2023 Election Special
Tomorrow (Saturday, February 18, 2023) is election day, and I am running for the Grogan’s Mill Village Association board this year! Below are my full answers to the three optional questions asked of each candidate.
- How long have you lived in the Woodlands, and why do you want to be on the Village Association Board?
As a child and teenager, my family lived in Spring and we would come to the Woodlands for recreation. Starting in 2007 I began working off and on in the Woodlands while living in Spring. I began living in the Woodlands in June of 2017 when my wife, two daughters, and I moved into some Town Center apartments. Since January of 2019 we have been living in a house in Grogan’s Mill – our home, where we brought my son home to from the hospital after being born at Memorial Hermann The Woodlands (just like his sisters had been) in 2021. It is such a wonderful location! Because I still work near the Waterway, the proximity and our fantastic network of pathways allow me to often ride my bike to work.
I fully support the Grogan’s Mill Village Association purpose:
The purpose of the Association shall be to enhance the quality of life of the residents of the Village of Grogan’s Mill, The Woodlands, Texas; to strive to ensure that the Village represents the original vision of the Woodlands; to encourage involved, informed residents; and to represent the residents of the Village of Grogan’s Mill as their liaison to the Woodlands township and other governmental entities.
I feel like certain other groups of people in The Woodlands disregard much of Grogan’s Mill. They may feel like it does not “fit in” with their desired aesthetic. But to me Grogan’s Mill is the original Woodlands; George Mitchell lived here! I want to help ensure that everyone in the Woodlands feels included in our community. I also want to help support local businesses, I know there has been some struggle since Randall’s moved out of the Village Center. I live here, I work here, the most important people in the world to me (my wife and children) are here.
- Do you have other volunteer experience? If so please share.
It has been a while since I consistently volunteered anywhere other than my church, Faith Bible Church up on Research Forest. I am a deacon there, participate weekly on the leadership team with our care ministries, and help as much as I can with church work days and other service projects.
- This is a volunteer position that requires a time commitment of several hours per month. What ideas do you have to improve our service to the residents of our village?
Time and energy are our greatest enemies as we age aren’t they? But I am prepared for this time and energy commitment. I’ve discussed it with my wife and she fully supports this endeavor.
I want to help educate our residents by finding speakers for our monthly meetings. And by contributing to local news distribution outlets (The Woodlands magazine, Community Impact newspaper, Hello Woodlands social media, etc). Thomas Jefferson said “An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people.”. I firmly believe that that is the truth, and it is each of our individual responsibilities to be informed. I want to enable that “education” as much as I can.
Some people find commuting time to be a relaxing oasis away from the hecticity of their workplace and responsibilities of their home. Others find that same time to be incredibly stressful and is now a major influence on whether or not somebody is satisfied with their job. I want to see what can be done to help with traffic congestion in our area, especially on Woodlands Parkway, Lake Woodlands, Research Forest, and Grogan’s Mill/Sawdust.
I want to support the chamber of commerce and other local business groups so we can fully realize the vision of The Woodlands being a live-work-play master plan community. We have always been rated highly in resident surveys, and for the last two years niche.com has rated The Woodlands as the best place in America to live. Other groups have lauded our schools, public services, low crime rates, and high standard of living. These are only possible with a diverse and vibrant business community.
I also want to foster continued and expanded cooperation between villages in The Woodlands where applicable. While most of our daily activities may happen more in one village than another, our residents do interact with and benefit from the other villages around us.
