Monday, February 25, 2008

Farmers Branch businessman Gene Bledsoe announces candidacy for mayor

By Minnie Payne

Farmers Branch Mayoral Candidate Gene Bledsoe

FARMERS BRANCH — Gene Bledsoe, 62, recently announced his candidacy for Farmers Branch mayor, running against Farmers Branch anti-illegal-immigrant activist mayor pro tem Tim O’Hare.

“Farmers Branch is definitely a divided city,” said Bledsoe. “The Hispanic population is about 40% and that portion of the city has been marginalized.

“We’ve got to heal the city and to do that, we’ve got to get all the people involved. If elected mayor, one of the first things that I’ll do is to form a commission of Hispanic leaders and Anglo leaders to see what steps the city can take to incorporate all our citizens into the government process.”

Bledsoe said that his first objective is to instill financial conservative policies and secondly, to involve citizens in every major decision.

“We are presently borrowing money; 11 percent of our annual budget goes to debt service,” he said. “We’re also using our savings.”

After 9-11, the tax revenues of the city declined significantly, but we [city] built up a reserve of $13 million which we have maintained up until this budget year, he said.

“Presently we’ve spent $4 million of our savings and still have to pave roads and take care of the business of the city,” he said. “Borrowing, along with spending our savings, is a recipe for disaster.

“This has all happened just this budget year since the two new city councilmen and mayor pro tem came on board.”

He said that since coming to Farmers Branch 28 years ago, it has always been a very conservative city, but the present council is not staying within a conservative budget.

“We started the year with a surplus,” he said. “Farmers Branch got a 10 percent increase in tax revenue this year.

“If we continue to spend our reserve at this rate, we won’t have a reserve in three years.”

Bledsoe has been a resident of Farmers Branch for 28 years, owning his own advertising agency, Casal Group, which advertised for computer manufacturers IBM, Hewlett Packard, and Motorola from 1984 to 1999. He and his wife, Cassie, have worked together as residential real estate agents for realtor Virginia Cook since 1999 to present.

“When I was in the fourth grade my family moved from Dallas to Waco so that my mom and dad could attend Baylor,” Bledsoe said. “Dad was a Baptist minister and mom was a secretary.”

He said that he went to the public schools in Waco and played football for Waco High School, winning a full four-year football scholarship to UT – Austin.

He holds two bachelor’s degrees, one in mathematics and one in computer science, from the University of Texas at Austin, graduating in 1967.

“While I was at UT – Austin I made good grades, working as hard at academics as I did at football,” he said. “I was selected as a national Academic all American my senior year.”

He said that when he graduated from UT he played football with the New York Jets for two years, until he injured a knee.

From 1970 - 1976 he worked for University Computing Company in Dallas, beginning as a programmer to sales person to regional manager. From 1976 – 1980, he worked for Bradford National, a New York firm, based in Dallas and responsible for sales in the United States through four regions. From 1982 – 1984, he worked for Flagship Group, Dallas, where he served as Vice President Corporate Marketing. In addition to his work experience, he has also served on Boards of Directors, overlapping a total of 47 years.

Bledsoe said that he envisions that being mayor is similar to being on a Board of Directors for a company in that instead of setting strategic directions for shareholders, he and council members will be setting directions for the citizens of Farmers Branch.

Bledsoe is no stranger to Farmers Branch citizens who attend city council meetings and work sessions. He has been a familiar face and active voice in city politics for 10 years.

“Giving back to your community and being involved in your community has been engrained in me since early childhood,” he said. “It was very much a part of my family’s life, so my siblings weren’t surprised when I decided to run for mayor.”

Dave Blair, former Farmers Branch mayor, said that Bledsoe has been his next door neighbor for 22 years and that he worked with him in the last election cycle on the illegal immigration issue.

“Gene is a longtime businessman and has been very active on several boards for the city, the latest one being vice chairman of the Farmers Branch Senior Board of Directors,” said Blair. “He has been and continues to be very active in the community.”

Ruben Rendon, a clinical physiologist for Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD is a Hispanic leader in Farmers Branch and has known Bledsoe for four years.

“I think that Gene would make a great mayor in that he’s very committed,” Rendon said. “I feel that he can move the city in the right direction; with him being mayor, the citizens will have the information they need and know in which direction they’re going.”

At the time of this publication, Pegasus News is attempting to schedule an interview with Tim O'Hare.

Related stories

• Candidates for city councils, school boards must file by 5 p.m. Monday (March 9, 2008)
• Tim O’Hare wants to be Farmers Branch’s next mayor (March 6, 2008)
• Week in View: Leap Day Edition (Feb. 28, 2008)

See more stories in:

• Citizen Profiles
• Politics and Government > City Government > Farmers Branch

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