Friday, March 29, 2024

Letter: Walker has qualities that will benefit town

Flower Mound is a vibrant community with over 500 employees and a total budget in the hundreds of millions of dollars.  Each spring the residents that care, vote for the candidates that they believe will best set the policies for our great Town.

I look for candidates that have business experience that will lend itself to quickly evaluating complex unique problems.  If they’ve had previous experience working with government agencies or bodies that is a plus for me.  I look for candidates that have shown a consistent interest and willingness to help Flower Mound grow and prosper.  A consistent record of voting in local elections is a must. 

The contest for Council Place 1 has two candidates this year, Mike Walker and Joy Bowen. 

Mike is a long time resident with advanced degrees in Urban and Community Planning.  His work experience in Planning and Investment management is impressive.  Moreover, Mike has a consistent record of community participation and service.  He has served on the Town’s Planning and Zoning Board, Parks Board and the Transportation Board.   Impressively, Mike Walker has served the Town through regimes that would be viewed by most as diametrically opposed to one another.  Not many can say they have worked for the good of Flower Mound through the tenures of Mayors Deluca, Smith, Northern and now Hayden.  Mike is known for asking good questions and working well with all to get the job done.  

His opponent, Joy Bowen, is a relative newcomer to service to the Town of Flower Mound.  Although she has lived in Flower Mound for 9 years, she only voted in one local election.  She became a fierce opponent of the recent LISD rezoning when there was a possibility her children would be sent to Forestwood Middle School.  During the rezoning battle, Joy was known for her take no prisoner’s style of communicating both with Flower Mound’s Town Council and LISD’s School Board.  Her battles culminated with Ms. Bowen accusing the Town Council and two LISD board members of collusion which is a fancy word for fraud.  People who understand local governments, know that municipal governments and school districts are completely separate from each other.  Although they are separate, they do frequently communicate in order to serve their constituents.  It’s Government 101.

Ms. Bowen’s bid for Town Council is based on her perception that the Town’s growth is out of balance and the need for a more transparent Town government.  Ms. Bowen’s call for transparency rings a bit hollow as documentation related to Ms. Bowen’s charges of fraud against the Town Council and LISD has been removed from websites or edited.  But in cyberspace nothing is ever truly gone.

Ms. Bowen’s experience working with government relates to two positions in the mid 90’s in California.  In the credentials presented to Flower Mound residents, Ms. Bowen states she was a “Deputy Director for Governor Pete Wilson”, a prominent Republican.  These credentials are brought into question by a profile created by Ms. Bowen on the LinkedIn website that has since been edited.  But once again, nothing in cyberspace is ever truly gone.  Prior to editing her LinkedIn profile, Ms. Bowen stated her position was Executive Assistant to the Senior Policy Advisor for Women’s Issues/Entertainment Industry for the California Governor’s Office.  This is a far cry from being a Deputy Director for the Governor. 

Flower Mound does not need Council Members that are prone to exaggeration and selective editing as Ms. Bowen has demonstrated.  Nor do we need Council Members who only get involved when they believe they are personally threatened and choose to attack instead of finding common ground.

Flower Mound needs Council Members that are calm and rational and work well with a variety of people that hold different viewpoints.  There is no question that that candidate is Mike Walker.  Mike Walker is the steady and thoughtful leader that Flower Mound needs.

Kimberly Bradfield
Flower Mound, TX

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