KELLY COOPER 'I am prepared!'

Position you're running for: Prosper Town Council Place 1

Occupation: Account Executive and licensed TX Property Tax Consultant 

"I know that if we expect an accountable local government, it requires being involved and aware of what is going on in our community.
   In order to have a true voice, the city leaders need to know who I am, and that I take their volunteered service to represent all “Prosperites” very, very seriously."

• To date over the past two years I have attended the vast majority of Town Council meetings; and for 2010, more than half of the assemblies.   
• Attended many PISD board meetings
• Honored by the request of the Mayor to serve on our Prosper Town Charter Amendment Committee in 2010
• Asked by Council to serve on the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee (CPAC) in early 2011 – Aug 2012. I enjoyed and valued serving on both of those committees. 

 "Having been involved in a numerous programs throughout the community has helped me become more aware of the long and short term effects that our future decisions carry." 2010-present: Precinct Chair, Prosper Voter Precinct 178

• 2010: Became a Collin County Deputy Voter Registrar and helped Prosper Tea Party to facilitate a very successful 2-day Voter Registration Drive.
• 2011: Attended the Collin County Citizens Sheriffs Academy, in order to see how well our county tax dollars are being used, and understand the workings of the many responsibilities of the County Sheriffs Office and how they serve Prosper in particular; and to basically become a more informed, valuable, and responsible county citizen
• 2012: Attended the Collin County Citizens Prosecutors Academy.  Again, to understand how our tax dollars are being used in the County Judicial system, and likewise to become a more informed county citizen.
• Attended, co-hosted, and/or facilitated three 8hr U.S. Constitution classes.
• Facilitated two fourteen-week long, weekly Constitution Study Groups, one in Collin County and one in Prosper.
• I have gained access to many of our county,  state, and U.S. Congressional representatives.  This was done by building professional relationships with these individuals.

Why are you running?   

  "About five years ago I began to become very worried about many issues that had to do with government, debt, our future, and the future in store for my young daughters who were just beginning public education.
   I started to pay much closer attention to the activities in our country, state, and local governments." 


"Four years ago, as things continued to become more worrisome, I attended my first political rally in Dallas, resulting in my joining the emerging Dallas Tea Party."

In July of 2009 with a handful of equally concerned Prosper citizens, I volunteered to coordinate the Prosper Tea Party.

Prosper Tea Party Assembly

  Over this time, I became a regular attendee of our Prosper Town Council meetings and also attended various other town and County meetings whenever I could (such as PISD board, PTOs for the girls’ schools, Prosper Rotary Club, Planning & Zoning, County Commissioners Court, multiple town hall meetings and public hearings, and much more).  
  My goal was to get connected to the town, town members, and elected representatives who are involved in shaping our growth and policy.  
  I have particular interest in the budgets and how our tax dollars are spent.  This includes local policy and its impact on our private property rights, policy and curriculum in our PISD, and future development that is planned or is a potential for Prosper. General accountability and honesty in the open government is what We the People expect and count on. I will serve Prosper with principle, accountability, and honor."

What would you like to change?   
   "I believe there needs to be accountability and transparency at all levels of government, including our local municipal government.  
   This will be an automatic focus and instinctive commitment of mine as a member of this council, since I have spent the last several years working to achieve just that on a local, county, and state level.    
   Additionally, I would also like to see our road and other infrastructure projects be scheduled and completed in a more timely and efficient manner." 

Why are you the best candidate?    
  "For over three years I have been a citizen watchdog of our taxes and town policy and have been serving as a vocal involved citizen representative of the people of Prosper.   
  When measured against candidates for this council seat, I am confident that my experience and involvement in our town, county, and state over the past proves my qualification.  It assures the voters that I am diligent, prepared, responsible, and reliable. I am a capable and trustworthy candidate at this time for Prosper Town Council Place 1."
  "I am ready to hold the responsibility of a vote on behalf of Prosper citizens on our Town Council." with no conflicts of interest and no time needed to get up to speed.  I am passionate about protecting Prosper and the citizens who’ve invested their time and resources to make Prosper the worthwhile life style investment that all who live in it want it to be."  

Thank you, to my neighbors, the good citizens of Prosper.  I will stand for you and I respectfully ask for your support and your vote.
Please take the time to get to know me and then share and VOTE! 

