Celina City Member Wendie Wigginton outlines priorities for next term

She adds visions of building a hospital that the city will be proud of, maintaining a level of service from first responders, finishing buildout on a new fire station and police station, continuing to have a safe community and seeing local schools continue to excel. She envisions seeing residents participating in city events and seeing a large amount of volunteers attend. She envisions expanded programs and new library space.

“And we’ve found ways to even bring our community more and more together,” she adds. “If at the end of this three years, all of that happens, I would think we’re successful, we have done our job. If we have improved the unity between those that felt left out and the ones that don’t, we have continued to maintain some of what makes Celina great and our old traditions, but also incorporated some of the new stuff.”

There’s also building out a vision for the Dallas North Tollway to make it a welcoming environment for residents and tourists, adding to the city’s tax base and bringing developments that meld into feeling like one town amid expansion, she said.

“Is all of that going to happen at the end of three years? No, but I think that if you plan right, it’s all moving in that direction, so the people that come in behind you can just take it kind of run,” she said. “Just continued success in those areas, where residents feel safe, where they feel included, where our schools are great and our first responders like working here and we’re building police stations and fire stations and it’s safe. All that says we were successful.”

The comments come after Wigginton, who was first elected to the Celina City Council in 2020, secured another term in the Place 4 spot on May 6. Unofficial numbers from Collin and Denton counties showed that Wigginton garnered 58.2% of the votes while challenger KJ Clark garnered 41.8%.

As Wigginton moves into her next term, she’s taking election results as a sign from voters.

“I think that being re-elected is affirmation that what we’ve been doing for the last couple of years is moving us in the right direction,” she said. “I think that trying to work with all of the residents in Celina and show them that we as a city are really focused on all of them was what helped push it across the finish line.”

Looking ahead, Wigginton said her hopes for her upcoming term include finding ways to make more Celina residents feel involved and included. She uses the example of celebrating Prosper ISD Bass Fishing Team students who live in Celina at a recent city council meeting.

“And so my hope for the next three years is we continue to find ways to do that, we continue to grow the city in a way that’s inclusive and is responsible,” she said, “And quite frankly, the next three years now, with all of the 10 miles of the DNT and 10 miles of Preston to develop, it’s going to be really important for us to create good policies and processes and relationships and really do this right, so make good decisions in developing those sections. Because I think that’s what a lot of the next three years is going to be.”