Wylie Today

The Barbara Bush Republican Women’s League hosted a “Meet the Candidate” forum on Monday night, April 14th. All City Council candidates as well as 5 of the 6 School Board Trustee candidates were in attendance. School Board Trustee Baron Cook was not present due to a scheduling conflict. Also on hand to witness the event were approximately 45 citizens and supporters.

Mrs. Ruthie Wright did a fantastic job as moderator of the event. This forum was pretty typical with what I’ve seen or been a part of in the past, except the candidates knew the questions ahead of time. Frustrating though was the fact that some of the candidates didn’t seem prepared to answer and the ones that were prepared might have been a little too prepared, continually cut off by the “TIME” girl. It’s usually difficult for candidates to get their message across under such circumstances, but I don’t believe it harmed anyone as most of the 45 people in attendance were supporters of candidates. In fact, I think I was the only one who sat in the middle.

Mayor John Mondy had the right idea though after being cut off during one of his answers as he told the audience, “You can read these answers on Wylie Today”. Bravo, John, bravo.

City Council candidates went first and the questions were very basic. The questions were:

1. What makes you an ideal candidate?
2. What is your vision of Wylie in 3 years?
3. How do you propose to accomplish this vision?

Questions 2 and 3 are pretty difficult to answer because as Mr. Mondy stated, “the major planning for the next 5 years for Wylie has been completed, but there is always opportunity for refining”. So basically, all the candidates told the audience about the road construction and building construction and the bond packages. They stated what is already known by a lot of people and didn’t really delve into their unique “vision”, except for Place 6 candidate Bennie Jones.

Mr. Jones stated that his vision is to see a safer city for our youth and to be a regional leader providing “clean air, clean water, parks in all the communities, children receiving quality education without disruption from gangs and making sure everyone is taken care of.” He wants to implement progress reports for the citizens to view and to make sure they “always know what we’re working on.”

Mr. Jones continually stated that he is “approachable”, a “voice for the teenagers” and a “voice for the community”.

His opponent, incumbent Carter Porter, stated that he is past the learning curve that requires 1 or 2 years of being on City Council to understand. Mr. Porter focused on his ability to be available to the city whenever needed due to his flexible work schedule. He also discussed his election to the Executive Board of the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG). NCTCOG brings an intergovernmental relationship with the leaders of the region’s 16 counties representing over 230 member governments and is represented by 13 locally elected officials.

City Council Place 5 candidate Chris Trout identified himself as a husband, a father, a local business owner and a friend to everyone who supports many organizations with his time and money. He stated that on his previous tenure on City Council, he always did what was best for the city.

City Council Place 5 incumbent Rick White mentioned his technical, detail-oriented nature as a strong asset when working on and learning about city issues. He says he is “always seeking information from people and sources” to make the best decisions possible. He stated that he always shoots from the hip and will get you answers to your questions.

Easily the best performance of the night was delivered by Mayoral candidate Eric Hogue. Mr. Hogue is just made to be a public speaker. He exudes confidence, gestures in a friendly manner, speaks clearly and shows no hesitation through any of his speaking opportunities.

Mr. Hogue said, “A lot of things have to happen to make sure we stay on path” in reference to completing the 2005 Bond packages and road construction. He mentioned his numerous contacts with county, state and federal officials as a key asset to making sure no stray trails develop. He is for a more open and pro-active government when working with the citizens.

Mr. Hogue wants to move to bring in another big box retail store and professional business corridors that could bring in higher numbers for lunch traffic. This in turn would make Wylie more attractive towards sit-down restaurants like Chili’s. Mr. Hogue also wants to change the image of Wylie. He calls Wylie “the forgotten city of Collin County” and thinks Wylie should start acting like a city of 40,000 people.

Mr. Hogue believes the WEDC and the city staff has done a great job and they will need to continue to do so to fulfill the future of Wylie. In closing, Mr. Hogue mentioned that he realizes not everyone agrees with him on all the issues, but they support him because they believe he is the right man for the job.

City of Wylie Mayor John Mondy could have gone on talking about city issues all night if he was able. That “TIME” girl does show up quicker than one would think. Despite not being able to finish any questions, Mayor Mondy still made his points very effectively.

