t
hree newcomers
eek Bryan City
ouncil's Place 2
2
By Jill A. Bumby
and
Mary Keough
Reporters
lie winner of the Place 2
|an City Council election will
a newcomer to Bryan politics
se the election lacks an in-
ent.
Candidates include Randy
, John R. Powell and Lena
tnas.
■ter a 16-year leave of ab-
«£§ from the political arena,
ff Rer Brazos County Cominis-
M ler Sims, 46, is returning to
Iscene.
He earned a bachelor’s degree
I Business administration from
ag Rsa&m.
■ith21 years of business expe-
Re, he says he knows the ups
Rdowns and how to tighten the
Jt.
Rovernmental agencies are no
%li® rent t ^ ian * )lis i nesses *” h e
jl|B “They’ve got to stay within
* I Vjgets.”
Rns says Bryan is facing hard
Rs because oil prices are down
■ the city budget depends on
Irevenues.
|lew taxes are one way of in-
Ring revenues, he says, but
*‘ ave fobably no one in the commu-
igan. Mean stand too much of a tax
vick TkRase.
t of l®°jects which already have
1 Inivf J approved by the Council,
|, R as bond issues for street im-
.' Renient, park improvements
... ■sewer treatment facilities, will
rmitylRotuinued, but any new pro-
. UniR would have to be looked at
tr Coitfigand hard, Sims says.
WesItRfhoever is elected, he says, is
and t0 have to hold the line on
tpenditures.
“Rowell, 48, moved to Bryan six
nenl tars ago from Houston. He pre-
puslylived in Virginia.
, Stwfcf W Covington, Va., he was city
tieritiRneer for nine years and city
thatla|® a S er f° r one before moving
(Texas.
I yRwell was Bryan’s city engi-
jeei in 1983, so he says he knows
1 nevIm makes this particular coun-
campiii|work.
estionRowell is also the president of
ilv thef 1
J.P. Powell Enterprises, a project
management company.
Powell says he is qualified for
the council because he keeps up
with the city.
“Once you get involved with
the city government,” he says, “it
kind of gets in your blood and
you feel you have to participate.”
He said a council position in
volves a lot of research as well as a
lot of listening and it’s important
for those holding positions to do
their homework.
Powell says his campaign goals
will better Bryan.
He says he wants to make some
improvements to downtown
Bryan and work on the beautifi
cation of all of Bryan.
He says Bryan has come a long
way in its street programs and
parks and recreation programs,
but he wants to see more done in
less time.
Powell also says he would like
work on improvements to Bryan’s
irregular busing schedule.
Thomas, the third candidate,
was born in Bryan but spent most
of her life on the West Coast. She
recently returned to Bryan with
her family.
Thomas says her difficulty in
getting involved with the commu
nity is one of the reasons for her
decision to run for the position.
Thomas is a homemaker and
also spends a lot of time writing.
She was the managing editor and
a columnist for a central Texas bi
monthly news magazine.
Thomas says her ability to meet
people will help her clinch Place
2.
“I want to represent the people
because I am the people too,” she
says.
She says community concerns
include the Bryan school system,
land and community devel
opment, drug education, the care
of senior citizens and programs to
keep young people off the streets.
Thomas says she is running as
a concerned citizen and her being
a woman and being black is not
the issue. She says she could bring
a new perspective into the Coun
cil by listening to the people of
the community.
State and Local
Thursday, April 3, 1986/The Battalion Page 3
HaMnMHBHnNmHnspssRKaiBssaesar&evsRiMBHBMaaiBMMaBMaRHHi
Candidates see a brighter future
3 vie for council Place 4 spot
By Katherine Cooper
Kristi Gill '
Nancy Neukirchner
Reporters
Whichever candidate’s campaign
trail voters choose to follow, all roads
in the race for the Place 4 seat on the
Bryan City Council are said to lead
to a better, brighter Bryan.
The candidates are incumbent
C.P. “Peck” Vass and challengers
Larry Gatlin and Mike Kennedy.
Mike Kennedy, account executive
for KTAM-KORA radio, says his
main objective as a council member
would be to bring Bryan into the
’80s.
Kennedy, 25, says he has lived in
the Bryan-College Station area since
he entered Texas A&M in 1978.
“In my opinion, Bryan is still liv
ing in the ’50s and ’60s,” he says. “I
think, being a young councilman, I
can add a little bit of young, new
blood to the Bryan City Council.”
He says the main complaint he
hears is that people do not think
Bryan is keeping up with College
Station.
“Most of the nice clubs, restau
rants and new businesses are locat
ing in College Station,” he says. “I
want to try to attract some of those
businesses back to Bryan and make it
a fun place to live.”
If he wins a seat on the council,
Kennedy says he wants to start a pro
gram for revitalizing Bryan and see
it through to the end.
