Good evening, everybody. If you want to take your seats, We're going to go ahead and get tonight's program started.
we'll have the candidates come up to the front. Looks like we've got everybody. Welcome. Good evening.
my name is brian bondy with the grand prairie chamber of commerce. Thank you for taking time out of your evening to listen to the candidates that are running For the special election,
place 8, city of grand prairie. We have four of the five candidates with us tonight.
anna cook had a previous engagement and could not stay, But we are very appreciative of the four candidates that are here.
we've got some prepared questions that have come from our legislative affairs committee, As well as members of the chamber that will be asking the
candidates shortly. If you would for a moment, Please stand. Remove any caps that you may have. We're going to do the pledge of allegiance to the American and texas flags.
one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
one and indivisible. Thank you very much. Please be seated.
at this time. I'm going to turn the microphone over to our moderator, Mr.
barry sanders, who is the vice chair of our legislative affairs committee for the grand Prairie chamber of commerce.
he will be your moderator. I will be your timekeeper. We have the timer that you can see on the big screen.
we have it big enough for the candidates to see, As well as big enough for me to see so that we get it as right as possible.
barry, it's all yours. Alrighty. Welcome, everyone.
you got the sound? Good. This event will allow each candidate the opportunity to address Issues that are of concern to business.
candidates will give a three minute opening statement so you can follow along as it counts Down.
in addition, each candidate will be given the opportunity to give their answer to our Question in two minute responses.
now, here's how it's going to work. We're going to draw a question out, Read the question and go down a sequence.
now we've got them a, b, c and d. And then the next question will do b, C, d, a.
and that way everybody gets two minutes, gets time to speak.
earlier we drew for speaking positions. So we'll do that in the sequence as we go.
we do ask as an audience. It's not a campaign rally. This is here for us to get information as voters to find out what's best for our city.
I want you, everybody to be respectful and civil at all times.
no name calling, no foul language, no personal attacks, No aggressive behavior. But I think I know almost everybody up here. Most of you are good.
an answer should be addressed to the public and not to your opponent. Just specifically to the public. Telling folks what's going on.
and with that, we'll get started. Again, it's a, B, c, and d.
and our first question is going to be this one.
opening statements. Bill, can you come back now?
I've already messed up. How do we use these? All right.
we'll start off with the statements. All you do is like, If it's green, it's on.
and as long as the little razor looking side of it's pointing towards you, It can pick you up.
because I'm not touching it and doing much. And it's picking up. He has control over in The back if he needs to turn him off. So with that,
miss luckey, if you will start off with your three minute opening statement. Tell us why We're here.
good evening, everyone. Thank you to the chamber. Thank you to the candidates that are here and the residents that decided to take out your Time to be here and hear what we have to say.
my name is amber luckey. And of course, I'm running for grand prairie city council place 8 At large.
I personally am a facilities manager, project manager where I have experience with Construction,
multimillion dollar budgets. I'm aware of code compliance.
like I said, multi-million dollar budgets. And currently I work for the largest commercial Real estate company in the world where I directly oversee
51 properties. Personally, I am a parent of an adult daughter who graduated from stanford University with dual degrees and is currently in
seminary. I also have a special needs son. So that ended up making me a special needs Advocate.
and I have been a special needs advocate throughout north texas for the past 11 years.
my focus as a candidate is to ensure that we have safe and strong neighborhoods, That we have affordable living and family support.
is the mic running out? And thriving business environment supported by reliable Infrastructure.
I believe that our small businesses are the backbone of our economy in this city.
like I stated earlier, professionally and personally, I believe I bring a collaborative leadership style that's grounded in real work,
real world experience, fiscal responsibility, And service.
I've spent years working behind the scenes supporting local candidates and community Efforts,
and I'm ready to bring that same commitment, Accountability to the city council.
I'm running because I believe grand prairie´s growth should be smart, Inclusive, and business friendly.
protecting what makes our city strong while creating opportunity for the future.
thank you. Thank you, miss luckey. Next up is madden.
okay. Thank you so much. I want to thank the chamber as well and all of you for being here Tonight.
so my name is michelle madden. I am a 25 year long resident of grand grand prairie, And you may know me from my past role of running
the grand prairie chamber of commerce for a little more than six years. So, as I mentioned, I've lived here for more than 25 years and raised two children that Attended gpisd.
my roles professionally have ranged from project management, Which I'm in right now, to real estate and then,
of course, to the chamber. And so I bring a wide variety of professional experience to This role.
so why do I want to run for city council? I'm sorry.
