I would like to take this time to thank the citizens of Conroe for allowing me to serve you as your City Councilman for Position No. 5.  I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to serve under two (2) administrations during my 1st term in office.

          In my 1st two years in office with the help of my good friend Councilman Duke Coon I was able to bring the police station debacle to light and create new policy which will help prevent problems of that nature from ever happening again.  During these 1st two years I was able to insure the hiring of our well-respected Police Chief Charlie Ray.  I pushed for and succeeded in creating a personnel committee that I currently serve on, which looks at all personnel issues including hiring recommendations, parity of internal and external salaries and other personnel policy.  Councilman Coon and I worked hard to improve the City’s relationship with Montgomery County Elected Officials.  I worked hard to bring accountability and transparency to the city government over that same period.

          In 2004 Councilman Coon, Councilman Streater and I watched as a new mayor and new Councilmen were elected and a new administration was put in place at City Hall.  The motto of this new Mayor and Administration was “We want to exceed your expectations” with our ultimate goal being to protect and serve our citizens.  Over the past two years under the leadership of our current mayor Tommy Metcalf we as a Council have hired one of the State’s most respected City Administrator Jerry McGuire. We have hired Guy Andrews as Community Development Director, Mike Riggins as our new Parks Director and Chief Ken Kreger as our new Fire Chief.  For the 1st time ever in our city we have a full time Finance Director as we hired Steve Williams to take this post.  We have elevated former Parks Director Paul Virgadamo into the position of Assistant City Administrator where he is doing a fantastic job.  These new department heads when coupled with our valued long term department’s heads of staff gives the City of Conroe a management team and employee base that is second to none.  It turns out several years ago our self-funded insurance program was deep in the arrears.  Over the past several years the insurance committee of which I am a member with the help of Mayor Metcalf, Jerry McGuire and the support of Council has brought the fund into the black while insuring its solvency for years to come.

          For the 1st time in the City of Conroe’s history, monthly financial reports are provided to the Council and copies are available for public viewing.  For the 1st time ever the citizens of our community and my fellow elected officials can know the City’s financial health at a moment’s notice on a monthly basis.  There will be no more negative financial surprises, deficient fund balances, unknown cost overruns, etc.  Under the leadership of this Mayor and Council the City’s financial health is in order and has never been better.  Accountability and transparency are the key words.  Our monthly financial reports and our annual reports have recently won awards for excellence which is a first for the City.

          One of my goals in 2002 was to improve the City’s relationship with the Montgomery County Commissioners Court.  Through my long time friendship with the County elected officials and under the leadership of Mayor Metcalf, the City Administration and my fellow Councilmen, City/County relations have never been better.  We are both working together to make a difference.

In 2002, I also promised to work hard to improve the city reputation with realtors, developers, investors and entrepreneurs.  Today permits are up    % and the dollar amount of annual construction in 2005 hit the        mark up over    % from 2001.

We at the City have implemented under the leadership of Mayor Metcalf a Developers Committee, which I originally called for in 2002.  The reputation of the City as a place to develop your projects and invest your money is no longer negative but rather the City has the reputation as a pro-development City.

Under the leadership of this Council and Mayor we have brought the City of Conroe Police Department budget up to where it can function now at an unprecedented level.  Funding for full staffing has been made available.  Actually we have approved monies for over hiring to allow for officers returning from the military and the war in Iraq along with natural attrition due to retirement, reserve duty, etc.

I along with the rest of Council have supported Chief Ray’s and Mayor Metcalf’s war on Drug Initiative and it is definitely making a difference.  Our streets are safer and cleaner as we speak.  Chief Ray and Assistant Chief Dupuis will tell you the support for the Police Department both financially and emotionally by this Mayor and Council is at an all time high.  Chief Kreger and Assistant Chief Goslin of the Conroe Fire Department are doing an equally fine job and are also making a difference. 

Support for the Arts and Culture community by the Mayor and this Council is unwavering.  My proposal, which was approved, to change the funding for the Arts in Conroe will not only bring the City in State compliance with its Hot Tax expenditures but provide adequate funding for all arts projects and groups at a minimal cost to the City.

And last but not least in 2002 I ran on a platform of economic development.  Over the last 4 years there have been a record number of companies relocating into Conroe.  A record number of new jobs have been created, providing new employment opportunities for our citizens.  All of these changes and improvements have been made while keeping the Advalorem Tax rate and the tax liability on our individual citizens at a level which is one of the lowest in the southeast Texas and Houston Metropolitan area.  Being one of the lowest is good however; we should always continue to strive to provide the maximum services at the lowest possible cost.

Well in my opinion no City or elected official should rest on its laurels.  If elected I have the following goals.

1. Create a restricted area near our airport that is designed to house corporate headquarters and campuses.
2. Strive to create new, better paying executive and management jobs, which will allow our children to remain locally close to their families after graduation.
3. Work with the County to improve our airport in order to attract more corporate jets and corporate jet travel and possibly commercial commuter flights at a later date.
4. Work with Montgomery County and the CISD to master plan the governmental needs for new buildings, expansion, etc. in order to keep up with the record growth we are experiencing.  We will in the near future need more court buildings, county and city offices and new schools at all levels.  Working together on the same page in addressing these needs will foster a more orderly growth with less confusion and prevent unorganize urban sprall.
5. Strive with the help of Montgomery County and local State elected officials to bring the Appellant Court for the Southeast District to downtown Conroe.  The economic impact of this move would be extremely positive.
6. Work with our local Federal elected representatives to push for and insure the creation of a local V. A. Medical Clinic.  Our honorable local veterans deserve the City’s support.  Money has already been approved by the V. A. but for some unexplained reason the project has stalled.
7. Work with the private sector and Houston area developers to create public/private partnerships to help implement the Roger Brooks Plan unanimously approved by Council.  The plan has been adopted in its entirety however it should only be implemented as funds are raised and made available.  Use of grants, donations, creative federal and state funding sources, and private investment capital should be utilized.
8. Work hard to renovate and update as needed the infrastructure and services in our valued older neighborhoods.  New growth and expansion should not be at the expense of our existing neighborhoods.
9. Continue to support Mayor Metcalf’s and Chief Ray’s war on Drugs Initiative.  The fight against drugs and crime is a never-ending battle and we should not waver.
10. We at the City have made some improvements in the traffic problems; however, there is still a long way to go.  I pledge to work with and support Community Development Director Guy Andrews as the City addresses these mobility problems facing our community.
11. I pledge to support the vision and leadership of Mayor Metcalf and City Administrator Jerry McGuire who are striving along with my fellow Councilmen to make the City of Conroe the best it can be and to exceed your expectations.