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    Denton City Council

    • Mayor Chris Watts



      Chris Watts was elected Mayor in May 2014 and is serving his third term. He previously served three terms as a Council Member representing District 4. Mayor Watts graduated from Denton High School before going on to the University of North Texas and obtaining a Bachelor’s in Computer Science and a Master’s in Education Counseling and Student Services. In 1990, Mayor Watts switched his career path from computer programmer and analyst to real estate broker and investor. He later attended Texas Wesleyan University School of Law, received his Doctor of Jurisprudence in 2000, and pursued a career in real estate law. He has coached students for the American Bar Association Student Division Negotiation Competition for the past several years. Mayor Watts has owned and operated a real estate investment firm for over 20 years.

      Committee Assignments: Agenda Committee, Audit/Finance Committee, Council Airport Committee, Council Appointee Performance Review Committee, Hotel Occupancy Tax Committee, North Texas Commission, Texas Municipal Power Agency, Development Code Review Committee (ad hoc).

    • Gerard Hudspeth, District 1



      Gerard Hudspeth was elected to District 1 in May 2017 and is serving his second term.  He was elected Mayor Pro Tem in May 2019. Preceding his election, he served on the City of Denton’s Planning and Zoning Commission and various other boards. Council Member Hudspeth is an alumnus of Denton High School and a graduate of North Central Texas College. He has worked in the legal industry for over 16 years and is currently a Process Service Manager and Litigation Support Consultant. Giving back to the community is a passion of his that has led him to serve as a CASA volunteer for over eight years and as a Mentor Denton volunteer. His favorite book is Joseph: A Man of Integrity and Forgiveness by Charles R. Swindoll. His favorite movie is A Few Good Men by Rob Reiner.


      Committee Assignments: Committee on Citizen Engagement, Hotel Occupancy Tax Committee, Convention and Visitor Bureau Advisory Board, Economic Development Partnership Board, Downtown Denton TIF Reinvestment Zone No. 1 Board, Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 2 Board.

    • Keely G. Briggs, District 2


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      Keely Briggs was elected to District 2 in May 2015 and is serving her third term. A Texas native born in Tyler, she first came to Denton to attend the University of North Texas in 1995, where she graduated with a B.A. in sociology and received certification for mediation training from the Alternative Dispute Resolution Program administered by the Institute of Applied Economics. In 1997, Keely and her husband, Chris, were happily married outside of the Little Chapel in the Woods at TWU. Chris—a graduate of DHS and UNT—is a senior executive for a Texas-based international data analytics and technology firm specializing in retail, healthcare, and economic development. When not seeing to the important work of representing the citizens of District 2 and the City of Denton, Keely can be found volunteering in our local schools.

      Committee Assignments: Committee on Citizen Engagement, Committee on the Environment, Mobility Committee, Community Justice Council, Dallas Regional Mobility Coalition, Lake Ray Roberts Planning & Zoning Commission, Regional Transportation Council (alternate), Development Code Review Committee (ad hoc), Economic Development Partnership Board, Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 2 Board.

    • Jesse Davis, District 3

      Jesse Davis was elected to District 3 in May 2019 and is serving his first term.

    • John Ryan, District 4

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      John Ryan was elected to District 4 in May 2017 and is serving his second term. He served as Mayor Pro Tem from June 2018 to May 2019.

      Committee Assignments: Agenda Committee, Audit/Finance Committee, Committee on the Environment, Council Airport Committee, Council Appointee Performance Review Committee, Mobility Committee, Convention and Visitor Bureau Advisory Board, Regional Transportation Council, Development Code Review Committee (ad hoc).

    • Deb Armintor, At Large Place 5



      Deb Armintor was elected to At Large Place 5 in June 2018 and is serving her first term. Deb has lived in Denton since 2002, after receiving her PhD. in eighteenth-century literature from Rice University in Houston. She is a tenured professor of English at UNT, and lives in the Nottingham Woods neighborhood with her husband Marshall and their children, Jonah and Shula. Before her election to City Council, Deb served on the Public Utilities Board and was active in the grassroots on a number of local issues.

      Committee Assignments: Committee on Citizen Engagement, Hotel Occupancy Tax Committee, Convention and Visitor Bureau Advisory Board.

    • Paul Meltzer, At Large Place 6



      Paul Meltzer was elected to At Large Place 6 in May 2018 and is serving his first term. He previously served as Chair of the Oak Gateway Steering Committee and as Vice Chair of the Downtown TIF Board. Paul earned his BA in Philosophy at Wesleyan University in 1982 and his Master of Business Administration at the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College in 1989. He worked for thirty years primarily as a new product executive in both consumer products and services with stints at divisions of General Mills and Campbell Soup Company, ultimately retiring as Senior Vice President of Product Management at Insight Communications, through its acquisition in 2012 by Time-Warner Cable. He moved to Denton in 2008 when his wife began work as a UNT professor. He has been an active community volunteer in Denton since.

      Committee Assignments: Audit/Finance Committee, Committee on the Environment, Mobility Committee.