By Al Filidoro
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
I have had the honor and pleasure of serving as your Town Council Member – Place 2. I am seeking re-election and once again, asking for your support. Please consider these issues:
Gas Drilling. I have a consistent record of opposing urban drilling in our neighborhoods. As your representative on Town Council, I supported the gas permit moratorium and opposed the zoning that will allow a Central Collection Facility close to schools and neighborhoods.
Unfortunately, the majority on Town Council disagreed with Council Member Hayden and me. They rejected the moratorium and passed the zoning for the Central Collection Facility. I am hopeful as you consider re-electing me that you will also consider candidates for other positions on Town Council who share our community’s collective values. Breaking up the majority on Town Council that has abdicated its responsibility to the residents will be critical to our future.
Over time we’ve seen drillers asking for variances on virtually every gas well. Variances originally put into the ordinance for unique exceptions are now the rule. We need to reexamine our Oil and Gas Ordinances and strengthen them.
When it comes to air quality, I’m reminded of this quote from quality improvement pioneer, W. Edwards Deming, “In God we trust. All others must bring data.” Air quality testing from TCEQ or the gas companies is welcome, but Flower Mound must control its own destiny. I led the push on Town Council for Flower Mound to hire an independent testing firm to do our own tests at the well heads and within our neighborhoods. This testing has just begun. I intend to continue pushing for resources in this area until we have independent, ongoing monitoring that will produce the data we need to hold gas drillers accountable.
Our focus needs to extend beyond Flower Mound. When the state legislature was considering laws that would strip our community of local control over gas drilling, I went to Austin and lobbied hard to get our representatives to oppose those measures. We won that round, but we can expect them to be back at it during the next state legislative session. I pledge to you I will be continually vigilant anytime gas drillers or any special interests are trying to persuade the state to take away our town’s rights to self-governance.
Creating a Medical Community. I am proud to say that I helped bring the new THR Flower Mound Hospital to town. It will open in April, 2010 and bring with it over 400 new high paying jobs. I was also instrumental in bringing a rehabilitation hospital to our community that will employ an additional 110 people. Lewisville Hospital also opened a free-standing Emergency Room close to the new hospital. I am working with our town’s Economic Development team to leverage those facilities to create a “Medical Community.” Through targeted solicitation and enticement of healthcare service providers, equipment, insurance, and supply organizations to locate in our community we can strategically develop Flower Mound in a way that will produce jobs, tax revenue and valuable services for our residents.
Your Tax Dollars. So far during this economic downturn, Flower Mound has been able to keep town services at the same level and avoid the layoffs and furloughs that have hit surrounding communities. I am concerned, however, that we have not yet felt the impact of the downturn as we can see our tax revenue is on a concerning downward trend. This year it will be down 12%. Now is the time for strong financial leadership to maximize our tax revenue and make sure that wasteful spending does not creep into our town government.
My experience as Director of Finance for a major state agency and over 10 years of governmental auditing and accounting experience will serve our community well as we face these challenging financial times.
SMARTGROWTH and the Master Plan. I have worked to protect both SMARTGrowth and our Master Plan. When Town Council created a Central Business District for the River Walk project exempt from SMARTGrowth criteria, I insisted that we consider the SMARTGrowth criteria in designing this project anyway. While I recognize there are unique instances where it may make sense to deviate from the Master Plan, adding high density apartments to our community is not one of them. I do not support increasing residential density nor do I support rezoning our valuable tax-generating commercial property to allow developers to turn a quick profit with apartments.
Standing Up for What Is Right. I’ve had enough of gas drillers and developers threatening to sue in the hopes that our elected officials will be intimidated into not fighting for our residents. While some members of Town Council may let their fear of lawsuits paralyze them, I will stand up for what is right. If that causes a gas driller to sue our town – I say, “Bring it on.” We cannot govern without conviction. I am an attorney by training and occupation but in my capacity on Town Council I am a lawmaker. I am uniquely qualified to caution that when avoidance of lawsuits becomes our singular objective, we have lost our ability to adequately
govern.
This Election. This election comes down to who you believe will protect your family’s health and financial well-being. My record demonstrates that you can trust me to not only say the right thing, but to do the right thing. Allow me to continue to serve you as your Town Council Member – Place 2.
Visit Al Filidoro's campaign website at http://alfilidoro.com/
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