Key Facts
Background
Fred Flickinger has been a resident of Houston for the past 50 years and works as a businessman in the area [1]. He owns Flickinger Machine, a business established in 1979 [1]. Before taking over the firm, Flickinger spent 27 years as an executive for a logistics company [1]. There, he served as the Director of Operations, overseeing 15 locations across ten states [1].
In his community, Flickinger most recently served as President of the Lake Houston Pachyderm Club [1]. Alongside Jim and Robin Lennon, he has served on the Kingwood TEA Party Leadership Board for the past nine years and has taken part as a delegate in the district and state conventions for the previous six election cycles [1]. He is a part of the Chairman’s Circle of the Harris County Republican Party [1]. Fred has long volunteered with the Prison Entrepreneurship Program (PEP), which pairs business professionals with incarcerated individuals to impart business knowledge and offer mentorship [1].
Key Issues
Crime
Flickinger supports additional funding for the Houston Police Department to hire more police officers and address staffing shortages. He also wants to invest in community policing programs and add more patrols in high-crime areas throughout Houston [3].
Community
Flickinger has proposed disbanding the mayor’s office of education and youth engagement, which links adolescents and young adults to after-school activities, job opportunities, and mental health resources. He believes that the office’s work could be managed by the Houston Independent School District (HISD), the Texas Education Agency, or other City Hall Offices. Flickinger also supports decreasing the current 12 weeks of paid parental leave that the city of Houston offers to male workers when they become fathers. He wants to scale back the installation of bike lanes in the city as well [3].
Infrastructure
Flickinger supports the Lake Houston Spillway Dam Improvement Project, which is centered around flood mitigation. He believes that the project needs consistent monitoring in order to become a reality [3].
Endorsements
Briscoe Cain, State Representative; Constable Phil Sandlin, Harris County Precinct 8; Scott Bowen, Clear Creek ISD Board of Trustees; Mike Grabowski, Humble ISD Board of Trustees; Harris County Republican Party; Kingwood TEA Party; Ted LeBlanc, District Four Senate District Chair; Gwendolyn Withrow, District Four State Republican Executive Committee; Dale Inman, District Four State Republican Executive Committee; Robert Jeter, District Eleven Senate District Chair; Dawn McDonald, District Six State Republican Executive Committee Chair; Scott Bowen, State Republican Executive Committee Chair; Charles Blain, Founder & Executive Director of Urban Reform & Urban Reform Institute; Bill Frazer, former candidate & Houston City Controller; Kyle Scott, former candidate & Harris County Treasurer