Star Telegram Endorsement

Tuesday, April 28th, Fort Worth Star Telegram:

Southlake sealed its future in 1993 — in a good way.

With current Tarrant County Commissioner Gary Fickes as mayor, the city had only about 10,000 residents. But its population had doubled in five years, and more than 60 percent of its land remained undeveloped. Southlake was a blank canvas, and its leaders had to figure out ways to guide and contain its growth.

"It was like somebody put the canvas in front of you and said, 'Paint,’ " Fickes later said.

The city created SPIN, the Southlake Program for the Involvement of Neighborhoods. By dividing the city into 16 parts and holding organized neighborhood meetings in each of them, SPIN gave Southlake’s well-educated, concerned and active residents a direct way to influence City Hall. And what those residents cared about most was controlling growth.

SPIN both tapped grassroots political energy and gave elected officials sorely needed ideas for how to move forward. It worked.

Developers quickly learned that there was no freeway to the lucrative market that was Southlake. All roads led through the neighborhood approval process, through SPIN. The results include the crown jewel Southlake Town Square, the comparable retail developments that are nearby and the classy and well-designed Sabre office campus.

Southlake is home to more than 26,600 residents. Few areas are left for large-scale development, but controlling growth is still at the top of the political and neighborhood agenda.

The May 9 mayoral election fits firmly into that background.

Rick Stacy, who replaced Fickes as mayor in 1996 and served in that post until the city’s term limits forced him out in 2003, says that the city’s more recent leaders have failed to follow through on key projects such as a water pipeline and other improvements that were planned years ago. He says that Carillon, a 285-acre office, retail and residential development planned for the north side of Texas 114, does not conform to the city master plan.

John Terrell, a city councilman for five years, former chairman of the Planning & Zoning Commission and member of the Zoning Board of Adjustment, says he spent years negotiating with the Carillon developers and has made sure that the project meets Southlake standards. He says that key city infrastructure projects are on track.

Both are leaders of which Southlake can be proud. As long as SPIN involvement stays strong, either would be guided by the continuously expressed desires of Southlake residents in handling key issues as mayor.

The difference is in personal style.

Stacy, head of a highly successful furniture business, fifth-generation Texan and member of a pioneer Southlake family, has a gregarious personality and uses it as a key part of his management style. He is strong-willed, and pushes hard to get his way in any negotiation, to the point of refusing to accept compromise.

Terrell, with years of successful commercial development experience on his own, is vice president for development at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. His style is to take the role of negotiator, pushing to get his way but adopting a point-by-point business-like style.

The real question in this year’s race is which approach fits current-day Southlake. With the canvas mostly painted and acceptable standards of development well in place, voters must decide which candidate puts their preferred face on the city. It could be either.

We have seen Terrell’s straightforward, business-like leadership style, and we like it.

The Star-Telegram recommends John Terrell for mayor of Southlake.