ABILENE, Texas — The votes have been cast, counted, and announced; now former Abilene City Council Member Weldon Hurt will be moving up as he begins his term as the next Mayor of Abilene.
Now that the craziness of election season is over, we had a chance to sit down with the Mayor Elect, before he is sworn in, about what winning means to him and his plans for the future of the city, “I’m not as overwhelmed as I was but I’m looking forward to the challenge to get into the work. The first thing that we have to battle is the budget. The budget is everything, that’s how we spend our money for public safety, public works, and everything else.”
The election also saw two new candidates win their respective races for City Council. So, we asked Hurt about his expectations for the first-time council members, “You just want to see them involved in the conversation; you want their opinions because everybody’s different. We have one who’s is an attorney so we can see if that will help during the discussions. We have one who is an ex-Colonel. How does that help us with our city and our relations with Dyess? We definitely want to utilize their expertise on their day jobs and what they’ve done in life and get that input. So, we certainly want them to have a voice for what they’re experts in and we want them to bring that to council, for areas that we haven’t had before.”
While Hurt is taking a step up in responsibility from Councilman to Mayor, he told us that he committed to helping the people of Abilene now more than ever.
“Making a commitment to be able to meet the public to do what needs to be done, even if it’s office visits at City Hall. The mayor does have an office at City Hall, and I think that’s importantbut just being willing to make that commitment is what it’s all about
Mayor Elect Weldon Hurt will be sworn in next week on May 16th.