Endorsements:

  My family has known the Cooper's since they moved to Prosper. It didn't take long to realize that Kelly is intelligent, hardworking, honest, and consistent. She's a great mom, good friend, and someone you can count on.
  Kelly is completely committed to her family and our community. As a constitutionalists, she believes in keeping the government small and keeping the community a part of the conversation.  

  Without a doubt, Kelly has the ability to help build a stronger foundation for our community as we move into the future. She will do her absolute best for the Town of Prosper! She'll make intelligent decisions and show fiscal responsibility that allows Prosper to grow, without causing excessive financial burdens to the residence of Prosper. Also, I know Kelly will keep the council true to the spirit of community, which is why many of us chose to make Prosper our home in the first place. There is no place quite like Prosper, and we want to see that preserved as we continue to grow.
  My husband Ryan and I believe she's the best person for the job. We know Kelly has a way forward for our community. Our family loves the bond we feel within our town and Kelly Cooper is a part of that positivity.  

  We love living in Prosper, and spend time as a family participating within the community through various volunteer activities. We do what we can to make a positive difference. Ryan is the Director of Product Architecture for a North Texas telecoms company. As for me, there is no way to “glam up” being a stay at home parent. I chase after kids, although I feel more like a zookeeper some days.
Angie Pipkin, mom of five, and proud Prosper community member. 

• Prosper Tea Party
• Collin County Deputies Association
• Jim & Dana Herblin: TX State Senate 2012 candidate ; wife, CPA
• Ben Williams: Chief of Staff for Representative Ken Paxton TX Congressman HD 70 (Prosper)
• Sgt Donald Rutledge Jr: Retired US Army, Collin County Director for Oath Keepers
• Barbara Harless: District Coordinator Constitution lobby, Retired Stock broker, Voter Precinct Chair 144
• Joe Wright: Constable Elect Collin County Precinct 4
• Shane Williams: Constable Elect Collin County Precinct 1
• Ray Ricchi: McKinney City Councilman
• Joe Pizzuro: Founder of the Providence Tea Party, Youth Coordinator for Plano Tea Party
• Lorie Medina: Co-founder of the Dallas Tea Party, Founder of the Frisco Tea Party, Radio co-Host of the Right Alternative
• Brad Chumley: Former Board Member & current member Prosper Chamber of Commerce, Former President of Prosper Rotary, President of CIM Wealth Investors
• John Hill: Prosper Builder for Darling Homes
• Bill Remington: past President of Prosper Chamber of Commerce, past President of Addison Business Association, member Prosper United Methodist Church
• Bob Luckock: Broker, past President and Board Chairman of the Prosper Chamber of Commerce, and six year member of the Prosper EDC
• Bob Ernst: Retired US Navy officer & pilot, Financial Advisor - Edward Jones, Prosper Rotary member, member Rheas Mill Baptist Church
• Ane Cassidy: Realtor, Former Prosper Town Councilwoman, Former Prosper ISD Board Member, Prosper CPAC member
• Dick Smith: Voter Precinct Chair 13, First Methodist Church of Celina, Former Celina City Council member, and Celina Fire Dept

MEET THE COOPERS

Meet the Coopers: A Prosper Family

Darren and Kelly had two little girls ready to enter the public school system. It was time to find a community that fit their plans for establishing their own family roots. They looked around Carrollton and North Plano. They looked at Frisco, McKinney, and Little Elm. They found what they were looking for and chose to make Prosper their home!

by jb blocker

 

  Prosper: With the appeal that likely brought your family too, its large lots and blossoming family friendly developments. It was already developing a reputation of high median income and housing that beckoned families just like them. Great schools and small town connectivity would prove to be a drawing card for many who wanted to feel like they were home.

   I’ve heard it said that people do not move to Prosper to leave. They move to Prosper to stay!

  You can go out of town to get away and you stay home to be a part of something bigger. A family!

  Prosper is basically at the crossroads of Highway 380 and Preston Road centered between Denton (I-35) and  McKinney (I-75). Preston Road leads to Celina and beyond to the north and Frisco, Plano, and Dallas to the south. Just to the west is the North Dallas Toll way and just south are Loops 121 to DFW and George Bush.

