Jarratt to challenge Mobly for Granbury mayor

Jim Jarratt, a retired executive with experience on city and county advisory boards, has filed for mayor, joining Tony Mobly on the ballot for a June 29 special election necessitated by the resignation of Granbury Mayor Nin Hulett.

Jarratt filed paperwork with the city just before 5 p.m. on Wednesday. He has lived in the city for almost 12 years.

A native of Comanche, Jarratt played football and basketball against Granbury Pirates during the 1960s. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1963-1964.

According to biographical information that Jarratt provided to the Hood County News, his career included work with various startup positions during the 1990s and “first line through board room positions” at Johnson & Johnson, Frito-Lay, Citibank, Equifax and UnitedHealth Group, where he retired in 2009 as vice president of operations.

Jarratt said he has served on various city boards during his retirement, including the Municipal Utility Advisory Board. He currently serves on the city’s Capital Improvements Advisory Committee and the Hood County Library Advisory Board (LAB). LAB members are appointed by the Hood County Commissioners Court.

Jarrett said he has served in the past on three for-profit boards representing businesses in the telecom and healthcare business fields. He is on the board of trustees for Austin College in Sherman.

He has three grown children and three grandchildren.

Jarrett stated that he has chosen to run for mayor because he feels that current city government is “stuck in a rut” and “unable to move past some of their own bad decisions.”

He cited “overburdened infrastructure” including highways (377 and 144), and water and wastewater capacity. He said that property was “unceremoniously involuntarily annexed” after the city changed direction on plans for a second wastewater treatment plant and chose a site outside the city limits.

“Without a change in Granbury city government, I’m concerned we will continue to be stuck,” Jarrett stated.

Mobly, an Edward Jones financial advisor, has been on the council since 2015. Every year since 2017 he has been voted mayor pro tem by his peers on the council.

Mobly recently traveled travelled to Austin with Hulett and City Manager Chris Coffman and met via Zoom with high ranking TxDOT officials from the office of state Rep. Glenn Rogers to discuss expansion of US Hwy. 377.

During his time on the council, Mobly has participated in a years-long budgeting and implementation process to upgrade the city’s water and wastewater infrastructure. He participated last week in a ceremony marking completion of the second phase of the city’s new water plant.

He and his wife Kathy have two grown sons and a granddaughter.

The deadline to file for the mayor’s seat or for the Place 5 seat that Mobly vacated to run for mayor was 5 p.m. Thursday (May 20), shortly after the newspaper’s print deadline. The HCN will post any updates on its website.

Planning and Zoning Commission members Steven Vale and Richard Hoefs are vying for the Place 5 seat.

Those who live within the city limits and are not registered to vote have until June 1 to do so if they want to vote in the special election.

Early voting begins June 14 and will run through June 25.

Those with questions can contact the elections office at 817-408-2525.