What's New
3/11/2024
My statement on my resignation as a Precinct Chair for Collin County GOP.
I am making this statement to reiterate that my campaign for Allen City Council place 3 is a non-partisan campaign, as it should be since the position of a City Council member is non-partisan.
I filed for my Collin County GOP Precinct Chairman's reelection in November of 2023, long before I had decided to run for Allen City Council. When I decided to run for council and file in January, my name had already been placed on the ballot for the March 5th primary. I also learned that I had a challenger for my precinct chair position. I opted to leave my name on the ballot because I didn’t want to make the GOP go through the process of removing my name or confusing the voters in my precinct.
I decided not to actively work for reelection (no block walking, phone calls, etc.) because I figured my challenger would do that, ensuring her win and taking her place as the new precinct chairwoman. My focus from January 17th, 2024, has been 100% on my non-partisan city council race.
Unfortunately, a well-intentioned friend sent a text message encouraging people in my precinct to vote for reelecting me for my precinct position. He paid for the text and put paid by “Ken Cook for Allen.” TEC rules state that precinct chairs do not need to designate a treasurer or file campaign finance reports, so my friend, doing what he did, broke no campaign laws; he just thought he was helping me.
Unfortunately, this text was sent after I had recently stated that I would not take endorsements from any party and that I am running a nonpartisan campaign that will represent all Allen citizens equally. This text caused some confusion and questions, so I am making this statement to clarify it.
I won my reelection on March 5th. I am very grateful to the voters who voted for me in Precinct 219, and I hope they will vote for me again to represent them as their next city council member on May 4th. I have already sent a formal email to the Collin County GOP informing them of my resignation, effective immediately on 3/11/2024. Fortunately, my opponent in the Precinct Chair race can be made the new precinct chair by a majority vote by the Collin GOP Executive Committee.
As I have said, I am 100% committed to running a nonpartisan campaign for Allen City Council, place 3, to represent all Allen citizens. I hope this statement clears up any confusion. I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible and discussing Allen’s bright future.
Best,
Ken
2/26/2024
My Statement on endorsements
Hello Allen! I hope everyone had a terrific weekend and is enjoying our (for the moment) beautiful early summer weather!
I am running for Place 3 on Allen's City Council in the May 4, 2024, election. Under the Texas Election Code, it is a non-partisan contest. All City Council Candidates must run as independents, not Democrats, Republicans, or representatives of any other political party. While this prohibition against partisanship has specific restrictions on how persons can be listed on ballots and what political advertising may lawfully contain, I take this guidance to mean that Allen's City Council Members are to serve the entire population of our City and should consider themselves not on either a "red" team, or a "blue" squad, but on Allen's team, first and always.
Not every Candidate for such offices takes this prohibition on partisan politics seriously. I DO. I won't just mouth the platitudes of non-partisanship and wink at these guidelines, which are intended to ensure that Allen's elected leadership has one loyalty only: Not to platform, pedigree, or other politicians, but to YOU, the residents of Allen. To encourage them to consider the benefit or concern of all Allenites first and always.
As I move forward through this election season, I am happy to participate in question-and-answer forums and processes that are available to me. To date, I have received detailed Candidate questionnaires and surveys from two political organizations, and I am in the process of responding to their requests for information and perspectives.
I am communicating with you, Allen's voter, directly: I will NOT be standing for election as the representative of any political party. I seek to represent and help lead all of Allen with PRINCIPLES, not PARTY.
I cannot aspire to serve the interests of EVERY Allen resident, business, or community organization if I first choose which people I "side" with before I'm even elected. When you take a side, you must also side against someone else. Those are not the qualities of a leader who wants to serve the city.
So, to be clear:
I will not be seeking, nor will I accept, the endorsement of any Political party. Political parties have in the past and may choose to "recommend" a candidate to vote for, and they have the right to do that. I cannot stop that, but it is not something I or my campaign will seek.
When elected to Allen's City Council, I will serve as I now campaign, serving ALL of Allen, not just one party or color on a political map. I'm running to serve YOU, not myself.
If I can answer any questions you might have, if you would like to know more about my candidacy, or if you would like to join me in building Allen's future together, please don't hesitate to reach out to me at info@kencookforallen.com
Have a great day! Enjoy the weather and remember to vote!
Best,
Ken
1/30/2024
Today, I got word that I was accepted to participate in Allen ISD Project Kids! Project Kids was created to assess and prioritize Allen ISD’s current and long-term facility and capital project needs. I’m honored and excited to join 79 other citizens picked out of 190 applications to help potentially recommend a bond election package to the Allen ISD Board of Trustees.
1/28/2024
Friends,
As I continue to speak with Allen residents and listen to their thoughts and concerns about our City and its future -- perspectives that do and will continue to inform my campaign and my intention to represent the principles, interests, and priorities of ALL Allen citizens on our City Council -- a recurring subject has come up, having to do with Allen's final phases of development, as the City matures and approaches "build-out," with only a fraction of its land undeveloped or set aside for specific uses and projects. Some Allen Citizens have expressed concern that, recently, on the west side of 75-Central, development has focused on apartment and other multi-family dwelling construction and that recent buildings have been reckless and to the City's detriment. I want to address and dispel these worries and provide some needed historical perspectives, current context, and relevant texture to this discussion. Frankly, some inaccurate information is out there (especially on social media), and some irresponsible parties are spreading it and attempting to harness it for their benefit. Let's take a moment to chat about this and gain some needed insight.