  This location is, shall we say, ideally situated to access many jobs and big city attractions for a broad range of the professional market. From doctors, lawyers, and officials, to service and product professionals, to retirees and empty nesters, and to all the entrepreneurial souls who want to get away and then go home.

Home: 

   Darren never really had that. He travelled with his father’s work in the oil fields. During his youth he lived in 22 different Texas towns, attended 3 different high schools, and couldn’t really claim a home town. Darren is clearly a proud Texan, he just hadn’t had any chance to set his roots.. He had achieved a respected position with his company that had him as a key onsite adviser in the operating room for surgical implants of the medical devices he represented.  

  Life was good and it gave Darren the chance to actually establish those roots. He could do his job, leave it behind to enjoy daughters Mia learning the drums and Sawyer learning the trumpet, cheering, serving in Girl Scouts, and able to be part of a school system that they could grow up with. They would be able to have life time friends and a place to call home.

  Besides having a gym membership to burn off the tension of a high pressure job, the only other thing he needed, he had. He had a wife who was a best friend, and a warrior for their family’s well being, at home and in the community.

  His income was strong, and he and Kelly were able find a community in which they could enjoy and nurture their family. Everything they wanted pointed to Prosper. And that is where they built the home just the way they wanted it, to last them a life time.  The Cooper family is blessed, and they know it.

  Kelly came from a very different back ground. Her family of six children have always been close and her parents were rocks of their community, where they still reside after more than 50 years. Everyone knew the Sibley family. And they certainly knew the twins Kelly and Katie. If you know Kelly, think stereo.

  Their hometown of Rochester is a town of about 100K between Austin and Winona, in Southeast Minnesota! It’s very close to nowhere, but close enough to everywhere, a little like Prosper. 
  Kelly’s father John Sibley served his way up the ranks of the Rochester PD from walking a beat at age 19, to retiring as the Deputy Chief of Police in their home town. He has won Minnesota State Pistol Shooting Championships and many other marksman competitions, which have repeatedly forced multiple trophy case expansions. 
  Her mother Lois was a career nurse until the twins (kids # 5 & 6) were born. It was then that she started a home daycare.  Lois often won the women’s pistol shooting competitions as well, shooting in the Police wives “Powder Puff” League.

The family camped, gardened, traveled the country by road, and enjoyed the outdoors whenever possible. “When Katie and I were little, we had a big old circus tent. Then later we got a pop-up camper, and then a very nice camper/trailer and fishing boat."

  We went to all kinds of shooting events around the state and everyone knew and respected my dad. When I got my CHL (concealed handgun license) , my parents were the first people I called!  My Dad laughed with pride and called me ‘Annie Oakley’.”

  Family friend and lifelong law enforcement officer Buck Kraeger watched the girls grow up and still keeps up with the whole family. “The Sibley family are well respected in the community. They were concerned and active citizens who were always involved in school and local activities. John and Lois raised great kids. I really enjoyed seeing the twins’ antics as they grew in to lovely well adjusted ladies.

  Kelly and Kate are identical twins who have always been driven, genuine, and vivacious. I can tell you this says Buck, “If either of them took an interest in something, they took it serious. They got that from both their parents. They have good heads on their shoulders and they didn’t go running around half-cocked! There’s a life lesson for you. A good marksman knows that!”

  Aunt Janie Hass goes on to say, “Kelly especially didn’t really care whether her opinions were popular. When she sets her mind, she is true to her convictions. She still has that leadership ability to step back, take a look from others perspective, and rethink her options. That’s a great trait to have!”

A Family Tradition

  It’s not hard to see why Kelly immediately became active in her community. She grew up with that example her whole life. She knew the importance of community leadership. She had learned from parents who were leaders and supporters and most of all, actively informed. Half truths or hidden agendas would never set with her.

  Darren supports his wife in her active community involvement. “My wife is not an Activist, she is Active! I am so proud of how she handles everything she does. She supports me, the girls, our home, our church, our schools, and the community with grace and passion. She gives Cooper a very good name.”

Lay-offs happen. It can happen to you. It happened to Darren.

   "One day, I was out of town on business when I was notified that I was being laid off. My mind raced. We’ve got this great home with a healthy mortgage, centrally located 15 miles from anywhere and nowhere. I felt blindsided! My kind of job is not easy to come by. I called Kelly right away.”