I lost my train of thought. I, as I mentioned, Have been on a number of boards and commissions for the last almost ten years.
and in that role, I have seen a number of cases come through that impact our city.
the last major role that I played was on planning and zoning. And as you may know, planning and zoning is a recommendation committee.
so we see all the same cases that city council does and we ask all the difficult Questions.
but then when it comes time, we make our recommendation and it moves on to city council.
what we say on planning and zoning doesn't stick. And so after seeing so many cases come through and asking so many questions of businesses And individuals that come forward asking for
extra provisions for their project, I really want to make sure that I can get into the Seat and protect the interests of our citizens,
and be able to make final decisions on planning and zoning. I mean, I'm sorry, on city council. So what do I feel is important here?
I am definitely a proponent of our small businesses. I've worked with them for more than six years.
built many, many relationships. Built programs that would help support and grow those Small businesses.
also during covid, when we were working from home, I developed a new program called journey to inclusiveness.
because here in grand prairie, we find that we are a stew pot.
a stew pot of many, many different ethnicities.
and I feel like we needed to start to understand one another. That's one of the things that I want to bring to our city council.
when I get on city council, I want to make sure that I am not representing any one Particular group or any one particular interest.
it's a time for us to bring everyone together, And that's the way I've run my business or actually ran the chamber.
and that's the way I'd like to perform on city council.
so really, that's all I have to say. My experience, I think.
thank you. Timed out. Well, then. Next up, mr. Anderson. Thank you, barry. First I want to say thank you to you guys for being here.
I've attended a lot of these types of events here at here in grand prairie.
and I think this may be the largest crowd that we've had for any of the candidate forums.
and what that does is that speaks volumes about the quality of the candidates that are up Here.
I have a complete respect for anyone who is willing to put their name on a ballot.
as many of you know, I served three terms in the texas legislature. And one of the questions that came directly to me is, Why are you running for city council?
and it's really simple. When I was in the legislature, I was backed by law enforcement, by cleat,
and by the tmpa, which represents the grand prairie police department.
and public safety is, to me a core function of city government.
one of the things that we have to be cognizant of is government overreach, And having our city government getting involved in areas
that they probably shouldn't be just like we have the texas legislature that is demanding City government
to comply with their rules, which makes it incredibly difficult for our city to actually Manage their own budget.
if for those of you that have have followed along, They have they've put a lot of restrictions on what they can do,
how they can do it. And that's one of those things that we need folks at our city council That actually understand how the legislative process works,
not only the legislative process, but how that integrates with our local government.
so that's really why that I said, okay, I've been asked numerous times, Please run, please run.
I've been asked to move. I've been said, hey, If you'll move to, insert place, we'll make sure that you have a spot in the legislature.
grand prairie is home for me. This is where I was born and raised. When I look at debbie johnson over here, debbie johnson was one of my basketball coaches.
or actually her mom and dad was my basketball coach, And I was like eight years old and she was an assistant coach. This is home.
I've raised three boys here. My wife is a graduate of south grand prairie high school. I Graduated from grand prairie high school, and we've raised three eagle scouts right here.
so we are deeply tied to this community. And when people ask whether republican or Democrat,
why is rodney anderson running? My responsibility is to you. And that's what I put on my postcards that are back there on the back table.
focus on the basics. Accountable to you. Thank you.
thank you, mr. Anderson. And mrs. Dominguez santini. Again, we got three minutes. They've started the timer.
go ahead. Barry. My name is mary dominguez santini, And I'm running to ensure grand prairie continues to be a city of opportunity,
safety and smart growth where small businesses can grow, Neighborhoods are protected from flooding and crime,
city services work for everybody, and transparency guides continue to make every decision.
I believe in collaboration, accountability, practical solutions that put residents first And move the entire city forward.
now my career. I am from el paso, texas. I have been here 27 years, Married 44 years with 11 grandkids,
seven of those attending grand prairie, where we already had two graduates from the District and the other the rest are in arlington isd.
I am a small business owner and small business owner retired.
okay? I'm already retired, but my daughters are helping me with my industry.
I'm the founder of the grand prairie hispanic chamber of commerce. We founded that five years ago after talking with our city manager.
covid hit. We talked about how we could have saved.
out of ten businesses that folded, we could have saved seven if we would have had that Information,
you know, available to them. And when I talked to the city manager, He said, well, mary, come back when you have it.
when you have the chamber already formed. I came back. I said, no, no, no, I'm here. Here's the folder.
I already found it. The articles. I got one of our rotary members to do my cpa work.
and today, five years later, we have over 366 businesses, Mostly from grand prairie, very few from
arlington. But I'll tell you, the reason it was founded is to fill a void that we were Missing,
to bring together who we are and what we need so we can continue investing and growing in Our city.
because I firmly believe that opportunities and resources are for everybody.
the hispanic chamber of commerce serves everybody, Regardless of ethnicity.
and you know, I hope that with the experience I've served on numerous boards, Being appointed to the neighborhood
commission by richard frigo, and being actively in my community through another Organization that I founded for arts and culture.
not only arts and culture, but we serve the underprivileged families over thousands of Families here in grand prairie with their food pantries that they need,
when our amazing united charities can help, we step up and thank you for helping us when We need help and giving them school supplies,
access to resources, health resources that some of these kids need, And the families as well,
the parents. And that's who I am. I'm very passionate about service, Regardless the outcome.