Another Place 4 candidate is
Larry Gatlin. Catlin, 38, co-founded
a Bryan law firm five years ago after
serving as Bryan city attorney and
assistant district attorney.
Catlin says that because he advises
people on a daily basis about their
businesses and operations, citizens
have approached him in past years
about running for city council.
Because Bryan is experiencing an
economic low, the city needs some
one who has a vision and a sense of
the future to try to get Bryan back
on its feet again, he says.
He says he views the council posi
tion as a civic duty, not a political as
piration.
If he is elected, he plans to remain
on the council until he feels he can
no longer contribute.
“I believe it is a job that ought to
be passed around to other folks to let
them have the opportunity to serve
and represent their feelings and
constituents,” he says.
Catlin also promises to promote
joint cooperation between Bryan
and College Station, if elected, to
help stop service duplications in
areas such as law enforcement and
fire fighting.
The incumbent for the Place 4
seat, C.P. “Peck” Vass, 66, says he
wants a chance to finish projects he
started in his previous term.
Vass, Class of ’49, has been a resi
dent of Bryan for 40 years.
He spent 36 years working in the
Bryan Independent School District
as a teacher, coach and principal.
Retiring from the school system at
the age of 64, he went to work at the
First Bank & Trust of Bryan.
He describes his past term as a
stimulating and different learning
experience.
“But sometimes the position is a
nuisance because you have to be
here all of the time for the meetings
and it is a person’s responsibility to
be here if they’re elected,” he says.
During his term on the city coun
cil, Vass says he has supported the
construction of a new municipal
building and a man-made body of
water to provide surface water for
future residents.
The community has been good to
him, he says, so he does his job for
the citizens, not for personal gain.
“It’s not a thank-you job, it’s a
thankless job,” he says.
Newcomer, incumbent have equal record
By Melissa Spann
and
Shelley Simmonds
Reporters
Though one candidate for Place 6 on the
Bryan City Council has eight years of council ex
perience and the other has none, both candidates
have a history of serving the Bryan public.
The candidates are John Mobley, Place 6
Bryan City Council incumbent, who is running
for his fifth term in office and Dan Bragg, a 1954
Texas A&M graduate.
Mobley, 61, was first elected to the council in
1978. He said he has always liked history and
government, which is why he enjoys serving on
the council.
“It’s certainly not the pay in it,” he said.
“People will very seldom come up to you and say,
‘Hey, boy, you’re doing a good job. I appreciate
it.’ They’ll come up to you if you’ve done some
thing that they don’t like, and they fuss about
that.”
Mobley said he is proud of the work he has
done on the council.
“I will defend any vote that I’ve ever taken,
proudly,” he said. “I’ve never voted on an issue
that I was ashamed of. I’ve never been ashamed
to take the stand that I did, and I’ll give my rea
sons for doing it.”
The incumbent said he doesn’t yet know the
extent of his campaign, but said he plans to run
advertisements in the newspaper and some spots
on television.
Mobley believes most people know who he is
and know his record, he said.
“I don’t think it would be right for me to go
out and try to beg someone to vote for me,” he
said, “and if they don’t want me, well then, I’d
just go on. But it would hurt to get beat. Nobody
wants to be a loser.”
Mobley has lived in Bryan for 30 years, but is
not a native Texan.
Dan Bragg, Mobley’s opponent, said he con
siders himself a “babe in the wilderness” when it
comes to running for councilman.
“But I’m learning fast,” Bragg said.
Bragg said he was asked to run for city council
by a number of people who had heard about his
work with volunteer clubs related to hand
icapped or poor people.
He became involved with charity work
through his church, First United Methodist, he
said, and also through the Society of St. Stephen,
a program which does charity work.
As a result of this work, he said, he has been on
the Twin City Mission Board and also on the
boards of the Brazos Valley Rehabilitation Cen
ter and the Prenatal Clinic.
He became interested in the city council be
cause of his involvement and volunteer work
with the church, Bragg said. But when he de
cided to run his first consideration was his wife
and children, he said.
“It’s basically a sacrifice,’’ Bragg said. “It’s a
non-paying job, and you still have to take care of
your job and your family.”
Because of this, many people say it’s a thank
less job, Bragg said.
“But that’s not true,” he said. “Since I’ve an
nounced for this office, I’ve been overwhelmed
with people calling on the phone, stopping me at
places, shaking my hand and telling me how
much they appreciate the fact that I’m here.
“The biggest reward is the fact that people
thank you for serving.”
Bragg said he thinks he is probably the best
candidate because he has no vested interests.
“I feel like I have the concerns of the commu
nity at heart,” Bragg said.
If elected, he will take a general approach to
make Bryan a better place to live, he said.
“Put some common sense and good judgment
into the things we do,” Bragg said.
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