PEOPLE Nick Long League City mayor
I wrote my paper about ve corners, and then it only took another, like, 15, 20 years to get something done. I never thought I’d actually be the one to do something about it later, but … I actually kind of got to see it to fruition. ... That little bypass made a signi cant di erence, and it’s worked better than I think most people thought, and it’s really helped kind of move people around at a relatively good bargain. A similar project that I really love for a variety of reasons is the dog park on the west side of town. That used to be a water plant out there. ... It was just kind of a weird piece of property that wasn’t really being used by the city, but we kind of leveraged community involvement; I helped raise some money with di erent partners; ... and we built that dog park for $125,000, and it is constantly used, ... and so that’s pretty neat to see all the combi- nations work together. And then the last thing that I think is quite exceptional is we’ve decreased the tax rate below the e ective rate—so true tax decreases in terms of dollars to homeowners—every year for the past eight years, and so a lot of places can’t say that. They especially can’t say that and be getting more infrastructure projects done than ever before, and that’s really a testament to … making a commitment to scal discipline at the top and then allowing the management to work in a way to nd ways to save money. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT LEAGUE CITY? I love the water, so especially in the summer, going on the lake is by far my favorite thing. It’s pretty neat also that my kids will go to the same schools that I went to—like, the exact same schools that I went to, have some of
As of November, former League City Council Member Nick Long has joined the ranks of nearly a dozen others before him as League City’s mayor. Born in Wisconsin, Long moved to and grew up in League City when he was 9. He moved away brie y when he went to college but returned to start a family and work as a consultant for bene t plans for government employees and joined council in 2014. Now, Long has several goals he hopes to see accomplished as mayor. The following answers have been edited for length and clarity. BY JAKE MAGEE WHAT PROMPTED YOU TO RUN FOR LOCAL OFFICE? Before I got on City Council, I years we were kind of planning the whole time for the Grand Parkway, and the Grand Parkway really is the key to opening up the massive growth
JAKE MAGEE COMMUNITY IMPACT Nick Long became League City’s mayor in November after eight years on council.
1962 1977: Jonnie Arolfo 1977 1979: Leonard A. Cruse 1979 1994: Joe L. Lamb 1994 1995: Patrick F. Hallisey 1995 2002: A. T. “Tommy” Frankovich 2002 2005: A. Je Harrison SIX DECADES OF LEADERSHIP League City has had several mayors in its 60 years.
was on the nance committee for several years as well, so I had some experience with the budget and how it worked. ... And really, the part that I thought I could contribute to the most was the nancial management of the city and ... make sure we could live within our means. And then the other part I was concerned about was as the city grew, were we going to lose that kind of small-town charm, or are we going to lose the connection that people have to the city of League City? Because if you look at where the growth is, it’s all happening in the part of the town where the kids will go to Dickinson schools, they’ll have a Dickinson mail- ing address ... so they won’t necessar- ily have a connection to League City unless we ... create that connection. WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO RUN FOR MAYOR? I was out of terms as City Coun- cil—two-term limit—and then there was just an opportunity there with Mayor [Pat] Hallisey not running, and really, here’s the time where the rubber meets the road. The rst eight
because right now, to get to those pastures that are sitting out there that are going to be homes in the next decade, it’s not really feasible without the Grand Parkway. WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACCOM PLISH AS MAYOR? My goal is I’d like to drive down the Grand Parkway before I am no longer the mayor. That’d be the best-case scenario, and I think we’re actually seeing it. ... [The Texas Department of Transportation] is trying to start those environmental surveys, ... so we’re ... seeing them do things, which is a lot di erent than the past decade. WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR PROUD EST ACHIEVEMENT SO FAR AS A COUNCIL MEMBER OR MAYOR? Maybe not the proudest achieve- ment of mine but certainly interesting is, and I think it’s worked out well, is the bypass at the ve corners. ... When I was in high school, ... we actually did a project in civics class about some- thing you could change and how you would change it within the city, and
2005 2008: Jerry Shults 2008 2011: Toni Randall 2011 2016: Timothy Paulissen 2016 2022: Patrick F. Hallisey 2022: Nick Long
SOURCE: CITY OF LEAGUE CITY COMMUNITY IMPACT
the same teachers I had. ... And then I get to watch them play Little League, and they’ll play against [the kids of guys] I grew up with. So it’s all pretty fun to do that stu , and it’s been neat living near my parents and my in-laws and stu so that my family’s been super involved with my kids as well, and they’re at every game. It’s a neat place to grow up; ... you get a little bit more of that recreational side built in and high quality of life.
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