TOP ISSUES AND PRIORITIES

 

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Reasonable, thoughtful development is needed in the City of Garden Ridge to bring retail and services to our citizens and to diversify our tax base. Our citizens have expressed an interest in businesses like restaurants, boutiques, medical services, wine bars and places to gather with family and friends. Council Member Kelly Smith and I are diligently working with an economic development company to recruit compatible retail to Garden Ridge. I kick started this project and am continuing to push it forward.  Development should reflect both the character of our city- casual, exclusive and family-friendly  and include the services that our citizens want. We’ve met with almost ten current property owners to discuss the vision of the city with many more meetings planned. We’ve also spoken with a handful of developers as well who are very interested in opportunities along the I35 corridor. The interest in Garden Ridge is real and growing. We also need to market Garden Ridge as part of a broader economic focus. FM 3009 is the gateway to the Natural Bridge Caverns with 400,000 visitors a year and the Rolling Oaks Regional Area has become a focus for SA Tomorrow – a city of San Antonio planning group focused on bringing beneficial development to revitalize the area. It is an exciting time in Garden Ridge!

 

AGGREGATE PRODUCTION OPERATIONS

Adopting a strong stance with our nearby quarries and concrete batch plants is not adversarial, it is smart. In my opinion, we need a more productive relationship with the quarry. They earn BILLIONS while our citizens are suffering from bad air, damaged roads, and violent blasts. I’ve worked on every aspect of protecting Garden Ridge from the impacts of heavy industry on our city. From meeting with executives at the Texas Commision on Environmental Quality and bringing legislators down Quarry Row, to testifying at the Capitol and proposing legislative solutions, I’ve represented the interests of the citizens of Garden Ridge. Dust mitigation efforts are insufficient and our roads are suffering from almost 10,000 trucks a week driving thru our primary intersection. I continue to meet with the Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization and TXDOT to find solutions to the mess that is FM 2252. I’m working with on forming an Advisory Council with our local aggregate operators, city officials and citizens to develop a Best Management Practices plan that works for all of us. I’ve sat with people in their homes and felt the power of the blasts. I’ve listened to our combat vets with PTSD explain how difficult the experience is for them. I’ve seen dirt in pools, cracks on walls and dust covered patios. My own car is filthy form driving back and forth to Danville Middle School. The ask is simple – our local Aggregate Production Operations need to be better neighbors. 

 

PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE 

We need to plan aggressively for the future of Garden Ridge. We need to perform a simple SWOT analysis to plan for growth and change. I’m pleased that our new City Manager is big on planning- he is focusing on a Capital Improvement Plan, sewer, water and road plans and so much more. Failure to plan means planning to fail and we have not put the organizational structure in place to properly guide the city and protect our ourselves from encroachment. We need to think about how 5, 10,  20 years of growth around us will impact Garden Ridge. Increased development and more quarries on Schoenthal seem eminent. What can we do? How are we planning to protect our city? How are we preparing for the probability of more traffic and more trucks? What infrastructure needs to be in place to support these changes? What services do we need to have in place? Do we anticipate growing our Public Works department? Or adding police officers certified in Commercial Motor Vehicle Enforcement? We are in a severe drought. We need a comprehensive water management plan to go along with securing new sources of water. As a Council, we need to support and guide the City Manager’s efforts and make sure they represent the will of the people. 

 

CONTINUE RELATIONSHIP BUILDING

The Mayor is the political and policy leader of the city. The Mayor is the face of the city and the voice of the community. I have operational and administrative experience as the former Vice President of Program Development for an engineering firm, but those skills pale in comparison to the relationship building skills needed to be an effective Mayor. Citizen’s concerns don’t stop at our city limits. We are impacted by decisions made by surrounding cities, Comal County and the State. I have worked hard to develop beneficial connections for the city. For the first time we are in regular contact with our Comal County Commissioners, our State Senator Donna Campbell and our House Representative Carrie Isaac. We deserve a seat at the table when decisions are being made. I’ve also worked extensively with TXDOT and the Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization to emphasize that truck traffic problems are an area problem not just a Garden Ridge problem. By increasing the scope of the problem, we also increase the number of possible conclusions. I’ve formed relationships with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality staff so I can pick up the phone and make our citizens issues a priority not just another name on a list. As a graduate of the inaugural class of the Hill Country Alliance Leadership Institute, I’ve made contacts with County Commisioners, Mayors, Council Members, City Managers and leaders across seventeen Hill Country Counties. They provide a wealth of knowledge and experience that I treasure. I’ve also formed relationships with organizations focused on protecting our natural resources. Groups like Texans for Responsible Aggregate Mining, The Edwards Aquifer Alliance, The Great Springs Project and Comal Conservation have helped me learn more about how to protect Garden Ridge and have proven to be great advocates and valuable partners to Garden Ridge.