EAST TEXAS UNFILTERED w/J. Chad Parker: Featuring Stuart Hene

Stuart Hene, a candidate for mayor of Tyler, joins East Texas UNFILTERED with J. Chad Parker for a conversation about public service, city government, and the future of the city. Stuart talks about growing up in Tyler, graduating from Robert E. Lee, and finding his calling in political science at Baylor after first starting on a pre-med track. He shares how that path led him to work at the Texas Capitol, attend law school, and return home to build a legal career and a family.
Stuart talks about serving on the Tyler City Council and what he has learned about the real work of local government. He explains how city decisions affect roads, utilities, public safety, parks, downtown development, and long term planning. He speaks directly about infrastructure, the downtown revitalization project, quality of life, and why he believes Tyler’s momentum matters as the city continues to grow.
This episode gives viewers a closer look at Stuart Hene as both a person and a candidate. He talks about transparency, leadership, collaboration with schools and community partners, and why he wants to serve as mayor. It is a straight East Texas conversation about responsibility, growth, and the choices facing Tyler in this election.  Be sure to like and subscribe for more East Texas UNFILTERED content.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

A little bit about yourself for the audience. I was thinking you and I did the same, but I went to Andy Woods, you went to Raj, you went to Hubbard. Correct. And then you graduated from Robert E. Lee. That is correct. You went on to Baylor? Yes.

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Uh I was a uh biology. Yeah, I wish.

SPEAKER_02 0:13

I mean, you're a good golfer. Everybody knows that.

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Uh I I can't I can be a good golfer. Uh, but I started out as a biology major and was dead set on going to med school. In my sophomore year at Baylor, I took a political science class because you have to, fell in love with it. Came so natural to me. And and the passion that I had for it then, I felt like this is where I'm called to be. This is where I'm called to serve. And so I switched my major, dove headfirst into political science, got a job at a law firm, got involved, volunteered.

SPEAKER_02 0:42

And after that, before you went to law school, did you work at the Capitol?

SPEAKER_00 0:45

I did. So second semester senior year, I was awarded uh the Bob Bollock Scholarship. And with that came an internship at the Capitol in Austin. And then that dovetailed into staying down there and working prior to going to law school.

SPEAKER_02 1:05

Welcome to another episode of East Texas Unfiltered. This is a special edition. We're going to talk to one of two uh mayoral candidates that are in the runoff. Uh Stuart Haney, Councilman District 1. Thanks for being here. Thank you, Chad, for having me. Appreciate it. Um, you know, we we did Mr. Nicks, John Nicks, last week, and now this is an opportunity for the people that want to watch these to watch them and learn more about you as a person and also you and your your career and your positions as it relates to this race. Sure. Um thank you for agreeing to come on here. Absolutely. You know, um I think transparency and information are really what people are are really desiring more and more from the politicians. I mean, you probably experienced that as a councilman.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

Absolutely. And in fact, just this week, because transparency is so big with my campaign and my platforms, we hosted a teletown hall this week and we had a hundred and uh a little over a hundred people on this tele uh town hall conference where people could call in, ask questions, unfiltered, where we are, you know, answering people's questions that are calling in. So yes, transparency is a huge uh focal point of my campaign.

SPEAKER_02 2:19

Well, yeah, I mean if they call in with a question, it's not like it's written down before and uh and the office people can't manage those questions. Correct. That's a lot more transparent. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

A lot more transparent. And in fact, there were a couple where people were asking questions and I'm trying to give the answer and they're trying to go ahead and ask a follow-up question as I am answering. And so, yes, a lot of back and forth uh with people that I've you know never met before and and talked with and having real uh conversations about issues.

SPEAKER_02 2:48

Well, you know, and there's also the political friction aspect. Some people don't approach the questions with with complete sincerity. Sure. Right? I mean, some people ask you questions to try to uh get you to s say something or take out a position that they later can criticize, and some people are truly looking for, you know, answers and your positions. Sure. Absolutely. I mean, you feel that way.

SPEAKER_00 3:09

Oh, yeah, yeah. There's there's people trying to play that gotcha moment uh and back you into a corner. Uh but then there's you like you said, also people that truly care about the city, about the direction we're headed, and want more information so they can make an informed decision themselves.

SPEAKER_02 3:24

Aaron Powell I mean, Tyler historically has been a well-run city, right? I would agree. Um very philanthropic city. Absolutely. Um and you know, i i it it's there's really not there's never been a whole lot to fight over uh at city government in the past that I can recall since I've been here.

SPEAKER_00 3:43

Aaron Powell Thankfully, you know, we call ourselves uh a special, you know, city separate from whether it's Dallas or or Austin or Houston uh or or really any city in the state of Texas. We kind of set ourselves apart from these other cities because of how special uh living in Tyler is and how special um everybody really works together, whether it's the private sector, the public sector, or the philanthropic non nonprofit sector. It's a it's a three-legged stool that I call it, and you gotta have everybody working together rowing in the same direction.

SPEAKER_02 4:19

Also, with the elections being nonpartisan uh and you know, Smith County politicians seeming to, you know, uh adhere to that, do you think that's led to a little or a lot more unity on the decisions made with the council and the mayor?

SPEAKER_00 4:36

I think so, because you are representing not just one group of people or one neighborhood or one section uh of the city. You're truly representing the entirety of the city because when you make a decision, it's everybody's tax dollars that are going to a certain project or or a certain decision. And so you gotta keep that in mind. You know, do I need to advocate for District One since I'm the council person for District One? Yes. But at the end of the day, the decisions that I make are using taxpayer dollars from across the entirety of the city, and that's something you got to be mindful of.

SPEAKER_02 5:12

Well, and some decisions have to be made uh for the overall benefit of the city, as opposed to um, you know, a Republican Democrat or a District One versus District Six type of issue. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Absolutely. Um, you know, uh bigger cities seem to even they bring politics uh into city government, you know, when really y'all will never be deciding on any of the social issues that that really divide the country.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

I sure hope not. And and that's what I tell people when when somebody wants us to bring a social issue in front of council, uh I I feel like we have bigger concerns and more important concerns with the city. Water, uh infrastructure related to roads, sewer, stormwater, uh, your police department, your fire department, your quality of life and parks and wreck. I feel like those are more important issues that our attention should be focused on instead of some of these peripheral uh social issues that really shouldn't be in front of city council.

SPEAKER_02 6:17

All right. And we'll circle back to some of that, the process of city government later, but just a little bit about yourself for the audience. I mean, I've read your bio. Um you went to Andy Woods. No, I went to Rice. Oh, yes. Yes. Yeah. I was thinking you and I did the same, but I went to Andy Woods, you went to Rice, you went to Hubbard. Correct. And then you graduated from Robert E. Lee. That is correct. Uh you went on to Baylor. Yes. Uh and and after that, uh, it looks like before you went to law school, did you work at the Capitol?

SPEAKER_00 6:44

I did. So I was very fortunate where uh so a little backstory about Baylor, which is kind of leading into this. I was a uh golf biology. I wish.

SPEAKER_02 6:56

I mean, you're a good golfer. Everybody knows that.

SPEAKER_00 6:58

Uh I can I can be a good golfer. You didn't play at Baylor, though. I did not. Okay. But I started out as a biology major pre-med and was dead set on going to med school. That's what I wanted to do. Uh uh senior year of high school, I took so many science classes. Like, this is this is what I want to do. But it was more, this is what I I want to do, I want to do, I want to do. In my sophomore year at Baylor, I took a political science class because you have to, fell in love with it. It came so natural to me. And and the passion that I had for it then, I felt like this is where I'm called to be, this is where I'm called to serve. And so I switched my major, dove headfirst into political science, got a job at a law firm, got involved, volunteered uh at places in Waco. And uh I was fortunate enough that my second semester senior year, I was awarded uh the Bob Bullock Scholarship. And I think there was about 12 of us that got it within the political science department at Baylor. At Baylor. And with that came an internship at the Capitol in Austin. And so I that was really my uh second semester senior year. I was living in Austin working at the Capitol, and then that dovetailed into staying down there and working uh prior to going to law school.

SPEAKER_02 8:15

Did you work during a session?

SPEAKER_00 8:16

I did. Okay. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 8:17

2005. Okay, so 2005, uh, people that don't stay up to date, our legislature doesn't meet every single year, does it? Correct, every other year. All right, and so you happened to catch one of those where they were meeting.

SPEAKER_00 8:31

I did. Uh my senior my second semester senior year, that uh internship was geared towards that session. So January to um to May. And so when I graduated from Baylor, kind of when the session ended, I was fortunate enough to be able to stay on and work a special session for uh not who I was interning with.

SPEAKER_02 8:51

That's what I was gonna say, unless there was a special session.

SPEAKER_00 8:53

Correct. Yeah. So I ended up staying down there. Um, I guess that was from June until that next February of 2026, uh, working a special uh a couple special sessions.

SPEAKER_02 9:03

Were you attached to any particular politician or were you just supporting an issue or something else like a lobbying company?

SPEAKER_00 9:10

Uh so my internship, I actually worked for uh at the time, Senator Kevin Eltif. It was his very first uh term as a state senator. And then when my internship ended, I was hired by uh the representative from the Woodlands who is Rob Eisler, and I worked for him until uh February of 26th.

SPEAKER_02 9:28

Do you remember what the special session issue?

SPEAKER_00 9:30

Oh, yeah, uh 2006. Sorry.

SPEAKER_02 9:31

Yeah. Do you remember what the special session issue was about or back then?

SPEAKER_00 9:35

I think it was mainly education. He was um vice chair of the education committee, and I remember we were focused a lot on some of those educational issues. Uh and so you know, that was gosh, 20, 20 years ago. But I think that's what our main focus was on.

SPEAKER_02 9:52

Well, you know, um I mean when you're my age, which is fifty-eight, almost fifty-nine, and you look back, I remember those old battles where, you know, some people called it the Robin Hood Plan. Right. Some people said, you know, hey, you need to fund the schools equally. You know, there was all that debate, right? Right. And now look where we've come, where a voucher bill has passed the legislature. Yeah. I mean, that's quite a difference between 2005 to where we are today. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Big difference. I mean, I wonder if they've seen, I haven't heard much about whether or not um, you know, those vouchers are working like people can actually place themselves in private schools and and and whether that's working or not. Have you heard anything?

SPEAKER_00 10:35

I have not, and I haven't looked into it in depth to see if it is or or isn't working. Um I know I'm a proponent of of our especially our public school system uh here in Tyler. I think Tyler ISD and and Dr. Crawford do a great job. Uh so I'm a I'm a proponent of our uh local school system, but I also know there's there's a place and a need for um private schools and charter schools uh as well, and they all serve our community uh for the better.

SPEAKER_02 11:04

Yeah, and even before this issue came up, these schools had had had cropped up and shown up over the years. I mean, you think about, you know, TK Gorman had been here for a long time and all science had been here a long time, Grace came along, Cumberland Academy, you know, I mean, you and then these charter schools and you know, things, it's just kind of been the evolution of education. Correct. Um I don't know what that means, um, if that means that people were dissatisfied or seeking something else, but it's happened. Absolutely. I mean, and it still costs money to go to you know, I mean, if you try to go in the private, it costs money, right? Uh but um you're right. TISD um and the leadership they've had, it seems to be they've kind of tried to keep, you know, public education going as as well as they can.

SPEAKER_00 11:55

I think so. Uh yeah, I think Dr. Crawford is doing a great job.

SPEAKER_02 11:58

I've had a great working relationship with him. And you know, does the council, does the mayor, do they ever really have to interact with the school districts? And if so, really what brings them together?

SPEAKER_00 12:07

Aaron Ross Powell Absolutely. Um specifically, one of the issues that I have focused on, I guess it's been in the just recently in the past couple years, uh, but vaping has become a big issue in our schools here.

SPEAKER_01 12:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:21

And and that is something as uh a council, you know, we could kind of help address because you have a lot of vape shops popping up everywhere where you can kind of you know do certain zoning, do certain um restrictions on where those can go, how close one can go to another vape shop. You know, you don't need two, you know, next to each other. Uh you don't need them really close to a school. And so I've been very fortunate enough to work with Dr. Crawford on those issues where we have put you know parameters in place and and I hope to continue to work with him because I know that's a big concern of his in our school system.

SPEAKER_02 13:00

Yeah, I mean I don't know that we know what the long-term health effects are going to be from that. Correct. And we may not know for 20 years. Correct. Um so to my kids who uh continue to try that from time to time, I wish you would stop.

unknown 13:12

Right.

SPEAKER_02 13:13

You're lucky. Your children are not very old. Trevor Burrus, Jr. No, they so I have a 10-year-old and a six-year-old. Right. I've seen you. And uh I can tell you, you know, as they get older, the problems, you know, they get bigger. Correct. Um good luck to you. Uh Father Hanging as time passes on.

SPEAKER_00 13:32

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 13:33

You have a connection. My son, Zach, graduated from Oklahoma City Law School.

SPEAKER_00 13:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 13:37

And so I saw that that's where you went.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 13:39

Uh he loved it there. It was great. He loved Oklahoma City.

SPEAKER_00 13:42

It was great.

SPEAKER_02 13:42

Um he got a great education.

SPEAKER_00 13:44

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 13:45

Uh passed the bar the first time, you know, including the Texas part now.

SPEAKER_00 13:49

Yeah. And so um so it's a really well-known law school in uh the state of Oklahoma. And their undergrad program is really good too. Um when I was there. Jacob Putman. Yeah, he we were there at the exact same time.

SPEAKER_02 14:02

Yeah, I mean, D.A. Putman, I know he went there as well. Yeah. Yeah. No, it's a good school. But you know, we never really talked about, okay, you got the inch uh the internship. You caught the bug at the legislature, and then did you say, well, hey, I need to go to law school?

SPEAKER_00 14:18

I had um when I switched my major to political science and got a job at a law firm in Waco, uh I knew I kind of wanted to do that. Um it didn't work out, you know, really from 2005 with working and where I was looking at going. And and it just happened to work out for 2006, um, career-wise and and kind of timing-wise, uh, and where I applied to law school. So that was um kind of the timeline of where it fell in. And then did yeah, three years in Oklahoma City and and knew I wanted to come back to Tyler, uh, doing different internships places and kind of living different places. I knew Tyler being home is where I wanted to come back to.

SPEAKER_02 14:56

All right. So you came you came back and you ultimately practiced law until I guess the present condition, which is the partnership of Terry and Haney. That is correct, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:06

So I still I still practice every day. I gotta have a job.

SPEAKER_02 15:10

I mean, well, uh yeah, and that's a good point. For people that don't understand, uh, sometimes uh being a councilman, councilperson is a thankless job, but it's also a payless job. Correct. Right? I mean, you haven't made any money from any of the service that you've given on the city council since 2021.

SPEAKER_00 15:27

That is you're exactly right. I don't get paid. I don't uh my water bill isn't free. Um I don't get health insurance or life insurance from the city. Uh I I joke with people and tell people that the the weight of city issues and the and the weight of people calling you with with questions is a real thing because you should have seen how tall I was prior to becoming uh a councilman.

SPEAKER_02 15:52

Yeah, I mean it can uh it can aid you in your situation. It has shrunk you.

unknown 15:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:58

But Terry and Heaney, you know, what kind of how would you describe to the people who are listed? What kind of office practice or practice do you have?