[inaudible]. Honored to be with us today. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mrs.
dominguez santini. All right. Now we can do our handy dandy questions.
I got so excited that we're using the fishbowl. Just wanted to rush right to it. I couldn't help it.
in this order, we're going to go mrs. Madden, Mr. Anderson, mrs. Dominguez santini, and then miss luckey.
okay? So our first question up for bat. Each of you will get the same question, And each of you gets two minutes to give your answer,
and the timers are running. The question is this. And I will repeat for each of you as need be.
but first of all, mrs. Madden. As a general rule, Hospitality and service sector jobs tend to pay lower wages.
what should the city be doing to attract higher paying jobs and the companies that provide Them?
well, thank you for the question. So city's involvement in recruiting hospitality Companies and increasing their pay.
it's interesting because quite honestly, I feel like economic development should find Businesses,
but I don't feel like they necessarily should have impact on pay.
so, the quality of the businesses that come to grand prairie, I think, are reflective of how we advertise our city.
and the way we advertise our city is also reflected in our neighborhoods, Our roads, our school rating,
those kinds of things. And I think if we make sure to take care of those things, The things that are,
visible to the public, that will trickle up. And I've been told actually that economic Development,
while that is part of the job of economic development to recruit businesses, It's many times the businesses themselves that come to the city to ask for placement
or exhibit their interests. So what I would say is, I think what we need to do is make sure that we are taking care of our city well,
in order to recruit those businesses, the. I don't feel that we have any impact on their Pay range,
but the larger the businesses, the more professional the organizations.
those are the ones that will have that. In addition I think that it would be great if we Could spread the word on
professional development. And so that would allow us to have more of a workforce to work For these larger companies.
and thus, those people would end up having the ability to earn more.
thank you, mrs. Madden. Next will be mr. Anderson. And I'm going to go ahead and read the question again, Because it is word salad here.
so it is the longest question, I drew it out first, By the way. As a general rule, hospitality and service sector jobs tend to pay lower wages.
what should the city be doing to attract higher paying jobs and the companies that provide Them?
the short answer is get back to basics. The city must provide a strong public safety.
they must provide infrastructure that is manageable, That when you drive up and down carrier parkway
and you see some dilapidated housing or dilapidated fences, That's the type of stuff that
if you're a business owner, is that. Or do you want to relocate there?
do you want to relocate to someplace that has type of challenge?
or do you want to go up in plano or frisco? Do you want to go?
so it's those basic city services. That's really what the city should be focused on, Because if the city will stay focused on those basic city services of of public safety,
infrastructure, fiscal stewardship and keeping your tax burden low.
if you're a business owner, there are business taxes that you do have to pay.
so you want to make sure that your city tax rate remains very competitive.
those are the types of things that you do to try and attract business. Over and above those types, there are tax incentives that you can offer up to ten year tax Abatements that you can do on certain with certain
employers that guarantee having a certain number of employees.
there are things you can do like that. And that's what the city should stay focused on, Not trying to dictate whether it's,
quote, high paying, low paying, but bringing strong companies to grand prairie is done by Focusing on the
basics and staying involved. Thank you, mr. Anderson.
next up will be mrs. Dominguez santini, and I will again reread it.
as a general rule, hospitality and service jobs tend to pay lower wages.
what should the city be doing to attract higher paying jobs and the companies that provide Them?
absolutely. That's one thing that we do talk about a lot at home, Especially with our latest graduating uta.
where do we want him to go? Do we have the company that's going to hire him in Engineering,
which is his career? So I think that the city should focus, You know not only in hospitality and all this restaurants and that we have going on,
but bringing in attractive companies that bring opportunity for future advancement to These graduates that we have,
because we do have to offer. They graduate and they go somewhere else because we don't Have the companies that would pay them to continue moving forward.
and we do not have enough big companies that can give them the opportunity they need so They won't have to leave grand prairie
or, you know, go somewhere else. Thank you very much.
yes, sir. Our last answer for this question is miss luckey.
and one more time. As a general rule, hospitality and service sector jobs tend to pay Lower wages.
what should the city be doing to attract higher paying jobs and the companies that provide Them?
go ahead. Well, first, as a rule of thumb, we need to address our infrastructure.
we have massive growth on the southern sector of grand prairie.
and when you look at the central part and northern parts of our city, We have areas that have been neglected.
and so we want to be sure that our city is one attractive for those businesses to come to Grand prairie.
and then the next part is working with our city leaders with the economic growth plan of Expanding
the economic growth plan off of highway 30 where we want to bring in fortune 500 Companies.