   So what does Kelly do besides reassure her hubby? Darren continues, “Kelly did what she does, she made me feel secure and confident. And within two weeks, she had gone out and gotten a job! I picked up the slack around the house with the girls school activities and Kelly went to work. Even so, she would come home with her positive attitude and help me prepare resumes and talk over job opportunities and options..”

   It might be noted that Darren found a better job in the same field after 4 very anxious months. He is now back inside the O.R. for critical spinal surgeries. “I’ve got to brag some more on Kelly, adds Darren, She still kept up her commitments to the community and especially the school board, city, county, state, and national policies that effect the home and life style that we envisioned when we chose to make Prosper our home for life…and we have no doubt it will be.”  

Collin County Sheriff Terry Box had this to say. “Kelly Cooper is a hands on kind of person.  She gets involved to find out how things work and why.  She is not only very involved, but she is also very informed in every level of government.  She recently participated in the citizens Sheriff's Academy for 14 weeks spending her time learning about every division of the Office. Thanks for participating.

Terry G. Box.  
 

  I met Kelly though a mutual friend who was actively involved in the Prosper Tea party.   Later, she joined the Prosper Rotary Club and we served our community as Rotarians.   The Coopers are neighbors of mine in the Lakes of La Cima sub-division.   

  I am supporting Kelly in the upcoming run-off election because she is a person of high integrity, she is honest, believes in (and knows well) the Constitution and will always put the best interests of Prosper Residents in first place.

Todd Baker, Service First Mortgage

Ann Lieber, an active Prosperite and friend adds, 

"I logged onto the Dallas Tea Party in the summer of 2009...When I added my zip code as instructed a name popped on the screen "Kelly Cooper, Coordinator for zip code 75078." We were both relatively new to the Town of Prosper.  I had also moved to the town of approx 5,500 a mere 3 years ago.

  Once the first Prosper Tea Party was scheduled by Kelly in Prosper it became clear that this Kelly Cooper was someone special. She came with a "friendly, open, bigger than life" energy--- that I was absolutely meant to meet.

  I have great appreciation for people of honor.  People who are genuine, approachable, unpretentious, forthright, grounded, fun loving, adventurous, and brave with rock solid values and convictions. Kelly is all these things. I love to call her "Minnesota nice" because that's exactly what she is... Nice! Perhaps "Texas Friendly" relates well to "Minnesota Nice!" ---It translates!

  For more on Kelly Coopers local activities go to:
northtexasreporter.blogspot.com/2012/10/kelly-cooper-i-am-prepared.html?spref=fb  

- J.B. Blocker is a media consultant based in Collin County in North Texas. Advertise with J.B. by calling 469-334-9962. Email: jbnorthtexas@gmail.com or jbblocker@hotmail.com.

Guitar Sanctuary in McKinney's Adriatica

Click on picture to Enlarge

Guitar players have a Sanctuary 

                                            By J.B. Blocker

   You don’t have to die to go to Guitar Heaven!
In the heart of Collin County lies Adriatica, a 45-acre Mediterranean village reproduction. Go to West Virginia and Stonebridge on the west side of McKinney.

Music from Above

   If you happen to be strolling around the stonework streets of Adriatica, while you are admiring the architecture and landscape of the inner urban community, you might hear the sounds of a guitars. 

  That would be George Fuller, the Adriatica builder/contractor/developer trying out some of his newest guitar discoveries.  
  When he is not building or participating in community development, George answers to a higher power. He plays lead guitar for a band named for his wife, the Maylee Thomas Band. The higher power is a devotion to God, Family, and Guitars.

GuitArch Angels

   There are guitar prodigies all over the world. There might be one under your roof. I’ve known people who can pick up just about any musical instrument and instantly make a connection. Don’t be surprised if it’s your son or daughter who is just waiting for the opportunity and inspiration to become the next Taylor Swift or even Paul McCartney.
   But it takes more than talent to make it as a musician. The difference in instruments can change everything! The way it fits your body, your hands, and your personality all come together when you sit down with the right guitar. Knowing equipment and accessories is a must, and associating with better musicians is the catalyst to improving your art.
  The first time I visited the Guitar Sanctuary, I was