SPEAKER_00 16:05

Sure. So we have a a small, uh I guess what's classified today as a boutique type law firm. Uh my law partner does residential real estate, uh, purely transactional work. I handle a lot of different issues. I do general litigation, um, but my kind of main focus is on business related stuff, business transactional issues, business litigation issues. Uh I do some little um oil and gas stuff. And then with with the commercial and business stuff, uh there's also an aspect of some commercial real estate every now and then. So if you if you have a client that's buying a business or a client selling a business, obviously uh, you know, they're in a space, and so does that space go go with the business? Are they retaining the space? And so that kind of aspect is is part of it. But I would say most of my work is is business related uh and then general civil litigation.

SPEAKER_02 16:57

Aaron Ross Powell When you say business related, people that are listening and they're not lawyers, they don't understand some of the terminology, does that mean that you set up b business entities like, you know, limited liability corporations, you do the paperwork to make to give them the protections as a corporation?

SPEAKER_00 17:13

Aaron Powell Absolutely. That's that's a part of it. Uh I handle A to Z, setting up an entity uh for somebody. Um to, yeah, if if somebody wanted to end uh an entity and dissolve their entities, uh, to doing that as well. Um if their business gets sued and they're one of my clients, obviously I step in and help them on that end as well. Um and so it runs the gauntlet. I've even sat in on a lot of board meetings that my clients have. I've even sat in on job interviews when they want to interview and hire uh top-level execs and they need another set of eyes and another set of ears. And they say, you know, can you come sit on on this job interview and from your perspective and your angles, give us advice of if you think this person is a good fit uh for the company or if we, you know, are missing something. So yeah, it it runs everything business related. It just depends on the company and the client.

SPEAKER_02 18:08

I mean, would you say, you know, your business has grown as you've continue to do this? I mean, do you do you or do you have it kind of where you want it to be now with with your other endeavors like council, boards, com you know, community boards, phil philanthropy, things like that?

SPEAKER_00 18:23

Sure. I I think I'm in a good spot where I have been able to uh balance uh my time accordingly. I think if I was working for a law firm, it'd be a lot harder to do uh where I may be required to have to bill a certain number of hours. Uh I feel like I'm in a good spot where I can work as much as I want and still be able to spend time uh focusing on city council issues, focusing on my, you know, residential uh or resident concerns uh that people bring to me. Uh and then also, you know, serving nonprofit. Um I do a lot of work early in the mornings. I wake up at five o'clock every morning, and then I do a lot of work uh late at night. Uh so that during the day, if city council issues come up, and especially right now, campaign uh issues and campaign time, um, I'm able to devote enough time to to what where I see my priorities are right now.

SPEAKER_02 19:24

Well, you've you you've had an opportunity to observe uh Don Warren as the mayor during your entire tenure. Correct. So you kind of do you have a good understanding of the time constraints of all requirements that will be of you if you're elected mayor.

SPEAKER_00 19:38

Absolutely. It's essentially a full-time job without it being a full-time job.

SPEAKER_02 19:44

Right. I mean, in that people will call on you at all times of the day and um but you're you're comfortable that, you know, with your law practice and being an owner, you have flexibility to carry out the job in a way that, you know, you're not gonna be overwhelmed. Correct. Uh correct.

SPEAKER_00 19:59

If I if I felt like it was gonna be overwhelming, or if it felt like I didn't have the appropriate time to devote to it, I wouldn't be doing this because uh then I'd be doing a disservice not just to myself, but also to the city. And so I feel like um uh absolutely have appropriate amount of time and and and resources and ability to to do this.

SPEAKER_02 20:23

I mean, you also you still have to make a living. I mean, I don't want that point to get lost, is that you know, you're doing this for free as all the council people are. Um and so they still have to carry out a job and make a living for their family. Correct.

SPEAKER_00 20:37

Oh yeah, Sarah says I still have to worry about that. But that's the great part about the profession that you and I are in. Right. We have flexibility. We have flexibility, and then at the same time, I'm not getting work from the city. I'm not directing work, you know, a certain way where it's gonna benefit me or my family or my business because I do something that isn't dependent on, you know, city work or or city contractors or procuring jobs from, you know, from a certain city.

SPEAKER_02 21:08

You don't have any conflicts, is what you're saying. Correct. You there and you don't have even a concern of that because the lane that you're in in the legal profession is no way intersects with the city.

SPEAKER_00 21:18

Correct. There's nothing that I do that I would say, well, this this contract um needs to be funneled through my office so that we can review it or that we can, you know, handle it in a certain way where that it would then benefit me financially while at the same time, you know, doing something for the city. And so there's no uh no ability for me to have any appearance of any uh conflict of interest just because we do something completely different.

SPEAKER_02 21:47

Uh because this is unfiltered. We have had a history, though, uh real estate developers being uh counsel and mayor. So that is not a new issue, is it? Well, in fact, my opponent is one of those. Well, and if you go back Like to L-Tyfe, Martin Hines. You know, there's a lot of guys who have and John Nicks, right? Yep. John Nicks is a developer. Correct. Which means that there may or may not be questions about, you know, projects that have to go through the city. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Correct. And that's just, you know, that's not necessarily a bad thing, but it just it's one of those things that i is.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

Like you said, it it's may or may not, but at least for me, it will never be a may or may not because that issue will never come up.

SPEAKER_02 22:30

Trevor Burrus, Jr. Okay. And what you'd say about that is, hey, I'm not benefiting if I become the mayor. In any way, shape, or form from in my profession. Correct. All right. You know, I know you've had some community involvement. You're on the board of Alzheimer's Alliance. Yes. Um Are you on any other boards at the present time?

SPEAKER_00 22:48

Yes. So I also serve on the uh Strategic Planning Committee for Marvin Methodist Church.

SPEAKER_02 22:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 22:54

I'm also on the Strategic Advisory Council for Love Thy City with DeMarcus Pearson.

SPEAKER_02 23:01

Right. That's a citywide give back during the summertime. I'm constantly a sponsor. Yes, you are. Thank you for your sponsorship. Well, you know, it's funny how people have come up to me and I didn't know. How would they know?

SPEAKER_00 23:14

Probably hearing it on I wait, how would they know that you're going to be able to do that? Probably hearing it on the radio when he's doing his um you know pitch for these events. Backpacks, school supplies for the kids. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:26

Yeah. It's a good cause.

SPEAKER_00 23:27

And I absolutely encourage people to support it because um And this year there's going to be more than just school supplies and backpacks. There obviously you have the spiritual component where people can, you know, have that need addressed, and then there's the physical uh component, so backpacks, shoes, um, toys uh for kids, but then there's also a mental aspect where people will be able to get counseling and those types of services as well.

SPEAKER_02 23:53

I mean, I never understood if this was a city project or a private 501 that was in partnership with the city. What is Love Thy City and how does this work?

SPEAKER_00 24:03

It's it's a private it is a nonprofit. Correct. It uh and and DeMarcus Pearson is um uh the head of that. And it it's exactly what the name is, Love Thy City. We are here to to love our city and our community members that are in the city, and this is a way of providing uh resources and tools and services to people that may not be able to find it or have access to it or uh afford it, and it's truly a demonstration of how we love our neighbors.

SPEAKER_02 24:37

Aaron Powell The City's not involved.

SPEAKER_00 24:39

Uh so it is held at um WT Brookshire Conference Center. Uh there is a nonprofit rate um that people are able to rent out uh the city facilities. Uh and then um as far as a contribution from the city, I I I don't know if the city makes a contribution uh financially or not.

SPEAKER_02 24:58

I've gotten the impression from the uh podcast I did with Don Warren that the city had kind of moved out of the business of donating to nonprofits. Trevor Burrus Correct. I mean it just I I remember him saying something along those lines.

SPEAKER_00 25:10

Aaron Powell Correct. It got to a point where there were a lot of different organizations asking, and then it got to the point, well, well, how are you saying yes to this group but not uh not to this group? So there was a lot of that, yes. Aaron Ross Powell Right.

SPEAKER_02 25:23

I mean, and I can see if anybody um has ever been around nonprofits or politics, you can see how messy that could get about trying to say yes or no to somebody. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Correct. Uh and unfortunately, sometimes the easiest thing to do is just to say no to everybody. Aaron Powell Correct. Um But um you know the 501s here in Tyler, they step up pretty hard when it comes to, you know, the needs of the people that need it the most.

SPEAKER_00 25:49

I think we are one of the most giving and caring communities. Uh for sure, one of the biggest ones that I've uh had the opportunity of living in. You know, I've lived a lot of places Waco, Dallas, Oklahoma City, uh, Austin, and and Tyler, I think picks up that um that area really well where it goes back to what I said earlier, three-legged stool. If we did not have the nonprofit sector that we do, there is a lot that we would not be able to do.

SPEAKER_02 26:19

Yeah, and there's a lot that gets done, you know. I mean, I like to always um highlight what Path does only because of the sheer volume of people that travel through there every single week and get food, um, which, you know, it's I mean, you that's the basic necessity. Correct. Right. And you know, other nonprofits fill in and do other different things that that make the people and the city better. Um, but there's a lot of need and it seems to be growing.

SPEAKER_00 26:49

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 26:49

Um, at some point, you know, you're you're practicing law, you're going along, and how is it the decision to run for city council comes about?

SPEAKER_00 26:57

Sure. So uh it's kind of a two-part decision. Um when I was in high school, uh, at the time it was Mayor L type, came and spoke to us, and I remember just feeling very convicted of how look at the good work he's doing for our city, what he's able to give back to doing. And it's like I I could see myself doing that one day. Well, I uh as I mentioned earlier, you know, I was so focused on sciences and going to med school, and that's what I wanted to do, that completely forgot about it, filed it away in the back of my mind, and and that was it. But then doing the 180 at Baylor and really getting involved in political science and getting uh volunteer work uh on different campaigns uh in Waco and going that route spurred my interest back of, okay, I, you know, I I may want to do this one day. And then when I moved back to Tyler in 2009, I knew I wanted to get involved and give my time back to the city for a city that has given so much to me. And so I dove headfirst into volunteering where I could. And I got plugged into serving on the Parks and Rec Committee and did that for a couple years. And then that kind of moved into serving on the Civil Service uh commission. And I did that for uh several years prior to running for council.

SPEAKER_02 28:21

I mean, does it seem like I mean, um some people may think it's a bad thing, but i I I it it seems to be a good thing that uh the planning and zoning board, the civil service, these things kind of prepare what seems to be future council people, right? They start they start there and then eventually they're either recruited or supported to run for a district, whether it be one through six.

SPEAKER_00 28:46

Absolutely. Yeah, a lot of people get their kind of kick start or jump start from planning and zoning. Uh I I did not go that route. I'm one of the, I think one of the few that did not go that route. Uh, but that is kind of what people view as like a natural progression. You know, if this is something you do want to do, you know, maybe you want to serve on planning and zoning. Um the route that I took was a little different coming from the Civil Service Commission. That was a three-person, uh, three-person board, uh, whereas some of the other ones are a lot a lot bigger. So it's it was one of those where you, you know, you couldn't hide. You had to make decisions.

SPEAKER_02 29:24

Well, you made a decision to run for district one. Um did you have an opponent that year?

SPEAKER_00 29:30

I did. My very first race, I did. It was uh Greg Grubb, uh, who at that time, I believe, had just retired from uh being the executive director at uh Path.

SPEAKER_02 29:41

Okay, so you know you had a formidable employ uh you know opponent, right? I mean somebody who people could, you know. People knew and recognized in the community. And felt like he had, you know, served the city, done a good job because Path, again, is one of the more recognizable volume-helping organizations. Correct. So when uh when Grubb enters the race, are you a little concerned?

SPEAKER_00 30:06

You know, it was one of those things where um and I and that was in 2021. I don't remember who announced first or not.

SPEAKER_02 30:14

Yeah, I just was you know, whatever. Whenever you realize you I'm going against this Mr. Grubb.

SPEAKER_00 30:19

We had a plan and uh we we had a good plan and and we knew what our uh focus was and and thankfully um you know our plan worked and and we ran a really good campaign and a good race then and and uh ended up getting, I believe it was uh 80 or just over 80 percent of the vote uh in that race. Aaron Powell Okay.

SPEAKER_02 30:40

So that's a huge I mean that's a big win for Tyler amongst people in District 1, which is was that South Tyler?

SPEAKER_00 30:47

So it is considered, yeah, the South Central District, and the easiest way to describe it is you have the intersection of Old Jacksonville Highway and Broadway right there at uh Berkfield Shopping Center. So you take that intersection of Old Jacksonville and Broadway and just go south with it. And it's everything, almost everything, in between Old Jacksonville Highway, so on the on the east side and then Broadway, everything on the west side. There's an area right there where Walmart and Target and that shopping center is on Broadway. That is not in my district, even though it's on the west side of Broadway, but everything else pretty much uh is in District One.

SPEAKER_02 31:28

Well, that first win, 80 percent, do you attribute that to, you know, Holly Tree, South Tyler, grassroots? I mean, where where does that big margin of victory come from? Hard work. All right. I mean, you know, what you you just think you outworked him, uh, which in politics, local politics, I don't know what that means other than maybe signs, phone calls, knocking on doors, what grassroots essentially.

SPEAKER_00 31:53

Yeah, that's I guess that's what it is called, that grassroots effort of getting the vote out. And uh I I believe that's uh that's what we did. We we were able to turn out voters because if you look at the other races that were going on for City at the same time, uh granted the other two related to incumbents, and so it, you know, a little different, but the turnout in those races completely different than the turnout in my race in 2021. There was a thousand people, which is still on the low, you know, side of things that you want, but it was actually one of the highest, you know, turnouts for a a race like that in an off year.

SPEAKER_02 32:37

But back then in that race, did grassroots America, because I know they existed, did they support you or McGrubb at in that election?

SPEAKER_00 32:45

That was the one time they have supported me.

SPEAKER_02 32:47

Okay. So they supported you that first time, and then when you were up for re-election, um In 2023? Yeah. I was unopposed. Okay. So you didn't really need an endorsement. I guess if you're unopposed, you're gonna win. You're gonna win, right? You hope so. Yeah, right. And then uh and then another one, 2025. Correct. I had an opponent. Okay. And uh who was that opponent? His name was Max Stewart. Okay. I I don't recall that. And uh you obviously won. Correct. Um and you're term limited. Correct. And so it's either the mayor or bust. Well, right.

SPEAKER_00 33:22

Uh I technically I have one more year on my council term.

SPEAKER_02 33:25

Right, 2027?

SPEAKER_00 33:27

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 33:27

Okay. Yes. But I mean, as far as the council work, I mean, you're they're they're terming you out. Correct. Correct. Uh so there's nowhere to go but mayor. I mean, right now. Yeah, that's how you want to look at it. Um before we get into some of the things, um that's gonna inform some of the questions that I ask and the answers you probably give is uh, you know, you mentioned it, infrastructure obviously is a big issue in this campaign, right? Sure. And part of that it seems to stem from a 2017 consent decree that the city was placed under by the EPA. Correct. Right? I mean that's that's where we see a lot of a lot of construction in areas other than downtown, right?

SPEAKER_00 34:13

And right now some of that consent decree work is downtown. Uh it just happens to be downtown also, right?

SPEAKER_02 34:18

Not on the square, though.

SPEAKER_00 34:20

Just off of the square. Right.

SPEAKER_02 34:21

Off on Elm. Correct. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 34:23

And that and the park over there by by Caldwell.

