By David Sweet | The Dallas Morning News
Rockwall Mayor David Sweet has served on the city council since 2007 and as mayor since 2011. He’s running for Rockwall County Judge against former Judge Bill Bell in the March 4 Republican primary.
Q: What are some highlights for Rockwall in 2013, and how will they affect the city in 2014?
A: Last year was a great year for the city, beginning with some kudos.
CNNMoney recognized Rockwall County as the No. 2 location in the country for “Where the Jobs Are.” Rockwall was recognized as a Scenic City by Scenic Texas, earning the highest level of certification.
Violent crime was down more than 4 percent and total crime was down more than 15 percent from 2012.
The city continued to experience rapid growth with more than 10 new restaurants, 28 commercial site plans submitted and five new residential subdivisions that were approved for 847 single-family lots.
Q: How will 2014 differ from 2013?
A: We anticipate 2014 to be a very strong year considering everything that happened in 2013. The momentum will continue and it’s not going to slow down.
Q: What challenges and opportunities do you anticipate for Rockwall in 2014?
A: One of our biggest challenges is really a great thing for our city. The Rockwall Economic Development Corporation landed a major corporate partner in 2013: Bimbo Bakeries. That upped the pressure a lot to land other major partners.
Water availability will continue to be a challenge, but we should see significant improvement when our supplier, the North Texas Municipal Water District, completes the new line around the first of the year. Our city has been consistent in meeting or exceeding the goal to reduce water usage by 10 percent.
Probably the biggest opportunity we have is to become even more of a destination city with the expansion of The Harbor District and the major renovation of downtown. That’s very exciting.
Q: What are some of the ways residents can contribute to their community in 2014?
A: We continue to urge residents to get involved through volunteering. There are so many opportunities from being a park volunteer, to joining the downtown improvement group, to applying to be appointed to boards and commissions.
Q: What are some of the city developments and projects residents can look forward to this year?
A: The new seven-story Trend Tower is nearing completion at The Harbor District. This is the first major construction project in the Harbor planned development, and we’re very excited about it.
Also, the downtown renovation project started in November and will continue through next year. There will be major and very exciting changes made in an area that is already experiencing huge successes.
Q: What are your hopes for Rockwall in the new year?
A: I think we would all agree that our goal is to continue to attract new businesses and to provide a beautiful place to live, work and play for residents. We want the local economy to continue to grow so new commercial and industrial businesses can be added to the tax base, taking more of a burden off residents.
Q: What resolutions are you making for 2014?
A: I personally want to spend my final year as Rockwall mayor doing all that I can to make this wonderful city the best it can be. That will take the time and the support of my fellow council members, the city staff and our great residents.
I want residents to know that we are listening to what you have to say. Your input is extremely vital.
I also resolve to ensure that City Hall remains a customer-service-friendly organization. We’re easier to deal with and more business-friendly, and I’m very proud of this. The results speak for themselves.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share?
A: As mayor, I hope that residents will remember that beginning in 2008 with the drastic economic slowdown in our country, the city of Rockwall kept going so we would be prepared for recovery. We continued to make investments in this community and its infrastructure at a time when it wasn’t a popular thing to do. But residents stood with us, and now we see that it has paid off for us.