Mayoral Candidate David Nowlin Promises Aggressive but Deliberate Leadership for San Angelo

Surrounded by friends and family, David Nowlin formally launched his campaign for mayor Tuesday at Miss Hattie’s restaurant. Supporters and those who wanted to see the candidate for the first time in person began to trickle in at 4:30 p.m. where the Hattie’s cook had prepared iced tea and hamburger sliders. By 5:30, the front dining room was full and Nowlin made a short speech without much pomp and circumstance or fanfare, or even a microphone. His daughter sat at the table next to him as he began to speak. He was soft-spoken, but deliberate in his remarks.

“Lela is the main reason I want to be your mayor,” Nowlin said. Tracing his motivation to run back to his daughter.

“I want Lela to grow up in a city where…” Nowlin paused for a moment, gathering his composure. “I get choked up sometimes when I’m talking about my children,” he said.

Above: David Nowlin delivers his speech announcing his campaign for mayor. (LIVE! Photo/Joe Hyde)

“I want her to grow up where she doesn’t have to worry about if she has water to take a shower, and the streets don’t have potholes that could cause her to get hurt in an accident. I want police and fire protection provided by public servants who are paid well,” he said. “I want Lela to grow up in a city where she can get a good education and stay and work here so that Kim [his wife] and I can watch her succeed.”

“I want a city, and you want a city, where we solve the problems. Government should be a solution to our problems,” he said. “We’re still putting Band-Aids on water lines and patching the streets. We’re not nearly as aggressive, I believe, as other cities fixing these problems.”

“This has to change,” he said.

“As mayor, I’m going to get in there and start walking, and I’m going to be walking fast,” he said, referring to a deliberate but aggressive style he’d implement.

“I can tell you that I will be aggressive, and I’ll be relentless. But I cannot do it by myself,” he said. “I need your brain power, your ideas, and your solutions,” Nowlin said.

“I have a construction company—Climate Right Construction,” he said. “There I put the best people I can find into leadership positions, and then I counsel and encourage them. And I tell them if they have a better way or idea, I listen to them,” he said. “When I look out here among you all, I’m humbled. I know a lot of you are the changers, the doers. I know you have ideas and solutions. I can utilize what you know, and together we can do the job of leading this city.”

“I can’t do it without you,” he said.

“As mayor, I’m not going to give my opinion by shooting from the hip two, three or four times, and then change my mind. When I’m mayor, those days are over with,” Nowlin said, jabbing at the freelancing methods of his opponent, Mayor Dwain Morrison.

Above: An appreciative crowd gathered at Miss Hattie's restaurant to launch David Nowlin's campaign for Mayor of San Angelo. (LIVE! Photo/Joe Hyde)

“I pledge that as your mayor, I’ll care about the issues that you care about. I won’t just be a ribbon-cutter.  Or a ‘no’ voter. I’ll be a listener.”

“I’ll bring transparency, courtesy and professionalism to our city council,” he said.

“The bottom line for me is that I want Lela to continue to love San Angelo the way she does, the way Kim and I do… the way you do.”

“And I need your help to do it,” he said.