Garland voters will decide on a $360 million bond package and elect a new mayor in this May’s election.
The “Grow Garland” bond package is divided into four propositions. Prop A would allocate the bulk of the bond funds — $230 million — to street and alley improvements.
“We just completed a very extensive survey of all of our streets, which is thousands of miles,” said Mayor Scot LeMay. He said the city used a grading system to prioritize streets and alleys that needed the most work.
“That's why you see proposition A for streets at $230 million,” he said. “That is the commitment that we're ready to make to get rid of those potholes.”
Prop B asks for $75 million for economic development projects, which would include the medical district, Harbor Point and South Garland, as well as revitalization and neighborhood vitality.
Prop C is for the $25 million renovation of the Granville Arts Center. The city says the center, built in 1982, needs improvements to things like plumbing and its HVAC system.
Prop D is $30 million for park and recreation improvements, which would include public waterfront access, trails and other amenities at Harbor Point.
A bond study committee met from August to November of last year to see if a bond was needed or if other funding could be used to cover improvements to infrastructure such as streets and alleys, municipal facilities and parks. In Dec., the committee recommended to the city council to have a new bond election called the 2025 Grow Garland Bond.
The last time the city floated a bond package was in 2019, when voters approved $423.7 million in bonds for facilities and major intersections. LeMay said those projects are about 70% complete.
“The question is, what do we do next? How do we continue that momentum?” LeMay said. A bond study committee looked at the remaining needs and put forward this new package, he said.
The committee, which met from August to November of last year to determine whether a new bond package was needed, stressed to the council it was important for voters to know that there would be no tax increase as there was in 2019.
“As our projects from 2019 are rolling off the books, these will come in behind it,” LeMay said, “and so it should be a very seamless transition financially.”
Wide race for mayor
Six people are running to succeed LeMay, who is term limited. Here’s who’s on the ballot:
Deborah Morris
Morris served three terms on the Garland City Council before she termed out in 2022.
She told KERA she wants to prioritize public safety, street and sidewalk improvements, quality of life initiatives, business growth, and strengthening Garland’s regional presence.
“I want to be able to do more than I've done in the last six years to reach more people and to engage more people in our city processes, convincing them that they make a difference,” Morris said.
Roel Garcia
Garcia is a special education teacher who ran for mayor in 2023. He said he’s lived in Garland since 1964 and saw the city go from a place with very few businesses to a city that has grown its business community and infrastructure. He said in a city that is at least 45% Hispanic, there is no representation of Hispanic people currently on the council.
“In order for our city to develop as a whole, we need leaders from different backgrounds and cultures to keep moving forward,” Garcia said.
Garcia is critical of the current bond election.
“We are spending so much money in Garland, taxpayers' money,” he said. Garcia said he would like more city dollars to go into building a community hospital and helping vulnerable populations, such as the homeless.
Shibu Samuel
Samuel is an ordained bishop, missionary, entrepreneur and CEO of multiple businesses in the USA and abroad, according to his website. He has served on the city’s community multicultural commission and other city committees.
“I am committed to making Garland a better place for all,” it reads on his website.
Samuel did not respond to multiple requests for an interview.
PC Mathew
Mathew previously ran for the District 3 council seat in 2021 and 2023, losing both times to current council member Ed Moore.
Mathew has a background in finance and engineering and has served on the city’s senior advisory commission and environmental board.
“I have a passion to help the homeless people and for safety and economic growth for the city and infrastructure, especially the homeowners [who] have issues here,” Mathew said.
He wants infrastructure such as sidewalks to be repaired, without asking homeowners for money. Mathew hopes to bring unity to what he calls multicultural groups in Garland, in order to work together, he said.
Dylan Hedrick
Hedrick is serving his third and final term representing District 7 on the Garland City Council. Before he was first elected in 2019, he served on the city’s plan commission and the citizen's bond study committee, which recommended the 2019 bond.
Hedrick said his background as a civil engineer specializing in land development gives him the expertise to rebuild city infrastructure and further economic development.
“I work with developers directly every day to try to get them to have successful projects,” Hedrick said. “I want to do that now with the city – a public private partnership to really expand the economic growth that's taken place over the past six years in Garland.”
Koni Ramos-Kaiwi
Ramos-Kaiwi previously ran for the District 2 council seat in 2022 and is a retired teacher’s aide in Garland ISD. She is a community activist, having served as a LULAC district director. In the late 1990s she co-founded the Spanish-language police outreach program UNIDOS with then Assistant Garland Police Chief Steve Dye
Ramos-Kaiwi said although there are more Hispanic officers in the Garland Police Department, she doesn’t see representation of the Hispanic community in elected officials.
“We don’t see the city mirroring the community,” she said. “I want to see more inclusiveness of all communities in Garland.”
Priscilla Rice is KERA’s communities reporter. Got a tip? Email her at price@kera.org.
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