McKinney Mayor George Fuller is new to politics, but he is no stranger to the big stage.
"I am a working guitar player, of all things. I play most weekends," Fuller said. "My wife is a singer. That is how we met, and then I picked up this crazy job as mayor in the city of McKinney, one of the fastest growing cities in the country."
He picked it up this past year, after arriving in McKinney 31 years ago. Fuller saw a business opportunity and stayed.
Along with playing in the band, Fuller is a developer in McKinney. He owns The Guitar Sanctuary and The Sanctuary Music and Events, where he often performs.
"I have been in a situation where I go to a city function, a political function. I leave that function. In the car I am taking off a suit and tie, and I show up maybe here and I am on stage 10 minutes later," he said.
The first-time politician entered the race after meeting with a group of business owners to try and pick a candidate.
"We set out on a two, three, four month journey to solicit somebody to run, to find somebody to run that we could get behind and back and had faith in. Nobody else was foolish enough to do it," Fuller said.
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Fuller says he loves the city and has the wherewithal to put many of his projects aside to focus on being mayor. He wants to make sure the city moves in a direction where it grows, yet stays affordable.
"That means being able to afford to live here, and not be priced out of your home, and not have your property tax and school levy increase by 10 and 15 percent a year. So it means making sure that we attract the businesses and commercial development that offset our residential burden," Fuller said.
He also hopes to add one of his own passions to McKinney: more of the arts.
"It is an economic driver, as much as it is good for the soul, and society and community," he said.
Fuller will take the lessons he learned along the way and apply them to his new job.
"I approach every business I do no differently than I approach every song I write. I mean, there is thought that goes into it. You plan for it and then you execute it," Fuller said.