SPEAKER_02 34:26

Right. Um so you come in, let's think about Stuart Haney. He comes in, he's first elected District 1. It's 2019. 2021. Excuse me. 2021. You're right. Okay, so we're four years from the just consent decree. When you come on council, you know, what is told you, what is your understanding of, hey, what work do we have to do in the next or actually less than 10 years at this point?

SPEAKER_00 34:52

A lot of work. Um the way I looked at it was we had uh I say we prior councils, we as a city had kicked a can down the road where it got to a point where the federal government came in and said, You have to do this, and I'll give you two options. You do it and then you pay for it, or we will come in and do it, and you still have to pay for it. And so obviously it's better if if we do it uh because then we can hire the contractors that we want to hire, work with people that we know who we can work with. Uh, but yes, you still got to figure out a way to pay for it. But there was so much in action. Um, you know, my opponent had served on counsel for uh I think it was three years prior to the consent decree work and had an opportunity to address some of these issues and some of these concerns at that time. Um, but then it got to a point where federal government came in and said, sorry, you're gonna have to fix your sewer system now, and there's no ifs, ands, ors, uh, buts about it.

SPEAKER_02 35:57

You know, I don't know what the pre um the pre-meetings from the EPA were and whether those and they likely began before 2017, I would before the consent decree was entered, right? Absolutely. So, you know, if we're talking about former councilman Nix, I think he got on in 2013, he got off in 19. So, yeah, the the legal dis consent decree is right kind of in the middle or towards the end of his tenure. Correct. But the history of my research indicates this had been going on for quite a while, right? I mean, this is m back to 2005 and and and sometime in those areas where there were overflows of the sewage and you know, people reported it, the EPA came in and it kind of all started. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 36:40

Even more of a reason where decisions should have been made to address some of these issues sooner. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:47

I mean, you know, if you're thinking about it and, you know, you say, okay, do we know the legal consent decree is coming? Like, do we have an idea that they're about to slap us because we're in negotiations with them? So we know in 17 it's coming, and we know before 2017 that there are issues. That that we are gonna have to repair an awful lot of sewer pipe.

unknown 37:11

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 37:11

And all of it. And so then the next question Yeah, all of it. Yeah. I mean, uh I don't know about all of it. I mean, surely there's some new construction, you know, that was done in the 90s, 2000s that wouldn't have to be redone, I would think.

SPEAKER_00 37:24

Maybe, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:25

I mean, yeah. But there was a bad the vast majority of our infrastructure, sewer pipes were gonna have to be replaced. Correct. Uh, and then there was work that had to be done before that could be started, like running cameras to see whether they were collapsed, see whether there was they were packed up with grease or whatever. Sure.

SPEAKER_00 37:42

And and manhole covers that had failed. Yeah, a lot of different issues, a lot of different inspections that took place where they can then divide it up into different zones and sections. Okay, we're gonna do, you know, this work first, and then we're gonna move down to this, uh, this area. So a lot of lot of different um options, I guess you could call it.

SPEAKER_02 38:02

Now the planning and thinking back then as to, you know, they knew they were gonna have to pay for it, right? Like you said, you can do it and and you can pay for it, or we can do it, you can pay for it. I mean, we knew we were gonna have to pay for it. Correct. And so the question is, when did uh the discussions begin about, hey, how are we gonna pay for this? Because it seems to have started off at $75 million, and there are some reports that it's much larger than that.

SPEAKER_00 38:34

It is. It's gonna be closer to $300 million uh at the end of the day. And and so when you look at your uh what's now called your utility bill, you see those fees on there.

SPEAKER_02 38:46

That'd be the water bill.

SPEAKER_00 38:47

That would be the former water bill, yes. It's now called the utility bill.

SPEAKER_02 38:50

All right. That shows uh that shows you who pays the bills in my house. My wife. Yeah, because I haven't seen that.

SPEAKER_00 38:57

Yeah, so it's now called a utility bill on the top instead of uh your water bill. All right. Because there's different there's different things on there, not just your water charge. Uh, and one of those being uh the consent decree uh project has a fee on there that we were having to pay because it's going towards uh the bonds that the water department uh took out to pay for the consent decree project.

SPEAKER_02 39:20

Aaron Ross Powell Okay. So um and I think that's probably uh it says compliance fee, and I think that compliance relates to the uh legal consent decree. Aaron Powell Correct. All right. But when was I mean, I guess the first time that anybody started paying for this would be that be the first time that the compliance fee found itself to the water bill?

SPEAKER_00 39:40

Aaron Ross Powell I don't know the first year that it came it came on there.

SPEAKER_02 39:43

I'm just curious, like, you know, we start when did we start the work and have to start paying?

SPEAKER_00 39:49

You know, so we're in year nine of this uh consent decree, so we have one more year to to finish it. So work started um, you know, actually digging and and fixing nine years ago, but like you mentioned, the planning process probably started uh before then.

SPEAKER_02 40:04

Yeah, I'm sure it did. I just couldn't. It seems to me that there wasn't a lot of work done on the sewer the consent decree from 2017 until sometime in the early you know 2020s. I mean, I it seems like there's a lot of action. There's been since I've been on council, there has been a lot of action on the sewer front. Absolutely. And it felt like maybe, you know, uh if you didn't know, you know, you'd say, oh, there's a lot of action, but if you knew there was a 2000 and 2027 deadline, better get it done. That that might explain the reason for the increased activity, right?

SPEAKER_00 40:47

Oh, and also it's you know, where is the work taking place? You know, yeah, you might not see it somewhere else. Right. And so that that could be part of it as well of where was the work taking place in a specific year to to have people be aware of it. Like right now, it is in downtown, so it's very visible. Uh and so a lot more people know what's going on with the consent decree work right now.

SPEAKER_02 41:10

And the, you know, and we'll talk about this different because I want to keep it separate from the water and the sewer. But the downtown project obviously has amplified everybody's awareness of city construction. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Correct. Right? I mean, that's you know, the businesses, the uh, there's been a lot of um, you know, cries of pain, if you will. Um but you know, I think people have to realize that's true uh with any progress. Absolutely. That it doesn't come just overnight. No consequences to anybody.

SPEAKER_00 41:41

Correct. And and I don't know if you want to get into detail of that now, but my office is downtown. And so I see it on a daily basis. And I live it with those people that are the downtown stakeholders, are the downtown businesses. I'm I'm right there with them.

SPEAKER_02 41:56

You're right there with Steve Barnhart.

SPEAKER_00 41:58

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 41:59

Yeah, and and uh you know, I'm sure that Chef Lance would say, well, we don't have a back parking lot to come out of the R.

SPEAKER_00 42:06

No, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:08

He's been very vocal. Uh he has, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:10

You know, and uh But he's advocating for his his business, he's advocating for his his interests and and nobody wants to go out of business. No, absolutely not. So there's nothing wrong with with him advocating uh for his business and and us as uh city officials and council members, we should be listening uh to to people's concerns when they uh are telling us their concerns, whether it's uh on downtown or anything else.

SPEAKER_02 42:35

Aaron Powell Well, right now he has probably the best reason to be frustrated because the work hadn't got to the Don Juan side. Not yet. You know, and so you know I mean I can understand that. He has a nice restaurant with a loyal following. And uh thankfully they seem to be continuing to support him in pretty large numbers.

SPEAKER_00 42:51

Aaron Powell I think um there's a lot of support downtown. Um you know, that's one of the things I'm able to do personally and and vocally, but I try to eat downtown during the week as much as possible to help those downtown stakeholders. Um if I am providing, you know, silent auction items uh at some of these nonprofit events, I make sure it's a gift card from uh a restaurant downtown. Uh and then at the same time, I'm encouraging people. If you need, you know, a day at night or if you you know need to go eat uh with your family, go downtown. Uh if you want to go get ice cream, you know, with your family. You don't have to go to the Andes uh South Broadway. You could go to the Andes uh downtown. And so I'm I'm doing as much encouraging of people getting out to vote. I mean, uh uh going out to eat downtown um uh as as possible so we can support those downtown stakeholders uh during this construction process.

SPEAKER_02 43:51

You know, when we when we go back to the sewer project and we you know we're coming up on a deadline. I mean, do you have a sense as to whether or not the city will meet its deadline in Oh, we better.

SPEAKER_00 44:01

Yeah. Yeah, we will.

SPEAKER_02 44:02

I mean, I mean, I'm sure you have information that I don't have and other people don't have about the progress.

SPEAKER_00 44:08

We get updates at council based on different different segments of the work that is taking place. And the consultant comes in and says, okay, we're 80% complete with this section, 90% complete with this section. And each time my follow-up question is, are we going to meet our deadline? Are we going to be able to complete this in time? And the answers that we are getting are yes.

SPEAKER_02 44:32

Okay, so if we meet our deadline, it's great. If we don't, is there a fine, some extension or something that we're going to have to deal with as well?

SPEAKER_00 44:41

I pro I more than likely a fine. Whether the the EPA allows extensions, maybe. I don't know the answer to that. But fining if you're not complete, yes.

SPEAKER_02 44:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 44:52

And if you don't do it up to their standards, yes.

SPEAKER_02 44:55

All right. So I mean there is really uh we have a real incentive to finish this.

SPEAKER_00 45:00

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 45:00

Um saves taxpayers money. You know, as far as the uh water bill, it seems like the the water bonds have been the only way that all of this has been funded, if I'm correct. Correct. Um I don't know. It's not from the half-cent sales tax fund. Right. Um that's kind of the issue, I guess, if if we're trying to understand city finances, like what sources do a city have to do projects, right? Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 45:24

Sure. So our funding comes from uh really two sources, the property tax revenue and our sales tax revenue. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 45:32

You're talking about the city's revenue.

SPEAKER_00 45:33

Correct.

SPEAKER_02 45:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:34

Correct. Uh those are our main two sources of funding. That's roughly two-thirds of our revenue uh are from both of those. Then the other one-third is made up of fines and fees, franchise uh fees, um, different things like that, you know, uh from the municipal government, if there's, you know, fines levied there, uh, franchise fees for uh cable internet providers, things of that nature. Uh and so you that makes up the remaining one-third, uh, which is really not a lot. And so the bulk is our property tax revenue and our sales tax revenue. And our property tax revenue, we are really capped at what we can do. We can't, we can't increase it without going out to the voters for approval to increase it. There's a voter uh approved rate uh that we can take it to, and then anything above that has to go out to to a vote. So our property tax uh rate and revenue is fixed. It's pretty not not really fixed, but ballparking-wise, you know where it's gonna be. It's uh you know, you get your uh appraised rates from the Smith County Appraisal District, then you can apply that and say, okay, here's where our city property tax rate is gonna be, knowing what the voter approved rate is, and and you get that amount. Uh, and so you kind of kind of pinpoint it right now uh for the 2025-2026 budget. Uh it was roughly $32 million, um, plus or minus a little bit uh for the the property tax revenue. And if you look at it by departments, you think, oh, well, that you know, that's a lot of property tax revenue. But at the end of the day, it's not. Our police department alone, their budget uh $39 million. So our property tax revenue doesn't even pay for the police department. For the police department.

SPEAKER_02 47:32

Um Yeah, I mean people have suggested that Tyler's tax rate was always low relative to other municipality cities. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 47:41

So we we have the lowest city property tax rate in the state of Texas for any city that has 10,000 or more people.

SPEAKER_02 47:49

All right. So we have limited resources compared to other cities of comparable size. Aaron Powell Correct.

SPEAKER_00 47:56

Um Which is why I'm a big proponent of if we are wanting to fund more projects, do more things, you know, so you're not raising property taxes on people, so you're not, you know, adding a lot of extra fines or fees everywhere. Where does that come from? My philosophy uh is increasing our sales tax base. How can we increase our sales tax base? And to do that, we gotta have you know things for people to do here where people not just in Tyler, but people from out of Tyler are coming here to shop, to eat, to stay, because that's how we are increasing our sales tax revenue at that point. And if you increase the sales tax revenue, you're spreading out that that pie amongst more people where the burden isn't so much on those property tax owners.

SPEAKER_02 48:53

Yeah, you know, it's kind of a double-edged sword, I guess. It is. Because, you know, with that comes a lot of traffic and a lot of wear and tear on infrastructure, roads, right? So I mean it's um but with regard to the water, the utility department, um you know, was there a decision made to take out bonds and to put all of the expense of this legal consent decree in the water department as opposed to using funds from half cents or or or something else?

SPEAKER_00 49:23

Aaron Ross Powell So the the funds aren't there from anywhere else. And if you wanted to have different sources of revenue to fund it, like if you wanted a a general obligation debt, you had to go out to the voters. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Right.

SPEAKER_02 49:37

I mean, I was about to say, you know, you could go, the city could seek a general obligation bond. And for people listening that say um, you know, that should have been done as opposed to it be all in the water department, they need to understand probably that in reality that bond would have to pass. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 49:54

Correct. So what happens if it doesn't pass? How are you going to fund it? Right. I mean, and thankfully, Tyler has no general obligation debt. We we have no general obligation bonds. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 50:03

Right. That was kind of the impetus behind the half-cent sales tax when Kevin Eltife uh lobbied for it. And he did meet resistance from grassroots, I recall, when he pursued that half-cent sales tax increase. Trevor Burrus, Jr. I I maybe he did. I I don't know. Well, I was there and I I remember, and uh but I don't know how the city would function today.

SPEAKER_00 50:28

Without it.

SPEAKER_02 50:29

I mean, if we're if people are honest instead of um issue-driven or just here to criticize and not to solve problems. Correct. I mean, one has to ask himself, if we don't have the half-cent sales tax, I mean, what do the city services look like? Yeah, right now.

SPEAKER_00 50:45

Nothing. Bare minimum, yeah. If we didn't have that, there's a a lot of stuff uh we could not do. We couldn't do capital improvements at our water treatment facility plants, at our wastewater uh treatment uh plants, um at parks. Um, the parks are done, right? So there's a couple left. Uh so um uh the there's a master plan for the parks, and the next step once we get finished working on the parks that we are working on is uh like Golden Road Park uh would be at the end of the year.

SPEAKER_02 51:22

Well, people are gonna be glad to hear that. I know, right? I tell you what, whoever's in that district has been worn out about that Golden Road Park. Correct. If I had to guess. Correct. Because I mean my boys we played over there. Yeah. And that's the only one most run down.

SPEAKER_00 51:35

Yeah. Right? So that the goal is to address those issues at the end of this year. That's kind of the next step in that park master plan where we will redo bleachers, redo uh seating, add uh shading options, redo the restrooms, uh, and redo some fencing uh for phase one of that project.

SPEAKER_02 51:55

Aaron Powell And I mean, shout out to Don Warren, because truly, uh none of these parks, this probably would not have been a priority for anyone else other than Don.

SPEAKER_00 52:04

Don has been great at spearheading um the focus and the time and attention into these issues uh because quality of life is so important. Yes, it's it's important to Don. Obviously, you can see that in his track record uh as mayor, but when you look at surveys uh from people that live in Tyler, when you look at surveys from people that are moving to Tyler, and when you look at surveys for businesses that are thinking about relocating their business or opening up a new um office or a new plant for their business, quality of life consistently ranks at one of the top two issues that people look at when deciding where to go. Uh and these employers say, well, that's great. I can move my business to XYZ City. What's there to do for my employees? Are they gonna like living in this city?

SPEAKER_02 53:02

What are the schools like?

SPEAKER_00 53:03

Correct. And so quality of life is huge.