“Wylie is the 8th fastest growing city and I’m the Mayor of that city. I have been for 10 years. We created this vision and we delivered.” He stated that our Fire ISO top Rating, our low crime rate and our superior water system didn’t happen by themselves. “The people wanted this and they demand a high level of service. We’ve delivered.”

Mayor Mondy also said the key to success has been in hiring the right staff to get the job done. He hopes to provide better communication between the city and officials, though he does feel they have been pro-active in the past few years. He also stated they were re-engineering their already useful and valuable city website.

In closing, Mr. Mondy said “We have to work together to accomplish our goals because at the end of the day, we all go home here. We all live in this city. Sometimes we agree to disagree, but we still have to work together.”

In the next installment, I will recap the School Board Trustee candidates.

Dear Friends, Supporters and Citizens of Wylie,

Today I am very proud to announce my candidacy for Mayor of Wylie, Texas . I am very excited about the opportunities for the future of our community and am committed to serve our city. Over the last several years, we have seen phenomenal growth in Wylie , Texas . When my family and I moved here 17 years ago, we had only 7,500 citizens in the entire town, today Wylie boasts a population of nearly 40,000 people.

During my time as your City Council representative, I worked hard to maintain and increase that quality of life. Like many of you, I want to keep that “hometown” feel within our community; while at the same time, taking advantage of all the benefits of being a city within the DFW Metroplex. For over seven years, I worked with our city staff, my fellow citizens and fellow council members to bring in businesses like Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Chili’s, Dickey’s BBQ and AutoZone within Wylie’s city limits.

One of the reasons I stepped down last year from my council seat, was to prepare to serve as your mayor. During my year off the council, I have spoken with friends and fellow citizens about their concerns and desires for our city as we move forward. I believe great things are ahead of us as we build our community’s future, I call it, The Promise of Wylie.

While there is much to be proud of, there is even more we can do. During the next three years, I want to work to see the completion of all our bond projects including, the improvement to our roads. We also need to see the completion of our new public library, fire station, recreation center and city hall.

Second, we must responsibly manage the inevitable growth yet to come in our city. We must make sure that we have the necessary infrastructure to meet the needs of those who currently live here; and those who will move into Wylie , Texas and make it their new home.

Third, we need to be promoting our city at the county, state and federal levels of our government more actively. We are the eighth fastest growing city in the nation, we need to use a little of that political muscle to attract commercial and retail businesses in our community.

Responsible leadership means having a well thought out plan and not empty ideas without an understanding of its results. Between now and election day, I will continue to discuss with you my ideas for our future. We can accomplish great things for the improvement of our community. I commit to you that I will always balance our needs with the idea that it is your money we are spending. I plan to run a very positive campaign focused on the issues and concerns that will make Wylie even a better place to live!

I care about our community, and I hope you will join me in building The Promise of Wylie. I encourage you to exercise your right to vote on May 10, 2008 and ask that you please consider me as the next Mayor of Wylie, Texas!

If you decide to support me, I truly appreciate your vote and ask that you send this email on to your friends, family and fellow citizens.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions regarding my candidacy; and please keep my family and I in your thoughts and prayers, as we begin this journey.

Thanks,

Eric Hogue

Please visit my web site for more information: www.erichogue.net

Yeah, for the next few weeks, anyway. I can’t see myself visiting soon if this keeps up. My stroll through Wylie 15 minutes ’til noon was pretty interesting. Zero cars in line at the Wendy’s drive-thru. Zero cars in line at the Taco Bell drive-thru. Heck, even the seemingly always packed Chili’s parking lot provided ample parking. All because of Arby’s.

The field next to Arby’s was working out nicely as an overflow parking lot. All the spaces allocated to Arby’s were full. The drive-thru line was two cars away from spilling out on to 544. I’m sure it’s all because of the free advertising Arby’s has received from Wylie Today. A cut of the sales should be demanded!

So I guess I’ll be “thinking Arby’s ” for another few weeks because I surely won’t be eating there. Well, I suppose if there is only one or two or three cars in the drive-thru line, I might take the chance. If I just so happen to need gas and then milk and then Red Bull and then dog food and then a tractor from Tractor Supply Company throughout the evening and notice a small line, I’ll take the chance. Surely during one of those individual five trips the Arby’s line will be short enough for me to access.