Do you think The Woodlands should become a city or remain unincorporated? Why or why not (what are some of the pro's and cons)?  And if so, when should incorporation occur and why in that time frame? 

I believe the benefits of incorporating The Woodlands outweigh the cost. Incorporating is the first step to achieving Home Rule City status, which is what we need at this stage of our development. So, the sooner incorporation occurs, the sooner self-governance occurs. Recent elections have revealed that developers and commissioners are not interested in letting residents of The Woodlands govern themselves and their space. Pros: Self-governance, federal & state funding availability, and fewer entities controlling resident needs. Cons: concerns that incorporation increases government size and that will require a greater tax liability for all. Ultimately, only 3 options exist with this discussion. The Woodlands will either achieve city status at some point, be fully annexed by Houston or Conroe, or perhaps most likely, be broken up and split between Houston and Conroe. I moderately doubt incorporation will be presented again before the end of the current 5-Year Plan. I find it very challenging to understand why anyone, other than HHC and local power brokers, would want to keep the issue away from voters.  

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

Positive Aspects:  1. Sound financial planning & budget execution. Wisdom revealed every day of the budget workshops planning process was jaw dropping. The Township is managed by a very thoughtful, fiscally conservative BoD. 2. Decisionmakers and Township departments (employees) enjoy outstanding relationships based on respect. 3. We control our own Fire Department, parks, recreational facilities and programs, pathways, streetscapes and now trollies. 

Negative Aspects: 1. There are many important community functions over which the Township has no control. The variability of influence the Township has with the entities that control us ranges from a fair amount based on good relationships to essentially zero influence. Those functions include: 1. Expansion - HHC rules. 2. Mobility - building/maintaining roads & managing traffic. 3. Water - drainage, flooding, subsidence, and cost. 

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

Information transfer between the Township and residents needs attention. Generally, our  communications issues are not a function of information being unavailable. The Township is performing as it should. It offers us the information we need to understand what is happening, when it is happening and where it will happen. If we want to dive deeper, we can usually find how and why. However, I believe residents may try to inform themselves of our governance functions and issues, only to give up after their choice of diverse keywords is ineffective. There is a lot of information available from the Township website but finding current information with the search function is not always effective. Change 1: A significant update to the Township website appears to be in order. Change 2: Work with mobile phone companies to improve service in areas where failed and/or dropped calls are too common. Change 3: Consider supplementing the currently available push notification systems to offer residents more late-breaking local emergency and urgent information. Emergency info for safety of residents, and urgent info for safety of property and perhaps for disruption of certain conveniences (such as trolly service, waste removal, etc.)

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

I did not attend any incorporation meetings. However, I did critically analyze the HHC (and CPA Frazer report) & Township (Novak Consulting group) viewpoints. The dedicated incorporation website presented the complex issue as fully as possible. It was quite good, for me. I suspect it caused about 2/3 of our residents' heads to spin. The deception and fear-based reporting of HHC was easier to grasp, and therefore got the votes.

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?

My searches for HB 347 and pre-existing contracts/agreements did not yield results worth reporting. In 2008, the referendum approved by voters that created the Township accepted Houston & Conroe’s rights to annex us. So, a 50-year stay to 2057 was worked out, subject to pay outs agreed to in the ILA. I will need a lawyer or judge to advise me if a legal precedence exists whereby HB347 can be applied retroactively to a community that places itself, voluntarily, into an ETJ.

Are you now or have you ever done business with any township and/or county official?

Only business has been that I campaigned for many of them.

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

The GOP (national & MoCo), Trump & MAGA for 2022 candidates, incorporation, Steve Toth, Liberty Council Action to fight abortion, donated a lot of sneaker rubber (and gas) passing out MCTP approved candidate cards, Grace Woodlands Church (and other churches), Ukraine assistance through Grace Woodlands Church.

What are your thoughts regarding the 2020 Preliminary budget?  Do you fully support it in full and, if not, what do you object to?

I would need to be quite the contrarian to object to the 2023 budget proposal submitted by the Board for approval on 9/12/2022. The proposed tax rate is a substantial 16% lower than the current rate. What’s remarkable is that it will occur while impressive capital investments in the Fire Department and Parks & Recreation are occurring. Even more remarkable is that these capital investments, well over $50M, will be funded without issuing further debt! 

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?