Here, then, are some facts:
Beginning in 2014, the Allen City Council of that era started work on the Allen Comprehensive Plan 2030, developing it with robust input from Allen residents and business interests. This broad and deep-diving process brought together hundreds of invested Allen citizens from various backgrounds and crafted a vision of how our city would approach these critical years and questions as we matured as a community. As of its completion and after much public discussion and broad support from citizens, implementation came three years later in 2017; it was determined that at that time, roughly 80% of Allen's residential structures were intended for single-family occupation and use, with the other 19% then comprised of various kinds of potential multi-family housing: apartments, townhomes, and senior-Citizen and assisted-living facilities. Within that 19%, 14% of Allen's total surveyed residential units were characterized as belonging to apartment buildings and complexes. So, in 2017, one in five dwellings in Allen, which, at that time, had already developed 80% of its total acreage, were considered non-single-family housing. Allen's Technical Review Committee, comprised of representatives from Allen Fire, Police, Allen ISD, and City staff, determined that with the City's projected population growth, our city’s infrastructure would be able to accommodate it.
Now, let's hop forward five years to 2022, the most recent full year for which reliable data is available. According to a 2022 Census estimate (also provided below), 25% of all dwellings in Allen are now (as of December 2022) classified as non-single-family housing. That includes townhomes and senior / assisted residential facilities, so, breaking those categories down, Allen has since 2017 enjoyed roughly a net increase of single-family apartments from 14% to approximately 17-18%, realizing a similar rise in the number of townhomes has also taken place and, to a lesser extent, designated retirement and recuperation assisted-living centers. Nearly halfway to the Allen Comprehensive Plan's determinations projecting the future of Allen housing in 2030, we are precisely where we, as a community, determined we would eventually be.
In other words, Despite the protests and accusations of an excitable few, there are no surprises. Allen isn't being given over to unscrupulous developers looking to pave over our beautiful neighborhoods to construct towering, teeming, stacked apartment monstrosities. There is no insidious effort to displace Allen's longtime residential property owners who wisely devoted their efforts to envisioning and preserving the unique character of our growing, adapting, close-knit community with an imported population that would be detrimental to our city’s prosperous future. There is no conspiracy to prefer so-called "elites,"... and given the relative affordability of apartment living compared to the cost of purchasing a home outright in our area as valuations and resale rates have skyrocketed in recent years, one must wonder at the motives of hysterical interests which seek to deny a place in Allen to young families and people who want to be a part of our fair City, and may well be working hard to afford a home in Allen, as their careers and their income increase by their association with a much-desired community like ours.
More to the point, we are not in danger of becoming, say, Plano (a local City regularly recognized nationally over the past few decades as being one of the most desirable places to live in America; by the way, Allen has earned similar distinctions, as well, but more on that in a moment.)
Again, according to the Census Reporter resource linked below, Allen's current share of multi-unit dwellings -- apartments, townhomes, senior Citizen and rehabilitation living centers -- remains below the State's overall rate of 26% (we are at exactly 25%, meaning that 75% of all residences in Allen as of just over a year ago are single-family homes). Now, that one percent might not sound like all that big a difference, but let's remember: That also includes all of Texas's rural counties, towns under 10,000 population, and vast undeveloped and underdeveloped areas far outside of its four main metropolitan areas: Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and, of course, Dallas-Fort Worth.
Let's finish up by being very specific. Allen is surrounded by larger, more heavily populated, higher-commercialized municipalities, which Allen citizens have chosen not to settle in, preferring our gorgeous, intimate, family-friendly community, one with big-city resources but retaining its small-town character. Here are (once more, using Census Reporter's current data) some comparisons with five of our neighbors. Let's see how Allen, which some fear is becoming "just like" any of them, stacks up by comparison:
> FRISCO has 72% single-family-unit housing: 27% multi-family housing.
> McKinney has 70% single-family-unit housing: 29% multi-family housing.
> CARROLTON: 64% SFU (single-family unit); 35% MF (multi-family)
> PLANO: 63% SFU; 37% MF
> RICHARDSON: 55% SFU; 45% MF
Given this data and taking a few moments to review it in context, I'd say Allen is doing quite well at preserving its unique "small-town feel," particularly compared with our big-name neighbors and, ESPECIALLY considering the desirability of our community and the vast explosion of population, commerce, and interest this area has been experiencing and will likely continue to. Moreover, things are progressing very much according to plan. Our City Council carefully crafted this plan in the middle of the last decade, with abundant participation from you, our Allen neighbors, workers, and small-business entrepreneurs.
...One final point: Allen's Comprehensive Plan 2030, which foresaw our long-term needs as a city and predicted our current State, was published in 2017, the same year Money Magazine named Allen the 2nd-best place to live in the United States. The City Council of that era did not take that distinction lightly, nor did it take it for granted. Its efforts were designed to strike a balance between the revenue, mercantile, and, most importantly, the residential needs of a growing and sustaining community. It acted with both principle and discernment. I, Ken Cook, aim to return that level of maturity, responsiveness, and insight to our city’s representative leadership. Please accompany me on that journey as we orient Allen toward an inspiring, prosperous, united future.
I am all in for Allen. Come with me. Let's build Allen's future together.
Best,
Ken