Meet the candidates for Houston City Council

I am a lifelong resident of Houston. After graduating from Houston High School, I joined the Missouri National Guard where I served for seven years and graduated from the University of Missouri in 1973. Barbara Bridges and I married in 1972 and we raised two sons, Frank and Tyler. I am a member of the Houston United Methodist church. I joined Romines Motor Company in 1967 part-time while attending college and then full-time in 1973. I started out washing cars, and ended up as owner/operator until my retirement in 2020. My service to the city spanned 36 years as alderman of which I served as mayor pro tem for over 22 years. In 1993, I was elected to the Houston Development Company board and served as the treasurer for 20 years. I was an active member of the Houston Jaycees, and a long-time member of the Houston Chamber of Commerce, serving on the board for 10 years and chamber president for one term.

I have lived in Houston for over 14 years. I have lived in multiple states with my long career with the same employer for 34 years. My husband and I decided to make Houston our final move and raise our children. Our kids attended the Houston School District and are now both in college pursuing degrees in business and the medical field. My husband and son are both small business owners.

My name is David Higgins Sr. I have been a taxpayer since 1996 in Texas County. I have lived within the city limits since 2013 and have a vested interest in what is best for the community as a whole, not just as a councilman. I am married and have five kids and five grandchildren. I have work experience in transportation, corrections and as a United States Army veteran. I have a degree from Drury University in Criminal Justice.

I was born locally at Texas County Memorial Hospital in February 1969 to Leroy and Marjorie Stilley. I was raised here all my life, as well as continued to raise my family here as well. I graduated from Houston High School with the class of 1987. I am married to my wife Angela (Angie) Stilley and we have raised our four children, Tyler, Jasmine, Hunter and Parker here in Houston. I have been a proud IBEW Local 453 Electrician since 1988.

My wife Tracy and I have been married for over 31 years. We have four grown children and four grandchildren with another on the way. We have lived in the city for over seven years. Our four children and I are Houston alumni. I served on the Houston School Board from 2011-2017. I served on the city council from 2021-2023. I was born and raised on a dairy farm in the Bendavis community. I started helping on the farm when I was 10 years old. I worked, managed and took over ownership of our family farm. We sold the dairy in 2016 so we would be able to have more time to enjoy our family and travel to see our children and grandchildren. I still own and operate a cattle farm in Bendavis.

In the past five years I have witnessed a lot of turmoil and fighting in the city government.  This is not good for our community.  Issues need to be presented, discussed and a group decision on what is best for Houston.  In the past year I have seen things change for the better, but there is still a lot of work to do.  I am proud that I have been involved with this improvement and would like to continue my service to the City of Houston.

I previously served on the city council from 2017 to 2021. I am honored to have been on the council where I was a voice for the citizens of Houston. Now is a perfect opportunity for me to seek a term on council to represent and be a positive voice for the citizens of Houston and help to move the city in a positive direction. I have been watching how the current council members of Ward III have not been representing all the citizens of Ward III and for the rest of the city, and I have noticed how there is an appearance of letting current council members personal bias and agendas get in the way of making informed decisions, or affect the decisions to be made. I don’t feel the best interest for the citizens of Houston is reflected by current council members.

There have been closed sessions to the public from our current council that brought certain decisions being made that could affect the financial situation of this community. This is not just currently happening but now has made a pattern of this behavior. For example: Purchasing property for the Quad SportsPlex for $440,000 when we currently have outstanding debt on the community pool remodel. As a taxpayer in this community I am concerned that large purchases should be considered as a whole community and if continuing to make large purchases could ultimately get us in a financial bind. When the council asked the Parks and Rec director to build the Sports Quadplex the initial architectural bid of 13 plus million dollars, l was astonished. The Parks and Recreation director did verbalize the project could be done a lot cheaper but had no other comparables. As a taxpayer I do not feel that is even close to the amount of what this project should be when they could not even give me a projected profit so it would pay for itself. Unfortunately, the city already purchased this property but when I began asking the general community no one had any idea the city had purchased the property. There are a lot of unknowns with this project. I am not against this idea of this type of project but I want it to be POSITIVE for our community in all matters such as financial and business. The current staff are struggling with not being heard and would like job security just like any good employee would. They are currently working for a board that controls and limits them when proposing opportunities to move forward and progress to better help our community. I want to hear the community and the employees and protect all of our interests in this community that is why I am running for a council seat.

I have gladly served the last six years, an equal to three terms on the city council. During that time, we have had controversial and rewarding duties to overcome, which I diligently took the taxpayers money and opinion into account with each obstacle. My goal in this next term would be to see the local trust and transparency improve while coinciding with our projects and objectives that they have entrusted us with. During my first term, I was a part of the 2019 Police, Fire and Parks tax that is showing so many projects come to fruition these last few seasons. I would like to see the rest of those plans and projects through to the end, that we started planning from the beginning.

I feel that there needs to be a change on the council allowing the city the chance to change direction. Including leadership, the way tax dollars are spent, the need for housing, the economic development and assuring stability for the city employees.

In the past year the city has updated our ordinances, utilities and subdivisions to define what is the developer’s responsibility and what the city is willing to help with.  The current board is also willing to listen to any reasonable proposal that a developer might have.  The city is very interested in encouraging more housing in Houston as well as more jobs. The community must have both to grow.  I know that rental housing is popular but I think that we need to encourage more home ownership.  Home owners are more likely to stay in our community and get involved in improving our community.

