Candidate Name: Sabreena Hakemy
Occupation: Entrepreneur and Community Bank vice chairman
How long have you lived in Southlake? My family and I moved to Southlake in 1994, so almost 27 years.
What originally brought you to town? We used to live on a golf course community in Richardson, and with all of the growth and development in the city, we soon found it to be over developed and the traffic and congestion was becoming a nightmare to deal with. We wanted a place that had wide-open space, connected to nature with space to ride horses and was away from the congested city life. Back in 1993, a friend in Southlake alerted us of a property that was for sale that was over 40 acres and backed up to Lake Grapevine. After seeing the property, friendly community, wide-open green spaces, great school system and low crime rate, there was no turning back. Southlake has been home since we moved here in 1994.
What inspired you to run for city council? All my life, my father has been a huge role model for me. Along with being a successful entrepreneur, he has always made time to give back to the community and the world. He has worked with many national and international humanitarian and philanthropic agencies, and I have seen him give both his time and money to these organizations. Seeing my father’s dedication and commitment to helping people all around the world has inspired me to want to continue the tradition of service.
I am a first-generation American, and my family and I are a testament to the American dream. We appreciate the opportunities and the privilege awarded to us and don’t take it for granted. I want to lead by example and make a positive, meaningful impact on my community and give back to the city that has given me so much.
What in your background prepared you for this responsibility? I am fortunate that in my professional life, I have done very well. At a young age, I successfully transitioned from working in corporate America to owning and operating multiple businesses successfully. I also understood that 90% of our daily lives are affected by our local government. Our taxes, roads, sewage, sanitation, water, electricity, natural gas, police, fire department, EMTs, libraries, parks and recreational facilities are all under the purview of our local city government. I wanted to get more involved with my community. I applied to the city of Southlake to serve on a local board or commission and was appointed to serve as a volunteer on the Zoning Board of Adjustment. After having served two terms on the ZBA, I knew with my background in business, finance and technology that I would be an asset to the local leadership on the Southlake City Council.
What do you hope to bring to this role? As a lifelong resident, I am passionate, motivated and want to lead by example. I want to lend my expertise in business development, finance and technology and add to the dynamic of city leadership. I understand development and recognize that we have reached our build-out capacity as outlined in the 2035 Masterplan. We need to make sure that Southlake remains low density in both residential and commercial development. I will always vote NO to apartments and high-density developments. As the vice-chairman and one of the majority shareholders of a Community Bank and a business owner, I have handled multi-million dollar balance sheets and am comfortable with handling the city’s budget of $105 million. I believe in small government and will work to keep Southlake fiscally conservative. As your city councilwoman, I want to work with management companies of our local retail centers and find ways and solutions to help retain our local business. I want to work with our economic development team and the local business owners and use technology and economical e-commerce tools to help drive retail foot traffic and make our local businesses more profitable. If our local businesses do well, this will bring in the added sales tax revenue into our city, which would help towards lowering our property taxes.
What makes you different from other candidates? What makes me different is that at the age of 36, I am the youngest candidate in this election running for city council, and I am also the longest resident of Southlake. I have lived here 27 years. This is the city I grew up in. I have a lifetime of memories here. I want to preserve the small-town culture of Southlake, yet also enhance the quality of life for my community members. The other candidates have done well in their own respective careers, yet I am the most experienced in business development, FinTech, banking and technology.
Technology is the future of business, and I have the passion, desire and experience to help the businesses of Southlake prosper just as my businesses have. I know construction and development, and we need to curb development. I want to work on maintaining our parks and open spaces that I grew up playing in. I was here when Highway 114 was a two-lane road, and I have seen how this city has grown and prospered. Traffic is an issue now and I want to work towards implementing smart traffic management solutions to alleviate the congestion on the roads.
What do you hope to accomplish if you are elected onto the council? I hope to be the voice and the representation of all Southlake citizens on the city council. I care about each and every one of my community members, from the youngest to the oldest, and I want to preserve and protect our Southlake way of life. I am here to protect the interests of Southlake families, citizens and neighborhoods. It is a special place for all of us, and I want to keep it that way. I will always work towards uniting our citizens. I will never support anything that is divisive.
I will always vote no to apartments and high density residential and commercial developments. And I will work to assist our local business owners in dealing with the changes in the trends of the market and to help them increase their sales revenue through economical digital marketing strategies, e-commerce platforms and other technology.
What else do you want people to know about you? I love to travel and have traveled all over the world and speak four languages. I enjoy riding horses, taking hikes along Lake Grapevine and playing basketball and tennis with my family. I am an expert snow skier and have been skiing since I was 8. I studied and practiced martial arts competitively for 16 years and earned my black belt from Southlake ATA Martial Arts. I am a diehard fan of the Dallas Cowboys, Dallas Mavericks, and the Carroll Dragons.
As a girl who was born in Texas and a lifelong resident of Southlake, I promise to bring my passion, energy and dedication to serving the citizens of Southlake. I want to bring in a fresh perspective and new ideas that will add to leadership on the city council. Please vote for me, Sabreena Hakemy, to Southlake City Council, Place 1.