AARP hosts city council Meet the Candidates forum
Fri, 2016-10-14 05:00
News Staff
By PAMELA GRANT
Cove Leader-Press
On Monday afternoon, the public had the opportunity to get to learn a bit more about the nine men running for positions on the Copperas Cove City Council.
Chapter 1359 of the AARP hosted a “Meet the Candidates Forum” at the Grace United Methodist Church. There, the nine candidates each had three minutes to talk to the public about whatever they felt was important. Topics ranged from qualifications, personal descriptions, and goals that each hoped to accomplish should they be successful in their bid for a position on the City Council.
Two of the candidates, Kirby Lack and Marc Payne, are running for Place 5.
“I’m excited about the things that have been done in the city the last couple of years,” said Kirby Lack, the incumbent. “We’ve gotten a lot of good things accomplished.”
Lack served six years on the City Council previously and has served again starting in 2014. He said that since he’s been on the council, although there have been some rough spots, the budget has been balanced and the city has a surplus. If elected, Lack said he wants to work to fix and upgrade the city’s parks and golf course.
Marc Payne decided to run because he didn’t like some of the things that the City Council has done in the past. If elected, he said he’d like to slow the decision making process down and make sure the council does more research so they will have a fuller understanding before acting. He said it’s important to ask questions and use common sense when making decisions.
“I believe in strength through unity by working together to find common ground using leadership, common sense, and experience gained through volunteering in the city—All the while moving toward growth and prosperity,” said Payne.
Jay Manning, Terry McDonald, Clarence Enochs, and Gary Kent are all running for Place 4 on the City Council.
Jay Manning used his time to talk about how important it is to get involved in government. He added that having a representative government is a great privilege.
Manning also talked about the importance of volunteering.
Terry McDonald said that although he’s never held political office before, he still hopes to be able to represent the people of Copperas Cove. McDonald said he’s a regular guy and hopes to represent the average citizen.
He said one of his major concerns he’d like to help fix is making sure housing is more affordable.
If elected, Clarence Enochs said he would like to support the pursuit of a defined quality of life for all citizens.
Enochs has been very involved in the city and is the current president of the Morning Exchange Club. Enochs said he would like to look into renewable energy and he believes in regional collaboration.
He plans to research alternate revenue streams to improve both the city’s parks and its road infrastructure.
“I would like to help our city go from good to great…Copperas Cove is an area that people look at because Copperas Cove is on the move,” said candidate Gary Kent. “Serving our community is part of my DNA.”
Kent said he wants to help Copperas Cove move further forward. Kent grew up with 16 brothers and sisters and said this has taught him the importance of leadership. He is currently the Senior Vice-Commander in the VFW. He said community service is something that he enjoys doing. One of the biggest things Kent said he hopes to do if elected is to lobby to Congress to help bring more jobs to the area.
Vic Dery, Dan Yancey, and Chuck Taylor are running for Place 3 on the City Council.
Dery has never held political office before, but he hopes to be able to bring the voice of the citizens to the council. If elected, he hopes to foster small businesses. Dery said transparency and accountability are important to him, and that is something that he hopes to bring to the City Council.
Dan Yancey is the current holder of Place 3 and hopes to be re-elected. Yancey said since he’s held office, he’s realized that he can’t satisfy every single person, but he hopes to represent the will of the people.
He hopes to act in the best interest for the city. He said it’s important to look at all of the facts and stand up for what is right even if that means going against the crowd.
Chuck Taylor covered politics for many years as a news person and in radio, and wanted to get involved himself.
“One person can’t promise anything,” said Taylor. “They can only say this is what I’d like to attempt to persuade people to do.”
If elected, Taylor hopes to encourage the building of a grocery store on the west end of Copperas Cove which he believes will help ease traffic congestion on the east side.
He also wants to see the roads redone, more sidewalks built, and a sign ordinance introduced.
Clarence Enochs, running for Place 4, said it’s important for citizens to come out and vote in this election.
“Historically Copperas Cove has the lion’s share of the registered voters in the county. We have more voters than Gatesville, but we have statistically a much lower turnout,” said Enochs. “In local elections, one or two votes are very meaningful.”
The next political forum will be held Oct 22 at 1 p.m. at VFW Post 8577.
Questions from the public will be accepted at this event. Early voting begins Oct 24.
Editor’s Note: Watch for a special election section of the Copperas Cove Leader-Press on Friday, Oct. 21.