Marth Tyroch  TABA recently had a discussion with outgoing Temple Mayor Pro Tem to reflect on her past endeavors and accomplishments.  The following is part 1 of 2 of the conversation.

Q: Martha, you have recently vacated your position as Temple Mayor Pro-Tem and have announced your candidacy for Texas House District 55.  What prompted you to accept this new challenge and responsibility?

A: I've always been committed to giving back to my community. My parents encouraged me at a young age to get involved in my community. I married into a Bell County family that also had a tradition of community service, and Jerry and I raised our children to do the same.
 
My commitment to public service was "kick started" when I participated in Leadership Temple. During that year, I learned a lot about the ongoing projects in Temple and Bell County through our local governments, school districts, social agencies and private companies. I saw first hand the needs of our community. Next, I had an opportunity to be appointed to the Planning & Zoning Commission. I met many people through serving on Planning & Zoning, including those in the development community and on the city staff. I experienced firsthand many accomplishments when people worked together.
 
My Planning & Zoning background gave me the experience needed to serve on the Temple City Council where I've been fortunate to serve the citizens of Temple for three terms. Those experiences taught me about the fundamentals of local government and how some communities are more successful than others.

I am very proud of where the City is at this point in time. During my tenure on the City Council, we filled a number of key positions on the staff and strengthened our Planning and Public Works Department. For the first time in many years, we're fully staffed in the Engineer Division of the Public Works Department. We've also made great strides in the public safety sector. I worked hard to make sure that we offer competitive salaries for all of our employees, particularly in our police and fire departments. Our new police station is state of the art, and we're in the beginning stages of designing and building a new central fire station.
 
I'm pleased with what we've been able to accomplish from an economic development standpoint. Through our incentive programs and the quality of life in Bell County, we've attracted a number of new retail companies and restaurants. Gulf States Toyota, the most recent addition to the City of Temple, will create up to 500 new jobs and over $50 million in new investment.
 
In the past couple of years, I've had a chance to work with State officials in a number of areas, particularly transportation and workforce. I know I can help lead the discussion and find solutions in areas like education, transportation, health care and economic development.

Because of my experience at the local level in the areas of health care, economic development, education, and transportation, I'm adequately prepared to work on these same issues at the State level.  I welcome the challenge of working in Austin to benefit all residents of Bell County. I want Bell County to continue being competitive in economic development, public education and quality of life issues.

Q:Martha, you noted your background prior to being elected to serve as Temple Council person involved service on the Planning and Zoning Commission.  How did this prepare you for your Council service and how do you believe these experiences can help you in pursuit of the District 55 race for State Representative?

A: I quickly learned that preparation is the key to success.  I learned to do my homework. I've learned to evaluate an issue from various perspectives, in order to thoroughly understand an issue, and also how to become a consensus builder.  I fully understand the importance of listening, both to other leaders and my constituents.  I've benefited greatly from the relationships I've developed and nurtured over the years, and I know my relationships and friendships with leaders in the communities will continue. I’ll apply the lessons I’ve learned through various experiences, which include working with other leaders on issues like economic development, education (the Bioscience District), and supporting the military (BRAC and AUSA).

Q: Martha, the Development Standards Advisory Board is a unique tool that the City of Temple has provided to assure workable and meaningful development standards.  What was your roll in creating this board and what are your thoughts on how the City and the development community can continue to work together to make it an even more effective tool for our community?

A: While I was still serving on the Planning & Zoning Commission, I recognized the need for clearly articulated construction standards and to get more people with a technical background to serve on advisory boards. At that time, the current set of construction standards for roads, curbs, sidewalks, drainage inlets, etc. was inadequate. 

As a councilmember, I then had a chance to act on that belief and pushed for the establishment of a clear set of construction details and standards that would be published by the City, and yet could be readily amended to reflect changes in building materials and construction standards over a period of time.

I served on the City Council in 2001 when we adopted the resolution that created the Development Standards Advisory Board (DSAB). I was a strong advocate for passage of the resolution creating the DSAB through the Director of Public Works office.

We also created a system of amending those details and resolving disputes about new standards and materials, which continues to work well. We established criteria for appointment to the DSAB that ensured that we would have qualified people with specific technical, financial and professional background serving the community in developing some pretty technical standards.

Q: You have a reputation for supporting workforce and seniors housing programs, and encouraging in-fill development.  What programs have you supported to encourage affordable housing?

A: I believe the issues of workforce development, economic development and affordable or workforce housing are closely intertwined. We've spent a lot of our energy and resources trying to attract new businesses and industry to our City, but we’ve worked equally hard to make sure that we didn't lose some of the great businesses that we have. I'm especially proud that some of the most significant economic incentives and development agreements over the past ten years have consistently been with local business that are part of national companies, who chose to remain in Temple and Bell County.
 
We must have a trained and qualified workforce in order to attract new companies and expanding businesses.  In addition to serving three terms on the Temple City Council, I've also been an active member of the Workforce Development Board. I've worked diligently to make sure that we're training our local workforce to meet the needs of business and industry, and that we have adequately prepared the future workforce. I've also supported the efforts of Temple College through leases and grants, and more recently through the City's support of the Bioscience Institute. For example, the federal and state governments awarded grants to “Jobs for Military Families,” which has given members of our community the chance to obtain skills needed in the workforce.
 
In addition to a strong workforce, we must also have adequate housing at an affordable price. As a city councilmember, I supported both the City's own programs to build new workforce housing or to provide funding for the rehabilitation of existing owner-occupied homes. I've also been a supporter of the efforts of the Temple Housing Authority to build affordable housing. I've supported programs like the City's cost sharing program for the extension of water and sewer lines that have opened up new areas of the City to housing, at a lower cost to the consumer. The City's cost sharing program was also intended to promote infill of some of our undeveloped areas that currently lack adequate water or sewer lines. I was a proponent of the City continuing to participate in the HOME program using CDBG funds to support affordable housing initiatives.

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