Toni Herbert

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Personal Information

Toni Herbert was first elected to the Waco City Council in May 1997. She served as Mayor Pro Tem in 1998 and 2000 and left office in 2003 after three terms.

Prior to serving on the Council, Herbert was a City of Waco employee in the areas of Planning, Economic Development, and Neighborhood Development. She is currently the executive director of the nonprofit Heart of Texas Business Resource Center. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Texas Tech and a Master of Architecture degree from UT Austin.

Toni grew up in the oilfields of west Texas, met and married a Waco boy while at Texas Tech, and settled in Waco—at the corner of 23rd and Bosque in the Sanger-Heights neighborhood—with her husband and two children in 1984. The children have grown up and moved away, but John and Toni live at that same location today.

As a City employee, Herbert was instrumental in creating the Brazos Nights event series; in establishing the downtown Public Improvement District, three Texas Empowerment Zones, Neighborhood Housing Services, and 23 neighborhood associations; and in securing funding for development of the Cameron Park Zoo, the Lighted Schools program, and federal Enterprise Community projects.

In 1996, as a contractor to Downtown Waco, Inc., she drafted the Brazos Corridor Plan which marshaled community support for a new low-water dam and still provides a basis for riverfront development.

Highlights of her previous tenure on the Council include securing an adequate water supply through raising the level of Lake Waco; major strides in downtown development; expansion of Cameron Park Zoo; authorization of a new, constant-level dam on the Brazos river; construction of modern sports and recreation venues; significant updating of fire-fighting equipment; a transition to community-oriented policing; shared funding of the Public Health District; and creation and implementation of the City’s housing program.

Ms. Herbert’s current priorities are housing and neighborhoods; environmental responsibility; the physical, social, and financial health of the community; and open, inclusive government.