History has been made in the City of Killeen. The former Mayor Pro Tem Debbie Nash has been sworn in as Mayor, the first black woman to hold that title.
Nash-King was overcome with emotion as she took her oath and pledged to serve the people of Killeen.
"It's one thing to read about history but it's another thing but it is another thing to make history. This is my fifth year on the city council and having the opportunity to be the first it carries a lot of weight," Nash-King said.
Her promotion was made possible after former mayor Jose Segarra stepped down back on March 17, to run for a city council seat. The city's charter requires Segarra to step down at least 40 days before election day. While he will face off against 3 incumbents and 2 others for one of 3 seats on May 7th he's already making plans.
Segarra said, "I just wanted to continue, I might get too bored. I’m not ready to retire yet. There is still work to be done. When I got here there were about 60,000 people, we’re close to 160,000 now so the challenge with any city like ours that’s growing so rapidly is to keep up with that growth."
Nash is on the ballot too, running for mayor. She hopes to keep her new position after election day, and already has a plan of attack for combating crime in Killeen.
Nash-King said, "One of the things I do want to talk about is crime, it’ll be one of my top priorities even if it’s not as a council. It will be an individual challenge for me to take that on and to really try to work with the community and stop the killing in Killeen. Police officers can only do so much, so it is our responsibility as a Council to ensure that our first responders have the staff and the resources that they need it. It comes from funding."
Segarra and Nash-King both strive to continue their work in the city after election day.
