hours of analysis and modeling by dozens of individuals. I have an extensive background in financial modeling and my experience leads me to believe we have a model that is conservatively fiscal and achievable.

I don’t believe there are evident shortcomings in the model and truly believe it does a good job of taking into consideration the potential for variances in impact in different areas (both negative and positive).

Commissioner Riley is actively planning the extension of the Mansion's Way parkway. What should the Township do, if anything, to prevent a flood of cut though traffic on Woodlands Parkway?

Legally there is nothing TWT can do to prevent it. The primary thing we can do is continuing to get the message out to the residents about the false narrative of “eliminating TWPX” and get them to understand that this Mansion’s Way Parkway extension is really “a wolf in sheep’s clothing”. Not only is a gift to the developers and infrastructure contractor’s who are major donors to at least 2 commissioners, but it is also a way to hope to increase the property values of land for development in the area west of TWT at the negative expenses of TWT residents

That traffic will have to go somewhere to navigate its way to I-45. Since Woodlands Parkway is the easiest thoroughfare as opposed to SH 1488, Woodlands Parkway will become the commuter road for pass-through traffic back and forth between I-45 and eventually the financial and greed debacle known as the Aggie Tollway. That would bring more speeders, more traffic accidents, more crime, and less value to anything close to Woodlands Parkway and also seriously bring negative environmental chaos and noise to those living close to the roadway. That alone with severely negatively impact individual property values along the parkway. In a recent debate Commissioner Noack admitted that the Mansion's Way road would increase mobility demand and transient pass-through traffic on Woodlands Parkway and stated that at some point "we will just widen it".

What is the effective tax rate for The Woodlands Township? What's the significance of this if home values (appraisals) go up and the tax rate stays the same as the previous year? Will incorporating impact taxes in TW if incorporation passes and how much?

The current No-New Tax Rate (which was previously known as the effective tax rate) is $0.2169 / The current tax rate is $0.2231. The significance of the tax rate relevant to increased home values is there is potential for the total tax revenue to increase commensurate to the rate with increased property values. The incorporation model shows that the planned tax rate would remain at $0.2231.

Home values have significantly risen this year. As with past history, many times when home values experience such a significant positive increase it takes 5 – 7 years for the market to adjust and gain its footing again. That has happened consistently in this area over the past 30 years. I moved here in late 2014, near the end of that growth period. We sold our home in 2020 because with our grandchildren no longer living with us, we no longer needed such a large home. We lost money selling our home. Even after the drastic market increases, that same home is still not at the value we paid for it in 2014.

Whether the tax rate would rise, remain, or represent the ‘No New Rate’, is very much dependent on numerous economic contributors that are difficult to predict, However, even if the tax rate would need to raise, the maximum rate could rise (due to SB3) would be 3.5% - which on the average home value in The Woodlands would represent approximately an increase of $32 per year. While I am a proponent of low taxes and less government, economic conditions may put the city in the position of considering the maintenance of the ‘No New Rate’ or an increase up to that additional factor of $.0078 per hundred.

How long have you been consistently voting in elections? For which parties candidates? List all the elections you have voted in for the past 3 years (2014-2016).

I have voted in every election in my life since I turned 18. My father led me to understand the importance of my voice and my constitutional right and responsibility of voting. I have voted 100% conservative and republican since the age of 18. I have never voted for anyone who did not hold conservative values, was fiscally conservative and recognized the value of life.

Should municipal and school board elections allow for ballot declarations of party/independent affiliation?

Absolutely, not only should they allow for it, but it should be a requirement to be placed on the ballot. All elections should be presented to the voters in the most achievable transparent way possible. Whether one wants to admit it or not – political affiliation and beliefs are the foundation of each opponent’s core beliefs. While non-partisan gives the false premise of neutrality, the end result is people represent in a way that mirrors their personal and political affiliation values.

This is a non-paid position.  Do you think this role should receive compensation?  And if so, why....

I believe this position should always be an unpaid volunteer representative position. TWT for of governance is “city manager” and thus the BOD is responsible for oversite, strategic vision, and maintaining a mentoring role with the city manager. The BOD should not be involved in the day-to-day operations of the Township.

I believe this is the best form of government and I will work to ensure that this form will stay in place for as long as I serve the residents on the board – and will also work to ensure that upon incorporation (if that is what the voters choose), that the mayor and city council are also unpaid positions. It would be my hope that this would become a part of the city charter (its Constitution if you will) and could only be changed by a referendum of the residents to place the item on the ballot and a super-majority vote in favor of by the residents to approve a change in this component of governance.

Ironically one of the falsest and misrepresented narratives of the opponents to incorporation, such as developers and one very vocal commissioner (and grossly hypocritical in my opinion) is that incorporation is being pursued so that the mayor and council could become “highly paid elected officials”. No one on the current board has ever discussed a change in this policy and in open discussions we have all agreed that we believe the positions should remain unpaid whether incorporation passes or does not. Those who are most vocal about this are really the ones who are the most highly elected officials in this state given the scope of their responsibilities. They are also the ones who recently voted to give themselves a $1,000 per month raise and 5% increase in their benefits packages.

Should Township directors serve at large or represent specific villages (districts)?

I believe the current method of “at large” is the most representative way for all the residents to have an equal say in their representation. I would be in favor of doing away with positional voting and have the residents vote and the ones who received the highest votes among the combined pool of candidates (the highest 3 from each election cycle). If 6 people run, then the top 3 vote-getters of those 6 would be elected to represent in majority resident’s voice.

What political party have you affilated with over the last twenty years? Do you believe in that party platform(all of it or % part - if %, please describe what you disagree with?

I have ALWAYS been a conservative republican. I believe in all of the core values of the party platform. I do believe that there are “republicans” who do not represent the value of either the national or local MCTP platform. There are too many “fake” Republican Party associations out there misrepresenting true conservative values.

One of the reasons I am strongly in favor of the incorporation of The Woodlands is to reduce the bureaucracy and size of government entities who maintain control over the residents, many times without regard for the values and choices of the majority of those residents.

Do you agree/disagree with MCTP Core Values?  Please explain if you disagree

I agree with them completely

Do you consider the skating rink an amenity in The Woodlands? If so what level of funding should be paid by taxpayer dollars?

While I consider it an amenity, I believe it should be self-supporting as many of the recreational programs are in The Woodlands that benefit not only the residents but the general public as well – due to government rules and regulations. If the skating rink can’t make it via sponsorships, fees and/or donations, then it should be a burden upon the residents. It should never receive funding from taxpayer dollars.

What's your position on a Performing Arts Center in the Woodlands and what should the funding source(s) be & at what percentage?

I am in favor of a Performing Arts Center in The Woodlands with the correct business focus and model. ALL funding should come from either donations or debt that is paid back by the fees statutorily received by the center for those who enjoy the benefits of it. I believe no “non-revenue” driven fees should be covered by the taxpayer dollars.