I am writing to recommend Jeff Mangum who is running for reelection as Council Member (Place 2) for our Copper Canyon Town Council.
My husband and I are residents of Copper Canyon and I had the privilege of serving for a brief period in 2006 as the Town Secretary prior to reopening my legal practice in December of that year. During my tenure as Town Secretary, I had the opportunity of getting to know many of the residents of Copper Canyon personally and to get to know Jeff Mangum as he served on the Town Council.
As evidenced by the spirited campaigning in this year’s Copper Canyon elections, issues of character and out-of-control public spending are no longer only within the purview of national and state campaigns.
Character and Integrity of Elected Officials: Elected officials serve as stewards of taxpayer resources and services. As such, the people we elect to these positions should be people of trustworthiness and integrity. Jeff Mangum is the longest-sitting member of our Town government. I can unqualifiedly attest to his high personal character and integrity which is well-known throughout the community. Despite glowing recommendations of business acumen, however, I have great reservations about electing a candidate with an undisputed record of civil and criminal charges as has been alleged against one candidate in the Place 4 race. I urge citizens to review these charges before making their own decisions and to vote for the high moral ground rather than be swayed by promises of expertise in commercial development. The type of project suitable for the Copper Canyon corridor of FM 407 is ultimately going to be made by commercial developers who are unlikely to follow any “concept plan” developed by the Town.
Deficit Spending and Borrowing: I find the pros and cons of the now hotly criticized road bond not totally clear in the political rhetoric of this Town election. It is true that for several years, funds designated for road maintenance (at least in spirit if not in enforceable law) were not used for that purpose. Those funds, however, would not have been enough to rebuild the major or interior roads of the Town. While I question the need to rebuild virtually every road in the Town through this bond, there are persuasive opinions that the recession created a “bargain” price that the Town was wise to capitalize upon. I also believe that the strong road infrastructure being put in place in the Town will serve us all well as to values of our properties. That being said, I agree wholeheartedly with those that stress that the Town needs to return its focus to using tax revenues to retire the road bond at the fastest possible pace, as opposed to continuing the use of such revenues for other purposes, no matter how worthy. Jeff Mangum has been a strong proponent of the need for limited taxation and careful use of Town revenues. I believe that he will remain so on the issue of retiring the road bond.
Thank you for your consideration of Jeff Mangum in this contested election.
Virginia A. Moore
Copper Canyon, TX
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