Providence Village, Texas

As early as 2004, residents of Providence Village began to study the possibility of incorporating the community. It wasn't until late 2009, however, that the idea again gained momentum. A group known as the Citizens for the Incorporation of Providence Village (CIPV) was formed to inform citizens, neighboring cities, and county officials of the effort. The CIPV was led by Brian Roberson, Clint Shipp, Eddie Navy, Lisa Garcia and Phillip Mack Furlow, and included over 100 volunteers. Denton County Commissioner Hugh Coleman played a pivotal role in facilitating the process. The desire to incorporate the community was due to several factors, including inadequate safety provisions, preservation of property values, and the retention of tax revenue.[10]

Although located in unincorporated Denton County, portions of Providence Village sat within the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) of several cities, including Little Elm, Aubrey, Lincoln Park, and Cross Roads. For the incorporation process to move forward, all of the cities had to release portions of their ETJ to Providence Village. This was achieved in February 2010.[11] Organizers then had to gather 50 signatures on an election petition. On February 26, the county elections administrator certified that enough petition signatures had been gathered for a proposition to incorporate Providence Village to be put to a vote.[12] The Denton County Commissioners Court approved the item on March 2, 2010, which called for an incorporation election to be held on May 8, 2010.[4]

The Providence Village Clubhouse served as the official polling place on election day. The ballot proposition asked voters whether they were in favor of or opposed to the incorporation of the Town of Providence Village as a Type A municipality. Of the 421 votes cast in the election, 296 (70.31%) voted for incorporation while 125 (29.69%) voted against the measure.[5] Nearly twenty percent of the 2,210 eligible voters participated in the poll, which is considered a high turnout for a local election. The incorporation election results were canvassed by the Denton County Commissioners Court on May 11, 2010.

At the time of the incorporation, The Town of Providence Village was defined under state law as a Type A, general-law municipality. On May 11, 2010, the Denton County Commissioners Court called for an election to be held on June 19, 2010, to select a mayor and five aldermen at-large. Six candidates filed papers to run for the position of mayor, but five ended up on the ballot.[13] Eleven candidates ran for the five alderman positions.[14]

In the June 19 election, Brian Roberson, who previously led the Committee to Incorporate Providence Village (CIPV), was elected mayor with 58 percent of the vote. Eddie Army, Clint Shipp, Ernie Law, Mike Thompson, and Mark McCullough won seats on town's first council.[15][16]