COLLEGE STATION, Texas — It was a close call Tuesday for two seats in the College Station City Council with ballot numbers putting candidates neck and neck for several hours.
KRHD spoke with the two men who will fill those seats – talking about what they look forward to.
Place 1 winner Mark Smith says he’s looking forward to meeting his new council members.
“First thing I look forward to doing is working with the new city council, meeting these people and working closely with them is going to be part of the fun,” says Mark Smith, College Station City Council Place 1.
Smith said one of his main priorities it is taking care of the city of College Station.
“That’s part of the neighborhood integrity issue that I talked about also,” says Smith. “Older neighborhoods need to be taken care of. Their streets need to be taken care of and that’s part of the character of that neighborhood and they deserve our attention.”
Place 2 winner, William Wright, says it took much preparation to see this day and looks forward to helping the city.
“It feels like a culmination of a year’s long effort to really get to this point, really entrenching myself with everything going on with the city,” says William Wright, College Station City Council Place 2. “I’ve been going to every council meeting that I can. I’ve been on planning and zoning so I really have a feel for everything going on.”
With over 30 years of experience in the College Station community, Smith says it’s important to take care of the existing assets in town before starting on a new project.
“The city has invested a lot of money and a lot of infrastructures, a lot of things and we need to take good care of them and not get distracted by ‘oh let’s go over here and do this new thing,’ while a park in an older part of town needs to be mowed and rehabbed,” says Smith.
His other points of focus in office will be building up the city’s community relations and improving the quality of life in the city through city services.
Wright held off on excitement all through the night until he for sure knew he won.
“At first, I was kind of just following on my phone,” says Wright. “I was like I need to go up there and just be there and get it hot off the presses. I’ll always remember getting that last sheet and seeing it finalized. Before that, I was not letting myself get excited until it was all over.”
Wright grew up in College Station and one of the first issues he plans to address in the office is planning and zoning within the city’s neighborhoods.
“The city instigated rezoning with middle housing,” says Wright. “I think that’s going to be a really interesting talk and debate that we have to have with the neighborhoods. I’m looking forward to really getting down deep and getting to the nitty gritty and try to work that out with stakeholders, the neighborhood, and everybody.”
He also looks forward to providing the city with sustainable city services and supporting police and fire department budgets.
“The number of people that are supporting me in this whole journey and then still support me even late in the evening tonight has been heartwarming and reminding me this is why I do it and I’m not going to let them down,” says Wright.
Smith and Wright are both planning to make a positive impact in College Station and will be sworn into office later this month.