Keene Interim City Secretary Nate Drambareanu swore in Lisa Parrish Thursday as she became the first female mayor in Keene’s history.
Applause filled the Keene Council chamber as Parrish concluded recitation of her oath of office with one woman in the crowd shouting, “Go to work, Lisa. I love you.”
Drambareanu stepped in for 18th District Judge Sydney Hewlett, who was scheduled to swear Parrish and three council members in but was unable to attend because of a jury trial running over in her court.
Parrish previously served two terms on Keene’s Place I council seat.
Once sworn in, Parrish moved from her former seat on the dais to former Mayor Gary Heinrich’s seat. Heinrich hugged and congratulated Parrish before taking his seat among the audience.
Parrish defeated Heinrich in the Nov. 8 election, collecting 447 votes to his 373.
Before Thursday’s meeting began, Parrish, who has lived in Keene since 1978, when she was 7, said her entry into city politics “kind of fell in her lap” several years ago.
“A previous city manager tried to close my day care down at one point, which is a business I’ve owned for 20 years,” Parrish said. “It’s a home business, a licensed childcare home.”
The former city manager, Parrish said, wanted to charge her commercial rather than childcare home rates.
“And wouldn’t sit down with me to discuss the differences,” Parrish said. “I told him I had state documents to show what kind of business I was and it evolved from there. That was a nine-month ordeal of having to hire an attorney to fight the city. But I won and he refused to sign my special use permit that was going to be a lifetime special use permit that I earned from the motion of that last hearing. He wouldn’t sign until after I ran for council, which I did that next year for an empty seat on Place I and won.”
Parrish said she decided to run for mayor after several town residents urged her to do so.
“I ran against Gary Heinrich, a tough competitor who’s been in Keene all his life,” Parrish said. “But Gary and I actually get along really well. I graduated from Chisholm Trail Academy with his son, so I’ve known Gary all my life. He’s a great guy.”
A graduate of Southwestern Adventist University, Parrish went on to earn her masters in education from Tarleton State University.
In addition to her daycare business, Lisa’s Learning Center, Parrish previously worked 20 years in corporate business and about seven in education.
Parrish, in 2015, played a role in the creation of National Police Week in Keene, which she has coordinated for the past seven years and spent four years volunteering at Town Hall Estates and collecting donations for Christmas.
Shortly before he swearing-in ceremony, Parrish spoke of her mother, Velma Allen, who also achieved a Keene first.
“She worked at First State Bank Keene, which later became Pinnacle Bank, and became that bank’s first woman vice president in 1987,” Parrish said. “Sadly, during my junior year at CTA, she died in a horrific car accident and the community really came together to support me.”
Parrish answered economic growth when asked her goals as mayor.
“Economic growth and development, we need to work on bringing businesses into town, building up our industrial park and our commercial businesses to try to increase our revenues.”
Revenues vital for several reasons including retention.
“Right now we’re in a clutch because we’re losing city staff because we don’t have the money to competitively pay them like other cities in our county, don’t have the revenues to sustain that.”
Parrish said she plans to partner with SWAU, Keene ISD and CTA to promote Keene’s educational opportunities and tackle the challenges of attracting new businesses.
“I’m a person who likes to get out in the community and likes to work with people and make contact with businesses to see what I can do to help,” Parrish said. “And work with the resources we have. We have a rail line by our industrial park that we’ve not really tapped into, which would be great for an industry that uses rail to transport their goods and for us to help build up our industrial park.”
Parrish cited Keene’s small town character and heritage, yet proximity to the Metroplex, as another plus in attracting growth.
Parrish’s husband, Tim Parrish, watched with pride as his wife was sworn in.
“I didn’t ever think she’d get into city politics but proud of her and glad she won,” Tim Parrish said.
Drambareanu also swore in Gwen Beeson, who ran for reelection unopposed to her Ward 2 seat; Ray Johnson, who won election to Parrish’s former seat and James Belz, who bested two opponents to secure the Place 3 seat.
Parrish’s tenure got off to a rocky start. Council members rejected her choice of the city’s new mayor pro tem leaving that post vacant for now. The council will revisit the matter during their December meeting.
In an otherwise short meeting, council members approved housekeeping measures to change the signatories at Pinnacle Bank from Heinrich and former Mayor Pro Tem Beeson to Parrish and the new mayor pro tem to be determined.
Those matters dealt with, Parrish adjourned her first meeting as mayor after which she and the other newly sworn-in candidates attended a reception held in their honor.
