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Hayden, Webb, Dixon win Flower Mound election (updated)
By Chris Roark, croark@starlocalnews.com
Tom Hayden, Bryan Webb and Steve Dixon overwhelmingly won the Flower Mound Mayor and Town Council races Saturday night.
The victory puts an end to the term for Mayor Melissa Northern and councilmen Al Filidoro and Steve Lyda, also known as NFL.
Hayden (3,701 votes, 65 percent) defeated Northern (1,970, 34 percent) and Al Cloud (63 votes, 1 percent).
In Place 4, Dixon (3,471 votes, 61 percent) beat Lyda (1,988 votes, 35 percent) and Jay Cannon (205 votes, 4 percent).
NFL has served together since 2010, but Filidoro has been on the council since late 2007.
Hayden was first elected to the council for Place 5 in 2009. He ran unopposed last year before deciding to run for mayor this year.
Dixon returns to the council after a one-year absence. He chose not to run for re-election in 2011.
“I am very thankful for the trust the people of Flower Mound have put in me and look forward to the many opportunities ahead,” Dixon said.
Webb wins a spot on the council in his second attempt. He ran against Lyda in 2010.
The election
Hayden said that staying positive was one key to his victory.
“Even though there were personal attacks made against me, I tried to stay positive,” Hayden said.
Hayden said he believes that other issues, such as the proposed Lakeside DFW mixed-use project and other economic development issues, were other factors in the election outcome.
“I heard people at the polls saying that they wanted to see that come to fruition,” Hayden said. “And they said that I would be able to help deliver that project.”
Webb said a forward-thinking mindset helped him.
“I told people that Flower Mound is a great place to live, but we can do better,” Webb said. “As wonderful as it is, we can do better. And to do that, we need to move forward.”
Lyda said he is disappointed and surprised by the outcome.
“We did a good job while we were in office, and we did what we promised,” Lyda said. “But I guess that wasn’t enough.”
Northern said NFL used the platform of maintaining a strong master plan and SMARTGrowth program, and he argued that Hayden, Webb and Dixon ran on growth and economic development while striving for projects like The Shops of Legacy in Frisco and Southlake Town Square.
“We ran on the traditional Flower Mound values of the master plan and SMARTGrowth,” Northern said. “I guess the residents no longer want that or the rural feel of our community.”
Filidoro predicts changes to Flower Mound’s values.
“I think the master plan and SMARTGrowth will be dropped or curtailed,” Filidoro said. “Maybe the residents want that.”
He, too, said NFL’s opponents compared Flower Mound’s standards to other communities to change them.
“I expect Flower Mound to soon look like those communities sooner than we look like those,” Filidoro said. “The residents obviously agreed that we don’t need to take a due diligence approach to development and that we don’t need a complete developers agreement.”
Looking ahead
The mayor-elect and the council-elect said they have some ideas they would like to implement immediately.
Hayden said establishing a strong working relationship among the council members is priority No. 1.
“The first thing we need to do is get the council together to discuss where we want to be five years from now and 10 years from now,” Hayden said. “But it has to be a collaborative effort. I have a lot of ideas about things we can do, but they’re just my ideas. We have to have everyone involved. There is no ‘I’ here. It’s going to be ‘we.’ My ideas don’t have any merit until we come together as a council.”
Webb said he has several ideas he hopes the council can work together on.
Atop the list is Kroger, which became a hot topic during the election. Last year, Filidoro and Lyda voted to deny a fueling station specific use permit (SUP) that would have been part of a store improvement project at the FM 1171/FM 2499 location. Filidoro and Lyda cited traffic concerns at the entrance, close to where the fueling station was set to be, as to why they voted to deny the SUP.
Others in the community, Webb included, disagreed with that vote.
“I would like to see Kroger come back at the earliest they can so that we can take another look at their proposal,” Webb said.
Regarding Lakeside DFW, Webb said he would like the council and Lakeside officials to sit down to discuss the project and share ideas and concerns.
Webb said another priority is to have a council that works well together.
“I would like to build upon the other council members’ ideas,” Webb said. “I look forward to hearing from all members.”
Place 5
Since Hayden ran gave up his Place 5 seat to run for mayor, the seat became vacant at the conclusion of the election. As a result, the new council will begin advertising the availability of the seat immediately. The council has 30 days to fill the seat. Hayden said the council will interview candidates and encourages anyone interested in serving on Place 5 to contact Flower Mound Town Hall. Applications are due by Tuesday.
Propositions pass
In addition, voters approved nine of the 12 propositions regarding amendments to the town charter.
The three that failed to pass have to do with signatures on a petition.
Among those that passed was one that sets a limit of three consecutive terms of two years for a council member and mayor.
Another amendment will require an election for certain public-private partnerships.
And one of the most discussed topics during the charter review process was a requirement that an amendment to the town’s oil and gas ordinance requires a public hearing and a supermajority vote by the council. Voters approved that 74 percent to 26 percent.
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