BALANCING STATE AND LOCAL CONTROL

My experience as an elected city council member has given me insight into what it takes for cities to run and the freedom they need to quickly respond to the needs of their citizens.
 

Whether the issues relate to housing, roads, parks, infrastructure, public safety or public health—our cities need to feel like they are partners with our State officials not at odds with them.

 

Many of our representatives in Austin espouse values of individual responsibility and personal freedom, but they have also overreached with legislation meant to take decision-making power away from local Texas governments such as counties, cities, and school boards. This goes against the grain of Texas values. Instead conservative state legislators want to investigate and ban books from the classroom meant to teach about pivotal moments in history or deny a child's right to be who they are and participate in sports. 

 

If people in a city want to pass an ordinance protecting employees' civil rights, or decide to improve working conditions, or make voting easier, then they should have that right to do so. We need a working balance between state authority and local control and the willingness for people to come to the table to create solutions for a better quality of life, not more restrictions that go against our Texas values. 

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As your next Texas State representative, I recognize the need for local control and it is part of the reason why I am running. To ensure Texas creates world-class cities to attract businesses, people, and jobs we need to make sure the officials that know them best can enact laws and ordinances that best fit the profiles of their cities and towns.