{"id":19254,"date":"2025-10-24T13:27:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T13:27:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/19254\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T13:27:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T13:27:06","slug":"collin-county-residents-explore-political-civility-at-inaugural-collin-county-connects-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/19254\/","title":{"rendered":"Collin County residents explore political civility at inaugural Collin County Connects event"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tOn September 25, the Collin College Frisco Campus Conference Center hosted the inaugural Collin County Connects<\/a> event.<\/p>\n

This forum, presented by Collin County Votes<\/a> and powered by the Collin County Business Alliance<\/a>, or CCBA, brought together a diverse group of residents to discuss political civility.<\/p>\n

The program is designed to boost civic engagement, strengthen community ties and spark regional collaboration through open, respectful dialogue on key issues affecting Collin County residents.<\/p>\n

Former Texas state Sen. Florence Shapiro kicked off the forum by emphasizing the importance of genuine dialogue.<\/p>\n

“[Civility involves] listening to one another so we may understand one another,\u201d Shapiro said.<\/p>\n

The goal is to foster respectful, fact-based engagement among individuals with differing viewpoints.<\/p>\n

Shapiro then introduced Ben Pruett, chairman of the PROSPER Exchange<\/a>\u2014a program that promotes civic conversation and directly inspired this county-wide forum.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The Exchange\u2019s mission is] to present topics in a manner that creates conversation, and that evokes curiosity and civility,\u201d Pruett said.<\/p>\n

The opening remarks were followed by a moderated discussion featuring local legislators Jeff Leach (Texas House District 67) and Mihaela Plesa (Texas House District 70). Key discussion points included defining civility within a legislative context, how elected leaders engage across party lines and avenues for citizens to participate in the civic process.<\/p>\n

\"Leaders<\/p>\n

Key takeaways from the discussion were:<\/p>\n

Civility and disagreement: Representative Leach highlighted the rarity of bipartisan collaboration.\u201cYou would be hard-pressed to find a republican and a democrat sharing a stage together anywhere in this country. That doesn\u2019t happen anymore. I\u2019m glad to be here tonight,\u201d Leach said.Importance of dissent: Rep. Plesa underscored the value of allowing minority voices.\u201cThe space that we create for dissent is very important. How we allow the minority party to dissent … that\u2019s the greatest measure of civility,\u201d Plesa said.Working across the aisle: Plesa shared her approach to bipartisan engagement.\u201cI just tried to be as real as possible, and to get to know my colleagues,\u201d Plesa said. \u201cOnce you\u2019ve figured out what their district is like, then you can come to them with a policy issue.\u201dPublic access and participation: Leach emphasized his commitment to responsiveness.\u201cMy cell phone is on my website,\u201d Leach said. \u201cIf you care enough about an issue, I am going to meet with you. I promise you that.\u201dCall to action: Both legislators encouraged active civic involvement.\u201cFind something you want to be involved in and be consistent,\u201d Leach said.<\/p>\n

Plesa added onto that.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep talking to one another, and stay optimistic,\u201d Plesa said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have to agree on everything, that\u2019s what makes our country so great.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

Following the panel discussion, attendees participated in small-group table conversations facilitated by volunteers from Project Unity<\/a>. These sessions encouraged reflection on authenticity, listening and shared humanity. Richie Butler, founder of Project Unity, explained the purpose.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour job, when it\u2019s not your turn, is to simply listen,\u201d Butler said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to humanize each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

The evening concluded with a hopeful tone of engagement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s rare to feel heard and to hear someone you disagree with and still feel respected,\u201d one participant said.<\/p>\n

Why this matters<\/p>\n

The CCBA said that given Collin County’s population growth, economic shifts and often-contentious civic environment, the need for grounded, civil conversation is paramount. By bringing residents and leaders together in structured, respectful dialogue, Collin County Connects aims to foster trust, broaden understanding and strengthen community bonds.<\/p>\n

Next steps<\/p>\n

Collin County Votes intends to host future Collin County Connects sessions, each focusing on different issues of community importance. Residents and community leaders are encouraged to stay informed about upcoming forums by signing up for updates<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Voting information<\/p>\n

Are you voting November 4? Follow Collin County Votes<\/a> on social media and online to find useful information about upcoming elections.<\/p>\n

About Collin County Votes<\/p>\n

Collin County Votes is a non-partisan voting campaign initiated by the CCBA<\/a>. CCBA engages business leaders and fosters collaboration with stakeholders to drive regional impact in key areas, ensuring the vibrancy of the community\u2019s future. Collin County Votes does not endorse candidates.<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

The above story was produced by the Collin County Business Alliance team with Community Impact’s Storytelling team, using information solely provided by the local business as part of their “sponsored content” purchase through our advertising team.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On September 25, the Collin College Frisco Campus Conference Center hosted the inaugural Collin County Connects event. This…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19255,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[14736,14744,14739,14735,14740,14743,14737,14742,14741,160,162,161,14738],"class_list":{"0":"post-19254","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-plano","8":"tag-civic-engagement-collin-county","9":"tag-collin-college-events","10":"tag-collin-county-business-alliance","11":"tag-collin-county-connects","12":"tag-collin-county-votes","13":"tag-community-discussions-frisco-tx","14":"tag-community-events-in-collin-county","15":"tag-local-government-events-collin-county","16":"tag-nonpartisan-forums-in-texas","17":"tag-plano","18":"tag-plano-headlines","19":"tag-plano-news","20":"tag-political-civility-texas"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}