Brad M. Lamorgese - Running for City Council Place 6
Brad M. LaMorgese is a 10 year home owner and lives in Valley Ranch. He has a wonderful wife, Amy, and he is a father of two children. He is an Irving taxpayer, voter, and resident who shares your concerns.
Brad is not a political insider, but he has great experience in the practice of law for the past 15 years. His insightful, studied, and ethical approach has garnered him many honors and awards. He was board certified in Family Law at the earliest possible point in his career. He has argued (and won) before the Texas Supreme Court, and argued (and won) before the Federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. He won an award for the Fifth Circuit appeal from the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children for returning a kidnapped child home to Australia.
Brad has stated, "I think my experience in emotional and difficult cases, with complex issues, will serve me well if elected to Council. I'm very used to hard issues, and work even harder to resolve them."
Brad is also sensitive to the diversity in our community. Brad has served through Outreach, with food banks, and even studied Eastern religions (though he is Christian).
1. What are your qualifications and experience that will make you an effective council member?
As a husband, father, homeowner, taxpayer, Christian, and ten-year resident of Valley Ranch, I plan to use my life experiences to do my best for the citizens of Irving. As a family lawyer and small business owner, I understand contracts and budgets and will be in a position to use that knowledge to the benefit of the council and citizens. I am a dedicated citizen, not a political insider.
2. What policies will you initiate and support that will increase the commercial tax base for Irving where the business sector pays approximately 70% of the taxes?
Irving needs to keep taxes low to attract and retain businesses. Irving needs to work in tandem with our business partners to eliminate barriers and red tape. The city needs to discontinue with its poorly written, one sided contracts that put the city and residents at risk for increased taxes and/or reduced services. Many opportunities exist in downtown Irving, along the 161 corridor and in Las Colinas for business development that I intend to pursue.
3. What priority would you give to upgrading Irving’s aging infrastructure, specifically its water and sewer facilities, and what policies would you initiate and support to implement such upgrades?
Continuing to upgrade our infrastructure takes high priority. These are core city services where we should focus more time and resources. Budgeting for infrastructure improvements, rather than raising taxes or adding fees is my goal. We can divert money to infrastructure by eliminating multi-million dollar private partner deals. The city also needs to be much more proactive with our water supply, as we are facing a difficult time with Stage 3 water restrictions.
4. What is your vision for assuring that the city is going “green;” in other words, what initiatives will you support that will encourage the city to conserve water and energy use?
Conservation is extremely important as the city continues to grow and resources become scarce. I support water conservation measures that would give our residents rebates on their water bills. I also support securing water resources outside of Lake Chapman (Cooper) to ensure we have a larger water supply. I also applaud the Valley Ranch Association as a cutting-edge leader in implementing a plan to reduce water usage by 50% and to implement draught tolerant landscaping.
5. What initiatives would you support to achieve a balanced budget and where would you focus reductions in light of reduced City revenue caused by the economy?
My goal is to work for strong police and fire departments, safe guard our water, streets, schools, parks, libraries, recreations centers, and continue the arts and museum programs so vital to the city. I will make every effort be a watch dog and good steward of taxpayer dollars. I am against recklessly funding projects that unnecessarily put Irving taxpayers at risk such as the McDougal-Heritage Project and the still ongoing LCG Entertainment Center.
6. What do you see as the top two pressing issues in Irving and what are your solutions or recommendations?
Honesty & Transparency: My concern is with special interest groups lobbying council and the effect the lobbying has on council decisions. Stringent ethics policies need to be implemented regulating city council members as well as the lobbyist. Honesty and transparency between
government and citizens is vital. Fiscal Responsibility: City debt has grown at a staggering rate over the last five years. Reducing our debt and restoring fiscal responsibility at City Hall is a priority.
7. Viewpoint on the Entertainment Center
My position on the LCG contract for the Entertainment Center is very clear. It is a bad deal for Irving taxpayers. We're selling ourselves short and need to do better deals. We need to grow Irving -- yes -- but in a way that is fiscally responsible for our taxpayers.
I do not support giving nearly $180 million in bond money to a private developer, for a 100 year contract, for a flat revenue stream for 50 years, with little to no auditing rights. If this contract goes wrong, our financial advisors told us that we would have to raise taxes or cut city services. This is unacceptable. I will never approve bad deals like this.
I spoke in favor of the right of citizens to vote on this issue when it came before council. My opponent Bill Mahoney did not speak. This should tell you something.
I spoke in favor of the resolutions authorizing negotiation of amendments to this bad contract, which would have been a big win for Irving taxpayers. My opponent Bill Mahoney did not speak. This should tell you something. I support an entertainment center, but I do not support irresponsible deals. I will not accept any contribution from an entertainment interest. I will fairly and fully evaluate any proposed contract before the Council. Just like I do in my law practice, I will deliberately study the issues with an honest and open mind. But I will never be bought
8. Do you believe that the ordinances for oil and gas drilling are adequate for the City of Irving? What change(s) if any do you envision?
No. Our drilling ordinances need to continue to be reviewed and developed. I think we need to study this issue further by looking at the other cities who have drilled to determine what problems with noise, air pollution, water contamination that their cities have experienced. We all like the idea of tapping into our own energy, but we need to put our residents’ concerns first. This is a big issue for North Irving and South Irving. Recently with the oil activity in the Northern United States, the gas issue in the South has lost some of its appeal. However that does not mean we need to ignore it. We need to be prepared for the next upturn in gas drilling.
