Name as it appears on the ballot: Joe Thomas, Jr
Ballotpedia Link:
Dallas Morning News Questionnaire Link
Campaign Website, Social Media, Endorsement Links: https://www.facebook.com/JoeThomasD7/
Campaign Contact Information: JoeThomasD7@gmail.com
Candidate-Submitted Bio:
Joe Thomas is a long time community advocate in the Camelot neighborhood in District 7. After a decade on the Camelot Neighborhood Association board, the last 5 as the President, he felt it was time to broaden his mission of community service to a larger area.
He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from Oklahoma Christian University in Edmond, OK in 1979. His 38 year career for the Henry Company (a manufacturer of roofing products with a factory in District 6) started the following year in the Los Angeles area. He was in various management roles over different departments through his tenure and spent the last 18 years of his career in Information Technology. A job transfer moved him from California to Garland in 2010. (He is a master of converting Computer-ese to English and vice versa.) He currently works as a software engineer for 4Front Engineered Solutions in Carrollton, Texas.
Joe has worked closely with the current City Councilman for District 7. Their acquaintance started in 2019 when then Councilman for District 7, Scott Lemay, appointed them as the representatives for the District. We often went around the corner to Intrinsic after those meetings and came to be friends through that contact. Councilman Hedrick appointed Joe as one of the two District 7 reps for the next Bond Study Committee that convened in 2024. Joe was elected chair and presented a Bond package to the City Council in early December.
Joe’s run for office was inspired by his parents who both had long careers in public service. My father Joe Sr. taught in public schools for 35 years before retiring. Then he served as a Sergeant At Arms in the Oklahoma State Capitol for another 27 years before his passing in 2018. My mother Jonita taught public school for 26 years before retiring. She then started a 28 year career at the Oklahoma State Capitol as a tour guide and later in the Bill Processing group doing document control. Although she quit working last year, her hobby is giving tours of the Oklahoma State Capitol at the request of the senators and representatives. Both have been in the Lion’s Club since the 1960s. She has made 7 trips to western Honduras with my sister Terri on medical missions. She is 89 now so she didn’t even start doing medical missions until she was 82. She would say you are never too old to be useful if useful is what you want to be. Joe and his wife of 37 years, Diana, live in the Camelot neighborhood with their 3 cats. They erected the first Little Free Library which allows neighbors to share books. Diana enjoys murder mysteries and crime dramas. Joe is a big fan of Major League Baseball having visited 42 ballparks in the US during his travels over the last 3 decades.
Awards and Honors:
2017 – Charter Review Committee member
2017-2019 – Camelot Neighborhood Association Vice President
2018 – Bond Study Committee member
2019 – Camelot Neighborhood Association Excalibur Award Winner
2020-2025 – Camelot Neighborhood Association President
2024 – Leadership Garland, Class 44. The Best Class!
Questionnaire Answers:
1) Have you held any positions within the city/ISD, either with the city/ISD itself or with non-profit / community service organizations?
As you saw in the summary above, I served on the charter review committee in 2017 for an update that was passed by the voters in May the following year. My most memorable contribution was seeing to it that gender neutral language was used throughout the document. (When talking about the City Manager, the document said, he will do this and that, his staff will be such and such, and these people will also report to him. I said, “So if Bryan Bradford goes through a transition, then she is no longer qualified to be City Manager?” It got a laugh and then a serious consideration to redo several sections where gender was irrelevant.
In 2018, then Councilman Scott LeMay appointed me to the bond study committee. His other appointee was Dylan Hedrick. We got to know each other well during this time together and we did propose a bond for 2019 that allowed many of the new facilities to be built and major roads reconstructed.
The following year, in 2020, I was elected as President of the Camelot Neighborhood Association. An organization that my neighbor, now Mayor Scott LeMay, credits with giving him his start in public service. I have served in this position for 5 years and was reelected for 2025. In that time, the Board accomplished things like erecting a monument to the victims of Covid19 and to all the essential workers who saved many lives. We also had a flashing light installed at the intersection of Collins and Shiloh so that pedestrians could cross the street more safely. Not to mention the best neighborhood chili cook-off in Garland!
Councilman Dylan Hedrick appointed me to the bond study committee that convened in 2024. I was elected committee chair and received compliments on how well I ran the meetings. The proposed bond that will be on the ballot in 2025 does not require any change to the City’s tax rate. (The City is already collecting enough tax and has paid off old bonds. There is no need for any additional projected revenue to pay for these bonds when they come due in 20 years.) Passing the bond allows the taxpayers to have a say in how the money will be spent. I am currently enrolled in the Chamber of Commerce program called Leadership Garland. Class 44 will graduate in May, a couple weeks after the election.
2) Have you attended a city council or school board meeting in person?
I have attended several meetings in person to speak to the council and plan commission. (I also get a huge eye-roll from my wife when she catches me watching council meetings on my computer.)
3) Have you read the city/ISD budget? If so, did you have any takeaways from it?
I usually read through the city budget once that plan is finalized. I have found that the city in general are good stewards of the taxpayers money.
4) What would you say is your primary responsibility in the position you are running for?
To see that the residents of District 7 are best served by the decisions we make for things like zoning cases and other development that is bound to happen once the USL soccer stadium is built in our District.
5) What other responsibilities do you believe come with this role?
In addition to attending the 4 monthly meetings for city council, I plan to engage more fully at community events. Not just show up for a picture as some on council have done in the past but stay for as much of the event as possible for full engagement with the community.
I want to recruit young people to serve on our boards and commissions. Their insights can be invaluable and, often times, the points they make are ones that would not be considered by baby boomers like me.
6) Name three things that you want to accomplish while in office.
The current council decided to roll the Gateways and Corridors proposition (formerly Prop E) into the Streets proposition (Prop A). I want to make sure that, not only do the residential streets and alleys get the attention they deserve, but that the Gateways into the city are well marked with “Welcome to Garland” signage. (I favor the one on the home page of this website. Simple and to the point with room to add an LED scrolling message board to help get the word out about city events.) I do not want Gateways to get lost in the budget and will be proposing where this signage should be placed once I am on the council.
We have spent a lot of money on the downtown square but getting to the square via the major entrances of the city is not exactly scenic. Spending on our major corridors so that people are not turned off by miles of concrete parking lots is another objective I want to see fulfilled. As a nod to the people of my own neighborhood, I want to see improved access to the Spring Creek Greenbelt – Fred E Harris section. That park on the SW corner of Campbell and Shiloh goes virtually unused because of how difficult it is to get there.
7) Are there programs or services you want to see reduced in size or canceled? Why?
I am not aware of anything that needs to be reduced. My first term on the council will give me a better perspective to be able to address this question when I answer this question during my next campaign.
8) Are there programs or services you want to see created or expanded? Why?
I am not aware of anything that needs to be created or expanded. My first term on the council will give me a better perspective to be able to address this question when I answer this question during my next campaign.
9) What are your strategic objectives for your district, the city, or the ISD?
Since Garland is 95% built out, we need to move ahead with the Garland Forward 2050 plan to expand our tax base by building up. The presentations on this plan have been quite informative so far and I look forward to getting more details.
10) What are the city’s/district’s biggest challenges, and how do you want to address them?
Because of the age of much of Garland’s infrastructure, the City needs to keep investing in things like drainage, etc. that are not sexy and usually not seen but are necessary to a healthy city. We need to continue with our redevelopment efforts to turn small plots into larger ones that will attract new development and the tax dollars that come with it. The 2025 Bond proposals are designed to do just that.
Campaign-Related Filings
Treasurer Appointment
Petition for Office
Campaign Finance Reports and Disclosures