Bunch elected chair of Woodlands board

Businessman who led campaign to defeat parkway bond project is unanimous choice

Gordy Bunch, a businessman and tea party favorite who has served on The Woodlands Township’s board since 2012, was elected chairman this week after he and his allies swept races for four seats on the community’s governing board last month.

Bunch was the sole candidate for the post on Wednesday, when he was elected unanimously by the seven-person board at the first meeting with newly elected members.

“It’s an honor to serve,” said Bunch, who is president and CEO of The Woodlands Financial Group. “I’m looking forward to representing the community as chairman.”

Bunch and the tea partybacked candidates, who withstood a costly advertising blitz mounted by an opposition group concerned that they were rushing to incorporate The Woodlands as a city, now hold a clear a majority on the board.

A new era of consensus?

Bunch tried for the chairmanship last year, but lost in a 4-3 board vote to Ed Robb, a local pastor and longtime community leader. With local elections getting more costly and contentious, Robb and board member Jeff Long opted not to run for reelection this year.

Robb’s predecessor, Bruce Tough, was unseated last year by a tea party-led grassroots campaign that focused on his support for a Montgomery County road bond that included a controversial project to extend Woodlands Parkway. Bunch led the bruising campaign to defeat the bond package in May 2015, and voters subsequently approved a scaledback road bond that left out the road extension.

Tough tried to turn the tables this year, forming a nonprofit that pumped at least $244,000 from unknown donors into the fall races.

Through television ads, social media and mailings arriving almost daily, The Woodlands Concerned Taxpayers accused Bunch and his allies of pushing a “whirlwind” tax increase by supporting incorporation. The campaign put Bunch on the defensive, and he spent the last few weeks reminding voters that immediate incorporation wasn’t on the ballot. He said he only wanted the community to begin meaningful planning for cityhood.

Over the past year, The Woodlands board has often split on issues such as planning for incorporation and how to address funding services. Wednesday’s meeting, however, hinted at a new era of consensus. With the defeat of incumbent Mike Bass and the retirement of Robb and Long, tea party-endorsed candidates now control six of the board’s seven seats.

Saving for incorporation

One of the new board’s first actions Wednesday was to reinstate a $2.5 million reserve fund to save for incorporation, a move that would transform the township into a city. Four members of the previous board had voted against starting the reserve fund.

Bunch said his priorities for 2017 include opposing several road projects on the Montgomery County Thoroughfare Plan, including the Woodlands Parkway extension, and addressing flooding and development issues in the community.

The new board members who took office this week are Brian Boniface, who narrowly defeated Bass, as well as John Anthony Brown and Bruce Rieser. All ran on the “Residents’ Advocates” slate with Bunch.

The bitterly fought contest was the most expensive in the history of the unincorporated master-planned community, with the nine candidates and two outside groups spending more than $350,000 combined.

Matthew Tresaugue contributed to this report.