Candidates share policies at Taylor mayoral forum Data centers, high-tech growth affordable housing on agenda
Three candidates vying for the mayoral seat in the May 2 election agreed during a Monday forum Taylor is swiftly changing, with each presenting their separate views on how to handle that growth.
For the first time in Taylor’s recent history, voters — not the City Council — will select the city’s top executive. The electorate in May 2024 approved a City Charter revision calling for the mayor to be elected atlarge.
Mayor Dwayne Ariola declined to seek another three-year term, so hopefuls Jim Buzan, Sandra Wolff and Taylor Stubbs are vying for the position.
They addressed more than 50 audience members April 13 during a forum hosted by the Greater Taylor Chamber of Commerce at the Taylor Independent School District Event Center, 3101 N. Main St.
Steve Laukhuf, owner and morning deejay of KRXT 98.5 radio, moderated. The Taylor Press live-streamed the event.
Candidates answered questions submitted online to the Chamber about the city’s growth, increasing water needs, data centers, housing affordability and more.
It was not lost on the audience a new tech hub is rising from the agrarian Blackland Prairie, including the pending operational status of Samsung Austin Semiconductor and even more recent news an aerospace lab that tests radiation shielding is coming to town.
The trio of candidates agreed Taylor is changing, and each contender shared their view on how to adapt and structure the growth.
Stubbs, the youngest candidate, noted in a few years the city is not going to be the same Taylor the community knows today.
He said he wants to be a voice building bridges between the generations. He is an independent researcher and a systems-level inventor.
“I want to bring people together in a time where I feel like a lot of trust and accountability isn’t on the main agenda,” Stubbs said. “I want to speak up and say what I have to say when something isn’t right. I want to be a mayor of Taylor that supports growth.”
Wolff said Taylor is one of those communities where neighbors watch out for each other.
“I don’t want to lose that just because we’re transitioning from an agricultural community to a high-tech industrial community,” Wolff said. “It doesn’t mean we have to lose the essence of what Taylor is. If there’s any place in the world that can merge technology and agriculture and small-town values, it’s here.”
Wolff is a Chamber member and owns Wolff Acres LLC.
Buzan, a Taylor native, moved away after college. He returned seven years ago, now owns a local business and has served as a Taylor ISD trustee. He and his wife have stayed active in community service, he said.
“We’ve done a lot to try and help Taylor grow and to keep the character of Taylor,” Buzan said.
If elected, his priorities for Taylor’s growth include a clear and transparent plan for water and wastewater, a comprehensive plan for the city’s land development code, ensuring a wide variety of housing and strengthening relationships with business partners.
Question about supporting data centers, currently a hot topic in the community, featured in the question-andanswer session.
Wolff answered first. “We do need to have specific zoning requirements for them, but more importantly, no more abatements. We need our money so we can be better neighbors for this type of development,” Wolff said.
Buzan said specific zoning requirements focused solely on data centers do not go far enough.
“Data centers are what we’re focused on today, but I think it may be better to have a broader category of which data centers are a component so if something different shows up in a year or two, we don’t have to go and have an open zoning process, we have the means by which we can evaluate those projects and make sure that we can create this community together,” Buzan said.
Stubbs does not support data centers in the community.
“But I’m also not for them forming (municipal utility districts) outside of our city and us losing control,” Stubbs said.
Stubbs added data centers not only have state law supporting them, but also a lot of legal firepower to protect their interests.
“I think we need to look at it as what is going on and how can we make sure we don’t get taken advantage of,” he said.
To see the entire forum, visit the Taylor Press Facebook page at GoTaylorTx.