SPEAKER_02 53:06

Um, yeah, and I agree with that. I mean, you know, some things, you know, government can't just be what is the perfect business decision without any contemplation of the human effect. Correct. Right? I mean, some contemplation has to be correct. People that are less fortunate need to have there need to be alternatives that are free or very cheap for people to have, you know, experiences that affect their quality of life.

SPEAKER_00 53:32

Yeah. Our our park system is is great here with all the park options that we have and being able to redo parks all across town benefits everybody. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 53:42

All right. So we're gonna get those done. And and that'll kind of be, you know, if people are if they're more open-minded or broad thinking, you know, um if we just stayed on the course of straight business decisions and then we looked up 20 years from now, you know, we might have rundown parks. We might, you know, there might have been a lot of things about the quality of life here that have gone d dramatically down. Could be, yeah, absolutely. Um we're kind of getting the parks behind us, uh, which kind of leads us to the downtown project, right?

SPEAKER_00 54:13

Because um, I think that's one of the biggest um factors that differentiate me and my opponent. He is against the downtown revitalization project, and I am a huge proponent of our downtown revitalization project.

SPEAKER_02 54:31

I mean, to his defense, he says yes, we have to finish it.

SPEAKER_00 54:35

Well, that's what he he may say that, but if you actually look at his voting record, he voted no on it twice.

SPEAKER_02 54:42

He was on planning and zoning.

SPEAKER_00 54:44

He was on half-cent sales tax.

SPEAKER_02 54:45

Okay. Uh uh, so there was some type of vote where where the issue first arose that said, hey, we're talking revitalization. Uh new courthouse is coming. Right? Correct. The new courthouse was already coming.

SPEAKER_00 54:59

Correct. That's uh and that's a county pro just to make it clear between that's a county project.

SPEAKER_02 55:05

Because it's a county courthouse on the county square. Correct. Which is why um, you know, the collaboration between the city and the county was so important when it has to do with downtown. Absolutely. Because if if they were fighting and wouldn't agree on anything.

SPEAKER_00 55:21

Absolutely. We couldn't be doing the work that we are doing on the other side of the square.

SPEAKER_02 55:26

Now Um former Councilman Nick's complaints about the uh split that the uh the uh the county got sixty percent of the revenue related to that and the city only got forty percent. Uh he brought this up to me when I talked to him. It was something about um the ratio that the city had agreed to. Do you know what I'm talking about?

SPEAKER_00 55:47

What f split on what, though? For what revenue was the right thing?

SPEAKER_02 55:50

I don't know if he was talking about like a red dirt festival or some type of uh thing where they rented and had it downtown and it made some money. I have no idea what he's talking about.

SPEAKER_00 56:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 56:00

Well, I didn't know anything about it to ask him anything other than that's what he said. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 56:04

I do know red dirt this past weekend was not uh downtown, so I I don't know if that's what he was talking about, because that was at the East Texas State Fairgrounds. Yeah, but uh so I don't know what he's talking about.

SPEAKER_02 56:15

I don't think he meant this year because obviously it'd be tough to be down there because you're literally in red dirt. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 56:20

Yes, you are.

SPEAKER_02 56:22

Um You know, uh one of his criticisms I recall was, you know, the size of the street lanes in front of the co you know, is Broadway narrowed. Yeah. So he said, hey, you know, it's supposed to be for fire trucks and this and that, and and uh it four lanes to two lane is a bad idea.

SPEAKER_00 56:38

And you know, I don't know what the design was or is, but I mean if you have any comments on it, feel free to specifically design to go from four lanes to two lanes right there by the square, uh, and and a little bit north of it, and a little bit south of it. Because we actually took time to interview and ask all the downtown stakeholders, what do you want? You know, this is your area. We want you involved in the decision making. And then we brought in outside consultants. What are your recommendations? What are you seeing in other downtowns that are doing similar type projects and have done similar type projects? And unanimously it was we want fewer lanes coming through downtown because the goal is twofold. Have more people stop and so make it a destination where you're coming to downtown and you're staying there to eat or you're staying there to shop. You're not passing through. And then with that is a safety aspect, you're slowing traffic down because you want it to be more pedestrian friendly. You want it to be um have more walkability. And to do that, you got to slow the traffic down uh through downtown. And so we brought in engineers and consultants and professionals to look at this, and unanimously they said, yes, four lanes down to two lanes. And so he could get up on his soapbox and say, well, it shouldn't be two lanes, but he wasn't part of that process of looking at the details and hearing the downtown stakeholder say, we want slower traffic, we want it more pedestrian-friendly, we want people to treat this as a destination where they're coming here to eat and to shop and to stay.

SPEAKER_02 58:25

Well, ultimately, uh someone has to make a decision, right? I mean, people can be against things or for things, but I mean, the city um decided how they were gonna do it. Correct. And that's how it's going to get done. Correct. And, you know, I think everybody is uh excited because everybody knows it's gonna be nice when when it's finished, right? Absolutely. Um it'll it'll kind of reflect, you know, um the majesty of this city with its downtown, which has never reflected what Tyler really was. Right. I mean, it's like you were like, ah, what is this?

SPEAKER_00 58:59

You know, I mean, um so I classify it, I I tell people having a sense of pride in your city is a great thing. And that downtown component, that downtown aspect is really the heartbeat of our city. And when you have pride in the heartbeat and your heartbeat is thriving, it reverberates out from there and helps all other aspects of the city, uh, all other corners of the city. And it's great to see the work that we are doing where we are taking pride in revitalizing our core and our heartbeat of our city.

SPEAKER_02 59:37

I don't know this, but I would think that, you know, a revitalized downtown would be more likely to attract a luxury hotel such as the the Valencia Group versus a dilapidated, not refurbished downtown, right?

SPEAKER_00 59:56

100% correct. When they um when they were looking at Tyler in downtown, that that was absolutely a factor. What what are y'all doing? Where is downtown going? Because if not, then yeah, why would they want to be downtown? Why would they want to be a part of that process if it was going to continue to be neglected and ignored? Nobody would want to be there.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:20

Well, and and so, you know, you may know you probably know more about the pro uh, you know, the progress of that project. I mean, yeah, uh can we say unequivocally, they are coming. This is moving forward. Aaron Powell 100%.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:35

Yeah, they they expect to break ground, start construction in January of 2027. So just a couple weeks ago, they had the uh ribbon cutting ceremony for that. They wanted to do that prior to um breaking ground uh in honor of Mayor Warren because he was so instrumental and getting them to come to Tyler. It was essentially a cold call of him calling the ownership saying, here's what we're planning on doing with downtown, here's where uh a need exists. Can you come, you know, look at Tyler, Texas? Can you come consider Tyler for your next market? And when they came and met with him, um, obviously they fell in love with Tyler and and and you could kind of see, you know, where that project is going now. And so for them, recognizing how instrumental Mayor Warren was with this project, they wanted to do something special for him. And so they did the, you know, ribbon cutting uh prior to him being termed out of office. And that was just a few weeks ago.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:35

Aaron Ross Powell Yeah, Don told that story on the podcast. The other thing that I wonder about when when we hear people explain his impact on the downtown project is, you know, when you become mayor, uh you can you can set an agenda for your mayorship. Correct. And uh but you have to get people on board. Correct. Right? And because he wanted it, I mean, he did all these things to get them to come, and that culminated with uh what I don't think is controversial at all, but some people do, and that's a tax abatement. Correct. Right? I mean, people go, uh, a tax abatement.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:10

But I don't think it should be controversial either. The way the way I look at it is on a, you know, take a vacant piece of property, for example, you're getting, you know, a de minimis um property tax revenue from that piece of property. You're obviously getting no sales tax revenue because there's no business there.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:29

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:30

And so, you know, the little that you are getting now, why not make it that much more down the road? And so you're giving up a little bit to have an exponential amount later. Uh I mean, I think it's I I think it's a no-brainer.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:45

I do too.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:47

And but you're right, there are some people that that disagree with that.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:49

Well, I mean, I've talked to Scott Martinez about this issue, and he's fully on board. It is. He is. It is it is like when you give a 50 percent tax abatement for a hotel, um, you weren't going to have any of that revenue anyway. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Right. And so you give up half of the project that would not have otherwise been there. Correct. And then after 10 years, you've got the full revenue. Correct. And I just don't understand where people could possibly be coming from to say, you know, we'd rather have it a vacant piece of property where we're getting yeah, nothing.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:23

Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:23

And the other criticism, and I asked Councilman Nix about this, and you know, I was like, look, I don't think the city gave Bass Pro Shop any abatement. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:33

They got some sales tax uh rebates. Did they?

SPEAKER_02 1:03:35

Yes. Uh it wasn't anything like the Valencia, though, was it?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:39

Aaron Powell No, because Valencia is getting uh also some of that alcohol tax uh and the hot tax fund. They're getting some rebates there uh at the same time.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:47

There are so many taxes and funds. I can't keep up with it. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Greg. I mean, John Nick says y'all were trying to feed people to death, you know, like the fees that you talked about, one-third of the budget. Right. His thing seemed to be, if I recall, that the fees taken by the city should match the expenses, okay? So it seemed to be an argument that the fees should not make a profit or be profitable. I mean, what what do you say about that?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:13

So I th I think where he is addressing the fees is on the utility bill, on the on the water bill itself. And what he wants to do has already been done. He wants to what he is talking about changing is our rate structure for the water rates, which we have already done.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:33

Aaron Powell Okay, so the water rate has been changed?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:35

Correct.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:35

When was it changed?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:36

It started in 2022, and it's a five-year process, and so we are finishing that now. But we used to be under a what's called a declining rate structure. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:46

Which he was very critical of that because he suggested this, and I had never heard this before, that you could actually use more water than your neighbors, but because of declining charges, your bill could be less.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:58

And people thought, well, how does that you know support conservation or even your bill wouldn't be less, but that rate you're getting charged for the the higher volumes a gallon of water. Correct. That rate would be less. Obviously, you since you're still using a lot of water, your bill would be more than your neighbor, but that rate would be less than what your neighbor's rate is for those extra extra gallons. And so we have now gone to a volumetric rate where everybody is paying the same rate, no matter how many gallons you use. And so it it promotes conservation. Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:33

Or obviously, well, people does not feel like they can just waste water.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:37

Correct. I'm not going to run my sprinkler system 24 hours a day.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:40

Seven days a week.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:40

Correct. And so it it promotes conservation and then also somebody that, you know, maybe on a fixed income or or a lower income isn't disproportionately um having to pay a higher rate because they're using less water.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:58

Right. I mean, that was always my concern when I begin to understand the issue is that, you know, fixed income people are retired people. Correct. Social Security checks, retirement, right? Also people that are of less means. Correct. And so the water bill, you know, could really hurt people disproportionately. Correct. Right? Like I might not it might not phase me. But, you know, an older lady, it might phase her. Are you saying that, you know, as this 2022 rate change moves forward that there'll be any relief as far as what person would pay? Is it help there?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:36

So the the relief there is in uh the how the rate is structured and how it is billed, yes. As far as, you know, if your utility bill goes down or not, that's dependent on on other charges. You know, for example, like we talked about earlier, that consent decree fee is on there and that is that is going to be on there. And depending on, you know, uh the the rates for the bonds and how that is paid, that fee, you know, may or may not go up, but the the water rate itself has been changed from a declining rate structure to now a volumetric rate where everybody is paying that same rate and and we're at the tail end of of those changes. And so people if they haven't already seen that change should be seeing it should be seeing it now.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:27

Aaron Ross Powell All right now how many how many water bonds do we have to pay back? Do you know? Because is that the $300 million? That's the $300 million. Do you know what happened and why it was estimated to be $75 million and then end up be $300 million.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:42

I do not because that was 2017.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:44

I was not involved in that I mean at some point you're on the council when it's everybody's saying well hey it's not going to be $75 million. I mean like somehow it's going to be $300 million. Right. Like I mean what's the discussion? I mean where does that increase in cost from the original estimate, you know, where does that start baking in with people that we got to we're going to do something to pay for it.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:06

Trevor Burrus Well the what what registers in my mind is we better pay attention to the other infrastructure issues now because I don't want to see this issue come up where we are kicking the can down the road on on our water infrastructure or our stormwater infrastructure where this same thing happens again and the federal government steps in and says, you got to fix all your water infrastructure and by the way you're going to pay it and by the way here's the timeline you have to do it. And so we need to start addressing these issues now where we can control cost.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:44

With half cent sales tax for those? Absolutely I mean is is there any work going on right now related to things other than sewer and that's infrastructure.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:54

Yeah so we we have uh invested around 25 million uh the past couple years down at the Southside wastewater treatment facility. We're doing a lot of work on the west side wastewater treatment facility right now because those had been neglected for such a long time that there are a lot of things that we are needing to bring up to date. One of my big things is we need to have routine maintenance on a lot of whether it's the wastewater treatment facilities or the water treatment facilities because if you don't keep up with your equipment and your facilities, that's when catastrophic failures happen and then you're you're putting a a much larger bill that we may not be able to afford.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:36

When you okay so people when they hear water wastewater thrown around they might not quite understand but like Golden Road is a drinking water.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:45

That is a water treatment facility plant yes so we have two water treatment facility plants half of half of the city gets their water from Lake Tyler that water goes to the Golden Road water treatment facility plant. The other half of the city gets their water from Lake Palestine which goes to the Lake Palestine water treatment facility plant which is just west of uh fresh off of the uh old noonday road back there.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:10

Now wastewater is sewer correct so anytime you turn on your faucet and you don't put that water in a cup and it goes down the drain, that's considered wastewater.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:21

And you know the the campaign on Cumberland was stop the stink. You remember that?

SPEAKER_00 1:10:27

I remember that because that's my district. Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:29

I mean so I mean I'm sure you probably heard a lot. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:33

I mean you know like um but that goes back to my point of when I look at a project how does that project benefit the entirety of the city or does that one project only benefit a small section or a small neighborhood? And when I had a group of people saying well you need to come in and put a dome over this wastewater treatment facility plant, I'm like, well, are you going to pay for it? Because the city's not going to pay for it because it benefits a few streets, one little small area. I can't I can't go to the stink's not far and wide?

SPEAKER_02 1:11:07

Correct.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:08

It's not it's just kind of Yeah so how do you justify that to the entirety of the city doing that project when it clearly benefits one little section of the city, a few a few neighborhoods, a few streets.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:19

What about that that wastewater treatment plant there right by Faulkner Park right? Is that going to stay there or are there plans for that to be moved further outside the city limits or near that will stay there.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:32

That plant was built in 1953 and I believe the furthest thing south at that time was Bergfeld Shopping Center. I I I I think that's uh about right, but it could be um you know off by a couple years. So nothing was out there.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:47

But you're making my point that was true then we are here now. Correct. So I mean you would think that that water treatment wastewater treatment plan would have to move further to the edges of the You don't have to move it it it will still stay there but we can have an additional one.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:04

On that property? So we the city bought property out in Mixon for a future additional wastewater treatment facility plant. We don't have to build there currently because like I mentioned we've invested around $25 million into that Southside wastewater treatment facility where we have increased capacity, where we have uh updated a lot of things where we are not at that you know 11 o'clock hour where you have to all of a sudden build a new plant to handle more capacity, to handle new needs. We have plenty of capacity and plenty of ability to utilize the plant that we have where it is and and plan for the future at the same time with property that we have out in Mixon.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:52

One of the things that uh former councilman Nix brought up was that you know when he was on the council Martin Hines was the mayor and they were working together he said on um easements right away to get to the new property that that would have to be contemplated and worked out over time lest when the need arose the prices of the landowners and all that might double the project. Do you I mean you agree with that concept?

