City Council election season is quickly approaching, with the last day to register to vote in time on April 6.
While Maria Tu (Place 1) and Julie Holmer (Place 7) are running for reelection unopposed, City Council places 3 and 5 are running with opposition.
Rick Horne and Colleen Aguilar-Epstein are running for City Council, Place 3.
Rick Horne has previously served on the Plano Planning and Zoning Commission, the Parks and Recreation Planning Board and the Plano Balloon Festival Board of Directors. He is also active and a former president of the Plano Rotary Club. Horne is a graduate of Leadership Plano and a member of Christ Church Anglican Church.
“Plano must continue to renew itself to avoid becoming a city of abandoned strip centers and failing infrastructure,” Horne said on his website. “To continue being the City of Excellence while competing against our neighbors to the north, Plano must look forward and progress smartly and with purpose.”
Horne’s platform focuses on redevelopment, support and investment in first responders, increased funding for libraries and other city services, strengthening and supporting the Equal Right Ordinance, increasing workforce housing and updating aging infrastructure.
Colleen Aguilar-Epstein has served on the Plano Board of Adjustment, the Plano Citizen’s Coalition, and has served Plano in many volunteer capacities. In the community, Aguilar-Epstein has served as an ESL teacher to Chinese and Hispanic communities, a PATH home school Spanish teacher, YMCA Youth and Government volunteer, NCFCA speech and debate tournament judge and a Neighborhood Crime Watch Organizer. She is a retired high school Spanish teacher and member of St. Paul Lutheran Church.
“I love this city and the great people who live here, and want to do what I can to ensure a bright future for all residents. For over 30 years, my husband and I have enjoyed the uniqueness of Plano and raised our children here,” Aguilar-Epstein said on her campaign website. “Plano is at a crossroads, so we must decide what kind of city we want to become. I will be a committed positive leader for the citizens of Plano.”
Aguilar-Epstein’s platform focuses on supporting first responders, overseeing independent testing of safe water and air quality, ensuring timely street repairs and traffic solutions, reducing the tax burden, encouraging the growth of businesses through fair incentives, preserving green space, protecting the rights of property owners and increasing citizen’s input.
Shelby Williams is running for reelection for City Council, Place 5 against Brett Cooper.
“The people of Plano deserve transparent, accountable government,” Williams said on his campaign website. “I’m striving to ensure every citizen’s voice is heard, that the city continues to provide the world-class services it’s supposed to, and that the Plano City Council treats your money as yours.”
Williams’ platform focuses on increasing funding for first responders, working alongside PISD to ensure safety of children, bring DART up to date, increasing citizen participation, managing Plano’s increasing population density, promoting elimination of property taxes, fixing the water disparity, and continuing to fulfill promises from last election.
Brett Cooper is an adolescent medicine physician at Children’s Medical Center and UT Southwestern. Cooper has served as a youth chaperone for GALA North Texas, a eucharistic minister at his local parish, on numerous committees for the Dallas County Medical Society and Texas Medical Association and is a current member of the Board of Trustees for Dallas County Medical Society.
“I am running for City Council because I want to ensure that Plano remains a City of Excellence, as well as a place that provides opportunities for all citizens to live, work, and play in a diverse, inclusive, and thriving environment,” Cooper said on his campaign website.
Cooper’s campaign focuses on prioritizing policies that improve health and well-being of citizens at all stages of life, increasing mobility throughout the city and guiding future development.
Early voting begins April 24 and election day is May 6.
