One of the quiet members of the Lubbock City Council is tasked with overseeing a constantly growing district; however, he uses this to his advantage.
Councilman Brayden Rose of District 4 oversees a portion of South Lubbock that is seeing rapid growth both in terms of infrastructure and population size.
Rose rarely speaks from the dias during the city council meeting, unlike other members. But when he speaks, it’s for a reason.
“’I’m a level head that’s here for Lubbock and its citizens,” Rose said. “The loudest one in the room is sometimes just being loud, for being loud is not productive.”
But just because council members might be vocal on the dais, it does not mean they don’t work well with each other to achieve things.
“The council that we have is filled with a fantastic group of level-headed individuals that are here for helping the city and common sense and not for themselves,” Rose said.
One of the challenges the council is set to face in the next few months is hashing out the needs and wants of the city and figuring out how to fund them to craft the city’s budget.
However, Rose, along with other council members, is signalling that this year’s budget might be more constrained than in years past.
“It’s going to be a very tight budget year,” Rose said. “What we plan to do, is keep the taxes as low as possible for the taxpayer, because that’s what I’m here to do, is make sure that our taxes are low as possible with keeping the community safe as possible.”
But looking more closely at his district, Rose said it’s facing issues one would expect when it comes to its rapid growth.
Roses said he doesn’t want the city to play catch-up when addressing his district’s needs, but rather be strategic and think about it years in advance.
“We love new business, and we’re all about jobs and keeping the city moving forward, but keeping up with it monetarily is difficult,” Rose said. “These roads are expensive.”
Rose also said he wants to see parks being built in his district. According to a city map, there are no parks past 94th Street in Rose’s district — which is expanding all the way south to 146th Street.
It’s also worth noting that the first few phases of the state’s Loop 88 projects are also being constructed in his district, along with the city opening its newest fire station in the district this month as well.
But no matter what, Rose said he’s here to listen to his constituents and to serve them.
Citizens can contact Rose via phone at (806) 775-2008 or email at BRose@mylubbock.us. Individuals can also send him letters at City of Lubbock, 1314 Avenue K, Lubbock, Texas 79401.
Mateo Rosiles is the Government & Public Policy reporter for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Got a news tip for him? Email him: mrosiles@lubbockonline.com.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: First-year councilman Rose talks about growth in south Lubbock, infrastructure needs
Reporting by Mateo Rosiles, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
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