The Councilman
First elected in 2011, I am currently serving my second term representing District 1 on the Denton City Council. Professionally, I’m an educator with the prestigious Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science and a Business Strategy Consultant for Pascal Learning, the company behind ReadyRosie and founded by my wife, Emily.
A great city deserves great leadership. I’m committed to moving Denton forward to help us achieve our potential as a great city for our citizens and a model for the nation. Check out my Ideas page for more information on specific issues, but here are some ways I have been leading as of late:
LEADING IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
- Through my Creative Tech Jobs Initiative, launched in May 2012, we’ve brought regional and national attention to our growing tech and startup community, highlighted our talented workforce, and saw new businesses form and others move here.
- I’ve modeled innovative and aggressive ways to market our city as a place to do business.
- I continue to push for an updated Economic Development Strategy, targeted partnerships with our universities, and am working on plans to make Denton an entrepreneurial and startup leader regionally and nationally.
LEADING IN COMMUNITY COLLABORATION
- I helped launch and now Chair the Mentor Denton initiative to find 10,000 mentors for our city’s most at-risk kids – alongside Denton ISD, Communities in Schools, United Way, Leadership Denton, and many others.
- Led the city in our efforts to regulate predatory lenders and serve on the Steering Committee of Bank On Denton which seeks to increase financial security for all our citizens.
- Represent the city on Denton’s PreK Coalition, seeking to get our youngest citizens ready for Kindergarten and close the achievement gap before it begins.
- I chair the University of North Texas Committee on Community Engagement where community partnerships are fostered and community problems are tackled.
LEADING IN CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT
- First council member in Denton to maintain a website with regular updates and information about issues and council meeting topics, first to utilize Facebook and Twitter to give citizens info, access, and a platform to engage.
- Initiated the creation of the Council Committee for Citizen Engagement where I am currently the Chair.
- Created the Denton Creatives Mixer where our city’s best and brightest come together to collide, collaborate, and create a better city.
LEADING IN CIVIC INNOVATION
- I’m committed to innovating City Hall and giving citizens a 21st century government which they both deserve and have come to expect.
- I’ve got the ball rolling on an Open Data Policy, brought greater attention to the need for high-speed fiber connectivity, and encouraged the adoption of innovative technological tools designed to give citizens and businesses more efficient and customer-friendly access to government policies and services.
- Hosted a hackathon in my living room with Denton’s best technological minds to make voting easier in Denton and demonstrate the power of technology to solve civic problems.