Races Heat Up As Election Day Nears

KVLG-KBUK Radio hosted a forum Tuesday evening, April 13, for the candidates running for office in the City of La Grange election.

Radio host and Pct. 4 Justice of the Peace Dan Mueller moderated the 40-minute affair. Several dozen citizens showed up at the Ag Building in La Grange to watch the forum in person.

Two of the three mayoral candidates participated – Jan Dockery and Sarah Mabry. Mayoral candidate Paul “Tex” Parker did not attend. The two candidates for the Ward 1 Council Seat – Katie Gross and Sandra Hooper – both participated as well. After introductions, Mueller asked the same five questions to all the candidates. According to Mueller, the candidates were not given the questions beforehand. Each candidate was given two minutes to respond. The forum did not include questions from the audience.

One of the questions asked whether the candidates thought La Grange’s downtown was healthy and if they thought anything could be improved to improve the business health of downtown. All of the candidates said they thought the business environment downtown is healthy.

“I am proud of the downtown area of La Grange,” said Mabry. “But there is always room for improvement. If elected, one of the first things I would do is meet with all of the business men and women around the square to see what they need. We’re only going to make a more vibrant and more robust economy if we do this.”

Dockery praised the work of La Grange Main Street for marketing downtown.

“First of all, I want to give kudos to the ladies at Casino Hall,” Dockery said. “They just put signage up, and those signs are all across town.

“As with Mrs. Mabry, I want to get with all of the merchants in town and see what they are looking for,” she added. “Hopefully, we can fill some of our vacant buildings soon.”

Hooper said she believes downtown is healthy but said there is room for improvement.

“There are empty spaces downtown,” Hooper said. “We need to be careful about who comes into town. I’m not sure if there’s a development plan in place … Progress is going to happen whether you want it to or not. The idea is to get a handle on it and make sure you control who comes into your town, what kind of businesses come in. I think there is some improvement that could be done on the square.”

Gross echoed the remarks of the other candidates, saying she thought downtown was healthy but could improve in some areas.

“Everything always has room for improvement, not necessarily upheaval and complete change, but there is room to improve,” Gross said. “I would like to see all of the buildings full of local business, which would provide activities for our residents to participate in. Even more, I know La Grange does rely on a lot of outside money. It’s important to have those building full so people come and spend money here.”

Mueller asked the candidates how they have funded their campaign and how many contributors they had. Mabry, Hooper and Gross said they are self-funding their campaigns. Moreover, Mabry pledged to not take a salary as mayor if elected. Dockery said she has taken contributions from several people, including some La Grange residents and some people who live outside La Grange.

Mueller also asked the candidates about their experience handling a large budget. Mabry, a retired school official, spoke about managing an $800,000 budget while leading a program at Del Valle ISD to improve college attendance rates.

“I was able to create a team, and in three years we took it from under 10 percent (of students going to college or career training) to 40 percent,” she said. “But the year 2013, we took it to 100 percent. It was through the management and the decision making that I and my team made … With that money and with that management, we took it to the top.”

Dockery said she would work with City Manager Shawn Raborn to manage the City’s budget.

“I have not had any experience managing a large budget,” Dockery said. “It will take a lot of teamwork. I would focus on working with Shawn Raborn to make sure all the monies are spent accordingly and to make sure everything is in order. I’ve worked on a smaller scale with small budgets. I’m a perfectionist, everything down to the penny.”

Gross and Hooper spoke about their experience working with budgets at their jobs and other organizations.

“In the past, I have managed budgets working with local non-profit organizations such as the Texas Womens League and AMEN Food Pantry,” Gross said. “Just recently, I’ven been able to participate at my job and managing that budget as well.”

“I don’t have a lot of experience managing large budgets, but I have been on teams at companies where I worked,” Hooper said. “While I wasn’t responsible for the whole budget process, I was involved. I also worked in banking for about 30 years.”

Watch a full video of the forum on the Fayette County Record’s Facebook Page or on YouTube at https://youtu.be/baw5igbFQ0U.