SMD6 Candidate Rebekah Coffman Q&A: "Giving San Angelo a Fresh Start."

SAN ANGELO, TX-- Rebekah Coffman has lived in San Angelo her entire life. She is 18 years old and is a senior at Central High School. Coffman hopes her youth can bring some much needed change for San Angelo as she represents Single Member District (SMD) 6. LIVE! spoke with Coffman on the issues surrounding this years campaign.
 

What experience do you have that make you qualified for the position?

“I have leadership experience from my current and past positions in my church youth group, choir council, marching band color guard, and National Honor Society,” Coffman said.  “I [also] have experience from Speech & Debate in doing research and forming and presenting an educated opinion over pieces of legislation.”

 
What inspired you to run for City Council?
 

“I was inspired to run for city council because I wanted a chance to serve my community, and I felt that this was the best way for me to do that,” Coffman said.

 What can you bring to the council?

Coffman  feels she can bring a different perspective, determination, enthusiasm, and energy to the council.

“Being so young, I have a lot of time and energy that I can put to good use serving the citizens of San Angelo,” Coffman added, “I have a service-oriented heart and will seek to help the people however I can if elected. I can bring a listening ear, making sure that I hear people's concerns and use my voice to help them.”

What challenges do you think people face here in San Angelo?

“The big challenges we are facing here in San Angelo are our budget and debt, roadblocks on the path to development, inefficiency in some areas of our city government, infrastructure in need of repair, and the constant need for a steady supply of water,” Coffman said.
 

What do you want to fix about San Angelo?

“First and foremost, I want to get our budget in line and make sure that our city government is running efficiently. I also want to make sure that we are fixing our infrastructure, seeking sources of water, and adequately equipping our first responders,” Coffman explained.

How would you plan on fixing this?

"Most of what I want to fix takes money, so we need to evaluate our budget first," Coffman said.  “We need to cut the wasteful spending and seek out sources of revenue, such as liquidating unused city property. Places like the old park on the corner of A&M and Avenue N cost money to maintain even though there's nothing there, and the city owns hundreds of similar pieces of property.”

She went on to say that if these properties could be sold, then San Angelo can stop wasting money on mowing an empty lot and get both the money from selling it as well as property tax revenue.

“Then we have more money to work with and can accomplish more without putting a bigger burden on the taxpayers. That way we can make sure that the people's needs are met and work on decreasing the city's debt,” Coffman added.

Why should people vote for you?

“People should vote for me because I want to serve them. I want to make sure their concerns are addressed,” Coffman said. “They should vote for me because I will always do everything I can to make San Angelo a safe and beautiful place to live. They should vote for me because I will give San Angelo "A Fresh Start".”