and so with that, like I said, we want to make sure that we are addressing our Infrastructure.
the next thing is bringing in a hospital. Grand prairie is the longest city in texas, And we do
not have a hospital. So we want to be able to attract those people that are in that field With bringing in
jobs that provide higher wages for our city. As well as we want to be sure that we're not Having our residents and
visitors go out to the neighboring cities for those services as well.
thank you. Thank you, miss luckey. We'll move on to our next question.
on this question, we'll go c, d, a b. So anderson, Dominguez santini, luckey and then mrs.
madden. And for this question we have. It seems so easy.
you put your reading glasses on. Should elected officials be held accountable for a code Of conduct in public and in private?
yes or no. And please explain. Guys was going to get good. Yes. Here we go. Yes.
and that should be very self-explanatory. And as somebody who spent three terms down in Austin,
that makes some of the things that happen up here look like child's play, You never once.
if anybody heard anything in here, you never once heard anything sideways about what I did Or about my performance,
or my public or private life. You saw nothing of that.
I could tell you stories that would make your skin crawl about things that go on in austin And in washington,
d.c. And not one time during any of that was there any accusation, Any thought.
and so I will tell you unequivocally, yes. Code of conduct without question.
thank you, mr. Anderson. Next one to answer the question will be, Mrs.
dominguez santini, should elected officials be held accountable to a code of conduct in Public and in private?
yes or no? And please explain your answer. Absolutely, Yes.
regardless of who you are, you can love me to death. But if I do something wrong, you better hold me accountable because I'm representing you.
regardless, like I said, I echo what rodney said. If you cannot represent our city, our citizens with dignity, Respect and clear leadership,
you have no business being a councilperson. Absolutely, Yes.
thank you, mrs. Dominguez santini. Next up, miss luckey, And I'll ask it again.
should elected officials be held accountable to a code of conduct in public and in Private?
yes or no? And please explain your answer. My answer is yes.
I believe our city works best when the city, Businesses, residents, we all move forward together with transparency,
accountability and mutual respect. Thank you.
thank you, miss luckey. And last mrs. Madden.
should elected officials be held accountable to a code of conduct in public and in Private?
yes or no? And please explain your answer. My answer is yes as well.
and I think that it would take, and it requires more than a slap on the hand if things Happen.
we've had an experience here in the city, and I can assure you that if I had been on the Council,
I would have spoken up a little bit more than was done. All in all, absolutely. For sure. We definitely need to enforce a code of conduct at the End.
thanks. Thank you, mrs. Madden. Our third question is going to go in this order.
we will go d with mrs. Dominguez santini, then miss luckey, Mrs.
madden finishing off with mr. Anderson. For our third question we'll go as follows.
another multiple lines. What do you see as the chamber's role in relation to the city, And how would you work with the chamber to support economic growth and
thriving business community? And we'll start with you, Mrs. Dominguez santini. Absolutely.
as a passionate cheerleader of any chamber of commerce, The chambers of commerce are a resource platform and advocate for any business
of their city. They're extremely important. They should function as an organization where Entrepreneurs,
business startups, regardless of your size of business, You can come to a chamber and find the resources or opportunities you're looking for.
the small businesses are the driving force of the economy. We know that. So then we need to focus as chambers.
our chamber collaborates with anybody that is willing to partner up if they have Opportunities,
if they feel that we can grow our businesses here in our city, We will collaborate so that the chamber is very important that they collaborate not only
with the other chambers, with the city, with governments, With local business partners, partners to help the negocios group.
thank you, mrs. Dominguez santini. Oh, were you done? I'm sorry. I looked down. I'm done. Okay. Outstanding.
I didn't want to step on you. Next up will be miss luckey. I'll ask the question again. What do you see as the chamber's role in relation to the City,
and how would you work with the chamber to support economic growth and a thriving business Economy?
so I believe the chamber's role and responsibility related to the city is to work for Everyone.
it should work for all, not just some. Our small businesses are the backbone of our Economy,
and oftentimes we're not finding out about small businesses in our city until they've gone Under.
and so I believe the chamber has a responsibility to make sure that our small businesses Have the resources and tools that they need to be successful.
along my campaign journey, I've talked to a lot of small business owners, And what they've told me is they don't feel like they should have to reach out to the
chamber. They want the chamber to come to them. And so we need to do a better job with being open and available to our small businesses.
we need them. We need them for our economy. We need them for our continued growth in this City.
and again, we need them in every aspect and every avenue and all businesses.
again, all businesses, no matter the ethnicity of the owner, The background of the owner.
we should be working with all businesses. Thank you.
thank you, miss luckey. Next up will be mrs. Madden and I'll read it again.
what do you see as the chamber's role in relation to the city, And how would you work with the chamber to support economic growth and a thriving business
community? You have two minutes. Thank you. So the role of the chamber with this city and How I would work with them I feel like
the city needs to partner with the chamber of commerce, Whether the grand prairie chamber or the hispanic chamber.
unfortunately, as you find with many things, The chamber of commerce, at least our grand prairie chamber is only four employees,
and we don't have a crystal ball, or they don't have a crystal ball to know where Businesses are being formed at what kitchen table across town.
so that's why our small businesses need to know that the chamber's available to them, And it's available to everyone.
and doing so needing to know that information is difficult.
it's difficult to find that information in partnership with the city. I think it would be great if our city would market the chamber through the pipeline.
