Cleburne Mayor - Political
http://www.cleburnemayor.com

I am pleased to announce that I am seeking re-election as your mayor. Our city continues to face a number of challenges that must be addressed if we are to continue to grow and prosper. Our property taxes are too high and our debt is more that what it should be for a city of our size. Our older neighborhoods need to be preserved and upgraded. Our streets are in need of a lot of work and our utility systems need a lot more maintenance and repair than they are currently receiving. We have excellent fire and police departments. We obviously need to do whatever it takes to maintain this excellence. Our economic development team has done a great job over the past few years in bringing industry to our city. It is critical that this effort be continued. Good, environmentally friendly industry that provide high paying jobs for our citizens are necessary for the vitality of our community. The continued re-development of our downtown area is something that is important to all of our citizens. A partnership between city government, Hill College and private investors and business owners will continue to make our downtown area an exciting place.

Making all of this happen will require a lot of work. Being the mayor of a city of nearly 30,000 is nearly a full time job. Unlike my opponents, I have an office here and I am available all day long, every day, to meet with citizens and conduct city business. During the last budget cycle I proposed a budget that would retain the same level of city services while at the same time increase spending on street projects and lower city property taxes. Unfortunately, my proposal was voted down by a majority of the council. I pledge to you that I will continue my effort to lower your property taxes and work toward paying down some of our $100 million in debt. Because of our windfall of energy royalty money, we have a marvelous opportunity to do some good things for our city.

Some of my proposals aimed at lowering your tax burden have been a little controversial because they have not been "business as usual". One of the members of the council recently told the audience at a recent meeting that taxes would go up and debt would increase. At our March 28th council meeting our finance director told the council that he was in favor of continuing to increase water rates at the rate of 3% a year. I just simply do not buy in to this line of thought. It is my belief that we can conduct our business in a manner that will keep tax and water rates from increasing. I promise you that, as your mayor, I will not go along with those who do not represent the will of the people just for the sake of unity. If an issue comes up that is not in the best interest of the city as a whole I will not hesitate to draw a line in the sand and say no.

Thank you for your continued support!