SPEAKER_00 1:13:19

I I don't know how much right away has already been purchased but but you're right the the longer you go down the road, the cost of things increase, whether it's inflation or cost of materials, absolutely things things increase over time. So I'll I'll agree with the concept that yeah cost costs increase over time if that's the question.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:40

Well I think really more his criticism if I kind of read between the lines what he was saying was more along the lines that there was no he and the mayor Hines were were focused on that and he said once we both termed off nobody has really stayed with that issue and there's no plans for right-of-way purchase or easements to the new property as it sits here today. That's kind of what I thought he was saying.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:04

So I I'm a firm believer in preparing for our future and planning for the future because I think that's that's one of our main roles on council is if we are not looking towards our future then what are what are we doing? We we we have to be planning for future generations and and that's why I'm serving because I want my kids and their kids and their kids's kids and and your kids and their you know kids' kids one day to have the best Tyler possible. And so we have to be planning for our future.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:38

But I mean um the more people that come in here right I mean there like you said earlier there's pressure on infrastructure which are the roads correct the school system correct the hospitals correct the water treatment right and wastewater. I mean all of that.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:56

So not just people moving here but there's roughly 1150 people that live uh in the city of Tyler but on any given weekday Monday through Friday between 8 a.m and 5 p.m our city swells to about 225 2300 people.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:13

Trevor Burrus Yeah and I've even heard numbers larger than that.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:15

I have too I've heard up to 2500. And in Christmas time sure feels like 300, 350 feels like a lot of people, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:15:24

But I think what Nix was I mean I get it, you know, political campaigns, people are trying to stake out their positions and say, look, this is how I'm different from him. Sure. And this is why I think this is better. That criticism I just basically took as there was nobody thinking about the right of way. And so my question to get to the new property my question is uh do you feel like we even need to be thinking about the right of way right now based on what you've said about our capacity with the other you know treatment plants?

SPEAKER_00 1:15:55

I I think we have enough time frame for our existing treatment facility where in the immediate future we will not have to use a plant out in mixing. But at the same time we can still plan accordingly where if an opportunity does present itself where we can acquire some right away, knowing 50 years down the road you know we may need it and and it fits in with the budget, then then yes, have a plan in place for that. But with the capacity increases that we have done that is not needed in in the next several uh decades.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:36

Plus it would seem we have a lot of projects on our plate at this very moment. Aaron Ross Powell Absolutely right I mean between the legal consent decree that we're I mean we're hustling to get to the 2027 deadline you know we're trying to get the downtown stuff done. What can you tell people about like the timeframe of the downtown construction? Because I I don't think there's that much specific information out there.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:00

Trevor Burrus So currently the work is taking place on college and uh in Irwin. So we c let's for people who are like me don't know the roads, we're calling that Culture Ricks Yes Yeah so the the road in front of the Plaza Tower is the colour two correct yes um in front of the Andes.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:21

All the way to Broadway.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:23

So Irwin yes in front of Ricks and in front of culture is being worked on um when you get to that intersection at Broadway that won't be open for a little bit but the intersection of college and Irwin so right where Texas Bank and Trust People's Petroleum in diagonal from that culture when that's finished end of this month. Okay so that intersection will be fully open where you can travel uh down um college uh and go all the way um past past culture you can um come up Irwin and and go past culture uh the roads will become uh two-way so no longer one way so you'll be able to come up and down college and up and down Irwin uh and so at the end of the month that intersection uh will be open.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:08

All right we've heard the courthouse is probably December 2026. That's correct. Um and that's because um we were on budget from what I gathered. Correct and they added an additional floor that they would build out. Yes. Uh at cost and prices of today as opposed to what they might be five years from now. Correct. Smart smart planning. Well I mean you know right I mean people can criticize decisions but I I think you know you you still have to take the facts about, you know, things are probably going to be more expensive. Yes. Should we delay this, fill do it now? Right? I mean I think that's a reasonable plan. And so when that's finished, what is the downtown going to look like? How is the overall downtown project is it going to be completed along with the courthouse or is it going to continue to go beyond that?

SPEAKER_00 1:18:58

It will continue to go beyond that and and so what I want viewers and listeners to understand when they hear the downtown square project it's not just the park. The park is a a small portion of it just under five million dollars. Aaron Ross Powell You're talking about the green space? Correct the majority of the downtown project is infrastructure all of the wastewater in the water and the underground infrastructure systems downtown they're 100 years old. And so we are completely redoing all of that which is where the time comes in and where the costs come in for the entire uh square.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:42

You know John Nix he commented on that uh and said you know that maybe there was the undergroundwork maybe went further than he felt like it should go. He he said well they call it a legacy project if it's built to last 80 or 90 years, but if it's 30 to 50 it's called something else. And you know I didn't know all what that meant, but that's what he said.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:04

Aaron Ross Powell So he's saying that it's overengineered and the answer to that is I would rather have it engineered correctly the first time so we're not having to go back and redo it and fix things that should have been done correctly the first time because if you don't engineer uh a project correctly you get into a Cambridge Bend uh road situation where a six million dollar project turns into an 11 or 12 million dollar project because it wasn't done correctly the first time and then also takes takes longer I forgot about that.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:39

I wondered what was happening over there.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:40

Yeah so why not do it correctly the first time where you don't have problems down the road.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:45

I mean I know it's easy for people to criticize and be penny pinchers when they don't have to be responsible for the consequences. Correct. Right? I mean uh and I've always heard and it seems to be borne out in my life you get what you pay for and I know that's a cliche but I mean it's true you know and so yes someone could criticize you and say hey the only people getting money around here are the architects and uh and the contractors right and uh but uh when it's done um it's gonna be amazing it it'll be it'll be you know it'll be a place where a lot of people can go and enjoy absolutely I just think people you know be happy for when it gets here so when you know when is the downtown thing completely finished completely finished I'm driving down there to walk around the green areas every single road 2028. All right 2028 okay Valencia Hotel it's gonna be be uh being constructed kind of parallel January 2027 into 2028.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:45

Correct so that I think their timeline is eighteen months for their project give or take half a year into 2028. Correct if everything goes right absolutely yeah obviously you have weather and other issues uh and that's part of the the problem that we've run into uh with some of this infrastructure on college and Irwin we get in there and we realize since the infrastructure is a hundred years old, it's not in places where it should have been it's moved or deteriorated so much that it's causing other issues. And so you're right, you know construction you know always takes longer than what people estimate.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:23

Uh-huh it seems that way except for when I built my building right now shout out to Eric Williams uh the construction management company because I've never been involved in a project that has gone so fast and so smooth. So I don't know but most everything else I've ever done it's slow delays. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:42

You know um you know a fun fact about your building also that I don't think viewers and listeners know I know you know my very first legal job right here in this building.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:52

I remember it yes you worked here for a short period of time until you you learned that insurance defense was not your cup of tea. Correct and it's not most people's cup of tea I don't think people are beating down the door uh you know to represent insurance companies uh you know you know it's work but it's uh but yeah um okay so 2028 could be a good year for downtown Tyler. Absolutely I mean the whole thing kind of clears out, levels out it's done. Yep. Now do we anticipate the sewer project going above 300 I mean uh mightn't we take out more bonds or do we know that we are we are we've got the money we need?

SPEAKER_00 1:23:34

I believe we have the money we need. Because we're right there at 90 percent on on a lot of projects, 80 percent on a lot of projects. And so we have that number baked in where we have to um authorize those expenses for the you know the next legs of the projects but I believe those costs are um factored in already.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:56

Aaron Ross Powell But the bonds that we have are these fixed rate bonds or do you know are these uh adjustable rates? I mean what are we what are we looking at like you said going in the future?

SPEAKER_00 1:24:04

Trevor Burrus Yeah the the rates have been set. We have a great credit rating uh for a city. We're at the very top of uh of municipalities.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:13

Which means we can borrow money cheaper than other cities.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:16

Aaron Ross Powell Absolutely and so people want to do work with us. And there were a lot of proposals presented from different agencies to to get our business and obviously we have an expert and a consultant that handles that for us. Right. And so we were very fortunate to yes have a favorable rate and and payment structure where it benefits taxpayers.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:41

Trevor Burrus The reason I ask about the rate is because I know if the rate went up that what we owed would be more correct and what the compliance fee would be would be higher. Trevor Burrus Correct and are we are we in that situation where that might occur to us?

SPEAKER_00 1:24:55

Aaron Ross Powell I don't I don't think so I I'd have to go back and look and and I I don't know yes or no on that what the rate's going to look like in in 30 years, 50 years.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:05

Aaron Ross Powell Because I don't I don't even know the duration of the bonds that we took out. Do you d are you familiar with you know the water bonds taken out by the utility department, like how long the bonds were?

SPEAKER_00 1:25:14

That's I believe some were 30 and some were 50. I'd have to go back and look. I don't have that information for me today.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:20

Trevor Burrus But they are long-term bonds and uh I have no idea um what the the payments are but I mean that's we're gonna be paying for the sewer stuff for a long time. Absolutely and if if it's a 50 year bond by the time you got it paid if you didn't do the legacy deeper underground project you might find yourself starting the project all over again. Aaron Ross Powell Correct. Right? Correct. So it's not as simple. And you know I try to be fair to you and to uh Nix who, you know, he brings information and experience that that I don't have. He served on the council. Sure. He's got his opinions about stuff. At the end of the day we're really trying to just take in information and and see you know that look I mean the city's making pretty good decisions. I think so um you know can you find something to criticize? I'm sure you can I mean right isn't that true with anything um yeah but you know the water bill thing I think that just you know because that that got everybody's attention right I mean you know every little person that you know pays a bill you know I mean that brought the sewer project into their living room. Sure. Um so you know I often wondered and I don't know if this is even a um we talked about this we probably could never get a general obligation bond passed in order to give any relief on that, right? I mean that's I I I don't think we could either yeah you know the city's strong and needs to remain so because what I do understand is that these bond companies what they do is they take they take rights in in the departments of the bonds that they issue, like the water department, right? I mean like if we didn't pay they technically could take over and sh charge whatever they wanted in order to pay themselves like a a lien on an asset type dum. Yeah like just general bondholders um uh just like municipal bonds this is nothing um specific to Tyler it's not like Tyler did something and that's not what I'm suggesting that they did something out of the ordinary correct I mean if you purchased yourself I ha I own municipal bonds for instance which an investment tool school tech uh right now there are you know there are rights associated with the repayment which include public utilities. Correct so we we definitely want to figure out ways to make sure we pay for our bonds. Absolutely. Right I mean that's absolutely sales tax You know, your campaign has talked about, you know, trying to ease traffic with new roads, and you've mentioned things like that. Is that where the money would come from to pay for those projects? Yes, it would. Yes. I mean, so when people are thinking like, hey, if we need a new road, we've got to get it out of half cents versus property tax versus fees.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:19

Aaron Powell Well it would be a the other option would be yeah, going out for your general obligation bonds. But that would generally be a big project, wouldn't it? Absolutely. Or a whole package of projects. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 1:28:30

So we try to run a surplus from our budget to the revenues from the three sources we just talked about. Right. Um and that way we can build projects.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:41

That way we yeah, we can fund certain projects from the half-cent sales tax uh fund itself.

SPEAKER_02 1:28:46

Aaron Powell So if people think about it, like if somehow we were really good at attracting new businesses here, the component that we would get, no matter what, would likely be the sales tax revenue. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:58

Which is why it goes back to the point I made at the very beginning. We need to increase our sales tax base so we can increase our sales tax revenue.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:06

Trevor Burrus Because that's just one of three things that raise money for the City of Tyler to fix things, to pay bills, and to uh, you know, build new infrastructure. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:17

Correct. It's one of three, but it's a big one of the three. You know, that it's sixty sixty-six percent, sixty-five percent uh property tax and sales tax. And so that sales tax revenue is a huge piece of the puzzle.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:31

Aaron Ross Powell, yeah. Um The tax rate. I guess the only way in the future for the city to charge more in property taxes would be to what could they raise the rate on their own, or would they have to go through an election to raise the tax rate for property taxes?

SPEAKER_00 1:29:49

Aaron Powell You would have to go out to the there's there's a voter approved rate, and so anything above that voter approved rate would have to go out um for a vote.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:59

Okay. So I mean, for people that are, you know, worried, like, you know, there's a lot of new people moving here. Sure. You know, they're thinking like, hey, this is, you know, I see a lot of license plates from out of state. Yeah. I mean, the city couldn't just change in character and raise property taxes on PayPal.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:16

Aaron Powell No, and not not without it going out to a vote uh from the voters. You're exactly right. So what we do have is the no new revenue rate, which means if you were to collect the exact same revenue as the year before, you have that rate, but then you have the voter-approved rate, which is a whole mathematical formula.

SPEAKER_02 1:30:37

If that's less than that, you can actually charge more closer to the rate because it's been voter-approved.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:42

So the the rate itself would go down a little bit, but your revenue that you're collecting goes up because your appraised values have gone up. And so that goes back to what I was saying. You get the your appraised numbers uh from the Smith County Appraisal District, and then knowing that, okay, well, our rate is going to be, you know, a little lower than what the 2025-2026 rate is because your appraised value has gone up.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:13

Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Smith County Appraisal District. What entity is that?

SPEAKER_00 1:31:16

Smith County Appraisal District. I mean has nothing to do with the city.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:20

No, I mean, but is it as the name suggests? It is it is a county affiliated.

SPEAKER_00 1:31:25

Yeah, it has nothing has nothing to do with the city. Okay. We can't go in there and say you need to set appraised values at X. Uh or we're, you know, we hire the appraisal district staff. The city doesn't have any involvement in that.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:38

Okay. So the county appraisal district, which people take issue with, they go down there and protest, they get mad, say they raise them too high. Um The County, so does the county appraise their own property from which they receive property taxes? Uh like everybody else. Yeah. I mean, I'm just wondering if it's there's property outside the city limits.

SPEAKER_00 1:31:58

Oh, yeah. Yeah, there's property outside the city limits. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:00

And they have to pay property tax on the Trevor Burrus.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:02

Well, if it's a governmental owned property, it's uh it's not on the tax rules.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:06

Aaron Powell But I mean, like people that own, you know, farmland. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: You're talking about just a general public yes. Houses that are neighborhoods that are in the county but not in the city limits. Correct. I mean, those get appraised too. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:18

Yeah, so there's the different property tax components that a resident pays. You have your City of Tyler property tax, you have your Tyler ISD property tax, you have your Smith County uh property tax, um, and then the obvious uh TJC, and depending on where you live, you may have um ESD two or ESD one uh tax, and then obviously if you live in Bullard, your Bullard tax, White House, White House tax, Chapel Hill, et cetera. Uh so the the City of Tyler property tax is one component on that property tax bill. And so when when people come to me and say, well, hey, my my property tax bill is is really high, why are you why are you taxing me so much? I'm like, okay, well, let's sit down and look at your property tax bill, and I'll be glad to walk you through each area because when you actually look at it, the City of Tyler property tax component is the smallest on there. And again, it goes back to what I said earlier. Our tax rate is the lowest for any city in the state of Texas with 10,000 or more people.

SPEAKER_02 1:33:22

What about the budget for Smith County Appraisal District? Where is that budget? In the county?

