Today early voting begins for the Stephenville City Council. Only one of the five races is contested this year. For Place 2, I urge that you vote for Carla Trussell.
This recommendation may be surprising. Carla and I don’t see eye-to-eye on every issue. When I last ran for city council in 2014, she worked for the successful election of my opponent. Yet having worked with Carla’s opponent for six years on the council, and having gotten to know Carla herself through our mutual work on the Erath County Republican Executive Committee, I’m convinced that Carla Trussell will make the better council member.
Both Carla and her opponent cite their conservatism. Carla indeed believes in taking the sort of prudent, cautious, thrifty approach to spending that are the hallmarks of the true traditional conservative. I suggest readers of this column study the various letters submitted to The Flash and the Empire Tribune by citizens who have described and analyzed his spending record over the past two years, and conclude for themselves whether he meets the high standard of fiscal prudence Carla exemplifies.
Both Carla and her opponent also cite their affiliation in a variety of civic organizations, including the Erath County Republican Party, on whose executive committee I’ve served since 1990. It’s true her opponent has occasionally come to some meetings. But Carla has helped do the heavy lifting of helping run the party through her work as party secretary, executive committee member, and convention delegate. To Carla membership is not just a credential, but a commitment.
Perhaps the best reason for supporting Carla for the Council is her temperament. She has views well thought out and strongly held. But she has the ability to argue her positions on their merits, without resorting to personal attacks on those who might disagree with her. She can disagree without being disagreeable, she can accept that differences of opinion are not character defects, and she understands that those who may disagree with her are neither crazy, nor stupid, nor evil, nor politically subversive. She has the willingness and the ability to examine new facts, and new ways of looking at existing facts, and thereby keep her opinions grounded in reality.
For the foreseeable future the city council must increasingly make decisions on the collection and expenditure of funds to upgrade infrastructure while maintaining the highest quality of city services consistent with thrift and prudence. Carla Trussell’s common sense conservatism and her civil and courteous approach to working with others will help provide the best answers to the challenges the city council will face.
For these reasons, I urge the election of Carla Stacey Trussell to membership on the Stephenville City Council, Place 2.
Malcolm L. Cross has lived in Stephenville and taught politics and government at Tarleton since 1987. His political and civic activities include service on the Stephenville City Council (2000-2014) and on the Erath County Republican Executive Committee (1990 to the present). He was Mayor Pro Tem of Stephenville from 2008 to 2014. He is a member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and the Stephenville Rotary Club, and does volunteer work for the Boy Scouts of America. Views expressed in this column are his and do not reflect those of The Flash as a whole.
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