I think that would be fantastic. It would maybe reach people where they are.
I don't want the city to reinvent the wheel. Business development is what a chamber Specializes in.
and we have partners like workforce solutions, I mentioned earlier, that we can bring in.
we are continually trying to train and educate our small business members.
and I think also that the city could do a lot of good by providing office space in Partnership with the
chamber for small fledgling businesses. They already do a great job with our farmer´s Market.
there have been a number of businesses here in town that have started out there through That opportunity,
and then grown and become a brick and mortar business. Overall, I think that not to step over the bounds of the chamber and what it's meant to Do,
I think that the city needs to partner. Thank you. Thank you, mrs. Madden. And that takes us to mr.
anderson one more time. What do you see as the chamber's role in relation to the city, And how would you work with the chamber to support economic growth and a thriving business
community? Thank you again for the question. If you have one of these packets, That question is directly here.
so without trying to regurgitate what I've said here.
the chamber of commerce. For a city to be really successful, You have to have a thriving chamber of commerce.
the thriving chamber of commerce does not happen unless the city is strongly supportive.
as someone who sat on the executive board of the chamber of commerce, I can tell you there are times where it´s
been strained with the city. And it's been strained for various reasons that have nothing To do with with individuals but have everything to
do with priorities. And the city must make the chamber of commerce a priority.
why? It gets back to the question that was asked earlier about attracting strong Businesses.
if you have have the chamber of commerce and the city at odds, You will not attract businesses.
if you have public officials behaving badly, You will not attract strong businesses.
that is an absolute. And I've talked with folks, I've talked with companies.
I've watched these companies want to relocate and those types that types of friction, They do not want.
so what the city must do is it must work hand in glove, Hand in glove.
they're not the same, but hand in glove with the chamber of commerce and the chamber of Commerce should work hand in glove along with the city as well.
thank you, mr. Anderson. Our next question will be this dude right here.
and in this one we're going to go a with miss luckey, D with mrs.
dominguez santini, then c with mr. Anderson and finish up with b, With mrs.
madden. And the question up now and you'll have two minutes.
rental properties which can span a wide range of income levels, Can change the landscape of a community.
what do you think the city could and should do to monitor the number of rental properties?
and we'll start this one off with miss luckey. You have two minutes.
okay. Rental properties. Well, unfortunately, With sb840 recently being
passed where it states that developers can go anywhere in the city and build apartments,
that is going to be an issue for us. However, I do know that the city has created an appendix.
appendix s, that they've recently adopted and I support.
what I want to do is work with single member districts and meet with developers and see How
we can possibly create multi development versus just apartments, Especially in those areas that
are not zoned for apartments that are zoned for businesses.
and so just me wanting to just work with our individual districts and developers to make Sure that we are not
overflooding our city with more apartments. Thank you, Miss luckey.
next up will be mrs. Dominguez santini, again with the question.
rental properties, which span a wide range of income levels, Can change the landscape of a community.
what do you think the city could or should do to monitor the number of rental properties You have?
two minutes. All right. Well, definitely monitor. You know many years ago, richard frigo asked me when they started building these Apartments.
I live over on crossland and home depot. With all the apartments that are building now, It used to take me five minutes to get from pioneer event,
you know, to where I go. Today by 3:30, just to turn on crossland.
I don't know how long it takes me. The traffic is all the way almost to top golf, And that is unfortunate because,
I mean, our house is already paid. We're not going to sell a house and go somewhere else.
so I think they have to find a way to either stop with this apartment complex now that They're building all over.
not all over, because I only see them in our part of town. But I think there's got to be a limit in how much of that rental property apartments is Coming to the city.
well, I know it's important. I would focus more on, Like, affordable housing or houses, building community homes rather than apartments.
and not only in one area. They need to figure out how to, You know, or where to build or where to find other developers that are willing to
build not only apartments, but affordable homes, Residential areas.
because really, that's one thing that I say, Oh my goodness, all this apartments is just crazy and I'm not selling my house.