SPEAKER_00 1:33:27

Yeah, I don't I don't know where their budget is.

SPEAKER_02 1:33:29

I mean, like I'm not familiar with the Trevor Burrus, I mean, like, how do they get funded? You know, I always wondered, like, they're out there on the loop, you know, they're on the east side of town. They're telling you your property is worth X and it's gone up fifty thousand in value last year, and you're like, well, you know, how'd you get that number? Yeah. I mean, how'd you get that number? And uh and and who pays for for that? I mean, that's what I'm saying. Is that a county like roads and bridges in the county? Is this like that?

SPEAKER_00 1:33:54

I I don't know how how the county uh does that in their budget. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 1:33:58

But it's in their budget.

SPEAKER_00 1:33:59

Trevor Burrus, Jr.: What I do know is that there are people in the legislature in Austin looking at that process to see if they can refine it where you can't, you know, you can't increase it over a certain percentage or over a certain amount. I don't know what formulas they're looking at and how they are are looking at that, but I do know that is now a hot button issue in Austin because appraised appraised values are getting so high so quickly that it's now something that they're looking at in Austin of, you know, well, how is there something to do uh that we you know can do?

SPEAKER_02 1:34:39

You know, my mind goes to this. Um of this a function of, you know, the baby boom generation has been very active in uh property tax, you know, um caps, protections, right? Um you know, and if we get on their side and their issue, obviously they have a lot of them have disposable income of a certain amount and they don't want that to eat away. But that with the increasing needs of city governments are these two, this is where these two are crashing at this point in time.

SPEAKER_00 1:35:10

Yes. And that goes back to my point of just because we have 115,000 people that live in the city limits doesn't mean we can only have services that benefit 115,000 people. We have to have a fire department that's big enough, a police department that's big enough, infrastructure capacity that's big enough to handle everybody coming to Tyler to eat, shop and stay, or or come in for work that live in the surrounding communities. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 1:35:37

You know, you might can help me on this. Uh I think I'd talk to Martin before and I'd say, you know, why in the world do we build such nice firehouses? I mean, it seems like, you know, um, but I think there there's some insurance rate relative to the type and the number and the location of the firehouses. Absolutely. Right?

SPEAKER_00 1:35:59

So we have the highest rated fire department and police department. So the we are uh Kalea certified for our police department, which across the nation is uh the highest type of rating.

SPEAKER_02 1:36:10

Where is that a savings for the city if our police department is uh is excellent or at the top of the heap?

SPEAKER_00 1:36:16

Uh it's in your your service that you receive.

SPEAKER_02 1:36:19

Other than, you know, I mean, obviously good people with character that, you know, don't cause you lawsuits for civil rights violations.

SPEAKER_00 1:36:26

And, you know, because then goes into your city insurance rates.

SPEAKER_02 1:36:29

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:36:30

Um and on the fire department side, we are the the type of ISO uh classification certification that we have. International standards organization is is the highest that uh we can get for a fire department, which means, like you said, we have a certain number of firehouses throughout the city where response times have to be a certain response time or less, which then cuts down on uh insurance rates as well.

SPEAKER_02 1:36:57

Yeah, and those insurance rates likely benefit individual homeowners if the city has constructed itself in a way where those response times, because of the firehouse's locations, are within what they demand.

SPEAKER_00 1:37:09

Aaron Powell Correct. If you know somebody really wanted to sit down with their insurance agent and say, okay, here's a specific area where I think we could get some savings on and the pushback with the carrier of here's a possible rate uh savings, um, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 1:37:25

Now, we touched upon it earlier, and I just want to get your kind of your opinion on this. Um what I mean, would you say you had a general opinion about tax abatements, good or bad, or uh, you know, case-specific, uh situation specific. How do you feel about those? Sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:37:42

So I uh I'm a in favor of tax um rebates. You know, it's not necessarily called a a tax abatement because it could also be a tax rebate. It just depends on how it's structured.

SPEAKER_02 1:37:54

Right. I mean, some of them you don't pay half taxes for this many years, some of them you get a rebate from the sales taxes that you owed. Correct. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:38:03

Yep. Um, but absolutely uh I I I believe that is a tool that we have in our tool belt that we can use to attract new businesses to town. Um, but that doesn't mean we just use it as a blank check or we use it blatantly um, you know, for everybody. Uh so it it it should also be a uh you look at the situation and is it applicable to this situation? Um but I'm not one that says no, we never use it, or no, it's a bad idea to use it. I definitely think we should use it uh when appropriate.

SPEAKER_02 1:38:41

Trevor Burrus Well, it's just like that yellowboard or yellow wood. Yellowwood, yeah. Yellowwood didn't get a tax abatement out there, did they? Uh they built they built a road, I think, but other than the county did, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:38:51

So that that wasn't city projects, that that's county projects. Uh I don't know what it was.

SPEAKER_02 1:38:56

Scott Martinez was on the show, said that other than the road, you know, they did they didn't get something. So I think the suggestion was is that the city officials were not just willy-nilly offering tax abatements to just to everybody. Hey, would you please come to Tyler? It wasn't like that. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Correct.

SPEAKER_00 1:39:14

No, it's it's not like that at all. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 1:39:15

You know, why do we have any politicians elected if if somebody doesn't have to make a hard decision? Correct. And um Tyler might need or want something that's worth uh a competing city that wants it. And so I I mean I totally understand the tax abatement issue. Um, you know grassroots. Let's talk about them a minute because everybody, I mean, that's the people always talk about that every political cycle, if you've lived here in Tyler, right? I mean, it started early on in the 2000s or whenever they were formed. I'm not sure. I've never met uh Joanne Fleming, although she, you know, she holds a lot of sway with the organization from what I can see watching the news. Uh like I said, I've never talked to her. Uh you know, I'd like her to come on the show. You should have her on your show. Uh, you know, I've reached out to them uh on the website, but I haven't I don't know if I did it correctly. Uh she's hard to reach if you don't have her number. But, you know, I believe everybody should be able to come and explain why they think what they think. Absolutely. And, you know, I think it's it's intellectually lazy for people to simply label somebody as this or that and then not really want to hear what they have to say, right? And so, but she and thee and and them have endorsed John Nix. Why do you think that they gave him that endorsement?

SPEAKER_00 1:40:39

I I don't know why um or why not they endorsed him, uh what he told them. Obviously, I wasn't part of those conversations. But um, you know, somebody that gives an endorsement, uh, because I've had several people uh in organizations endorse me. And so how I view my endorsements uh are what I believe in, what I stand for. These people that are endorsing me have similar beliefs, similar values, similar visions, and and similar um goals. And so uh that's where my endorsements uh have come from are those people that like, for example, I I'm endorsed by both uh the Tyler Patrolman's Association. And the Tyler Professional Firefighters Association, and they know that we got a slide up here.

SPEAKER_02 1:41:35

The mayor has endorsed you. Yes, he has. Uh the policeman, essentially, the firefighters, uh retired police chief, and it looks like Republican Party leader David Stein.

SPEAKER_00 1:41:44

Correct. That's some that's some of them. That's not all your endorsements. Correct. That's yeah, that and so you know, those people know my values. Those those people and organizations know my mission and my visions, and believe that their values and visions align with mine, and that's why they are choosing to support me. And so does Joanne, you know, believe that uh Mr. Nix's values uh closely align with her, you know, maybe on the less spending, tighter budgets, more oversight.

SPEAKER_02 1:42:24

I mean, that's whatever else they believe in. Right. I mean, it's hard to that's kind of the general impression I've got from the organization is that they're kind of a budget hawk of sorts, right? Yeah. Um and but uh you know, maybe she'll come on and tell us, you know, what's good or what's bad in her opinion about, you know, the way city government runs in Tyler.

SPEAKER_00 1:42:45

But you are correct. What what what is yes, uh evident is grassroots did endorse Nick's uh in this race. Aaron Powell Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:42:55

And and I don't say that as if you lost out or you were a lesser candidate. I'm just simply, you know, they're notable. We can't you know, they've been notable. True. Oh over it seems like you know, their endorsement has begun to lack the the the power that it used to, right? I think so. I mean, just from one of the recent uh county commissioners race, we saw uh what happened there, and that was um not evidence that that they could turn that race.

SPEAKER_00 1:43:26

Yeah, and I don't know if it's turning a race or or getting out to vote or having supporters. Um Their supporters are they're energetic, they're enthusiastic.

SPEAKER_02 1:43:36

Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 1:43:37

Yeah, they are. They are passionate about their uh beliefs.

SPEAKER_02 1:43:40

Uh which means they'll go out and do things like try to get on boards. Sure. Um and you know, other things that um sometimes, you know, might make it harder for the city to run.

SPEAKER_00 1:43:53

Well, uh the the perspective that I have is you know, whether I believe with somebody's, you know, their beliefs or or not, you should be able to have a open dialogue and be able to communicate, you know, what your visions and beliefs are, whether you agree with that person or not.

SPEAKER_02 1:44:14

Aaron Powell should be. I think. I mean, if you have an opinion and I have an opinion, those are different, and I say, this is why I feel that way, and you say the same. I don't think that makes either one of us a bad person. Aaron Powell I don't think so either. Um We all have different walks of life. Experiences in life. Absolutely. And we all think that things should run this way. And other people say, well, I think it should run that way. You know. But it seems like today's political environment, people are always looking for a bad guy. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 1:44:43

Very polarizing.

SPEAKER_02 1:44:44

Right? Yes. And that has brought us to a very conservative race for mayor where two people are both, you know, Christian, Republican, conservatives, right? I mean I mean, we're trying to jam a razor blade between the two guys. I mean, right on then there are people out there like he's bad or he's bad.

SPEAKER_00 1:45:04

I mean, I've been called a lot of bad names for some reason.

SPEAKER_02 1:45:08

I don't know why. Do you attribute any of that to a particular issue? Is there an issue in which, you know, people said, oh, you're bad, or you got emails or Facebook posts or anything ugly? Aaron Ross Powell, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 1:45:19

I think it's attributable just to the political climate that we are in today where loud voices want to be heard and they may not know all of the issues or all of the facts, but what they can do is be loud and try to drive a wedge between uh people, and that's their that's their way of doing it.

SPEAKER_02 1:45:41

Now, you know, when you say that, I can't help but think about this deadgum library, right? Yeah. I mean, because, you know, when you research like I have to kind of find out where the origin of this came from, grassroots says in 2021 that they started suggesting or putting out that uh there were inappropriate books in the young adult section. Best I can get. I mean, is that kind of your understanding?

SPEAKER_00 1:46:05

So there there were a lot of conversations that um I I have had with a lot of different uh residents of different different ideas, different concerns uh in the library, and that's just, you know, one aspect of it where some of the concerns were are you know, are there inappropriate materials uh in the children's section or or you know where they should shouldn't be? You know, early on people were wanting books to be removed, and then it was changed to books being removed.

SPEAKER_01 1:46:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:46:41

And so there's a whole bunch of different things, and and I've maintained the same stance on it since day one. It's not my job or the city's job to tell you and your kids what books you can or cannot read. You should be a parent to your own kids. I should be a parent to my kids. And so if you want to bring your kids into the library to check out a certain book, your kids or you should have that ability to check out a book. Now, should it be in a certain age appropriate section? Maybe and that's what the issue is, from what I gather, right? And that's why we have looked at some of our internal policies and updated some of these policies to reflect positive changes. It used to be where when a parent would go in and request a library card for their child, the child would get a library card and there was no restriction on the card for where that child could check out a book. And so technically a a child could check out a book an adult section, which probably is not appropriate. And so what we did is we we noticed that and said, well, we need to change the application process. So now when a parent applies for a library card for their child, based on the age of that child, they can check out a book from that age appropriate section, unless two things. One, the parent or guardian with the kid says, no, I give permission for my child to check out a book from this section. You know, I'm with the child and I give that permission. Or two, there's a box on the application that you can check that says, I give permission for my child to check out a book anywhere in the library.

SPEAKER_02 1:48:16

Aaron Powell Has the policy changed? You know? I mean, because you know, Nix is quoted in an article, uh and I'm not sure when this was, but it was it was uh April 2026, and he says the leadership stays silent. He's talking about the mayor and the city council, I think, and gives no direction. Employees should not be the scapegoat. And what he's saying is he's kind of acting acting like there's a policy that nobody would hear and nobody would vote on and nobody would do anything about.

SPEAKER_00 1:48:46

I mean, are you a So we set up a a we did set up a review process where now if somebody feels like a book is bad. Correct. Listen, that's a bad book. And we gotta look at it. And I wouldn't say it's a bad book, but maybe somebody thinks it's in the wrong thing. Oversimplification on my correct.

SPEAKER_02 1:49:06

Right. It's like No. Uh John Nick says, hey, look, he acted like, you know, it's problematic for young adult to be thirteen years to twenty-six years. He seemed to make that point. Like, you know, some of those things should be in the 18 and over.

SPEAKER_00 1:49:23

Uh so the young adult section is 14 to 17, and there's now a subsection where some books are uh 18 and up. There's now stickers that are placed on books kind of like going in uh, you know, when we when we used to check out a movie from Blockbuster.

SPEAKER_02 1:49:39

Or uh or uh a CD that said explicitly.

SPEAKER_00 1:49:42

For an advisory. Yeah. Okay. So that that is on there. And then we've also um in the past couple years changed uh and established a new review process where if somebody feels like a book may be in the wrong section, it's appealed and that appealed. Is heard by a panel of people that consist of a retired school teacher, a retired librarian, a parent that has young kids, a child psychologist, a university professor, all of them read the book and then have a discussion on it and then vote of whether it's in the right section or should be moved to a different section.

SPEAKER_02 1:50:25

I mean, that's just a lot, that's a lot of energy right there for something in the library, right? I mean, uh, these policy changes, would you say that the criticism early on led to those changes? And if so, you know, really why isn't that a good thing?

SPEAKER_00 1:50:40

I I would say um some of the concerns from residents that were brought to us made us look at some policies that hadn't been looked at in a long time. And so the the library card application um was something that I would have not have known if we hadn't looked at it. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 1:50:59

Right. You weren't on council till 2021. Correct. Uh when the inception of this started, it looks like, right? I mean, you would you wouldn't have come on saying, hey, first thing on the job, let's look at the library policy. Uh and then it was brought to your attention because it was also a political issue. It seemed to be statewide. Correct. Where in Republican primaries, you know, conservative, very conservative elements between less conservative, you know, these wedge issues, the library seemed to be one of those. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 1:51:29

And that goes back to, you know, you asked why did Joanne support Nick's, and maybe it's, you know, that issue because I'm uh like I said earlier, I maintained the stance of it's a it's a parental decision. It should not be my decision or the city's decision of what book you or your kids should read.

SPEAKER_02 1:51:47

Aaron Powell Well, that whole library thing seemed to be agitated by grassroots in a way. Like um, I've read somewhere that, you know, they had posted um or tagged you, uh James Wynne, mayor, all the city council people, and uh David Stein on, you know, the the quote sign, right? And that they were, you know, are you gonna do something about it essentially, just stirring things up with the politicians? And at that time, were not policies already being implemented that were making changes?

SPEAKER_00 1:52:22

Yeah, at that time policy decisions were being made.

SPEAKER_02 1:52:25

That's what I'm saying. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Well, that's what I'm getting at. I'm trying to get to where why this agitation continued from grassroots at a time they knew that policies were either already changed or in the process of being changed to satisfy them. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 1:52:42

I I can't speak to why or what grassroots was wanting to do or think. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 1:52:48

Is that accurate what I just said?

