Hello, Flower Mound! My name is Derek France, and this is my first column as your newly elected mayor. I have enjoyed getting to meet so many of you during my campaign and since I was sworn in on June 15. I have been overwhelmed by the support.
For those of you who voted in the May general election and June mayoral runoff election, thank you for making your voice heard and for being an active participant in your community. For those of you who didn’t vote – or for those of you who didn’t vote for me – I want you to know that I am committed to serving all of Flower Mound’s residents, and I look forward to working with you and hearing about the issues that matter most to you and your family.
Those issues are incredibly important to me – not only as mayor, but also as a full-time resident of Flower Mound. Originally from Phoenix, Arizona, I’ve lived in Flower Mound for more than 10 years. My wife, Amanda, and I raised our three children here, and they are all now successful young adults. Our oldest son is serving in the United States Marine Corps, and our two daughters both attend school at A&M in College Station.
I have more than 20 years of government service, starting as a police officer in Mesa, Arizona, for seven years. After leaving law enforcement, I began working as a senior international police advisor under the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement program in Iraq. I then held senior management positions on large Department of Defense training and logistics missions, and ultimately served as the program manager supporting a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) contractor in Kabul, Afghanistan. In 2017, Amanda and I founded Cross Timbers Consulting Group, where I currently serve as president and CEO.
Prior to becoming mayor, I looked for other ways to get involved with the community, including serving on the Town’s Veterans Liaison Board and Animal Services Board. I am active with the Flower Mound Chamber of Commerce, International Stability Operations Association (ISOA), National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), and the National Eagle Scout Association (NESA) and have volunteered with the Lewisville ISD Education Foundation (LEF) on an ongoing basis.
Throughout my years volunteering with these organizations, working abroad, and serving as a police officer, I have learned how to work with diverse groups of individuals who often have competing priorities and beliefs. I look forward to using this experience to work alongside Town Council, Town staff, residents, and business owners – even when we don’t always agree.
One of my priorities as mayor is reaching out to residents in all areas of our town. The election taught me how involved residents are and how diverse their priorities and views are across the community. I am committed to being proactively engaged and transparent, and I hope to host several community outreach events to inform the public about what’s going on in their town and to get feedback on what we can be doing better.
As a business owner myself, another priority of mine is to get the Town of Flower Mound fully staffed. I think it’s important that we fill key leadership positions to ensure we’re providing the services our residents and business community need.
I ran for mayor because this community is so important to me, and I want to ensure that Flower Mound continues to be the place where people want to live, is increasingly a place where people want to play, and has enough diverse employment opportunities so that it is a place where people want to work. I feel confident that together we can accomplish these goals and continue bettering our community. I look forward to working with all of you.
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