I'm stuck there. My house is paid for and I'm already retired. But yeah, that's all I have to say. Thank you ma'am.
yes, sir. Next on this question will be mr. Anderson. I can read it again. Rental properties, which span a wide range of income levels, Can change the landscape of a community.
what do you think the city could or should do to monitor the number of rental properties?
whoever put this question in, I would really like to say thank you for putting one right In my wheelhouse.
as somebody who owns six properties, and for those of you that know that my mother managed Properties here in town for many,
many years before before her passing about five months ago. And I've been managing those properties on that she had.
somebody needs to start the timer, by the way, And I've used about 20s.
so to keep it fair, guys. And this really gets back to getting back to the basics.
what can the city do? Code enforcement, code compliance.
I cannot tell you. And I see the real estate people in here shaking their heads because Code compliance we have across the street from us,
the fugly house, that's what we call it. And we finally got code enforcement to be able to Site the gentleman
because he was not taking care of the property. Just let it go. There hasn't been anybody that's lived in that property for the last four Years.
rental properties. We need rental properties, Folks. I can't tell you the number of people that are consistently looking for quality rental Properties.
so what can the city do? The city can ramp up enforcement.
it's very simple to find out where the rental properties are.
it´s public database. It's very simple to get. The city I'm sure has it. And what they can do is to make sure that code enforcement is Following up with that.
one of the other things that they can do is make sure if you have a rental property that They're complying with drug free housing standards.
that is a big issue. Again, it's public safety. So when I talk about getting back to basics, This is the kind of basic thing and the kind of experience you need in city hall to be
able to address these kinds of issues. Thank you, Mr.
anderson. And lastly, we have mrs. Madden and one last time. Rental properties, which span a wide range of income levels, Can change the landscape of community.
what do you think the city could and should do to monitor the number of rental properties?
thank you very much. So in my mind, there are three different kinds of rental properties.
we've got apartments. We have individual homes that are rented out.
and then we also have the airbnbs and vrbos and everybody's familiar with that.
so individual properties. Again, code compliance.
making sure that our city has enough manpower to perform code compliant duties.
I think that's important. I'm a huge proponent of rental homes.
I mean, those are businesses. One and two, they do serve a purpose because, As we all know,
interest rates are high. And buying your own house now, If you don't already have one, can be a challenge.
second, apartments. I think they serve a purpose. We have probably too many here in grand prairie, And it's kind of out of our hands at this point.
but what I would like to do is have some legislation and change some of the rules on What's required for apartments.
right now, I believe it is one parking spot per unit. And how many people you know have only one person driving in a unit?
and also garages that are included as parking at apartment complexes.
and those are often rented out as storage. So we start out, One, apartment complexes.
the developers are trying to jam as many units as they possibly can in there.
and that is helped along with the fact that they are required minimal parking Requirements.
so that's another thing I'd like to change some legislation there. And then third, the city's already doing a great.
well, they've started a program and are trying to make it great with registering airbnbs And such,
because I want to make sure that those things are being monitored as well, Because if you live next to an airbnb,
that may diminish your enjoyment of your biggest investment. So those are the three things. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs.
madden, which will take us to our I believe this will be our fifth question.
and in this one we're going to go straight a, B, c, d. Start with miss luckey, mrs. Madden, mr. Anderson and mrs.
dominguez santini. And here's the question. What should the city be doing to support small Businesses that pay property and sales tax?
and we'll start with you, miss luckey. You have two minutes.
what should the city do? What should the city be doing to support small businesses that Pay property and sales tax?
what I would say, the city should be first thankful for those businesses that are
paying all those taxes. In this day and age, Taxes are an extreme hindrance to a lot
of people. Growing families, single families and businesses.
and so I would say the city. Being on council, I would review options.
I can't say I would. Honestly, I can't say that I would cut those taxes.
I would want to review the budget and see how our businesses are directly affected by Those
taxes and see where those resources are going and making sure that we're properly funding Our
different programs and infrastructures with those tax dollars.
thank you. Outstanding. The next person to answer this question will be mrs.
madden. What should the city be doing to support small businesses that pay property taxes And sales taxes?
okay. Thank you. So I think the word fair kind of comes to mind when I first hear that Question because we have some fantastic businesses in
town and some of them have some really special locations and some of those really special Locations get a lot of attention by the city,
and I don't think that's fair. You know, if you happen to be on a side street somewhere And you are not the pet of
marketing, you're not getting the same treatment that you would if you were elsewhere in The city.
