Plano Mayor John Muns joins Inside Texas Politics to discuss the city’s future.
PLANO, Texas — As we head into 2026, one of the biggest sports mysteries in North Texas is whether the Dallas Stars will move north to Plano.
Mayor John Muns would love to see the hockey team in his city.
“We would be thrilled to have an organization like that in Plano. And so, it’s really not up to us. It’s up to them. And we’re hoping that they come to Plano,” Mayor Muns told us on Inside Texas Politics.
The Stars are reportedly looking at building a new arena at the Shops at Willow Bend Mall off of Park Boulevard and the Tollway.
When we asked the Mayor if there were actual talks happening between the city and the team, he told us he couldn’t say. But he did confirm Plano has made some sort of offer.
“It’s a really good offer, but at the same time it protects Plano’s community and what we’re doing right now for everyone and make sure we protect the resources in Plano,” Muns answered.
We’ll also learn more about Plano’s future relationship with Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) next year. While voters will decide whether to walk away from DART in May 2026, the city has until March 18, 2026 to cancel the vote.
The city is trying to negotiate with DART, offering to stay if the agency allows it to pay half a penny of every dollar collected through sales tax instead of the current full penny. The city would also like to get rid of the buses but keep the rail.
Mayor Muns said DART hasn’t yet responded to the offer.
“DART is working on kind of evaluating their rates. And they plan on getting back with us hopefully in early January because we’ve already put a committee together to look at alternative transit. And we’re almost through with that. And so, we just really want to see what our options are and what DART is willing to do,” explained Muns.
The mayor said one of the biggest challenges facing the city in 2026 is getting through citywide infrastructure upgrades.
If you’ve driven through Plano recently, you’ve experienced this. It seems like every major street in the city is under construction. And even when they’ve finished a street, it will be torn up again and again.
The mayor said one of the reasons for the lengthy construction is the fact that water mains have to be repaired and replaced as well.
“I joke a lot, maybe it’s not that funny to most of our residents, that our new city flower is the orange cone,” relayed the Mayor. “But I think it’s just our commitment to try to move forward and really substantiate our ability to have our arterial roads be in great shape for the next 30 and 40 years. And we realize that if you have decaying roads, especially the main roads, people aren’t going to stay.”