After spending two years on Garland’s Plan Commission, Dylan Hedrick will soon become a City Council member. Hedrick, who has lived in Garland for almost four years, is running unopposed.
“I’ve always gotten involved,” he said. “When I moved to Garland…I immediately became involved with my homeowners’ association.”
He began by working on the HOA’s newsletter and now serves as president. Hedrick felt that his experience and education as a civil engineer would be an asset on the Plan Commission and approached Council Member Scott LeMay. They later discussed it and LeMay appointed Hedrick.
“Now, with Scott being term-limited, it’s an excellent opportunity for me to continue to serve and move up, he said.
Hedrick feels that the diversity in District 7, and in all of Garland, is one of its strongest assets.
“We have Cali Saigon Mall, Oak Ridge, the Camelot area,” he said. “I love the diversity. We have white, black, Asian, Indian, everything mixed together and I love that.”
The friendliness of Garland’s people is an asset as well. Hedrick said when he and his family moved to the city one of the first things they noticed was how nice everyone was.
Downtown Garland is another of the city’s strengths.
“It’s the core of the city,” he said. “We are bringing people from the north and from the south and they are all coming together. It’s a jewel we have and we need to continue to invest in that.”
One of Hedrick’s concerns is failing infrastructure around the city. As an example, he mentioned the condition of Shiloh Road, which runs by his neighborhood.
“They are working on Shiloh Road south to north to eventually repair the whole thing, but it can’t come soon enough,” Hedrick said. “I know the city has been spending millions of dollars annually to boost the road repair budget, and thankfully, that’s starting to make a difference.”
He also mentioned the recent sewage spill in District 7 and said that it was due to infrastructure problems as well.
The future of the Duck Creek Golf Course is another important issue for District 7. The owner of the course said that he sells about 27,000 rounds per year. He needs 40,000 for the course to become viable.
“Unless people come and support it, it will affect home values in the neighborhood,” Hedrick said. “And if he sells it for redevelopment in the future, what will that look like?”
Hedrick served as chair of the bond committee in place of Mayor Ronald Jones who became ill. He noted that most projects in the bond package are infrastructure improvements, the types of things that will really improve the quality of life.
“If the bond passes, it will be my goal on council to push those [items citizens vote for] as fast as we can,” Hedrick said.
There has long been a problem with Garland’s image and Hedrick noted that the results of a survey of about a year ago were ‘horrible.’
He does not feel that all the negative impressions are deserved and wondered if some of the problems could come from Garland being a largely manufacturing/industrial and working-class city. Another possibility he mentioned is that it doesn’t have all the same amenities as some surrounding cities.
“It’s true that we don’t have some of the amenities that brand-new, shiny Frisco and McKinney have,” he said. “But we are working on that.”
He added that Garland is a great place to live, work and play.