The four candidates vying for mayor in Frisco discussed major issues impacting the city at a forum last night — including controversy over alleged H-1B visa fraud.
Early voting for local elections in Frisco starts Monday. Residents have the opportunity to elect a new mayor and two city council members.
Frisco ISD trustee Mark Hill is one of four candidates running for mayor. Hill said at a Frisco Chamber of Commerce candidate forum last night the city has changed.
“We are not the community we were ten, 15 years ago,” he said. “We have grown, we are diverse.”
South Asians in Frisco have faced controversy over unfounded H-1B fraud allegations.
Planning and Zoning Commissioner Rod Vilhauer said at the forum he’d reach out to that community.
“The Hindu-American people here, there's a lot of them, and we can't ignore them,” Vilhauer said. “I am going to reach across the aisle and I'm going to build a relationship.”
Vilhauer also said he’s against anyone who follows Sharia law, a Muslim religious code that’s unenforceable in the U.S.
The controversy over alleged H-1B visa fraud in Frisco came to a head at a city council meeting earlier this year, where several residents spoke about the topic even though it wasn’t on the meeting’s agenda. The city council considered shortening speaking time for public comments from five minutes per speaker to three but recently postponed the vote until after the election.
John Keating, who gave up the city council place 1 seat to run for mayor, said at the forum public comments are a way for the city council to connect with residents.
“As mayor, you want to keep the dialog going,” Keating said. “You want to remind folks of what the rules are and keep that line of communication open so that it works both ways.”
Former city council member Shona Sowell, who’s also running for mayor, said the new mayor needs to take charge of this issue and send a message.
“You can disagree, but how you're speaking about our other residents is not acceptable, and we're not gonna take that anymore,” Sowell said.
Early voting for the Frisco city council races is scheduled to end April 28. Election day is May 2.
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