I think one of the other things that the city needs to do is make sure that roads, Access to all businesses are well maintained.
that goes back to infrastructure. I think, too, That when the city holds festivals and activities that they should make those exclusive to
grand prairie businesses. I mean, if I were coming from another town, Fort worth, and came to grand prairie,
I would want to see what grand prairie has to offer, Not what grand prairie shipped in from dallas and fort worth.
so I would say exclusivity, or at least give major preference to our local businesses.
and then finally, code enforcement. Again, really making sure that code enforcement is Well equipped to manage and look over
the landlords of all these properties where we have small business renting, Because, you know,
you can't attract no matter what your product is, If your building is falling in, if it's the only place you can rent, and if it's not being
well kept it's a disservice. And it makes the whole city look bad.
so again, not marketing some businesses and marketing others, Roads well maintained, prioritizing
small businesses that are local for festivals and other activities and code enforcement.
thank you. Thank you, mrs. Madden. This takes us to mr.
anderson. What should the city be doing to support small businesses that pay property and Sales taxes?
the best thing they can do is be fiscally responsible with the taxes that they're being Given and the taxes that are being paid.
and the way that you're fiscally responsible is you keep your tax rate down.
not only do you keep your tax rate down, but you keep your infrastructure and your, As michelle said,
your infrastructure and your code enforcement. You utilize them to make sure that the property surrounding a business are well Maintained,
even if they are vacant. So I'm not going to use the entire time here, But it's keep your tax rate down and be fiscally
responsible with the taxes that are being collected. And in so doing that, that will attract more business, Which is what we've been talking about the entire time.
thank you, mr. Anderson. And last on this question, Mrs.
dominguez santini, I will read it again. What should the city be doing to support small Businesses that pay property and sales taxes?
they should create a small business development office to assist not only the small Business,
but the medium size. They need to work on a program to help our businesses grow.
if they're paying taxes, we can utilize, or they can consider utilizing that money to Create programs of opportunity to create some kind of funding.
so when this business is running to an issue that they can't survive, We need the businesses,
all businesses, to thrive. Regardless, I know that we all love the big brand names, But we must support the mom and pop shops in our city.
we have to. We have a called an incubator program, Which is an accelerator program to educate,
inform our entrepreneurs, business startups, To guide them how to get funding, how to run their finances,
where to go to help. But that should not rely on our chambers alone.
we need the city. The city is the bank. They can afford to educate and to serve our small Negocios because we need everybody to grow here.
so definitely it would be a small business development center that I would love for our City to have for everybody.
opportunities and resources should be for everybody.
thank you, mrs. Dominguez santini. And that wraps up our formal questions.
and I know there's probably some questions you have that they didn't answer. And I want to Tell you we have the room until 8.
you ask the questions. Each of the candidates will be here with their materials and ask Questions.
we will get to a final two minute wrap up concluding statements from each of the Candidates.
but it's a unique position. Sitting here, I'm looking at all your smiling, Beautiful faces,
and there are 84 people in the room for the candidates forum.
that's not counting the four candidates. And then brian and I. So give yourselves a hand. [applause]. Citizens of grand prairie are showing up because we Care about our town.
this is for a special election. One seat for a partial term. So congratulations on taking it seriously. I do want to point out that five active members Of our school board are in the room.
kind of makes sense. We're in their house. So and we also have one active city council Member in the room.
so mr. Shotwell just want to say hello. And with that, I'm going to go back and give us a rotation for final statements.
two minutes. Tell the citizens what they need to hear, The one thing you want them to take away,
and find out who you are and what they need to know about this election.
and in this order we're going to go c, d, a, B. So we're going to go mr. Anderson, mrs. Dominguez, Miss luckey, finishing up with mrs.
madden. And this is closing statements. And you have two minutes. So mr. Anderson, we'll start with you, sir. Again, I want to say thank you to you folks for being out.
this is a great crowd to be out. I'm going to tell you that experience matters,
especially in times where budgets are getting tighter and tighter.
we didn't even talk about the aging infrastructure of water pipes and things of that Nature,
which are the blocking and tackling. There are things that are going to be presented that Instead of blocking and tackling,
they're going to be playing a completely different sport, Or it is what you will hear.
and because there are things that folks want to do that I think we can better use our Money on aging infrastructure,
streets, code enforcement, public safety. Police and potholes.
it's not sexy, but it's what the city should be doing.
should be taking care of our law enforcement, Should be taking care of our fire department and taking care of our streets and our roads.
the other thing that I will tell you. Accessibility and transparency.
there is a dearth of transparency in the public sector.
and by that I mean that there are expenditures that get made that get pushed under the Rug.
I will tell you that you will have access to me. My cell phone number is (214) 679-4106. My work number is (214) 293-8067.
you can call either one of them. And I put that on all my material and I will return your Phone call.
that's another thing. That accessibility you will have that guaranteed with me.
and I have the experience and those that have used it understand that I put my money where My mouth is.
and it's a big mouth. Thank you, mr. Anderson.
next up on two minute closing statements is mrs. Dominguez santini. Go ahead. Okay, well, grand prairie is more than a city.
it is all of us together. I would like to ask that you all consider seeing who can better Work for you.
we have leaders here, all passionate about what we do in our community.
