Frisco's mayor reflects on tenure as he begins third and final term

“I’m not political by nature,” he begins, adding that he joined the city council years ago with an interest in getting involved and thought his background in real estate would be great for a growing city. He notes moments like opening a new library or helping an individual citizen. He describes the thick skin that must come with fielding criticism and adversity when trying to make the right decisions for a community. He describes a sense of obligation to carry Frisco’s tradition forward.

“This time around was the hardest time for me to decide whether we were going to run for re-election,” he said, adding that there were other things to weigh, including his business, family, hobbies and kids going to college.

“But at the same time, it was like I have that obligation, and I want to finish what we’re working on. And there’s a lot of work left to be done, and then I want to pass it off to the right person,” Cheney said.

After securing an electoral win on May 6, Cheney will officially serve for three more years as Frisco’s mayor — his third and final term. The road ahead follows two consecutive terms marked by landmark moments for Frisco (the PGA of America’s relocation, Frisco being named the No. 1 Best Place to Live in America for 2018 and the 2023 opening of Frisco’s new public library) as well as major challenges, like responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

And looking ahead, there is much to be done, Cheney notes, including work on projects like Firefly Park, Fields West and Fields North, moving forward on The Mix (formerly known as Wade Park) and developing Frisco’s downtown Rail District.

“I ran on that six years ago, (on) a commitment to making sure the Rail District is something special, and we’re basically putting those investments in right now,” Cheney said. “And so that’s going to be a heavy focus of mine, making sure that those public investments pay off to make it something really special that our citizens want, that continues to thrive and then private dollars start flowing in there, and once it’s more walkable, once we have that 4th Street plaza and the gathering space and then start activating it with music and other performances, it’s going to become a true destination.”

There is work to do on other things, too. Cheney mentions such topics as public safety, the Universal development, phase two of the University of North Texas in Frisco, park development, diversity and inclusion, as well as appraisals and tax relief.

There’s also still the goal of bringing a performing arts center to Frisco.

“We’re moving into what I call the renaissance phase of Frisco’s history, where of course being Sports City USA is a great brand and brought a lot of excitement to this community,” Cheney said. “I do think we’re kind of moving into the stage where we focus more on performing arts, live music, cultural events, those kinds of things, and trying to solve for a performing arts center here in our community will be a big push here in this final term. That’s the one that I always knew was going to be the hardest project on my wish list of things to do, so that only makes us want to do it more.”

When it comes to establishing a successful third term, Cheney has placed one item at the top of his list: Grand Park.

“It’s part of what motivated me to run for council in 2007, was the community vision for that park,” he said. “And of course it’s had so many obstacles with Exide, and there’s reasons why it hasn’t started to this point, but I would be really disappointed if we haven’t made significant progress by the end of this term.”

As he enters the third term, the current moment is a chance to look back on six years of leading the city and to look at the three years ahead that will combine into a legacy for Frisco’s current mayor.

“I hope my legacy is that I took the opportunity that was given to me and when my time was done, I left it for the next round of leaders better than I received it.”

He has another test for success, too.

“I’ll ultimately know if I was successful if my kids, when they graduate, want to move back here and raise their families here,” Cheney said. “So that will be something way down the road that I’ll kind of look back on…which I think they will. But I hope people think that we continued Frisco’s tradition of seeking world-class projects.”