By Cheryl Smith
Angela Graham West wants Garland citizens to know a few things about her that she hopes will provide insight into why she would be the ideal person to join the Garland City Council after the May 1, 2021 election.
In a four-way race for the District 3 seat, she faces Vickie Jackson-High, PC Mathew and Edward Moore. In District 1, Jeff Bass, John Grimley and Angie Whitney each hope to avoid a runoff and in the other three Districts — 6, 7, and 8; Robert Vera, Dylan Hedrick and Robert John Smith are the unopposed incumbents. In the nonpartisan race for mayor, incumbent Scott LeMay is being challenged by Roel Garcia.
Interestingly, all candidates except for the incumbents are first time council candidates.
Out of the nine sitting members of the Council, two are African American, Rev. Ricky C. McNeal and veteran council member B.J. Williams; who returned to the council in November 2020, after sitting out a term.
Rev. McNeal, who was president of the Garland NAACP was appointed to fill the District One seat after the sole candidate in the November election withdrew. A special election was called for May, however according Garland statutes he was ineligible to seek office.
West, who is proud of her Jamaican heritage, is a financial planner with LPL Financial, which has offices in Ft Lauderdale, Dallas, and Washington, DC; and she has earned a doctorate degree in Business from Kansas State University.
Although she’s a fairly new transplant to the area, this businesswoman does not see that as giving her opponents any leverage. She said her family moved from Dallas to Garland because in addition to Garland being a beautiful city, there were also the possibilities of having a neighborhood with land.
Touting the many positive reasons for choosing Garland, she said she is focused on community and business; that citizens should be concerned about the type of businesses that come into neighborhoods and change the entire dynamics.
“I see the benefits of having enclaves that benefit communities,” she explained, adding that there are enough pawn shops, auto repair shops and other businesses along those lines
that are not necessarily appropriate for the neighborhoods she thinks of or wants when talking about Garland.
It is also something she witnessed, she said, when living in Fayetteville, North Carolina and safe, beautiful family-type environments, sounds ideal.
A conversation with the wife and mother is pretty calm and relatively low key as she talks about why she chose to seek office.
Her husband, former U.S. Congressman Allen West, is heavily involved in politics, but her focus was on why Angela, not Allen, is the candidate on the ballot.
For her, the election and ultimate focus is about public service, giving and working. “My campaign is about bettering the community, not about using this position as a stepping stone to a higher office,” she said. “I want to make sure this area stays in the best possible shape.”
And for her, the best possible shape has to do with ensuring that there are small business opportunities and that the businesses that are in the community are ones that also foster the neighborly spirit that is associated with her vision of a neighborhood, where families and businesses thrive.
Not too much to ask, especially from an area that’s touted as one of the fastest-growing areas in the country, in addition receiving positive reviews about quality of life. Although the 2010 census boasted a little over a quarter of million citizens, a lot has happened since and last count, city officials reported an increase that now has that number at just about 240,000 resident with an estimated median household income in 2019 of $62,556; which was a huge jump from year 2000, when it was $49,156.
Garland is large in terms of the area, with 57 square miles of land area, and it has a lot to offer, admits West, adding that she‘d like homebuyers and the right businesses to head East instead of North, when looking for land, homes and other opportunities because Garland has so “much to offer.”
Those 57 square miles can call for some coalition building as three counties: Collin, Dallas and Rockwall can lay claim to portions of the city.
During that census, Garland also had an African American mayor in Dr. Ronald Jones, and citizens were optimistic about the future growth as more and more citizens were eyeing the Lone Star State as a place to stake their claims.
For West, who is proud to note that she speaks her mind, being part of the continued growth and development of Garland is all this mother of two wants to do.
Early voting begins on April 19, 2021.
