Pearland Police Department · The Pearland Police Department will celebrate Women’s History Month throughout March by featuring a few of our amazing PPD employees and their contributions to our department. The first of this series is Officer Carla Ehlinger. Officer Ehlinger is a Pearland native and graduated from Pearland High School. Officer Ehlinger was the first female quarterback for PHS and was also the first female to score a touchdown for the Oilers! Go Carla!!! She graduated from Texas A&M University with a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences. While attending A&M, Ehlinger was a flanker on the Rugby Team for 3 years. She then joined the US Forest Service and served as a Biologist and Back Country Ranger in Washington State. She was assigned to a beaver project where they relocated problematic beavers to the high country. She also completed a Wolverine Project were they would set traps for Wolverines, collar them and then were able to monitor the wolverines throughout the winter season. Officer Ehlinger also completed this same project and process with raptors for monitoring purposes. Ehlinger then spent time working as a Wrangler for the Rockin’ C Ranch in Tyler, Texas, and also worked for a backpacking expedition company in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Ehlinger then worked as Ski Patrol for Ski Santa Fe in New Mexico before becoming a New Mexico Game Warden for 3.5 years. Officer Ehlinger has been part of our PPD family for four years and is currently assigned to be our newest K9 Officer, working with K9 ATOS, a German Shepard mix trained in bomb detection. Ehlinger is also an ALERRT Instructor (Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training) for our department. She is a member of the Bike Patrol Team and is a Certified Bike Mechanic. Officer Ehlinger is on the board for the Pearland Police Officer’s Association, on the PPD Awards Committee, the Physical Fitness Committee, the Vehicle Decal Committee, and a Field Training Officer for our new Police Officers. Officer Ehlinger enjoys running and reading while not at work, and traditionally runs the Houston Chevron Half Marathon with her brother every year. Officer Ehlinger’s wife is pregnant with their first child due in August 2023. Congratulations Carla! We are extremely proud and thankful having you as part of our PPD family! KEVIN'S PEAR PLAN
Kevin developed his PEAR Plan to help move Pearland forward in keeping with the city's economic development, crime and safety issues, infrastructure, and managing the city’s budget and resources. PROTECTION One of the key responsibilities of local government is to PROVIDE PROTECTION for its citizens. As Mayor, Kevin will take this responsibility seriously. POLICE PROTECTION is vitally important to Pearland and Kevin will focus on the City’s efforts to keep a low crime rate. FIRE PROTECTION is key in keeping both property safe and threats to life at a minimum. The City has been upgrading staffing and facilities to make sure the City has proper coverage for both fire and EMS calls. Maintaining and increasing PROPERTY VALUES is important to both the City and to property owners. FLOOD/DRAINAGE: Certain areas of the City continue to suffer from repetitive losses during large flooding events. Kevin understands drainage and the importance it plays. He will dedicate continuing efforts to resolve these long-standing issues. On the far west end of Pearland, the BLUERIDGE LANDFILL COMPLIANCE ISSUES are also a drag on property values for homeowners. These issues should be important to Pearland as a whole because of the loss of property value in that area. The rest of the City has to make up the difference. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Homeowners pay the bulk of property taxes in Pearland, so it is important that we EXPAND PEARLAND'S TAX BASE by attracting clean industry and high-paying jobs. It is also important for us to DIVERSIFY PEARLAND'S TAX BASE so as not to be too heavily weighted in any particular industry. (Oil and gas is an example). Pearland has existing businesses that contribute a great amount to the overall community. We need to RETAIN AND EXPAND PEARLAND'S EXISTING BUSINESSES. One of the biggest keys to attracting or retaining companies is making sure they have an available and skilled workforce. WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IS CRUCIAL. Kevin has experience through the Northern Brazoria County Education Alliance to help with this effort. Partnering with the ISDs, Community Colleges, and UHCL Pearland Campus will be important in making our workforce the best in the area. Kevin has always been a believer in a MARKET-BASED APPROACH when it comes to growth and development. There are certain areas of the City that have not experienced economic development and the zoning needs to be looked at through the eyes of the market. Small business is the backbone of the Pearland economy. Kevin will focus on making sure rules, regulations, and permitting are done in an efficient manner to FOSTER THE GROWTH OF SMALL businesses. ACCESSIBILITY (MOBILITY AND TRAFFIC) Kevin will focus on transportation needs in the city. This will include an emphasis on both SAFE AND RELIABLE TRAFFIC FLOW throughout the city which is key to our growth and quality of life. Kevin will advance innovative ways to improve the traffic signal technology so we can MANAGE TRAFFIC FLOW MORE EFFICIENTLY. As Mayor, Kevin will work with city staff and elected officials to IMPROVE THE TRAVEL TIME RELIABILITY of our corridors. Our travel in Pearland should not vary from day to day. Under Kevin’s leadership, our transportation system will be dependable. Kevin will work closely with the Transportation Policy Council to leverage regional dollars to help us with local project funding. He knows H-GAC, and how they operate and will lead the city into the future to ADDRESS OUR NEEDS FOR GROWTH AND MOBILITY. Kevin will lead Pearland as we update the city's Major Thoroughfare Plan which will be our ROADMAP FOR THE FUTURE OF SMART CITY GROWTH AND PROSPERITY. RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Kevin believes both that the City's TAX RATE IS TOO HIGH and that its DEBT BURDEN IS TOO HIGH, and that both are huge concerns for the city. Kevin will lead Council to direct staff to get SPENDING ACCOUNTABILITY OF EVERY LINE ITEM IN THE BUDGET. Kevin led a similar effort when serving on Council in 2007/2008. As a result, they REDUCED SPENDING by $600,000 by asking two questions: Is the line item still meeting its intended purpose? Is the intended purpose still needed? Kevin will ensure that the same effort is applied to future budgets. Kevin will use his City Council and professional experience in challenging staff to KEEP THE 2019 VOTER-APPROVED BOND PROJECT SPENDING TO A MINIMUM. Paid Political Ad by Kevin Cole Campaign, Melynda Steed, Treasurer
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