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Aging infrastructure, community engagement and managing growth dominated the conversation as two candidates vying to replace outgoing Council Member Omar Roman outlined their visions for the Farmers Branch City Council District 1 seat before dozens of residents at Children's Health StarCenter.
Lupe Gonzalez and Lilia Martinez spent about an hour answering questions from moderator Kate Bergeron of the Branch Herald, touching on everything from economic development to transparency in government. About 60 residents attended the Thursday, Oct. 9. forum, including three former mayors, current Mayor Terry Lynne and District 4 Council Member Elizabeth Villafranca.
The special election was triggered after Omar Roman, who had represented District 1 since May 2022 and was recently re-elected to a second term, announced in August his resignation to pursue law school.
The candidates share a commitment to preserving Farmers Branch's small-town character but come from vastly different backgrounds.
Gonzalez, a 28-year resident and California native, has spent a decade involved in local elementary schools through PTA leadership. Martinez, who became a U.S. citizen in 2017 after immigrating to the United States, brings nine years of accounting experience and currently works at JP Morgan. She has lived in Texas for 25 years and moved to Farmers Branch two years ago.
"I just fell in love with Farmers Branch," Martinez said, explaining her decision to run. "That's the city where I chose to live and have my kids."
Gonzalez emphasized her long family history in the community as motivation.
"This is my city. I grew up here. I went to school here. All my family and friends are here. Now my kids are here with their families and friends," Gonzalez said. "I want to take care of the city. I want to do what's best for it. I want to preserve it for the next generation."
When asked to identify District 1's most urgent issue, the candidates diverged.
Martinez immediately pointed to infrastructure. "I think the most urgent issue in District 1 would be the aging infrastructure because I mean it's kind of old there if you've been District 1," she said. "We need to focus on the maintenance and the proactive updates in the infrastructure, either it's the streets, the water pipes, sewer drainage, all those things because we don't want to wait until something urgent happens."
Gonzalez, however, identified resident engagement as her top concern. "I just want to get our district more involved. We're kind of forgotten, kind of looked over," she said. "I want to find a way to get our District 1 neighbors more involved."
On the issue of balancing single-family homes with multifamily housing, both candidates expressed caution about high-density development.
"Our city is growing, so we do need more housing, but we also need to figure out, do we want to keep it small in the small town feel, or do we want to make it grow and bring in all these big complexes?" Gonzalez said.
Martinez drew on personal experience from Mexico City to warn against unchecked vertical growth. "There is nowhere to grow but higher," she said, describing how two-story houses became five stories. "It's not appealing, it's so crowded because it will bring more cars, more people, all the services crowded, everything."
The candidates also differed on business development priorities. Martinez said commercial ventures generate 75% of the city's tax revenue and advocated for proactive business recruitment with incentives. Gonzalez took a more selective stance, saying the city should ensure new businesses meet community needs rather than simply filling vacant lots.
Both candidates praised the city's Builders of Hope affordable housing program. Martinez called it "a great idea" that prevents neighborhood decline, while Gonzalez, who attended a Builders of Hope meeting, said she appreciated learning about the program's two separate components.
Throughout the forum, transparency emerged as a recurring theme. Martinez repeatedly emphasized accountability and open communication. "When you think, okay, how is this going to be perceived? How is this conflict of interest going to be perceived even if it's not a conflict of interest?" she said, arguing that transparency prevents suspicion.
Gonzalez stressed that transparency must be coupled with genuine responsiveness to maintain community trust. "If they do come out and then come and speak to us and say, hey, we should have done this, and then we do the complete opposite that like 80% of them told us to do, they're never going to want to come back out," she said.
On leadership qualities, Gonzalez said public officials "can't take things personally and you can't do it for your own agenda. You have to do it for the community." Martinez described effective leaders as those who attract followers naturally rather than commanding them.
Both candidates acknowledged they have children and demanding schedules but committed to attending council meetings, which can run past midnight. Gonzalez credited her supportive husband, while Martinez noted her older children give her more flexibility despite her full-time job.
The special election to fill the unexpired term for City Council District 1 will be held Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. Early voting runs from Oct. 20-31. The last day to apply for a ballot by mail is Oct. 24 at 5 p.m. Voter registration for the election closed Oct. 6.
The Candidate Forum in two, unedited parts because of a technical glitch by the camera. Both can be found on the Branch Herald's YouTube site.
Candidate questionnaires, listed in the order they will appear on the ballot are below.
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