Joe came to the U.S. on a student visa. He continued living here under a work visa. It wasn’t long before Joe realized that when he came to America, he had actually come ‘home’. Joe filed all the necessary paperwork. And in 1987 he celebrated as he became a citizen of the United States.
Joe is no stranger to hard work. In fact, it’s his strong work ethic which has established patterns for success that he’s applied in public service. Joe Chow was elected to the Addison City Council in May 2002. He served three years as an Addison city council member. In 2005, he won the mayoral election, becoming the first Asian-American Mayor in Texas. He completed his third and final term in May 2011. Under Joe’s mayoral leadership, Addison’s tax rate became one of the lowest in Texas. He cut property tax rate in 2006 and 2007, and in 2006, Addison received its first-ever AAA bond rating. Only 5 out of 1,215 cities in Texas have achieved this rating. When the recession hit, Mayor Chow had Addison well prepared with $11 million in reserve funds.
