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There’s an old saying: going back to the basics strengthens your foundation. Advocating for the residents, first responders, traffic safety, street maintenance, community-centered businesses, responsible development, garbage and waste management…these are the basic functions of a city government. Let's look at what we're doing, and then take it a few steps further in a positive direction with some fresh ideas.
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One opening statement before we get to specifics - anybody can say they will be available to you. I pledge to not just be available, but to also be your advocate. On every issue that comes through city hall, you will know where I stand. You will know the progress on our initiatives and what we have left to do. If we take a different approach, you will know why we’re deviating from the plan. I have one boss: you, the citizen. I look forward to my performance review.
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Whether it’s individuals driving recklessly in Clearwater Crossing late at night up north or a constant stream of vehicles cutting through Town House Lane down south, one common fear I have heard from residents is the danger posed by people speeding on our residential streets. Safety in your own neighborhood is a key component of what makes Richardson special, and we will make keeping you safe when you’re out and about our priority.
Richardson City Hall is currently overhauling our traffic light timing system and has developed a Master Transportation Plan for our roads. These efforts should be applauded and taken one step further to include traffic safety. As a long-term approach, we can utilize the data collected from our traffic lights, DALI software, and various consulting studies that have already taken place to develop a Comprehensive Road Safety Plan that places specific emphasis on residential streets. In the short term, I would take a hard look at traffic levels when approving zoning changes, vote against new lanes on streets with driveways facing in front, and discourage the creation of hybrid road/streets. Either a street exists to promote walkability and outdoor use, or it exists to quickly transport cars from one end of the city to the other. Trying to design streets to do both leads to dangerous roads for pedestrians and drivers alike. Imagine years of excitement about revitalization, only to find that when it comes you don’t even feel safe walking from storefront to storefront in the new development. Finally, we should push towards making Richardson a Silver-level Bicycle Friendly Community as rated by the League of American Bicyclists. City staff has taken a good first step in getting us to the Bronze-level. Let’s not lose momentum (pardon the pun). If you’re a cyclist in Richardson, take a moment to examine the very achievable metrics for a Silver-level city. Implementing them will make your ride much more enjoyable for both yourself and drivers. |
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Infrastructure issues have been mentioned as a priority in every election since 2011 (believe me, I checked) – it is absolutely imperative that you have a city council that is willing to get ahead of this issue, especially with the recent damage caused by snow, ice, and other inclement weather. The current strategy is to pass bonds to fix poor streets, and try to maintain fair streets to prevent them from further degradation through large, multi-year projects.
The city expenditures for quick concrete and asphalt repairs have remained between $200,000 – $300,000 over the past five years. I would advocate for aggressively funding individual pothole repairs by prioritizing new revenue to this specific line item of the budget. This has a lot of benefits. Short-term, this allows city staff the flexibility to fix small problem areas as they come up, instead of tying up funds by dedicating them to specific, massive projects. In the long run, this plan reduces the frequency of massive street-wide overhauls, thus reducing the inconvenience of whole streets being worked on for months or years at time (and hopefully saving us taxpayers a chunk of change). |
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Small businesses make Richardson not just a house, but a home. Our 1,200 small businesses are the absolute lifeblood of this city. If elected, I would like to develop a small business emergency relief plan to ensure we are ready if a tragedy like COVID-19 ever happens again. Furthermore, council should facilitate a year-round city communication strategy geared towards all small businesses so that everyone is plugged in to what is happening. To every small business owner out there, I promise you that you will never be scared again due to a city-wide emergency. Richardson will have a plan in place to protect your livelihood.
When COVID-19 hit, I worked around the clock to help our local restaurants, both on my own time and with a variety of organizations, including Community Impact and Another Round, Another Rally. I developed multilanguage (including Arabic) resources for our businesses and personally ate over 70 meals to-go from local mom-and-pop restaurants during the first three months of the shutdown. Even when this pandemic ends, I am now well-positioned to promote our incredibly diverse dining and shopping options. I’ll do everything I can to make Richardson known as the place to go for authentic foreign food and shopping. Nearly a quarter of Richardson was born outside of the United States - not just outside of Texas, but outside of the country. We have to find ways to further embrace and enhance our culture of inclusion. That means listening and active outreach to, and promotion of, all our minority communities. |
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Current residents moving up in a career. Future residents wanting a stable place to move their families. Longtime residents on fixed incomes wanting to stay. All kinds of citizens need housing to make Richardson a place they can call home. Additionally, the city council should focus on reducing or keeping even fixed costs for homeowners and residents of Richardson. The Senior Tax Exemption was recently kept the same; however, we could look at a surgical property tax freeze to shield seniors and disabled residents from rising property values, along with expanding the Senior Citizen Trash Rate Discount to other fixed cost areas.
When I was a child, Richardson still had scattered cornfields between neighborhoods. Now, developers are eyeing the last couple places of green earth and shifting towards redevelopment of old lots. I’d apply the principles of New Urbanism when casting my vote on these proposals. What will the concrete footprint be? Is it walkable? Mixed use? What is the traffic impact? How easy is it to repurpose a commercial building if the original tenant leaves? How many tax dollars are we spending to tear up an old road, and how much will it cost the city to maintain the new roads and pipes? These are the questions your city council should be asking to save you money as a taxpayer and promote development that won’t become an eyesore ten years from now. |
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Richardson has some of the finest first responders in North Texas, and time and time again I have heard of how proactive they are in meeting the needs of all residents in Richardson. We collaborated with neighboring cities to develop the most effective selection processes and training programs in the state. It is critical that once we finally have our first responders past that initial year, we ensure that we are competitive with those same neighboring cities or we risk losing our very best. These individuals put their lives on the line for us every day, and the value we place on them as a community should be reflected in the steps we take to to keep them in the community. If our front line public servants - police, firemen, teachers, paramedics, and so many others, can't afford to live in the city that they serve, we are doing something wrong.
We should also continue to support full transparency, increased citizen input, and first responder engagement with our residents. I would also like to see more initiatives that integrate our departments with our most vulnerable citizens, like the Richardson Police Department's new Crisis Intervention Team. This program includes increased training and collaboration with the Methodist Richardson Medical Center to develop a team specifically designed to handle delicate mental health issues in our city. The closer our first responders can be to our residents, the more we can promote innovative solutions to fit the needs of everyone in our city. |
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Our parks seem to have more litter with each passing year, and our community is divided on the current system of garbage collection. When residents don't follow the trash bag codes, it can lead to a host of unsightly sanitation issues, and when it storms, outside trash is washed into our alleys, parks, and greenbelts. We have had to cancel Trash Bash two years in a row and it shows – our creeks and parks are in dire need of a garbage cleanse.
Yet, there are liability and expense issues with introducing trash bins. Some residents may also be unable to wheel a trash bin up and down their driveway. Let’s consider trash pickup options other than bags. Neighboring cities do this, and it’s time to get resident input again to see what they want. Whether it's smaller knee-high trash bins, modified code enforcement hours, or something else, I am confident that we can come up with a solution that satisfies most residents. To that end, we should also restart the Environmental Advisory Commission. This citizen-led commission would encourage civic pride in our parks and provide an outlet for residents to experiment with waste management solutions. Your trash will be picked up on time, our parks and alleys will be clean, and we can continue to enjoy the fantastic quality of life that makes Richardson special! |
