Frisco may be headed for a runoff election for the mayoral race based on preliminary election results.
Mayor
Frisco ISD school board trustee Mark Hill received about 35% of the vote as of Saturday evening. Rod Villhauer, a former Frisco planning and zoning commissioner, received around 31% of the vote according to preliminary results. John Keating, who stepped down from the City Council Place 1 seat to run for mayor, received about 13% of the vote. Shona Sowell, another former council member, got about 21% of the vote.
The Frisco city council considered shortening speaking time for public comments from five minutes per speaker to three after several residents spoke about unfounded claims of H-1B visa fraud in Frisco at a meeting earlier this year. The council later postponed the vote until after the election.
Hill said at a Frisco Chamber of Commerce candidate forum ahead of the election his experience as a Frisco ISD trustee makes him an ideal candidate to handle the issue.
“Does anybody remember our school board three or four or five years ago?” he said. “We now have a school board that is functioning very high, professional, our meetings are held with decorum.”
Vilhauer said at the candidate forum ahead of the election he plans to reach out to the city’s South Asian community, which has faced controversy over unfounded H-1B visa fraud claims.
“The Hindu-American people here, there's a lot of them, and we can't ignore them,” he 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.
City Council Place 5
Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Laura Rummel appears to have defeated her two challengers in her reelection bid according to preliminary election results. Rummel received about 66% of the vote according to unofficial election results. Vijak Karthik got about 24% of the vote, and Sreekanth Reddy got around 10%.
Rummel was first elected to the city council in a 2022 special election according to her Frisco city council bio. She lists smart growth, keeping property taxes low and advocating for the city’s pets as her priorities for reelection on her campaign website.
The Frisco city council approved $12.8 million in funding for an animal facility last fall. The facility will be operated through a public-private partnership similar to Toyota Stadium and The Star in Frisco. The city will pay for and own the building and Nicole Kohanski, a member of the Frisco Animal Advisory Board, will pay $32,000 a month in rent in cash or by providing animal services.
The facility is not an animal shelter — rather, it will offer animal services and temporarily hold animals to make it easier for Frisco residents to retrieve lost pets. Animals in need of long-term shelter would still go to the Collin County animal shelter in McKinney, which has been overflowing for years.
Abby Allison, a member of Frisco's Pet Project, told KERA last fall the Frisco animal facility can't address the needs of the community the way a full-service shelter would.
"There is a fire hydrant that is broken and it's just spewing out water. This facility is like sticking gum over the fire hydrant," Allison said. "The problem's still there, the water's still overflowing."
Rummel praised the public-private partnership on her campaign website.
“I believe we can build something more innovative than a traditional shelter, one that focuses on combating the reasons for homeless pets, and a private partnership could enable this without an increase in taxes,” she said. “A local facility would be valuable for our residents and provide an enhanced city service beyond what we have today.”
City Council Place 6
Brittany Colberg appears to have pulled ahead in the four-way race for this open city council seat, according to preliminary election results. Colberg got about 57% of the vote. Matt Chalmers received about 19% of the vote. Jerry Spencer got around 8%, and Sai Krishnarajanagar received 16%.
Colberg is the Chair of the Frisco Planning and Zoning Commission and has been a member since 2018 and works as a branch manager and escrow officer at Capital Titleaccording to her campaign website. She lists sustainable development, planning for long-term growth and fiscal responsibility and transparency as priorities on her campaign website.
Got a tip? Email Caroline Love at clove@kera.org.
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