I would like for us to do our research, our work, See what experience we have.
how can we make this grand city? Because we do live in a grand city. I love my city. This is my hometown. I'm from el paso, But I have been here 27 years and I love the ciudad.
so absolutely, I would like to ask you all to do a little bit of research and what we have Done.
we have what we have accomplished. I wrote a whole bunch of stuff when we had our Questions. Like rodney said, it's in here,
so I'm not going to go back. But I thank you and thank you for being here and thank you For letting us run.
thank you. Gracias. Thank you, mrs. Dominguez santini.
next up will be miss luckey. Thank you again to the chamber
and the candidates and everyone here that's joined us tonight.
I want to say a special thank you to my grandmother. She's 89 years old, and she's here tonight. [applause].
and I actually learned my business acumen from her and my grandfather.
growing up, I saw them work extremely hard. They opened up ray luckey texaco in turtle Creek.
and I grew up in that gas station, and I saw how hard my grandmother worked day in and day Out,
making sure the business stayed afloat. So thank you for being here.
as I stated earlier, I have 17 years of experience managing multimillion dollar budgets.
I currently work for a fortune 500 company. Excuse me.
where I work directly with construction projects. Infrastructure, general contractors and vendor relations.
I understand how businesses work. I understand how budgets work.
I know how important efficiency and accountability and long term planning, Our strong to our bottom line.
so I want you to know, first, I'm a servant leader, But I'm also a person that has actual lived
experience. I will be visible, transparent, and accountable.
I've been available in the community, for the community and to the community for the past 20 years behind the scenes.
this is pretty much my first time in front of the scenes, But I've done a lot of work behind the scenes,
and so I would like for you all to consider me as your next city council person for place 8 at large.
you can find out more information about me on.
yes. My website. And fourth of all, mrs. Madden, If you'll answer closing statements.
sure. Great. Thank you so much. I want to thank you all so much for being here tonight. You know, a friend of mine mentioned that they were interested in maybe running for office At one point,
but it was a strain. They weren't sure if they were.
they could do it because they were afraid to lose. It takes a lot of courage. So I want to thank everybody up here.
it does take a lot of courage. So one of the other things is that it takes experience and It takes local experience.
I've been involved here in the city of grand prairie, Either boards or commissioned or with nonprofits since,
well pta, since 2005. So my experience here in the city started out with petitioning for Speed bumps,
because my kiddo wanted to go and play outside and I didn't want him run over.
so I learned about the city through my own personal experience. So I started there, went to pta, also continued on with boards and commissions, As I mentioned.
and here I am today. I have worked here in the city, Worked with the city, and I feel like I've created great relationships with the city
staff. I am just like you, though, ultimately, What do we all want?
we all want to make sure that our property values either maintain or go up.
we want to be able to enjoy our property without encumbrances.
and that might be noisy airbnbs next door or fences that are falling down.
I want the same things that you do. Another thing is, Is that, when it comes time to make decisions,
there's history of me not voting with the crowd, And I'm okay with that.
I don't mind being the only one on the dais that doesn't agree.
and I'll stick to my guns and I will protect you. And that is what I want to do here for the city of grand prairie.
please give me that opportunity. Check out my website, Votemichellemadden.com.
the questions here were just a little snippet of us. And there's so much more to learn. Thanks. Thank you, Mrs.
madden. And I want to thank all of the candidates for being so courageous and stepping up And doing something.
I'm never going to do, and I'm not going to raise my hand get on the ballot.
and they're stepping up to lead. So all of them should be congratulated. And you as an audience, should be congratulated. Not only the 87 people in the room, But the folks watching on live stream,
because this represents a concerned grand prairie that wants to know what's best for our Community.
and you did the hard part. Thanks for stepping up. We have the room for another hour and bryan, I believe you have a few wrap up comments.
yes, I do, thank you very much. First of all, Let's give these candidates a round of applause.
you know, it's been said that, you know, it's not easy to put your name on a ballot.
it's not easy to be elected once you're on that ballot. And it's not easy to stay elected once you've been elected.
so to do this is powerful. And as citizens, we have the ultimate right in this country That has
to be exercised every time we have an election. And that's to go vote. Voter turnout for something like this shouldn't be 3, 4 or 5%.
it should be 50, 60, 70% because it means that much to this community, To our community, your community.
that's where your home values are. That's where our businesses grow.
so don't just look at this as a special election. Look at it as an opportunity to make a difference on january 31st.
our fliers that we have we may have run out. I'll have a qr code that will be on the Chamber's website in the morning.
early voting starts on wednesday of this week, And it runs through the 27th of january at various times.
that's in dallas county, tarrant county and ellis county. Man, that just blows my mind. But that also is an explanation of how complicated grand Prairie is and how important your vote really is to the whole process.
stay and visit with the candidates. Ask them questions. If you're supporting them, take some of their signs. But most importantly, From the chamber of commerce perspective,
thank you for your time and coming this evening. Have a good evening. Thank you.