Planning and zoning commissioner Freddie Guerra earns our recommendation in the special election for Place 5 on Coppell’s City Council. Guerra, 55, works for a company that helps municipalities manage their water supply. This knowledge of city government, emergency preparedness and his experience interfacing with residents about zoning cases make him more qualified than his opponent, Ramesh Premkumar.
The city’s population is aging, and enrollment in Coppell ISD is declining. Since Coppell is landlocked and nearly built out, Guerra wants to bring in new development to revitalize the city.
He has a keen understanding of the need to bring measured density to Coppell while respecting longtime homeowners. If elected, Guerra wants the city to encourage transit-oriented development around the new DART Silver Line station in Cypress Waters to attract younger residents. As a planning and zoning commissioner, Guerra has also opposed certain apartment projects that wouldn’t make sense for the city. “There is a need for mixed use and more dense housing … but it’s got to be the right housing,” Guerra said.
In addition to residential development, Guerra wants to repurpose vacant storefronts to shore up sales tax revenue. This is particularly relevant given the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts’ proposed rule 3.334 that could potentially reduce Coppell’s sales tax revenue by 60%. In Guerra’s opinion, the city struggles to retain businesses and restaurants compared to peers like Southlake and Flower Mound. If elected, he plans to make Coppell more welcoming to business by repurposing underused office space, expediting the permitting process and offering fee waivers and tax breaks.
Guerra’s opponent, Ramesh Premkumar, 51, is an IT professional and small business owner. He serves on Coppell’s Smart City board and the board of the Coppell Chamber of Commerce. Both Premkumar and Guerra have served on Coppell ISD committees.
Premkumar didn’t respond to interview requests, but identified public safety and the need to attract younger residents to Coppell as top priorities in campaign materials. If elected, he wants to continue to invest in parks, law enforcement and create an incubator for small businesses.
Premkumar’s answers to questions in this newspaper’s Voter Guide were less detailed than Guerra’s. Premkumar proposes setting up an advisory board of senior citizens and young parents to find ways to create more mixed-income housing and attract new residents. This is a vague solution to one of the city’s most important issues. Like Guerra, he also identified the potential loss in sales tax as an impending issue for Coppell, but didn’t identify a concrete solution.
Guerra’s breadth of municipal experience and his understanding of how to introduce growth while balancing residents’ concerns will make him an asset on the City Council. Coppell voters should choose him.
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