Vote For Sheryl Martinez For Tomball City Council Position 3
Why are you running for election?
Elected officials are there to represent the needs, priorities, and values of the people who bestowed them with their vote. When they make decisions that run counter to those concerns, we all have two choices – do nothing or work for a change. After a personally unsatisfactory experience with City Council, I realized that I must work for change. In this case, we opposed rezoning of property in our backyard. Council voted against us. Their decision on this issue dramatically impacts our quality of life, the value of our property, and our peace of mind. I have to ask, in what other areas are sitting council members voting against the interests of residents, homeowners, and business owners?
What do you hope to accomplish in your term?
I hope to encourage citizen involvement in city decision making. Tomball is growing by leaps and bounds and the residents need to make their voices heard as to what the future of Tomball holds. Do we want more subdivisions, apartment complexes and big retail developments? Do we want more green spaces and development that includes green spaces? How do we manage our growth so it serves the needs of current residents and businesses and benefits everyone new who comes to our city.
What do you see as mobility priorities for the city?
Traffic is already an issue and it's not going to get any better with the number of developments in progress. I would like to see city council be more sensitive to its citizens concerns before approving new developments on already busy streets like Cherry and Hufsmith. TXDOT is proposing some changes to Main Street that will make a big impact on traffic flow and small businesses and we need to make sure all stakeholders have a seat at the table.
What do you see as the biggest challenge facing the city, and how would you address that?
Growth and development, or over development, are huge challenges. I would like to see a better balance of existing community needs and priorities with the welcoming of new development. Development should enhance our quality of life, not detract from it. Tomball is a fun, charming town with beautiful trees, open spaces, friendly neighbors, safe streets, all things that are important to our residents or they would have picked somewhere else to live. Council needs to protect and retain the elements that attracted people to Tomball in the first place.
How do you plan to approach the rapid growth Tomball is experiencing?
Cautiously. We need to consider the second and third order impacts of decisions made today and consider if they will enhance or detract from the quality of life in Tomball tomorrow, in six months, or years from now. We need more voices in the conversation so we aren’t blind to the potential unintended consequences of decisions we’re making today. I would encourage the community to let their feelings be known.
What would you do specifically as council member to involve residents and business owners in the city’s decision-making processes?
I would take my campaign site and turn it into a council member site where I can update it with issues coming before council and to answer questions or concerns. I would use my social media accounts to share things that are happening in Tomball and break down some of the jargony terms used in government as well as alerting residents to meetings and issues. I would like to be the council member I wish I had. New Paragraph
Tomball has been home for me for a long time. It’s where my husband I met more than 30 years ago when we were college students. It’s where we raised our family: a grown son with a family of his own, a daughter who is a sophomore in college, and our youngest son who attends Concordia Lutheran High School. It’s where our two youngest children attended St. Anne Catholic School.
Matthew and I care deeply for this community and have supported it in many ways throughout the years. Whether we volunteered for scouting events, donated to and/or attended school functions, or participated in community events, we’ve tried to be engaged in the kinds of things that make our hometown stronger and better. We’ve always tried to be good neighbors.
Raising our family has always been my biggest priority and greatest achievement. But before starting our family and concurrent with raising our kids and making our home, I’ve been involved in commercial real estate management and leasing. I’ve handled medical and office buildings, office and warehouse spaces, and retail properties. My husband and I are both entrepreneurial in nature, so more recently I have been managing our personal real estate holdings.
There are so many things to love about living and raising a family in Tomball: the hometown feel, the thriving local economy, the schools, the open space. But lately, I’ve observed things that have troubled me, observed local government making decisions that don’t reflect the priorities and values that I have as a resident of the city.
More than that, I’ve had my concerns and objections discounted or ignored. So, I have two choices: accept the status quo and continue to watch as the people we’ve elected year after year continue to approve agendas that run counter to what is important to me – and I know to many of my friends and neighbors – or get involved.
I can’t accept what I’ve witnessed and experienced in the last few months any longer, so I decided to pursue a position on the city council. If the people I’ve given my vote to in the past, won’t listen to my voice, then I will step up and be my own voice and that of my neighbors who want something more from local government.
I know that we can embrace growth without devaluing what so many of us have nurtured in the past. I know we can attract new business, new residents, and new opportunity without ignoring the needs of what is already here. I know we can have progress with a purpose. I also know that I am the candidate who can make sure all of that is accomplished.