We are very fortunate to live in an extremely vibrant community. Coppell has received national recognition based upon the quality of life we are so blessed to enjoy every day. When you meet someone who has recently moved to Coppell and ask why they moved here, inevitably they say for the outstanding schools, the small town feel, and the close knit community. What are the key steps that we need to take as citizens and council members, to ensure the continued vitality?
Key to understanding which direction we are heading in the future is in-depth demographic and economic forecasting to obtain a realistic analysis of our trajectory. Preventing any sort of downward trend is most readily achieved by taking a proactive approach that incorporates input from engaged citizens and an active business community. The city must work with neighborhoods throughout the community to determine what the appropriate framework is for their areas long term. When faced with civic aging it is crucial that we fully maintain our city's infrastructure and upgrade where possible. Deferring maintenance only serves to degrade quality of place and in turn makes our city less desirable leading to flight. The steps you that have taken as taxpayers to revitalize our parks are a prime example of your commitment to our city. We need to continue to search for creative solutions to maintaining our high standard of municipal services without significant impact to the bottom line. In every decision we make as a city council members we must ask, "Is this on our path of fiscal sustainability?"
Maintaining excellence in our school district plays a vital role in our success as a city. As the state legislature spends less and less money on each student every year even though larger chunks of our school tax dollars go to Austin, we need to find creative ways to augment our support for CISD. We must do everything we can to protect the district from unnecessary pressures that are within our control as a city. Looking for opportunities to leverage alternative resources and create new partnerships is paramount to our long term success.
I hope that I can count on your continued support to see that our vision for the city continues on into the future. Without your support, it only it takes a one elected official to obscure our vision for Coppell.