To say that Plano Mayor Harry LaRosiliere is excited about a second term would be an understatement.
"It's a pretty cool thing. If you love what you do, you never work a day in your life. So I am not working as mayor, I am just being me," LaRosiliere said.
NBC 5 political reporter Julie Fine spoke with LaRosiliere at Legacy West in Plano and asked about his accomplishments in his first term.
"Legacy West, obviously, because it helped us land over 30,000 jobs," LaRosiliere said.
LaRosiliere listed several other job-growing accomplishments, including Toyota. But with massive growth, comes growing pains. This was a tougher election campaign for LaRosiliere, as he faced three opponents. There have also been complaints about the addition of apartments, adding cars to already clogged roads.
"Well, here is the reality. In Collin County there are 76 people a day coming into our county, so the infrastructure is a challenge – not only for Plano, for the cities north of us," he said.
He points to a 135-percent increase in infrastructure spending since he became mayor.
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"We have $220 million of improvement in terms of our roads in the last few years, as opposed to $35-36 million five years ago. So that has to happen and that is going to continue to happen. That is how we keep people moving," LaRosiliere said.
LaRosiliere was born in Haiti and moved to Harlem as a child. He eventually moved to Plano and never left. Heading into his second term as mayor, he has another big development goal.
"My vision is to expand our downtown," LaRosiliere said.
He has four years to get the project going. The office of Plano mayor is limited to two terms. If LaRosiliere wants a higher office beyond that, he isn't saying.
"I have always said an elected position other than being the mayor of Plano is a demotion, and I don't want to think about a demotion right now," he said.
