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Walker joins council race
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By Chris Roark, croark@starlocalnews.com
Mike Walker has noticed a calming trend in Flower Mound during the past year.
He said that makes it the perfect time to run for a seat on the town council.
Walker filed Thursday to run for Place 1 on the council, which is occupied by Kendra Stephenson. Stephenson filed to run for re-election on Jan. 31.
“This is the right time to run because it appears that there is stability on the town council,” Walker said. “There have also been changes in town staff. So it’s like the reset button has been pushed. We can now spend more time solving problems versus reacting to hot issues that distract us from managing the town properly.”
Walker said his intentions to run for the council seat are more aimed at guiding future development and not so much on changing things.
“We’re catching the slow recovery from the recession,” Walker said. “We’re seeing more development interest in areas such as Lakeside, Canyon Falls and near the FM 407/FM 2499 corridor. I have been committed to the Master Plan and SMARTGrowth, and I don’t want to see that design violated. Due to my town service, I was very much involved in the history and implementation of these land use regulations but only in a recommending role, so now I want to be an active part of the decisions that are made.
“I want to make sure that these are done correctly and that we continue to see quality development,” Walker said. “There are discussions about building a new town hall, and I want to be a part of that discussion.”
Walker said his career with land use planning and as an institutional investments manager will help him on the council. He has also been the HOA president of Bridlewood and currently serves as the vice president, board of directors of the DFW-Fort Worth Chapter of the Community Associations Institute.
In addition, Walker has spent the last 10 years serving the town, beginning in 2002 when he was on the town’s park board. He has also served on the oil and gas board of appeals, the transportation commission and the planning and zoning commission.
Walker ran for a seat on the council in 2004 but lost to Paul Stone and ran again in 2005 before losing to Jeff Tasker by 33 votes.
As far as why he chose to run in Place 1, Walker said it was simply a matter of strategy and not to oust Stephenson.
“When you run in Place 1, you’re higher up on the ballot,” Walker said. “And being higher up is beneficial. But [opponents’] personalities were irrelevant in my decision.”
Walker, who is semi-retired, performs part-time work as an institutional benefits consultant. He said he has extensive management experience in both government and business.
Before locating to Flower Mound, he was the chairman of the Naperville, Ill. Planning and Zoning Commission and represented commercial property owners on the Chicago Development Council, and the Office Council, Downtown Denver Partnership.
The last day to file for a place on the ballot is March 1.
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