ABOUT

Lydia Ortega, PhD, is the mayor Plano needs. Born and raised in East Los Angeles, this longtime professor of economics and department chair is a refugee from California’s dysfunctional economic and political landscape. She is a Christian, an American by birth and a Texan by choice.

Studying the works of economists like Milton Friedman, Thomas Sowell, and Walter E. Williams, Lydia brings the tools of economics — such as benefit-cost analysis, awareness of unintended consequences, the importance of individual choice, the sanctity of property rights and the rule of law — to all her decisions. The works of scholars such as Mises, Hayek, and Bastiat give Lydia rigorous grounding in the importance of small, efficient government.

With her extensive expertise in free-market economics, she has the technical experience to guide business forward in Plano not with tax subsidies but by offering safe neighborhoods, excellent and varied educational opportunities, an educated workforce, and taxes that are under control. As a now retired, empty nester she can devote herself full time to keeping Plano an affordable, suburban community of excellence.

With fresh eyes, Lydia has rediscovered in Texas the treasures that were destroyed in California. For example, Texans have no problem listening politely to a different viewpoint and then having their say on the issue. It’s called speaking your mind. Such a simple thing as an open, honest conversation doesn’t exist in California anymore. Texans also seemed to be trained from an early age to be self-reliant. It’s practically a code of conduct: Be responsible for yourself, learn as much as you can, and be as healthy and strong as you can, because the code says you have a responsibility to help others. In Texas you hear “May I help you ma’am?” almost as often as you hear “Hi y’all!”

Lydia has also discovered a unique Plano treasure: Plano is a suburban community with a servant’s heart. Over 180 religious organizations coupled with innumerable civic, social, women’s, and grassroots clubs volunteer to serve, seemingly without reservation. Whether you are unloading boxes, tutoring a child, or feeding the hungry at a food pantry, service is one area where we still work human-to-human without regard to political affiliation. A call to service transcends party lines, and it is at the core of who Lydia is as a person. Lydia knows that if we lose this community of service through bad policies, then it cannot be restored. No government or urban planner could design it. As mayor, Lydia will protect this irreplaceable Plano asset.