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Plano
resident Matt Shaheen has declared his intention to
run for the
Collin
County Commissioners Court
in Precinct 1.
He will likely run against incumbent Phyllis Cole,
who has been on the commissioners court for 17
years.
“I appreciate Ms. Cole’s service and the rest of
the commissioners’ service,” Shaheen said. “I
think she’s been on there for too long and
there’s a sense of entitlement and probably having
lost touch with some of the voters.”
He said
Collin
County
is a fast-growing county and the county budget is
growing at a faster rate than the population of
Collin
County
.
“What that has done to the citizens, it has driven
a large demand for property tax revenue for the
county government. That’s placed a larger burden
on the property owners in the county,” Shaheen
said.
He would like to make government more accessible and
expand citizen involvement in county government.
“There’s a lot of intellectual capital in
Collin
County
.
There’s a lot of people with graduate degrees and
good professionals that could lend a lot of
experience to the benefit of how the county
government is operated,” Shaheen said.
He has 19 years experience as a technology and
management consultant. He also has nearly two
decades of political and government experience. Gov.
Rick Perry appointed him to a state board of social
workers, and the Plano City Council appointed him to
chair a community relations commission.
“I think I can be a driving force in making
government run better. That will result in property
tax relief for the citizens,” Shaheen said.
The native of
Virginia
has a bachelor’s degree from
Randolph-Macon
College
in
Ashland
,
Va.
,
and a master’s degree from Southern Methodist
University.
He moved to
Plano
in 1987, then moved away and lived in other places
for a few years, including
Sweden
.
He moved back to
Plano
in 1995.
He has been married to his wife Robyn for 14 years,
and they have three children.
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