SPEAKER_00 1:52:49

I I I think they have their beliefs and are, you know, just like on the county level, are wanting to see certain things done for their agenda or beliefs, um, just like any organization, you know, promotes. What do you think?

SPEAKER_02 1:53:07

I mean, if you you're I mean, you're at ground zero when it comes to the critical groups because they interface directly with our elected politicians, right? I mean, they're like they're wanting to be like they're wanting to get you and say, hey, Stuart, you know, this is what we think should happen. I mean, can you nutshell it on the library with grassroots?

SPEAKER_00 1:53:27

Uh so I hear it from all sorts of different groups.

SPEAKER_02 1:53:30

Okay, you're saying there's other people too? Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 1:53:32

Absolutely. There's there's residents all across our community and groups all across our community that have concerns. That express concerns about every, you know, not just the library. And so we have to be able to hear all residents' concerns because at the end of the day, whatever. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 1:53:48

That's why I'm not a politician. I don't have time to listen to all that.

SPEAKER_00 1:53:51

Right. What I want at the end of the day is for residents to feel like they have been heard, they have been understood, and we're not ignoring uh people. It goes back to being transparent. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 1:54:02

Yeah. I mean, you know, politicians, like you say, I mean, people that are more solution-oriented, like myself, patience is not a virtue, right? I mean, I I don't have time to talk to everybody and hear their concern, but that's again, I'm not an elected official. And in order for democracy to feel like it's you want to run for mayor? No, I do not. I do not. Um I do not. I'm I'm perfectly content in the private world, you know. Uh but I do think I like to have these podcasts and talk to people, you know, so that we get a clearer picture of more things that have to be considered when decisions are made, other than just a a sound bite or a label, right? Aaron Ross Powell, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 1:54:42

Yeah, what you may hear on the news for 20 seconds or I mean you get 20 seconds, 30 seconds.

SPEAKER_02 1:54:47

The news to me is almost, you know, i it's not even helpful, right? I mean, you know, by the time they mention who you are and what you're doing, and then you say a few words, I mean, that's it. Aaron Powell Correct.

SPEAKER_00 1:55:00

There's we've had, I think, since since the mayor's race has started uh four, I think, different for candidate forums. And when you, you know, see the news segment from those, it's uh a five to ten second blurb on on you know all the candidates, each candidate. And so that doesn't go into any of our answers or any of our details. And so yeah, you got to tell people, well, you know, go to our websites, watch the entire forum because they're all, you know, posted, I believe, somewhere. Whatever. YouTube or internet.

SPEAKER_02 1:55:34

People aren't that um you know, they don't put that much effort, right? Correct. If if we put everything in an interview with you and I on a podcast at a specific location, which is, you know, on YouTube at East Texas Unfiltered Podcast, maybe people can access it if they're interested to hear what you know what you think and what John Nix thinks. Yeah, so you know That's the goal.

SPEAKER_00 1:55:54

And so the for the people that go watch the podcast and want to see, you know, both our discussion and Nix's discussion with you, and then want follow-up information, you know, I I I tell people go look at my website. Uh it's got my campaign platforms and the pillars that, you know, I've been talking about throughout my campaign. Uh it's got our endorsements like you you put up there. Uh and the same for um my campaign Facebook page. It has that same type of information.

SPEAKER_02 1:56:25

All right. We've talked about grassroots. Now we haven't talked about Congressman Moran. Um you know, I'm kind of surprised he endorsed anybody in a way, but then again, I'm not privy to the internal workings of the Republican Party. So do you have any insight on what it was that caused him to endorse Knicks?

SPEAKER_00 1:56:44

I mean, you know, we all have our our endorsements from from different people, and so I don't know the inner workings of why he chose to get involved in a local race, uh, being in DC. Uh I would prefer for local people, uh local involvement to uh have a say in our local elections uh without sway from uh outsiders. So I don't know why he you know got involved uh or or wanted to get involved. Um but everybody has He might have been encouraged to get involved.

SPEAKER_02 1:57:20

And that I don't I don't know. Right. And uh and all these questions, because Tyler is a great place and we're separating ourselves, right? Absolutely. We can talk about Nathaniel, we can question why he did what he did, but at the same time we know Nathaniel and we know that he's a good person, and we know that he's not a bad guy, right? Correct. And and it's the same with a lot of people involved, right? I mean, even though we go, hey man, why'd he do that? Grassroots. Well, that doesn't mean Nathaniel's a bad guy. It might just mean he got a little pressure, grassroots, his district goes way into other districts all the way to the border. Yeah. They may have some sway down there, and so maybe he felt obligated. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 1:57:59

I d I don't know, so I can't comment on that.

SPEAKER_02 1:58:02

Certainly they can hurt him in his district more than they can uh, you know, uh help you, right? Or more than he can help you. Yeah, sure. Uh yeah. And I'm just speculating, but I mean, it sounds like, you know, um because do you think of an issue that Nathaniel said, well, hey Stuart, I really don't agree with you on this. Or I think you ought to be doing this or advocating. Have you heard anything like that? Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 1:58:25

If if that is out there, I I don't know because um when I saw the endorsement, it was just an endorsement of Nick's uh and so I don't know if if it's a specific issue of he wants to see XYZ done or done a certain way. Uh I I I don't know. I can't I can't offer a comment on that.

SPEAKER_02 1:58:47

Not we we, the general public who are not part of, you know, the Republican Party establishment, like we just kind of assume that you guys talk to each other, right? I mean, you know, you would think like, you know, you see guys at uh when y'all anytime y'all got a shovel in your hand, every one of you is standing there. Y'all are throwing dirt, you know, taking pictures, like a new project. Everybody's throwing. So I'm just figuring y'all talk to each other. And in those conversations, you know, uh I just assumed somebody would say, well, hey, if there was anything, they'd say, hey, you know, I think you ought to do this or think about that. And there really hadn't been anything. Um Well, it seems like the election is almost coming down to trying to find something, you know, in the candidates to argue about, right? I mean. And it and it seems to have migrated simply to budgeting for projects.

SPEAKER_00 1:59:41

So my the the way I kind of boil it down is I'm the candidate that is promoting where we have come in the city of Tyler. We are now the second best place to live in the state of Texas, and we have a lot of good going for us. We have a lot of progress that's being made, and I want to see us continue to capitalize on this momentum that we have, not cut it off and stop it and regress. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 2:00:13

What could hurt us in your mind? Like what could we do or not do that you believe, you know, as your campaign says, momentum, what would stop the momentum?

SPEAKER_00 2:00:22

Aaron Powell Stop investing in our quality of life that would attract new businesses, that would attract new employees, um, stop collaborating with our uh local school districts, our three institutions of higher education, um, our Economic Development Council. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 2:00:40

Which means we collect taxes to support UT Tyler and TJC. That's what you're saying.

SPEAKER_00 2:00:45

And Texas College.

SPEAKER_02 2:00:46

And Texas College, that's right. And those in turn provide educated workers or trained workers in regard to especially TJC. Absolutely. So there's a collaborative effort that if you if you look at it, you know, with a telescope, you know, you might not see really how the overall plan benefits the city as much as it does.

SPEAKER_00 2:01:09

Aaron Ross Powell And if you're not able to work with those groups and you're alienating those groups or criticizing those groups, it then becomes a a hindrance of the greater good and the overall progress of our city.

SPEAKER_02 2:01:23

Aaron Powell Also, I believe p cynicism. That is, people don't believe what politicians say a lot of times. They think, you know, they exaggerate numbers and they overstate this and overstate. And so people get cynical, right? Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 2:01:37

And that's why when you're asking me questions about the water bond, without that specific information in front of me, I don't want to say it was this rate or this year.

SPEAKER_02 2:01:44

I wasn't really I wasn't I wasn't hoping or thinking we'd have a an actual rate talk. Yeah. But you know, it comes to mind, you know, the TJC bond failed.

SPEAKER_00 2:01:53

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 2:01:54

Um it did not seem like it was well promoted from just me looking and listening to see who was talking about it ahead of time. Do you did you feel that way?

SPEAKER_00 2:02:03

The feedback that I received was I wish I wish there were more informational sessions. I wish there was more information out there for why people should vote for it, whether you were, you know, in favor of it or against it. That that was the biggest feedback that I got was there should have been more information. There should have been more, you know, call it a public information session, something where people could then have more information and not just here's the bond, here's the day, you know, we're voting on it.

SPEAKER_02 2:02:32

Did any of the trustees come out and support it?

SPEAKER_00 2:02:36

And I don't know if they can.

SPEAKER_02 2:02:37

Yeah, I don't either. I just I saw something that said, you know, and and and you may be right. Somebody may have said what I saw, which is, hey, none of the trustees supported it. And it may be something against them being able to do that. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 2:02:50

Just like if the city of Tyler were to go out for a bond, city council members could not say, hey, I'm I'm for this or or against it. It has to be up to the public.

SPEAKER_02 2:03:01

You can't even say it's a good idea, even though you've you've come up with it.

SPEAKER_00 2:03:06

Aaron Ross Powell Right. Right. Just like the mayor could or or like the county judge when they went out for the courthouse bond, he couldn't say vote yes on it or vote no on it. He's you know, his position was you got to do you know your own homework. Now, obviously, they wouldn't be promoting it if it was something that they didn't want to do. Trevor Burrus Right. I mean they wouldn't yeah, they wouldn't have it. Trevor Burrus Right. And so you could you know infer that, but yeah, you can't and so I don't know if it's the same for the trustees or not, um, but you can't say, yeah, vote yes, vote vote no.

SPEAKER_02 2:03:37

Seems like TJC is gonna have to get a little bit tighter on their messaging to me. Like, for instance, the way we're doing it here. You know, you can't just say, hey, give me 50 million for information and safety. And people go, uh, what's information and safety?

SPEAKER_00 2:03:50

You know who you should have on your podcast is Dr. Juan Mejia.

SPEAKER_02 2:03:55

And people have told me that.

SPEAKER_00 2:03:57

He would he would do it. He would come on and because he is all about uh open communication and conversations, and I think he would be great, uh, a great one for you to have on your on your podcast.

SPEAKER_02 2:04:07

Well, we certainly uh we'll leave an open invitation for him uh because I know they're gonna come back to the well and try to do this bond again at some point. At some point you would think so. And I think, you know, if he hears me, he should come back fully loaded for an explanation in the three categories of budgeted items that totaled that $167 million bond, right?

SPEAKER_00 2:04:27

Right. Right. Um and you can I I don't think you can ever give the public too much information.

SPEAKER_02 2:04:33

And I think he should come back refuting the suggestion that they they threw a half-baked, half-hearted $167 out there so that they could come back at $125 and pretend like they'd made some cuts. Yeah. Right? I mean Um And I don't know if they just gave it a shot because of the low turnout of the race that it was paired with.

SPEAKER_00 2:04:57

Right. And instead of doing it like at a November general election, yeah, but I I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 2:05:02

The political cynic in me says they thought that the most aggressive, enthusiastic voters would come out and they were likely for the bond. But that clearly didn't work. Did not happen. Um and you know, sometimes it doesn't happen. For instance, the courthouse. Right. It took multiple times for the courthouse, and and like you said, I think there was a period of education over time. Correct. And people began to realize the need and the benefit that it would provide.

SPEAKER_00 2:05:28

Correct. Same for the Tyler ISD uh bonds.

SPEAKER_02 2:05:31

Right.

SPEAKER_00 2:05:31

Uh early on there was a lot of um, if you want to call it pushback, resistance. And some that didn't pass. Uh but then the information came out and and there was a clear delineation of well, here's why it's needed and good compared to you know, no information at all.

SPEAKER_02 2:05:52

Aaron Powell Part of that included attracting businesses, like you said, with regard to quality of life. Aaron Powell 100%. Um And now we have uh a pretty nice setup with regard to the public schools.

SPEAKER_00 2:06:02

Aaron Ross Powell Every every building within Tyler ISD is uh I want to say 18 years or newer, which for a school district our size is unheard of.

SPEAKER_02 2:06:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:06:16

And maybe it's 15 years, but it's some something like that.

SPEAKER_02 2:06:20

Well, TJC also has the capacity to make the argument, and Scott Martinez made it as well, is that you know they've developed training um for supplying skilled workers and that they're interfacing with companies here and potentially companies that want to locate here, and so they are kind of a partner, if you will, at the same time while they're educating people. Absolutely. Um the more people understand that, I think the more people would be on board for a bond for upgrades. Um I don't know how old their stuff is, or you know, some of it's pretty old.

SPEAKER_00 2:06:54

I think some of it is.

SPEAKER_02 2:06:55

I mean, I stayed in a dorm at uh Apache or TJC uh tennis camp when I was in, you know, middle school.

SPEAKER_00 2:07:02

It could be the same dorm.

SPEAKER_02 2:07:03

I mean, uh it might not have been updated since. I mean, well um you know, the differences in yours and a Knicks administration, you know. Let's go to the multiverse. Okay. Right. We've got parallel universities. Okay. John Nix is elected. He he leads the next six six years until he's term limited versus Stuart Haney is elected, he leads the next six. Tell me just optically, visually, what do you see different in the city depending on who led and who went forward and won?

SPEAKER_00 2:07:37

If I'm mayor, you're gonna see a lot of continued development and progress of attracting new businesses to town, a lot of um what's taking place on the west side of the loop, downtown.

SPEAKER_02 2:07:50

The west loop is finally being developed.

SPEAKER_00 2:07:52

Absolutely. And so it's not just something that is geared or centered towards one small area of town. You know, I think he wants to develop the southeast side of town, and he has his reasons why. Whereas I wanted to developer in that area? I I I want to develop uh And the West Loop didn't get any tax abatements either. Aaron Powell Uh so there are uh there's a TURS, uh I'm sorry, there's a pit over there, a public improvement district. That agreement's not finalized yet. Um but that's you know another tool in the tool belt.

SPEAKER_02 2:08:26

Yeah, I don't know all the tools in the belt, Steve.

SPEAKER_00 2:08:28

I mean, sure. So, you know, it's it's it's growth for the entirety of the city. Yeah, it's filling out that western side.

SPEAKER_02 2:08:35

That that's needed. And it's with shopping, you know, a grocery store, Stanley's barbecue.

SPEAKER_00 2:08:41

You have some multifamily that uh is interested in coming, you know, within an apartment complex, but you also have some green space over there, uh, that would be great uh to build out. And so you have a lot of people helps with traffic. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 2:08:54

I mean, right if you stay in your area?

SPEAKER_00 2:08:56

Yeah, that's that's true.

SPEAKER_02 2:08:58

I mean, you know, if if the city's equally built out over time, grocery stores, uh, you know, like you said, living spaces, restaurants, then people aren't just driving, you know, just all over the city all at once. Correct. I mean, I I don't know if I'm a visionary, but I just thought of that.

SPEAKER_00 2:09:15

Right. It could be right. And then the other thing I, you know, I think uh where we can, you know, capitalize on some of the uh resources that we have is is collaborating together with our our three higher education institutions, the the two hospitals that we have in the med school, because I think the healthcare industry is one of our biggest industries, top employers. Where why not, you know, we're we're known for that in the region.

SPEAKER_02 2:09:45

Nursing college came about from that.

