Incorporation Squad leaders Gordy Bunch and Bruce Rieser have not filed their names for the November 2022 Woodlands Township Board of Directors election ballot. They will be stepping down from their positions at the end of this term. Thus starts a shakeup of the Woodlands Township Board of Directors in the wake of its failed incorporation push.

Our community has the opportunity to “reset” our board representation after enduring years of being force-fed a single-minded and ill-fated incorporation agenda. Township Director positions 1, 2, 3, and 4 are on the ballot this November.

Two of the incumbents in those positions, Bunch and Rieser, the Incorporation Squad leaders, are already relieving themselves from their positions, and that’s a good start. 

The other two incumbents on the ballot, John Anthony Brown and Jason Nelson, who are complicit Squad followers that did nothing to bring sanity to the board, should do the same. Jason Nelson has been the subject of numerous police reports by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office over the last few years, with his most recent incident occurring on September 24, 2022.

Additionally, candidates Steve Lawrence and Craig Rickard, who are running to succeed Bunch and Rieser, appear to be hand-picked by Gordy’s bunch. They have vocally advocated for incorporation and even proposed revisiting the issue after 68% of voters soundly rejected it.

Voters should do their homework to help us avoid another agenda-driven and misdirected push by the County tea parties for bigger government and higher taxes in The Woodlands such as what we have witnessed in recent years. 

Thankfully, there is a refreshing line-up of highly qualified new candidates for all four positions on the ballot that provide an opportunity to move past the ill-advised incorporation boondoggle that our community has had to endure.

There are four very promising candidates who will actually listen to the community and govern on their behalf. These are the only candidates on the ballot who have actively pushed back against the rush to incorporate, and they are outstanding community members with respectable personal and professional lives.  

I am supporting Brad Bailey (position 1), Linda Nelson (position 2), Richard Franks (position 3), and Kyle Watson (position 4) for The Woodlands Township Directors.

Yours truly,

Bruce Tough
Former Chairman, The Woodlands Township Board