I think hosting a public workshop to work together to come up with ideas on what kind of housing is needed, and identifying space(s) for this additional housing. This should be a collaborative effort to come up with ideas and potential action plans to benefit the city and the citizens. Houston needs quality housing for families that is affordable.  

The best way to add more housing is to work with the contractors to set achievable guidelines and goals and not change plans after decisions are made. 

I believe to bring more housing to our small community, we should consider a multi-faceted approach. Firstly, we need to encourage the development of mixed-use buildings that could be used for residential or commercial spaces. This would not only increase housing, but also create opportunities for local businesses to thrive affordably. Secondly, we need to be exploring partnerships with real estate developers to invest in affordable housing projects, ensuring that the residents of all income levels have access to quality housing. Lastly, I believe we need to streamline our review of local zoning and planning ordinances and regulations that seem to be hindering attraction to our area. By collaborating with regional and national housing agencies and organizations, it creates access to funding and resources for housing initiatives. By implementing these strategies, we can work towards improving the quality of life for our residents.

I feel the best approach to improve housing in the city would be to work with developers in finding areas best suited to develop and help them with the use of legal incentives.

Keeping the city’s infrastructure modern and in good repair is one of the most important jobs of an alderman.  For Houston to grow, we must take care of our electric, water, waste water, streets, police, fire department, recreation programs and fiber services.  In the next term I would like to see that the completion of the electric pole upgrade, cleaning of the three water towers, street overlay program expanded and progress made on the ball fields that was promised to the voters.  I would also like to investigate the possibility of a solar farm for Houston.  There is a lot of government money out there to help offset the cost and I feel that it would help Houston keep competitive electrical rates. 

Having a solid up to date infrastructure in the city. This would include roads, electricity, sewer, water and internet. I would also like to develop a strategic five-to-10-year plan for the city on where we are going, what we need to bring, maintain and to create jobs and how do we keep what we have but remain current in the times.  

Improve our housing and businesses by opening lines of communication to set goals and work as a team to provide more for the citizens of this community.

a) Enhancing infrastructure: We need to aim to improve Houston’s infrastructure by investing in the development of roads, parks, our schools and public facilities as well as our electrical and fiber infrastructures. This will go hand in hand with my initiative plans for better housing and business growth. 

b) Promoting economic growth. We need to be working together with other organizations and attracting businesses as well as fostering entrepreneurship in our community. By providing support and resources to our local businesses, we can stimulate economic growth, create job opportunities and strengthen our local economy while also taking the financial burden off the businesses already here. 

c) Improving public services. We should be committed financially to enhancing public services such as transportation, public safety, and education and sports. By collaborating with Houston R-1 Schools and other organizations, we will strive to provide accessible high quality services that meet the needs of all of our residents. 

Overall , my goal is to create a thriving and inclusive community that offers opportunities for growth, fostering social cohesion and prioritizing the wellbeing of all residents. I look forward to working closely with all organizations to see this come to fruition. 

Improving our current infrastructure, economic development, housing and spending tax dollars wisely.

Having an active full time Economic Director in place is a big benefit for the City of Houston.  We now have an employee that is actively looking for businesses to expand or relocate in Houston.  He also is on the hunt for grants and anything that will help us grow.

I see the need for having a strong up to date infrastructure in place. Houston has so much potential to grow, we have new people moving into the city, more than we have ever had.  They are bringing small businesses to town, and new ideas to the community. As a city we should be open to all new ideas, work together to meet the needs through our support within the city. 

Infrastructure needs to be adapted to allow growth for our community.

Affordable housing which I outlined in my above statements, but in addition to that I believe the retainment of our current businesses is required. We also need to be giving incentives to existing and new start up businesses to make sure they succeed. We need to be creating and encouraging the city to be offering incentives and/or subsidies, grants and other financial breaks to these businesses that are financially supporting all the local organizations benefits, fundraisers, sponsorships as well as many local sports and events. These businesses take the everlasting, non-stop requests to provide monetary support and/or resources  to these organizations, and it is costly. This money could be used to create other positions within their business or upgrading their equipment and buildings. These small businesses can foster entrepreneurship and job opportunities, contributing to the growth of Houston’s economy. We need to be thinking outside the box as well as following through with initiatives that are done differently to be able to expect and see growth. Which is what I believe so many in this community are eager to see.

Leadership that is willing to look for different grants and form relationships with other state and federal departments that would help improve our city to achieve economic, industrial and housing development.

In my opinion the most critical needs in our community are housing followed by jobs.  We currently have employers that are looking to expand; but there is not enough housing in our community.  For people to fill the jobs they must have a place to live. We are trying our best to encourage more housing in Houston.  

I would like to close with one of my favorite quotes that is centuries old. Proverbs 29:18. Where there is no vision, the people perish.

Continue to have a strong police force as well as a strong fire department. Having the ability to serve and protect the citizens is critical. We have a great police and fire department, and we need to continue to support them in the jobs they do to keep us and Houston safe.

Unfortunately, our town needs leadership, jobs, businesses and housing which are ALL critical to succeed in our growing community.

I believe this question goes hand in hand with all of the questions outlined in this summary. Affordable housing and the collaboration with existing and new developers and community organizations. We need financial breaks and community support for small businesses in order to see them prosper and see growth year over year instead of becoming stagnant, and ideally the most critical need is the recreation and development for our youth and its programs. Investing in quality programs, recreation and entertainment will foster positive, competitive and educated growth in our youth, so that they may one day open up businesses or lead this community and the next generation to a more prosperous economy than we have currently, but are committed to paving the way, now.

Housing and improving infrastructure.