PERSONAL

John and Joanne, his wife of 23 years, and their two children have been proud citizens of Southlake since moving here twelve years ago. John has lived in Tarrant County for 40 years and has been committed to making a positive difference for Southlake and all of North Texas. 

Immediately upon moving to Southlake, John and Joanne knew that this incredible city was where they would raise their children and decided to get involved in the community.  John enrolled in Leadership Southlake through the Southlake Chamber and saw an opportunity to make a difference.  He was soon appointed to the Zoning Board of Adjustments and later the Planning and Zoning Commission.  As Chairman of P&Z, he led much of the development review and planning for the City.

After serving on various Southlake Boards, John was first elected to public office as a member of Southlake City Council in 2004 and was re-elected in 2007, currently serving as Mayor Pro Tem.

On the professional side, John holds the position of Vice President of Commercial Development for the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.  At DFW Airport, John is responsible for the strategic direction in developing over 6,000 of the total 18,000 acres.   This includes management of two hotels, millions of square feet of office and industrial facilities, two 18-hole golf courses and all natural gas exploration and production. 

John has an extensive background and proven track record in corporate leadership, real estate development and government relations.  He has thirteen years experience in senior management positions for an international airport, a real estate brokerage/development company and two major US railroads.  Additionally he owns a real estate consulting company and has served in the capacity of an elected or appointed official for 10 years.   This diversity of experience makes him uniquely qualified to become Southlake's next Mayor.

CONCERNED FATHER & NEIGHBOR

As a father of two children in the Carroll school district, John faces the same challenges of raising a family and is as concerned as every parent about education, crime and the quality of life for our children.  John has demonstrated his commitment to the importance of education and to our school districts' success.  He has established a solid relationship with School Board members and is a member and past Chair of the Carroll ISD/City Joint Use Committee. He is an Executive Board member of the Carroll Education Foundation and a graduating and founding member of the Carroll Leadership Academy for Supporting Success (CLASS).  He recognizes the close relationship between the success of our schools and the success of our City and is committed to strengthening that relationship. 

As a neighbor, John can relate to the many issues impacting the lives of Southlake’s citizens.  He too faces the challenges of insufficient sidewalks, ever increasing traffic, inadequate drainage infrastructure and concerns about crime and taxes.  John has made it his personal goal to mitigate the infrastructure issues through more stringent development requirements while at the same time allocating City resources to alleviate these problems as rapidly as possible.  While the crime rate in Southlake is extremely low, any crime is too much crime.  John is on the North Texas Crime Commission Legislative Committee and stays abreast of the most recent concerns affecting our citizens.  With regard to taxes, John is committed to operating within the City’s budget and is constantly looking for ways to decrease expenses and lower the tax burden for Southlake’s citizens.  Most recently, he voted to implement a $15,000 increase to the homestead exemption that will lessen all Southlake homeowner’s taxes in the coming year.