SPEAKER_00 2:09:47

Correct. Why can't we be known, you know, not only across the state, but across the nation, where we become a hub for training. Training, biomechanical research, biomedical research, um, you know, development of pharmaceuticals, whatever it may be in that med realm, uh, we we can be that hub. And so it's it's everybody working together, though, the city, the county, the health uh care industry, TJC, UT Tyler.

SPEAKER_02 2:10:15

UT Health's outside the city limits. Correct. So I mean Correct. Um okay. Um I'm gonna ask you six questions that I ask former councilman Nick's, and then after you answer those, if there's anything else you want to say, I'll give you the floor to say it before we close, okay? The first one was just simply uh one that, you know, one would expect you to tell us about. Why do you want to be mayor?

SPEAKER_00 2:10:37

I want to be mayor for what I talked about earlier, for all of Tyler, for making Tyler the best place to live, not just for for us, but for future generations. Yes, we're the second best place to live in the state of Texas. Why can't we be the best place to live? We have a lot of momentum going for us, and we need to continue that momentum so we can be the best place to live in the state of Texas.

SPEAKER_02 2:11:02

All right. And this one is more specific as to this moment in time. Why will you be a better mayor at this moment in time as opposed to some other moment in time?

SPEAKER_00 2:11:12

Aaron Powell It's because of the work that Mayor Warren has started that we need to continue and build off of, not stop and regress backwards, but continue the momentum that we have. And I'm the one that has the vision and the and and the commitment to continuing that vision and that momentum where we can become the best place to live in the state of Texas.

SPEAKER_02 2:11:36

And your administration, whoever comes in, you or uh former Councilman Nicks, there will be overlap. Some of the projects that Don Warren initiated have to be completed, right? Absolutely. And some of the conversations, I would assume, about how that gets done, why it's important, you know, are present with the current council members.

SPEAKER_00 2:11:55

Absolutely. And so that cohesiveness where everybody is rowing in the same direction. And everybody has been collaborating for the same end goal really is important compared to somebody that has been very critical of council, but then may come on as mayor and expect that council to work with with him and want you know the same vision may not happen because of how critical he has been of people that have been serving on council that he expects to then, you know, jump on the same the same vision as him.

SPEAKER_02 2:12:28

What when you say critical of council, what would you say would be, you know, two, just two of, if you can think of, of things that he's been critical of, you know, as a candidate as opposed to being a council person?

SPEAKER_00 2:12:41

He um is trying to classify himself, I believe, as an outsider. Right. Has not been part of a lot of you know what has taken place over the past 12 years, even though he has been on council. Um and he's been very critical of staff. He's been very critical of council, and uh especially uh with the downtown um project.

SPEAKER_02 2:13:06

And and so that's critical of the way it was implemented.

SPEAKER_00 2:13:09

Implemented, um, funded, even though it was funded the majority through half-cent sales tax, which is why he voted no on it.

SPEAKER_02 2:13:17

Um the downtown square project, for people that are you know, this is a lot of information, right? Correct. You're saying it was funded with you know half-cent sales tax.

SPEAKER_00 2:13:27

And a little bit of ARPA money.

SPEAKER_02 2:13:28

Okay. And that means some COVID money we didn't use? Correct. Okay. Which would seem to be a nice smart business decision. Absolutely. I mean, right?

SPEAKER_00 2:13:37

Short answer, absolutely. I mean no bond, no debt.

SPEAKER_02 2:13:42

I mean, I think when people watch this, they have to look at you and listen to what you've said and how you've answered, and look into what he said and what he's answered, and decide whether or not um, you know the reasons you say we should have done something and are doing it right versus the criticisms and how small they are in relation to, you know, really what is he really critical of? You know. And it seems to be that we could have saved some money, um, we could have finished it faster, right? I mean, and you know, I'm not I'm not getting on him, but I'm saying those are two criticisms that we c anybody can make about anything anytime. Absolutely. Hey, you should have done it cheaper and you could have done it faster.

SPEAKER_00 2:14:23

Absolutely. And that, you know, that goes back to what I said about Cambridge uh Cambridge Bend. You know, when you try to rush it, when you try to under-engineer it, and and then you come up amongst projects.

SPEAKER_02 2:14:36

That was on your watch, too.

SPEAKER_00 2:14:37

It wasn't on mine. Oh, it wasn't? No, that that was a project that my opponent pushed.

SPEAKER_02 2:14:43

And when he was on council, uh, that he wanted um because that's the road Cambridge that comes off uh the loop. I mean, off of Broadway. And it curves around to Jeff Davis. Correct. And they I mean, this was I remember I thought, well, good, they need to widen this road and put some curbs on it, but it took forever.

SPEAKER_00 2:15:02

It did. It you know, it it was focused on benefiting those neighborhoods back there that were currently being developed. Uh and who was developing back then? Um I will let the viewers and the listeners do their research of who was developing those neighborhoods back there.

SPEAKER_02 2:15:20

Okay. Are you saying that that road benefited, you know, John Nix and his in his business?

SPEAKER_00 2:15:26

I am saying that I will let the viewers and the listeners do their research of who was developing back there. At the same time of who was a proponent for that project for it to be done quickly instead of being engineered correctly and appropriately.

SPEAKER_02 2:15:45

Now, total fairness to him, at least on the first point, that project needed to get done. Agreed? That we needed that Cambridge Road need to be updated. Some of it probably. Because I mean it was just uh There's some probably drainage aspects of it. Blacktop, no curbs, which goes to the drainage aspect of So yeah, it needs to be done. But um I mean are you saying that he was somehow involved in it being engine under engineered and that led to it taking longer?

SPEAKER_00 2:16:18

Aaron Ross Powell What I am saying is now how projects are evaluated on the half-cent sales tax.

SPEAKER_02 2:16:25

Is different when that than when that project was evaluated? Absolutely. Aaron Ross Powell Okay. What happened did that project cause a reevaluation?

SPEAKER_00 2:16:31

Absolutely. Projects are now looked at whether they benefit the entirety of the city, uh, or, you know, like I was mentioning earlier, one small neighborhood or one small section, because you're using tax dollars from the entirety of the city. And so you need to evaluate a project, rank it accordingly. How important is it to the entirety of the city? Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 2:16:53

But it would bring houses that are built and property tax revenue, which is one of the three legs of the city's budget. Sure. Right? I mean, again, you know, we're almost splitting hairs because none of these ideas are bad, right? I mean, like because you're probably for development that leads to further development. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Absolutely. I mean but you're also telling us something that should be uh, you know, music to people's ears, which is the city also learns from mistakes and improves when something doesn't go just right. Absolutely. And that re-evaluation is taking place, but unfortunately for the people who lived off Cambridge, it's been a long time. That project took a long time. That's a sore subject, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 2:17:40

I don't know how long did that take? I I know that when Councilman Curtis came on council, uh that project became his uh and he was glad to see it completed.

SPEAKER_02 2:17:50

It was in his district.

SPEAKER_00 2:17:51

It was it's in his district. He he uh just termed out uh this week. Uh yester yesterday was Wednesday, and uh district six is that district, and he inherited that project when he came on council.

SPEAKER_02 2:18:06

All right. Um at the end of six years, let's look at it. Um you've carried this momentum or continued it that you say you want to do. Absolutely. You know, can you see new things, new projects, new possibilities in the city of Tyler that people really don't have a awareness of because they're not privy to the conversations you are?

SPEAKER_00 2:18:26

Absolutely. Um, you know, more connectivity, uh, where you see uh long-term, you know, a connectivity piece or a trail uh system from TJC through the hospital district to downtown. Um I've heard about that.

SPEAKER_02 2:18:44

Yeah. I have heard that because I had Nick Pensis, owner of Stanley's, on the show. Absolutely. He owns parcels of land and has talked about um, you know, kind of a a trail system that connected. It'd be great. I mean, it would be great. That connectivity piece would be great. And that's you you see a lot more people. People would enjoy it. Yes. Right? I mean, that again goes to your quality of life argument. Correct.

SPEAKER_00 2:19:09

Um, you see projects like that, you also see some of the area that hasn't been uh developed, whether it's downtown uh or on the outskirts of downtown, start to get developed. Because of it. Absolutely. And so you have more uh people willing to be outside and do things uh which increases quality of life. Yeah. Attracts new businesses.

SPEAKER_02 2:19:32

And you know, the one thing he said which may um be appropriate to this campaign was that he said everything in the city moves so slow, you know, that uh in Tyler it'll take a long time for this ever to become a reality. And hopefully that's not true. Trevor Burrus I I would hope it's not true as well. Um Well, you may be responsible if you're elected, you know, to try to get something going. Trevor Burrus, Jr. And it would take it a trail, I guess that wouldn't be that much money to, you know.

SPEAKER_00 2:20:01

And and you know, what grants are available where you can you know look at alternative funding sources.

SPEAKER_02 2:20:07

Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Federal, you know. Parks and wildlife. Parks and wildlife, outdoor, environmental, whatever you want to call it, right? I mean, get somebody down in the city that knows how to uh request with some knowledge. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 2:20:20

That's exactly right.

SPEAKER_02 2:20:21

All right. Um I know the answer to this, but I'm I'm gonna put it out there. You believe in coordinating with the county and the TEDC, and that's being pretty important.

SPEAKER_00 2:20:30

I don't think we could get done what we need to get done if we are operating in a silo. We have taken I missed this year's trip due to the campaign. To Carolina. To South Carolina. But year before, uh went to Huntsville, Alabama, year before went to Chattanooga, Tennessee. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 2:20:47

Just to look at what other cities had done.

SPEAKER_00 2:20:49

That have already done their downtown revitalization and to see the benefits of what has happened since and to see that 10x return of public-private uh investments, and and the consensus that I took away from those trips and the questions that I asked is how are you doing this? And it's it's a commonality. You have the city, you have the county, you have the school districts, and you have the higher education systems all with the same goal, all rowing in the same direction. How do we make our community better? You don't have a county goal, you don't have a city goal, you don't have a school district goal. It's all people with the same common goal of how do we make our community better.

SPEAKER_02 2:21:36

Everybody might have to agree to take a little less in order for the group to do better. Correct. Right. And then if somebody is criticizing the county by themselves for, you know, taking a little less or doing something, you know, then it looks like in a vacuum that they're not doing right.

SPEAKER_00 2:21:55

But if if you're judging the If you step back and look at it from, okay, how does this benefit the community as a whole, not just for today, but 20, 30, 40 years down the road, there's your answer.

SPEAKER_02 2:22:08

Well, and you know, I I thought it was interesting. I never really thought about this before. Looking at a a place that already revitalized downtown and seeing, you know, what could happen in the areas around it as far as economic development. Absolutely. And then, you know, the city would be in a better position, I would think, to talk about uh rebates, abatements, and whether they were appropriate or not based on what they'd seen. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 2:22:34

Which is the reason those trips were taken is to, okay, these cities, yes, you know, a little bigger in size, but similar type. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 2:22:43

We don't have a perfect example out there of Tyler, Texas. Trevor Burrus, Jr. You're exactly right.

SPEAKER_00 2:22:47

You're exactly right.

SPEAKER_02 2:22:48

Um, very unique.

SPEAKER_00 2:22:50

We are very unique. But like the Greenville trip that they just took, the city itself, population-wise, is smaller than Tyler, but they are a countywide population, a metro population that's bigger than Smith County.

SPEAKER_02 2:23:06

Aaron Powell Which Smith County is what, 250? Roughly. Okay. All right. Here's your last question. And uh what has Don Warren done well as a mayor?

SPEAKER_00 2:23:15

I think Don well Don Warren has done well is loving people, treating people with respect, whether it's people in the community from all angles of the community, and more importantly, the staff camaraderie, the staff connections that he has made, where people want to work, where people want to put their best foot forward for the benefit of our community, for the benefit of our city. He has brought everybody to the table together where everybody has a voice and has been heard, where we all have that common goal of how do we make Tyler, Texas the best place to live and the best place to work and the best place to raise a family. And his heart for the city, people see that because he is present, he is accountable, and he wears his heart on his sleeve for how he ends every single conversation is love your neighbor.

SPEAKER_02 2:24:14

Yeah. And I mean, I I really believe that his his parks project was was an extension of that love your neighbor. 100%. I mean, just knowing him, having him on the podcast and asking him those kind of questions, you just seem like, you know, um his influence may have changed the trajectory of the council members as far as factoring in quality of life and care of your neighbor. I don't know that, but I I mean he said six years and been a pretty big influence in that regard. Absolutely. And some of his critics, I think they they don't they don't take that into consideration near as much as I as I think they should. They don't appreciate that. I mean, because the overall mental health of the city as a complete place is probably better. People are probably friendlier, happier, um, you know, than they would be if they felt disenfranchised. Aaron Powell, I agree. I think so. All right. Stuart, if you've got anything you want to say to the uh people who are going to uh go to uh the polls, early voting June 1st, uh election June 13, have at it.

SPEAKER_00 2:25:21

I would say for those that you know may be on the fence about going to vote and and thinking, well, my my voice isn't heard or my vote doesn't count, I would tell you the complete opposite is true. You're your your vote matters. Every single vote matters in this race because it is a low turnout, um, because the previous election was a low turnout, and and I think the runoff will be even lower. And so does a church group or a neighborhood or a group of people, you know, coming together change an election? It it could, because every vote truly does matter. And and the way I explain it to people for why your vote truly is important is if you were to pick up the phone and call the White House, are you gonna, you know, talk to the president? No.

SPEAKER_02 2:26:10

Um I might. Ordinary people wall. But I mean, he probably yeah, I no, I don't know if he's alcohol either.

SPEAKER_00 2:26:16

Uh and then same for Austin. If you pick up the phone and call the the governor's mansion, are you gonna be able to talk to the governor? Probably not. Probably not. But if you pick up the phone and and want to talk to your council person or the mayor, you're gonna get that person on the phone because we we live in the community with you, we work in the community with you, we raise our kids in the community with you. The decisions we make not only affect you, but affect me and my family as well. And so we're here with you. And we are, you know, not just accountable, but accessible. And so why not go make your voice heard for those that are making the decisions that affect all of us?

SPEAKER_02 2:26:53

Well, I wish I could get Petra Hawkins on the phone. I can't ever get her on the phone. That's my that's my person. That's my I'm in her district. In her district? I am. How many people voted in the runoff election?

SPEAKER_00 2:27:05

Uh just over nine. Oh, in the runoff? Nobody, yeah. Because the runoff hasn't happened.

SPEAKER_02 2:27:10

I mean, what caused the runoff?

SPEAKER_00 2:27:12

Oh, so there were uh less than 10,000 people that voted. So it was roughly a nine percent voter turnout. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 2:27:19

What do you expect from historical turnout about this runoff election, numbers-wise? It could be half. Okay. In that wild, 4,500 people.

SPEAKER_00 2:27:31

Deciding the mayor of Tyler, Texas, the mayor of our city. The size of a city that we have, 115,000 people. Well, which is why I'm encouraging everybody to get out and vote.

SPEAKER_02 2:27:41

Well, Stuart, thank you for giving us all this time today, and I hope it benefits um the voters to get to know, you know, who you are, what you're all about, and make their decision.

SPEAKER_00 2:27:51

Absolutely. Chad, thank you very much for having me on your show. I really appreciate you taking the time to sit down and visit with me and learn more about me. And if they're if the voters have other questions, I encourage people to go to my my website or my Facebook page, which is just you know my name, so easy to find.

SPEAKER_01 2:28:07

Stuart Haney.