The Echo Recommends: Richardson Mayor

In 2025, Richardson once again faces a contested race for mayor, with three candidates in the running. In 2023, I did not make a recommendation. This year, I’m offering a personal view—having worked directly with two of the candidates.

The Richardson Echo recommends:
Amir Omar for Richardson Mayor

My experience with Omar and Dubey

I’ve known each candidate for over 15 years. I’ve advocated in front of them as a neighborhood representative and citizen when they were elected officials. I’ve worked alongside them in civic leadership and on City of Richardson committees.

I served 11 years on the Richardson Heights Neighborhood Association board, including five as president. During that time, we successfully advocated for the creation of Durham Park, supported a $66 million bond, helped improve the Richardson Restaurant Park design, rallied 140 people to back the Alamo Drafthouse zoning case, strengthened engagement in the West Spring Valley Plan, and shaped the city’s open market ordinance.

I interacted with Amir Omar during his time on council—on many of these very efforts. I served alongside Bob Dubey on two ad hoc committees, including the removal of Heights Park’s iconic rocketship and the subsequent artwork. I also went through Leadership Richardson with both candidates.

Since those years, I’ve continued to advocate on land use and zoning issues in front of the council—many of which were heard and voted on by Bob Dubey as a council member and mayor.

I’ve seen the full spectrum: from shared wins and compromise to stagnation and frustration. During my advocacy, I have worked with six different mayors, dozens of council members, three city managers, numerous staff persons, and I served on two city council appointed commissions.

That breadth of experience makes one thing clear:

Amir Omar is the right leader for Richardson.

(A third candidate, Alan North, has offered criticism but shows little understanding of governance, has no civic track record, and doesn’t demonstrate readiness for the job.)

The Case for Amir Omar

Amir Omar’s civic record, professional experience, and collaborative style make him the best choice in 2025. During his time on the city council, he championed transparency, expanded citizen involvement, and drove genuine community engagement. These weren’t talking points—they were actions. And he’s continued to show up and stay engaged long after losing the mayoral race.

Omar was ahead of the curve on several issues that have since become standard practice. He pushed for the recording and broadcasting of public meetings at a time when the idea met resistance from other members of the council. He also voiced early support for the direct election of the mayor—casting the lone vote in favor long before it gained public momentum. That position was ultimately validated by voters, more than 70% of whom approved the change through a citizen-led petition. This is a clear demonstration that Omar is willing to put citizen rights over politics.

The “Tree the Town” program offers a clear example of executive leadership in action. Omar not only proposed the initiative—he took it from concept to completion. The plan brought together experts, corporate sponsors, and residents to plant trees throughout Richardson. It wasn’t just a good idea—it was executed with discipline and inclusion. At a time when the city faces complex, long-range decisions, we need leadership that can think big and follow through.

The Case against Dubey

Early in Bob Dubey’s tenure as mayor, I gave him the benefit of the doubt—even privately stating that I was in the “Bob Dubey Patience Club.” Read about that here. He did help restore public comment time to five minutes per speaker—undoing a quiet reduction to three minutes. He deserves credit for that.

But since then, Dubey has had ample opportunity to demonstrate his leadership—and unfortunately, he has been at the center of multiple council errors. Some may take a generation to undo and some may prove fatal in the long run.

He supported construction material storage in a district meant to be an “edgy, mixed use district” despite objections from neighboring property owners, greenlit a salvage title car lot on a gateway intersection, and weakened the very plans that residents and local businesses invested in.

Under Dubey’s tenure, the City approved a large apartment complex that breaks with the vision outlined in the downtown plan. Rather than building on the existing network of smaller blocks and walkable streets—a layout that’s over 150 years old and similar to what cities like Plano, McKinney, and Garland have preserved—the City gave up part of that historic street pattern to allow a single, auto-oriented superblock. The result is a development that runs counter to both the letter and spirit of the adopted plan, and undermines years of community-driven work. It also disregards decades of proven design principles that other cities have used to strengthen their downtowns.

Dubey was presented with evidence what other cities have done. He ignored it.

Dubey has not positioned himself as a champion of transparency. He opposed streaming the City Council’s strategic goal-setting sessions—an approach other cities have adopted—and voted against recording the city charter commission’s meetings, where key recommendations were being shaped. Omar, by contrast, supports broader public access. While Omar worked to bring residents into the room, Dubey supported measures that kept them at a distance.

In some of these cases, Dubey supported zoning changes over the objections of local businesses that had invested in the area and participated in shaping its long-term plans. Many of those businesses are owned by Richardson residents with a direct stake in the outcome—people who not only work in these districts but also own property there. Their concerns were set aside.

Read about these issues: here, here, and here.

Exhibit A: Dubey’s Vision in Photos

A car dealership now sits next to future townhomes and a future park in the Interurban district, thanks to a project that required ten separate zoning exceptions. Dubey approved it as a council member. The approval interrupts the city’s plans to extend a walkable, mixed-use district northward from downtown. It is not an isolated case. On another prominent corner, Dubey supported a zoning change to allow a salvage title car lot. Neither use contributes vehicle sales tax to the city because car sales tax does not go to the city—a missed opportunity on both fronts.

Dubey's Vision for Richardson.

One of the more controversial land use decisions in recent years was the approval of a body shop and open car storage facility in the Interurban District—an area envisioned for adaptive reuse and pedestrian-oriented redevelopment. As part of the project, the city received a mural less than 20 feet wide on a 100-foot wall. In exchange, the Council granted new entitlements, including rights for an 18,000-square-foot parking lot that previously had no such use. It was framed as a worthwhile tradeoff. But the results tell a different story: untended landscaping, debris on public sidewalks, and a clear departure from the district’s intended character. (Yes. That's an automobile body part in that picture.) These outcomes were not incidental—they reflect choices made during Dubey’s tenure. Read my expanded commentary here.  

Another case involves a construction storage lot, approved under Dubey’s leadership. The zoning agreement called for screening, fencing, and designated storage structures. None of those elements have been delivered. Today, the area functions as a surface storage yard, directly across from a property that was improved in line with the district’s development plan. The owner objected to the change—and was ignored.

None of this was inherited. These were approved under Dubey’s watch. Dubey said in a recent candidate forum that things are going according to plans. Do you like this plan?

The Dallas Morning News got it right when it endorsed Amir Omar: these were clear, preventable errors.

The Obvious Choice

There is no reason to think the pattern will change if Dubey is re-elected. If anything, he may become more dismissive of public feedback.

Amir Omar, by contrast, has spent the past year meeting with residents one-on-one—including some who opposed him previously and others who still may. He hasn’t avoided difficult conversations. He’s built bridges and stayed engaged. After his 2013 loss, he didn’t disappear. He remained rooted in the community.

Having watched both candidates in public settings and private conversations, I’ve seen the difference firsthand—in how they listen, how they lead, and how they engage with residents, businesses, and staff.

If residents want a city that listens, honors its planning efforts, and follows through on its commitments, then the choice is clear.

The Richardson Echo recommends Amir Omar for Mayor.

Early Voting runs from April 22 to April 29. Election Day is May 3, 2025.

Please vote and thank you for reading.