We recommend in the race for Lewisville Mayor

Lewisville Mayor TJ Gilmore champions his city with infectious enthusiasm and data-driven decisions. Voters should return him to office in May.

Gilmore, 51, has a track record of accomplishments in housing, parks, law enforcement, transit, education and economic development.

As mayor, and as a City Council member before that, Gilmore has helped lead the city through significant changes to its housing stock, including the annexation of Castle Hills, the creation of a large affordable housing project, and the embrace of accessory dwelling units and “missing middle” options. All this without the vitriolic blowback we’ve seen in other cities.

Lewisville has embraced the effort to make sure every resident lives within a 10-minute walk to a park. The city also ranks in the top one-third among North Texas cities for police pay, Gilmore told us. It has invested $120 million in a new public services building and has stepped up efforts to combat human trafficking in massage parlors.

Gilmore, who serves as chairman of the board of the Denton County Transportation Authority, said he’s proud of the city’s decision to scrap its meager bus service in favor of a similarly priced rideshare option that has quadrupled ridership.

Gilmore helped steer the effort to bring a Texas State Technical College campus to Denton County to improve upskilling and employment opportunities for residents.

“If I have a workforce that has access to child care and skills training and transportation, then economic development will come to me,” he said. That strikes us as a smart approach.

Gilmore faces three opponents.

Law enforcement officer Winston Edmonson, 46, has run for mayor four times before. He’s concerned about juvenile crime and criticizes the mayor for being unresponsive to residents. He also says the city has too many warehouses and proposes a new city board to review building aesthetics.

Tiffany Karim, 41, and Alexander Davis, 29, are also running.

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