Rockwall Councilmember Scott Milder seeking third term for Place 5

(ROCKWALL, TX – Jan. 11, 2017) Rockwall City Councilmember Scott Milder recently announced his intent to run for a third term in the May 2017 local election. He was first elected in May 2013.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed the privilege of serving the people of Rockwall,” Milder said. “This is a fantastic city for anyone to call home, which is my motivation for serving on Council. My desire to serve is driven simply by my desire to preserve and strengthen the quality of life and quality of place Rockwall has become for all of us.”

Since first elected in 2013, Milder has pushed to strengthen emergency services with continued investment in Rockwall Fire and Police department personnel and equipment, which among many things has resulted in the addition of 11 new full-time firefighter positions with no tax increase. “We have many great people working to keep our city and citizens safe. It’s important these great folks have the backup, manpower, resources, and systems in place that they need to do their jobs safely.”

Other points of pride during his tenure on the Rockwall City Council include:

Discovering that e-cigarette vapor shops were legally selling their products to minors and leading the Council to adopt an ordinance prohibiting those sales
Leading Council to increase minimum single family home square footage requirements for developers from 1800 SF to 2400 square feet
Supporting investment in building several new parks, including the new barrier-free playground at Yellow Jacket Park that allows wheelchair-bound residents to engage in play with their children
Breathing new life into the youth baseball/softball program, more than doubling participation
Firmly rejecting many apartment developments and low-income housing projects
Advocating for the sale and redevelopment of the Harbor
Leading Council to increase the street maintenance and repairs budget by 70 percent, no tax increase
Encouraging commercial and retail economic development initiatives
Consistently voting against any new or used car dealerships in town

“One of the things I’m most passionate about is avoiding low quality development,” Milder said. “Too many cities make poor development decisions they just can’t recover from long term. I’m grateful to the many who’ve served on this Council before me, and to staff for maintaining consistently high standards and resisting temptations associated with short-term taxable value gains. We need to continue demanding high standards and have the courage to say no when developers propose anything less.”

Milder believes strongly in the conservative principles of limited government and careful expenditure of tax dollars, but not at the expense of appropriate investment in City services and infrastructure. “Jumping over dollars to save dimes is a foolish philosophy. We are growing and we need to be sure city services are keeping appropriate pace with that growth.

Scott is a principal with Stantec Architecture where he serves the firm’s clients as chief elections campaign strategist. Scott and his wife Leslie, married 19 years, moved to Rockwall in 2001. The Milders are the owners of Our House Events Venue at 803 N. Goliad, located in the old Long family house originally built in 1903, which they bought and fully restored. (www.OurHouseRockwall.com) Milder earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s degree in public relations from the University of North Texas.

Scott and Leslie are the proud parents of Thomas, a junior at Rockwall High School, Grace, a sophomore at Rockwall High School, and Mandy, a 6^th grader at Grace Hartman Elementary.

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