I was born in Texas into a mighty military family. I joined the military and served in Central America performing Humanitarian missions. I served for the White House with the White House Communications Agency (WHCA) as the “Vice of the President”, providing all forms of communications to the President, the Vice President, the First lady, the United States Secret Service, and the White House Staff. I was an Intelligence Analyst for the Pentagon for five years. I deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan providing satellite communications to the Warfighter. I moved back to Texas and settled down in lovely New Braunfels.
Q: If elected, how would you support a thriving local economy, particularly small businesses, and ensure City policies encourage investment and long term economic vitality?
A: I will work with the Chamber to restructure permitting and create a "Small Business mediator” to act as a lifeline between the Chamber and our charming and beautiful small businesses. They are the little charm that must be taken care of. I will create "Buy Local" programs with events that connect local vendors with larger businesses. We must hold workshops on Chapter 380 incentives to ensure local shops have all the tools they need to succeed in today’s competition. They must be able to compete and win against the bombardment of the national chains.
Q: How are roads and major infrastructure projects funded, and what approach would you take to ensure infrastructure keeps pace with, or gets ahead of, growth?
A: We did secure $146 million in state and federal grants. My approach is built on three priorities: Growth Pays for Growth: I support maintaining the maximum allowable impact fees to ensure developers, not current taxpayers, shoulder the burden of new infrastructure.
Plan First, Build Second: I will align the budget with the Strategic Plan to ensure roads are expanded before residents move in. This is very important and is currently happening.
We are growing at a nosebleed speed, and the infrastructure is just not there! We must slow our growth and begin to fix our extremely congested and old infrastructure.
Q: What is your vision for long range planning in our city, and how would you balance proactive infrastructure investment with responsible fiscal management as the community grows?
A: My vision for New Braunfels is highly centered on strategic long-range master plans that aren't just documents on a shelf, but active blueprints for every budget cycle.
We are over $902 million in city-wide debt. We must have balanced investments with conservative fiscal responsibility. I will rank infrastructure projects by their impact on traffic relief and safety, ensuring the highest return on every tax dollar. I will be very aggressive by pursuing state and federal infrastructure grants. We must reduce the burden on local property owners. The cost of new growth must be met by growth itself.