 A
Voice for Garland
I'm Douglas Athas.
As your mayor, I will work to
bring more jobs and development,
continue to fight tax increases,
keep our families safe, and preserve
the quality of life we have worked
so hard to achieve as I have
done as a council
member and a plan
commissioner.
Our greatest challenge is our
declining property base that
generates most of the revenue
for everything else: new streets,
quality emergency and city services,
competitive salaries for employees,
and properly funded schools.
But there is good news.
I have spoken and
written repeatedly about
growing the city. For more than
four years citizens, the staff,
the plan commission, and the
council have worked on a comprehensive
plan designed to bring new
housing and shopping and customers,
more entertainment and recreation,
and to make Garland a city
that competes for the growth
coming to Texas.
As your mayor, I will tackle
that challenge. I will represent
and promote Garland so others
will know why we are such a strong
and unique community. I ask for
your confidence, your support,
and your vote. |
Experienced
For 14 years, I have been making
decisions that helped the city
develop new businesses and neighborhoods—and
as importantly —made the
hard decisions that allowed us
to weather the storm of the prolonged
recession. I have traveled the
country to search for new solutions
and to know what doesn't work.
Experience
has taught me that an open
market of ideas and needs works
best, that excessive regulations
and approval levels stifle development
and choices, that rules should
be applied fairly and equally,
and that the community must plan
for success. |
Principled
The city and city government
belong to
the citizens. I have
fought unnecessary tax increases,
to repair cumbersome bureaucracy,
to contain growing debt, to expand
citizen participation and access, to protect citizen rights,
and to follow the City Charter
and the law.
In 2006, I successfully led
a citizen group that sued
the Garland City Council to
protect our voting rights when
it refused to follow the City
Charter and call elections.
The court ruled that the law
was clear and ordered those elections. |
Leadership
I am proud to have led organizations
at the local-, state-, and national-level.
I believe in servant leadership,
that elected service is an honor and a responsibility,
that we should give back to our communities.
My record shows
that I seek to address issues
with an open mind, to learn the
pros and cons, and to decide
on the merits, not what might
just look good.
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