By Jerry Morgan, Reporter

The Women's Division Candidates Forum was held at DeLeon's City Hall last Friday evening, April 27.

The ladies hosting the forum reported having difficulty finding a night that did not conflict with other community events, and the turnout of both candidates and audience was limited by the Comanche County Relay for Life event being held at the same time. LaJoyce Johnson admitted to some unease in her first experience as moderator for the forum, although she did a commendable job.

Candidates were allowed three minutes to make a presentation, and questions from the audience were not allowed. Ruby Park served as the timekeeper. Other members of the Women's Division were on hand to help dispense coffee and cookies before and following the forum.

CANDIDATES FORUM. Roy Dale Freeman, standing, was the first of the candidates in the May 12 election to address the crowd at DeLeon City Hall auditorium last Friday evening, April 27. Others seated at the candidates table included, from the left, Billy Ray Evans, Marion Quade, Gayle Stroud, Gayland Daugherty, Marvin McKinnon, emcee LaJoyce Johnson, Cedric Bettis and Fred Turner. Early voting has already begun.

The first candidate to speak was Roy Dale Freeman, a candidate for DeLeon City Council, place 4. Freeman noted he was born, raised and educated in DeLeon. He then recounted his work history with Central Freight Lines and how he earned an accounting degree at Baylor University. He completed the balance of his career working in insurance in Waco before retiring back to DeLeon three years earlier. He complimented the City government and added that he thought it was everybody's responsibility to step up and make a contribution to the common good. He added that he thought the city needed "fresh ideas."

Fred Turner, candidate for place 3 on the City Council, spoke next. He noted how he had come to live in DeLeon in 1992 and had lived here ever since, and added that he has made arrangements with Donnie Nowlin to continue residing here forever. He noted he has served as the City Coordinator, later worked in both Dublin and Comanche, and now is retired and on Social Security, although he continues to be active in a small internet and computer services business. He noted he has had experience with the water, wastewater and streets departments and served as the city's animal control officer. He said that he couldn't promise voters anything, being potentially only one vote among six on the City Council. He did promise, however, to listen to citizens' problems and to bring them to the Council meetings for consideration.

Cedric Bettis, a candidate for place 6 on the Hospital District Board, noted that he had taught high school civics for many years but that this was his first turn as a candidate for public office. He stated that he and his opponent in the election have been good friends and associates in the Gideons organization for many years, and that neither knew for sure that the other was running until after filing. He noted that he was not running against Billy Ray, but only to offer his credentials to the voters. Bettis and his wife, Betty, have been members of the Rucker community for 44 years. He noted they both believed in public service as a religious duty. He agreed with the statement that an individual board member cannot act alone, but only in a legally constituted meeting of the larger body. He added that he did not have any axe to grind, was not unhappy about anything that happened in the past, and that he believed a board member was responsible for overall operating policy, and not in micromanaging the hospital. He added that he had spent most of his life working with and for a board and also in preparing and then living with budgets. He added his agreement with an earlier statement that a board member's responsibility is to listen to the citizens and present their concerns to the board, but not to promise any certain action or decision. He added that he was interested in working for the survival of the hospital,adding that he and his wife and their children needed for it to be successful and open when needed.

Marvin McKinnon spoke next. He is a candidate for place 1 on the Hospital District Board. He noted he had been born in San Marcos, raised in Austin, educated at Texas A&M and Southwest Texas State, served as an officer in the military, and then spent much of his work life in Austin and Georgetown prior to moving to Comanche County two years earlier. He said that while in Georgetown for around 25 years, he had served on various boards and hopefully made things a bit better while doing so. He added that both he and his wife had been active in the community. He commented that much of what previous candidates said that he agrees with, and lamented that Cedric Bettis has stolen much of his thunder about working together and not attempting to individually micromanage. He added that he believes in public service.

Gayland Daugherty, another candidate for place 1 on the Hospital District Board, said he and his wife had fled the metroplex as quickly as possible after retirement, landing in the Beattie community some five years earlier. He said he had grown up in Lampassas, graduated from Texas Tech with a degree in accounting, and has accumulated 45 years experience in financial and administrative management, roughly 15 of which has been in managed health care. He stated his belief that his work experience could yield benefits to the hospital's management. He noted that he did not have any ready answers for the hospital's situation, but planned to listen and learn. He noted that listening is important because good ideas often come from unexpected places. He cited an instance where a co-worker's eight year old daughter found the solution to a problem that had vexed a team of professionals when she happened to notice that some of the numbers had dots (decimals) in them and some did not, a previously overlooked fact that proved key in solving the problem. He noted that he would be on the lookout for new and innovative solutions to old problems.

Gayle Stroud, an unopposed candidate for place 5 on the City Council, noted with a wry smile that we would be stuck with her. But she quickly promised, however, to be as fair, honest and listening as she could be.

Marion Quade, candidate for place 3 on the City Council, began by noting that most people may not know her, but they generally knew her husband, John, who works at Pates Hardware. She noted that her work background was in law enforcement and that she currently worked at Tarleton State as a police dispatcher. She explained that the reason she is running for City Council is that she wants to give back to the town where she has lived for the past eight years. She noted that she couldn't join in with her husband, John, who was a volunteer fireman, but could serve on the City Council and give back to the community and hopefully make some difference. She added that she was not much of a public speaker, but encouraged everyone to vote their conscience and with the good Lord's help we would all get by.

Billy Ray Evans was the last candidate to speak. He is running for place 6 on the Hospital District Board. Evans added that he also was not a good public speaker, but that he was long winded. He noted that he and Cedric Bettis were not opponents, but rather friends and Christian brothers. He promised to do as good a job as he possibly could if the voters placed their confidence in him, but said he would be happy if the voters placed their confidence in Bettis, adding that he was a good man. He expressed his belief that whomever is chosen by the voters would do a good job on the hospital board. He noted that his service on the Hospital Foundation Board had provided some insight into the hospital's situation. He described the Hospital Foundation's role to raise donated funds to assist the hospital in its mission to help the needy in the community. Evans noted that he had initially been opposed to the idea of building a new hospital, but he thought about it more and realized his own personal interests were not as important as the needs of the greater good and the county as a whole. He noted that although the hospital is improving, that it has a long ways to go and needs to accumulate financial reserves.

There were no candidates for the DISD Board of Trustees present.

LaJoyce Johnson noted that she had letters from Jana Morris, a Hospital District Board candidate, and her husband, Benny Morris, a City Council candidate, with the request that they be read at the forum. Johnson said that she had forgotten to bring the letters with her to the forum, however.

With that, she invited everyone to enjoy the refreshments and to visit with the candidates and one another. Her invitation was accepted by most present.