A current snapshot of Township reserves reveals strength with flexibility and stability due to previous Board policy. Recent federal (and global) policies have brought a high level of economic uncertainty. Conservative practices of our current Board have positioned The Woodlands such that we can maintain, update and create new amenities for our residents in 2023, while slashing the tax burden. One cannot be comfortable with the 5-Year Plan’s level of certainty due to the current economic climate created by several horrible decisions and blunders from Washington. My feeling is that reserve funds must be kept for contingency purposes. It appears that the current Board agrees. Maybe better to rename a rainy-day fund to the Bidenomics Survival (BS) Fund. Slide 73 of the initial (8/22/2022) 2023 Budget Workshop PowerPoint reports total reserve balances across 9 reserve and one Undesignated Fund. They total $110.9M. Essentially, all of this except the $30.1M operating reserve can be reallocated to any purpose the Board agrees to, so there is our rainy-day fund. The only minimum reserve number I am aware of at present is 25% of the General Operating Reserve (raised from the best practices minimum of 20%). Board policies on reserves are sound, and this is confirmed by the Township receiving the highest possible bond rating for a special purpose district in Texas. 

Should the township be funding non-profit organization events such as Interfaith luncheons, senior pick-up services, Education for tomorrow luncheons, etc...with tax dollars.

The current Board has all but eliminated any arbitrary use of tax dollars to sponsor non-profit events. We do not want to terminate senior pick-up services. They are mandated by the FTA in order to receive grant funding for our Park & Ride and trolley services. VTW signs financially sound sponsorship agreements, but that funding is entirely by favorable variances in hotel tax revenues. 

With The Woodlands reaching full residential build-out, what do you think the Township should do to generate additional non-property tax revenues to maintain services without a property tax increase?

I think the Township is already doing what it should to prevent a property tax increase. The Texas Comptroller revealed that, on average, local governments raise about $1 in sales tax revenue for every $7 in property tax revenue. The Township blows that metric out of the water with $2 sales tax against $1 of property tax. That’s remarkably up-side-down! I like the way Director Rieser explains his pride in VTW. He says, “The Township Board… converted Visit The Woodlands from an event planning department into a world class marketing department.” The efforts of VTW have brought in significant revenues that have been instrumental in the Township’s ability to lower the property tax rate for 2023 to the lowest rate in our history. Kudos to Nick Wolda and VTW!

Is there anything in your background of an embarrassing nature that should be explained before your election? Arrests/Convictions? Bankruptcys?

No.

In this role, you'll be representing both residents & organizations. In the event of a conflict with the Woodlands Development Company and/or the Economic Development Partnership, how would handling this situation?

Neither HHC nor the EDP will have placed me in the director chair. My job will be to represent the residents of The Woodlands. My hope is always that conflict resolution with controlling entities would be handled respectfully and honorably.

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

The Township has no control over roads in or surrounding our geographic boundaries. Construction of roads and traffic management are under the control of county commissioners and law enforcement. The loop concept using existing roads and high-speed transitions between them is preferred, but perhaps developers make more money building new roads. If we can reasonably increase profit for developers to accept the loop, we are all happy.

What are the 3 most pressing mobility issues in The Woodlands and what is your preferred solution to each?

1.     The current push from TxDOT is to widen SH242 between Gosling and FM1488. This will make SH242 like a short FM1960 (west of I-45). My solution is to try to negotiate the funds for the project to be transferred to support The Woodlands Loop project. Personally, I oppose the current SH242 widening plan, and I will only support it if residents tell me they want it. 

2.     Loops serve many communities quite well. I would like to see a Township loop created by road improvements and high-speed connections for 4 currently established roads (I-45 to HWY99 to FM2978 to FM1488 and back to I-45). 

3.     North-South traffic on I-45 feeders at SH242 & FM1488 can back-up significantly. Construction of additional flyovers would relieve pressure on these intersections. 

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?

The developer has plans for up to 8 more multi-family projects within our borders. This is good for the Township tax base, but not so good for mobility problems it will cause, nor demand on services.

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?

Last year I was not a director, but I was in favor of the Township Board placing the issue on the ballot allowing us to vote on incorporation. It could be effectively argued that not allowing voters a choice is a failure of the Board to perform its duty. My question to the developer is, why do you want to prevent residents of The Woodlands from achieving self-governance? Jim Carman, inquiring minds want to know.

What do you perceive to be the biggest threat to our community within the next 5 years?

Traffic. East/West traffic is going to be problematic very soon. County/TxDOT mobility management has been sorely behind in addressing the growth we have experienced. If Woodlands Pkwy and Research Forest are expanded any more, I suspect there will be a loss of “the feel of The Woodlands.” Resident satisfaction will probably decrease if the entire area feels like a commercial zone. Those that CAN control this, have shown little inclination to do so.

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 do not recall ever voting for a democrat. In my younger days, there was a libertarian or two. In Montgomery County I’ve been consistently voting in general elections on even years since about the turn of the millennium. Doubling the 3-year period of this question goes back to 2016. I voted in the 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022 primaries.