The mayoral ballot for the Katy city election has been set. Hill Adams, an insurance executive; Chuck Brawner, retired police chief of the Spring Branch Independent School District; and Steve Jurovic, a retired author are on the ballot.

Katy Christian Magazine reached out to Adams and Brawner, and asked each to share a short bio and to share with our readers they are running for Mayor.

Early Voting begins on April 24, 2017. Election Day is May 6 , 2017. For additional election information, including a list of voting locations, visit harrisvotes.com in Harris County or fortbendcountytx.gov/elections in Fort Bend County.

Hill Adams

My wife Carol and I met at the University of Houston and married upon graduation in 1980. We moved to Katy 25 years ago with our children Anne and Robert.  From the beginning we have been very active in our community through schools, church, scouts, local charities, public service, and more.

I have been a commercial insurance broker for over 35 years. Owning my business, I understand hard work and taking care of the people who count on you. I have served on boards including; the Harris County Republican Party Executive Committee, the Independent Insurance Agents Legislative Committee, the Katy Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and Government Relations Committee, and Katy Christian Ministries Strategic Planning Committee. I ran for City Council in 2002 and was honored to have the citizens of Ward A elect me to be their representative for 6 years.

“I’m running for Mayor now because I love the city of Katy. I love Katy’s people, our neighborhoods, our sensibilities about honor and hard work, and special sense of history – a history that my family has embraced and worked hard to preserve and protect.

I am just as committed to Katy’s future.  My business background, years on City Council, experience with legislative negotiations and relationships with many other elected officials are some of the assets I will bring to City Hall as Mayor.

Among many important issues facing our citizens, there are several that will receive my immediate attention:

Spending – In the last four years government spending is up almost 50%.  I want to restore fiscal conservatism to our city government.

Property Tax Relief – Even with tiny tax rate reductions, the city is collecting more property tax from us because the value of our property has increased. Commercial development in the City of Katy could allow a reduction in the actual taxes citizens pay. I will reduce property taxes.

Public Safety – Building a second fire station to protect citizens and businesses on our south side has been a priority since 2012. We voted on it years ago, but the city hasn’t even broken ground. Our government is required to ensure the safety of every citizen. I will make sure every citizen can count on it.

Drainage – The city’s comprehensive drainage plan is over 20 years old and many citizens suffered great loss in the 2016 flood. Another flood could happen any time but little has been done to mitigate our flooding issues except to commission a new plan. This is little comfort for those who are still rebuilding. I will make sure the city is doing everything possible to prevent flooding and to help those areas hardest hit by the 2016 flood.

Transparency – This applies to financial standards set by the State Comptroller and more. The activity of all council, committee and board meetings should be posted online. Council meetings should also be recorded and available on the website so everyone can see our government at work.  We need public meetings throughout the year to allow citizens to meet with council members and department heads to learn about current and pending permits, projects, and plans and to share what is important to them.

As mayor, I want to focus on thoughtful growth and to keep the spirit of compassion and generosity alive in Katy. I will put our citizens first and take advantage of every opportunity to improve and sustain the quality of life that brought so many of us here. Our citizens deserve this, and I humbly ask for your vote to make it happen. 

You can contact me and find much more information on my website: www.hilladams.com . Thank you for your consideration.

Chuck Brawner

My name is Chuck Brawner. I am a pro-life Christian conservative running to be the next Mayor of Katy and I ask for your vote. My wife Marcy and I attend church weekly at Parkway Fellowship. 

Our loving and spiritual community is second to none.  We care about the futures of our families, our children. We care about a family’s ability to succeed.  We care about access to a great education for our children.  We certainly love to cheer on our sons and daughters in our unmatched sports programs and we love to let our kids play in our neighborhoods because we know we are safe here.

My platform will work to enhance what we know about Katy – that the City of Katy is a loving and spiritual community to live and raise a family and that our quality of life is second to none. 

We must keep Katy safe. I have the right background as a former law enforcement officer and President of a statewide law enforcement organization. As Katy Mayor Pro Tem and a City Council Member, I was integral in changing our fire department from a part-time to a full-time fire department and was instrumental in enhancing the communication equipment for our police department. Breaking ground on the new fire station has been a priority. After a setback due to the 2016 flooding, the city is breaking ground on the new fire station this Spring with another in the works.

Mobility projects must be continued to meet the needs of our citizens and alleviate traffic congestion created by growth outside of the city.  We must fully leverage the Metro revenues generated by in-city sales tax. These funds are used by the city on the majority of our roadway projects. This will help improve traffic congestion.

As Mayor, I will begin the next phase of studying the recommendation to mitigate future flooding so we avoid the devastating flood of 2016.   Through my work with the State in emergency management and my lifetime law enforcement career, I have the political and community relationships to find solutions to our flooding issues and I will work tirelessly to make it happen for our city.

We must continue to productively manage growth.  As Mayor Pro Tem for the last three years, I have been a part of facilitating healthy growth that benefits our families and our community.  This growth has afforded homeowners a reduction in their tax rate and our senior citizens a reduction in their tax rate and increases in their homestead exemption. We have a AAA credit rating – a rarity – and we must keep it that way.  The City is required by Council resolution to save 50% of the city budget, but we have expanded those reserves to cover city projects that are necessary to track with our growth so there is no additional tax burden to our taxpayers.   We must continue to plan and save smartly, which is to the benefit of our citizens.

I am running for Mayor because I care about the future of Katy, because I am excited about where we are headed, and because I have a path to get us there.  As Mayor, I will focus on our public safety, on managing our growth, on mitigating flooding, on increasing our mobility while fiercely protecting our private property rights and on those things that increase the quality of life for our Katy families and their children.

I will embrace our heritage and legacy and use it to inspire our path forward. We want excellence and deserve excellence. I ask for your vote for Mayor.  It would be my honor to serve you and our great city.