My Positions

jobs

CONTINUED JOB GROWTH

Small business continues to be the backbone of real economic development. We must continue to do everything in our power to attract the young, hungry, bright minds of entrepreneurs by providing an environment where small business wants to bring their employees and their families to Arlington. We are proud of the incredible growth we have seen in the city with additions and expansions of companies like Wallbox, P&H Casters, and Bowery Farm. Other substantial career development opportunities include the relocation of the XFL Headquarters and the Western Athletic Conference to Arlington as well as the redevelopment of Lincoln Square and the addition of Spark, a collaborative coworking space for entrepreneurs, small business owners, creators and innovators.

safety

Public Health & Safety

Taking care of those who take such good care of us is essential in maintaining our incredible City services. Over the last year we have been able to increase the pay of our incredible City Employees by 8%. We added 45 new firefighter positions and have had an overall reduction in crime by 4%. This is especially significant given the overall increase in crime rates nationwide since the pandemic. As a former Arlington Police Officer, I know first-hand what it’s like to work the streets in Arlington and how important it is to ensure our residences and businesses live and operate in a safe environment

education

Promote Quality Education & Career Development

Arlington is home to some of the best educational facilities in the country. The school districts, charter schools, private schools and home-schooling association offer some of the best opportunities for our kids anywhere. With the advanced education opportunities offered by Tarrant County College, the University of Texas at Arlington and the recently added Texas Southern University, Arlington has provided a unique opportunity for education from cradle to career. What does one do when you are surrounded with the best educators and education institutes in the country? You bring them together and form the Mayor’s Education Coalition. In 2021 that is exactly what we did. The mission of the coalition is to identify common issues, share resources and tear down barriers, allowing our educational leaders to work together more strategically and efficiently for the betterment of the community. Now, all our educational leaders are working together on important issues such as school safety where they are working collaboratively on the “See something, say something” campaign.

transportation

Transportation & Road Maintenance

Let’s talk transportation! We can get around Arlington well and affordably with Via. The continuing issue is how can we help move folks in and out of our city. There are ongoing projects that very well could bring high speed rail, or hyperloop, or Rapid Bus Transit to and through our city but those projects take a lot of time and a lot of money. We need something now! So, recently, we begin speaking with our great neighbors to the east and south of us and have decided to explore the expansion our Via program to a tri-city area. This will be a pilot program while we continue to pursue other ways to connect regionally. This partnership with our neighbors demonstrates what working together for our communities is all about.

In the last two years we spent 94 million dollars in maintenance and construction of our streets. This upcoming year alone we project to spend more than $65 million dollars on street maintenance. This amounts to over a 38% increase in roadway maintenance and construction in Arlington.

taxes

Housing & Property Tax

Taking care of our city also means improving our neighborhoods. In the past two years we have issued, or are in the process of issuing, over 1500 permits for new single-family homes. These single-family dwellings include both luxury homes and affordable housing. We must continue to address the affordability of housing by partnering with innovative developers to identify working solutions to having a home more affordable. One of the main ways we continue to address the affordability of being a homeowner is by continuing the six-year trend of lowering the tax rate. This past year we were able to lower the rate by 2 cents, the largest property tax reduction in Arlington in over 30 years.