Mayor of Garland; Texas

Mayor Douglas Athas has served as the Mayor of Garland since May 2013. Prior

to running for mayor, he served six years on the City Council, as Mayor Pro Tem and the council’s appointee to several regional boards. Before serving on the City Council, Mayor Athas served on the Garland planning and zoning commission for eight years. 

Mayor Athas has for many years been strongly involved in numerous organizations both locally and nationally. Long involved in transportation issues, he serves on the Regional Transportation Council and the Dallas Regional Mobility Council. On the national level, he serves on several committees and task forces with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, on the First Tier Suburbs Council and Community and Economic Development Committee at the National League of Cities, and is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers and the Congress for the New Urbanism. 

He is a member of the Greater Dallas Planning Council, the Texas Municipal League, serving as a district officer, and of the Metroplex Mayors Association. 

He currently serves on the boards of the Garland Economic Development Partnership Steering Committee, the Executive Board for the North Texas Commission, Texas Neighborhoods Together, and the North Texas Chapter of the Congress for the New Urbanism. A strong supporter of Scouting, he serves on the BSA Duck Creek District Committee and his son’s troop committee. 

His emphasis as mayor has been to Grow Community, Grow Opportunity, and Grow Garland. His priorities have been community development and planning, transportation, strengthening neighborhoods, and municipal power issues. 

Aside from his official roles in the community, Mayor Athas is an avid photographer and created the Garland Eyes website and photo club, which features a photo per day directly linked to Garland and hosts several exhibits each year. He especially enjoys spending time with Robyn, his wife, and William, their son. The family is very involved in Scouting, the Garland Mighty Owl Band, and the Garland High Film Club.