Saturday, April 27, 2024
More than 130 members of the community turned out Tuesday evening for the last of three chamber-sponsored candidates forums at the Lake Granbury Conference Center.
The forum focused on two Granbury City Council races, one of which is a mayoral competition.
Jim Jarratt, the incumbent mayor who was seated through a special election in 2021, is running for a full term. He is being challenged by Tony Mobly, a former councilman and former mayor pro tem.
Place 2 incumbent Eddie Rodriquez is seeking a second term. He has competition from Pat Abell.
The forum was moderated by Eric Morrow, dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Tarleton State University.
Like the previous two forums, the almost two-hour event was livestreamed. However, unlike the other debates, a video apparently will not be posted on the Granbury Chamber of Commerce Facebook page, due to a technical malfunction.
The Hood County News is therefore unable to list the questions and the time mark at which the questions were posed in the video, as it did with the previous forums.
Candidates were given three minutes for an opening statement, two minutes to respond to questions, one minute for rebuttals, and one minute for a closing statement.
They were provided questions in advance from the chamber, but the final minutes of the forum were devoted to questions submitted by audience members.
The list of questions from the chamber included seven that were for all four candidates and four that were specifically for the mayoral candidates.
Abell, a member of Granbury’s Public Television Channel Advisory Board, said that he has been married to his “high school sweetheart” for 27 years. They have two grown children and two grandchildren.
He said that he is running for City Council because he cares, wants to help, and has no agenda.
“I’m not funded by anybody else’s money, nor do I associate with any individuals of that nature,” he said. “I’m a servant. I enjoy solving problems, making people happy, and, most importantly, doing what’s right.”
He said that he has had “a wide variety of experiences” that have prepared him for the council position, including service in the military and federal government.
Rodriquez, who is finishing his first term on the City Council, said that his main goals are addressing issues with U.S. Highway 377 and infrastructure, and controlling growth for the future.
A native of Snyder in West Texas, Rodriquez said that he has two associate degrees, one bachelor’s degree, and two master’s degrees. He said that he served in the Navy for 20 years and completed 10 deployments.
His wife, Margaret, is principal at STARS Accelerated High School, and they have a blended family that includes seven children.
Prior to being elected to the council, Rodriquez served on the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment, the Charter Review Commission, and the Planning & Zoning Commission.
Rodriquez said that he continues to support the military as the IT operations officer for the United States Army Corps of Engineers and serves as vice president of Region 8 for the Texas Municipal League.
Mobly, a Granbury resident for 18 years, said that he is a certified financial planner and owns a financial service business and a real estate business in Granbury. He also works as a football official.
“So, the guy you yell at on Friday, that’s me,” he quipped.
Mobly served on the City Council from 2015-2021. For four of those years, he was voted mayor pro tem by his peers.
Mobly said that he has a bachelor’s degree in finance and marketing. He has been married to his wife Kathy for 38 years, the last 18 of which they have spent in Granbury. They have two grown sons, one of whom lives in Granbury, and two granddaughters.
Mobly said that he and his wife have long been involved in the community in a variety of ways, including helping with fundraisers and serving on various boards. He joined Rotary in 2005 and served as its president.
“I would encourage every voter to look at the candidates here and in every other race and see what were they involved in before they ran for office,” he said in his opening statement.
Jarratt said that he lives within the city limits of Granbury, contrary to what some might say.
“Check social media. They say something about where I live almost every day,” he said.
Jarratt stated that he is “totally self-funded” and that he has 40 years of experience working for major corporations.
“The various experiences that go with that, I bring to the city of Granbury,” he said, adding that the city is “a big, big operation” with a $60 million budget.
He said that he has also been “the finance person” in venture capital initiatives and knows how to be a team member.
Jarratt further stated that he has a bachelor’s degree from Austin College in Sherman, a master’s degree from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and has served as a Marine.
Referring to the fact that he is retired, Jarratt said, “My commitment to you is that I have no other job.”
Early voting for the Nov. 8 General Election is underway at Annex 1, 1410 W. Pearl St.
