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SOUTHLAKE — When Andy Wambsganss first joined the Southlake City Council, he was 26, fresh out of law school and single. Southlake had fewer than 10,000 residents.
Over the next 16 years, Wambsganss, 43, who is now mayor, and Southlake matured together. He is now a partner in his law firm, runs a consulting business and is married with two children. Southlake’s population has roughly tripled, and the city boasts the country’s highest median household income among cities its size, according to the U.S. Census."You don’t develop a city like Southlake without a lot of people doing a lot of things right, and Andy was one of these key leaders," said Tarrant County Commissioner Gary Fickes, a former Southlake mayor.Tonight, Wambsganss will hand the city’s reins to John Terrell. At a reception this month, council members praised Wambsganss for bringing consensus and civility to city politics. Wambsganss hopes that trait is part of his legacy."A lot of people think that’s the natural state of affairs to Southlake politics, but that is a concerted effort," Wambsganss said. When he ran for the council in 1993, Wambsganss had already done stints in Washington, D.C., working for then-Rep. Dick Armey and the FBI. He knew enough about politics to know that a last name like Wambsganss wasn’t going to roll off voters’ tongues."You never saw a sign with 'Wambsganss’ on it," he said. "It was all 'Andy.’ "Defining SouthlakeWhile on the council, he helped write zoning and appearance regulations that defined Southlake’s character.Evidence of his two terms as mayor is all over Southlake. Town Square has doubled in size. The city’s Department of Public Safety will open a new facility this year. Construction could start in 2010 on Carillon, a 285-acre mixed-use project. The city also installed red-light cameras, banned smoking in public places and approved a $15,000 homestead tax exemption.Wambsganss couldn’t run for re-election because of term limits. Terrell ran against former Mayor Rick Stacy. On the campaign trail, Stacy criticized the city’s management under Wambsganss. He pointed to issues like the city’s delay in leasing its mineral rights as proof that Southlake lacked effective leadership."It doesn’t take 14 months for me to make a decision," Stacy said during a candidate forum.Terrell promised to keep the city on course and won decisively. Supporters said the results showed that voters are happy with how Wambsganss and the council have steered the city.'Pull the trigger’On Nov. 11, 2005, an area minister told Wambsganss that a city employee was aware of financial wrongdoing in the DPS. Wambsganss spoke with the informant and notified Tarrant County prosecutors."There are those 1 or 2 percent of moments in life of clear right and wrong," Wambsganss said. "In those, you just have to pull the trigger."Employees were fired, suspended, demoted and reprimanded. The city beefed up its ethics training and purchasing practices.
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