Q1: What sets you apart from your opponent?

Q2: When it comes to quality of life, which area do you think Jasper could use more of or may be lacking?

Q3: What kind of project or program do you think the city should invest in next? What do you see in said project or program to where Jasper would greatly benefit from it?

Q4: What in your previous experience – whether work-related or in community engagement – can be applied effectively to being a city official?

Mayor

Randy Sayers (I)*

Age: 66

Occupation: CPA

Highest level of education pursued or completed: Bachelor of Science in Accounting From the University of Houston-Clear Lake

Volunteer work, endorsements or previously held elected office (up to three):

Mayor of Jasper (May 2015-Nov 2017, May 2021-present); City Councilman District 2 (May 2007-May 2013)
Serves on four city/county boards, including the Board of Jasper Economic Development Corporation since 2010
Formed a support group for individuals with Parkinsons Disease and their caregivers (January 2018-present)

A1: I have a background in finances. I’m a (certified public accountant).

A2: We don’t have a sports complex for the kids, like baseball, pee wee football, things like that. That’s one of the things we’ve been looking at improving on.

A3: High-speed Internet, affordable high-speed Internet. I think it would create more jobs… With COVID, we’ve seen a lot of people (that) learned they can work from home as long as they have good Internet.

The hospital here has made the comment that the future of medicine is quality high-speed Internet… We’re talking about the possibility of surgeries being done with robotics.

A4: I’ve done it for over 10 years. I just now feel like I’m getting to be more efficient with my time and my knowledge.

Anderson Land Jr.

Age: 69

Occupation: Realtor, Hancock Real Estate; Property Manager Consultant, Notary

Highest level of education pursued or completed: BA in Business Administration, University of Hertfordshire (online program)

Volunteer work, endorsements or previously held elected office (up to three):

Jasper District 1 Council member

A1: I think we have two different agendas. I don’t know what Randy’s agenda is. I think I would be more engaged in the city than he would be and in the operations.

Even though we have a city manager-type government here in Jasper, Randy doesn’t seem to think that the mayor has any power, and the mayor really has nothing that he can do in the city of Jasper, and I think he’s wrong on that.

I think if a mayor gets a council that he can work with, a mayor can make some changes. The mayor sets the agenda, the mayor sets the narrative of how things go at City Hall…

A2: Infrastructure, streets, light, helping our seniors, our veterans, our youth. But I think the number one thing Jasper needs is businesses, employment and jobs. We just don’t have that.

We need to do more to bring jobs to the city of Jasper so our citizens can be employed and not go elsewhere.

A3: One of my goals is to revitalize our downtown area.

We’ve had consultants come in… and said “Oh yeah, we can do this for you…”

I was born and raised here in Jasper. I left for a few years, came back… I don’t want Jasper to just be (a place) people consider just a retirement town, because it’s not. We have people that live here, people that work, people that grew up here. We want to try to keep people to stay here.

(I want to focus on) bringing businesses, shops and shopping to our downtown area. We don’t have the retail shops that need here in the city of Jasper.

A4: My military background, which taught me discipline and communication skills.

I’ve worked as a property manager, worked in the health care industry, in facilities management. Running large facilities helps me also in how to communicate with other managers, supervisors, other department heads, running staff meetings.

The main thing, which I think is key, is communicating with the people, the citizens of Jasper versus the employs and management of the city.

City Council, District 1

Marcus Barber

Age: 61

Occupation: Correctional Officer, Jefferson County Downtown Jail in Beaumont

Highest level of education pursued or completed: Spent two years studying at Criminal justice at Angelina College in Lufkin; Pursuing course work to learn Spanish at Angelina College

Volunteer work, endorsements or previously held elected office (up to three):

Ran inmate road crew at Jasper County jail
Correctional officer and Sergeant at the Jasper County jail

A1: My experience, my compassion for people, my compassion for my community. That is something that can be done to better this community, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to do that.

A2: What I’m hoping that they add is more help, more relief, more things for elderly people, handicapped people and just people in general in Jasper. You’ve just got some people that need a little guiding.

A3: Instead of building a ($300,000-plus) skateboard park, give (residents) a cut on their light bill.

You’ve got to invest in your people before you can invest in your town. Without your people, you don’t have no town. Not only would you build up the people’s trust, they would know that Jasper is a quality place to live.

A4: My leadership skills, my compassion for people, my willingness to work together to come to one common ground, my willingness to be transparent.

Betty Hawthorne

Age: 62

Occupation: Sergeant at the Goodman Unit in Jasper; has worked in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison system for 28 years

Highest level of education pursued or completed: Associates degree in Human Services, Angelina College in Lufkin, Lamar State College-Port Arthur

Volunteer work, endorsements or previously held elected office (up to three):

Helping mow a neighbor’s lawn

A1: I feel like I can provide stability to this community I’m running for.

We have a lot of drains that need to be fixed, and I feel like I can make a difference with my voice.

This community has been forgotten as far as drains and stuff like that… I have lived in this community for over 50 years.

A2: They’re lacking in the drain department, especially in the Black community.

I mean, they fix the drains everywhere else. But in my neighborhood where I live, I’ve been complaining about the drains for at least 10 years, and (city officials) still haven’t done anything. I’m running to see if I can make a difference in that specific area.

A3: I think they should invest in the drainage system. The whole city of Jasper needs a drainage system.

(There’s a frog pond) that’s the drainage system for all the water coming off of (U.S.) 96, Taylor Street, all the backstreets that run from that hole. Once that hole (fills) up, I get flooded. I’m getting flooded from a man-made hole that the city has dug.

If (city officials) do fix the drains, it’ll help (decrease) flooding in this community. People will have less property damage in some areas.

A4: By listening, observing the situation… paying attention to what the people need, what they’re talking about… see how you can help out, see what you can do, see how you can solve the problem.

City Council, District 2

Ronald Sample

Age: 68

Occupation: Owner, Samples of Yesteryear Antiques in Jasper

Highest level of education pursued or completed: Shelbyville High School graduate, Class of 1973

Volunteer work, endorsements or previously held elected office (up to three):

Jasper Lions Club for 10 years, including two years at its President

A1: I’m just for the people… I’m for the people, and the city should be making money instead of giving it away.

What I’ve seen lately is (they’re) giving it away. I’m for the people saving it and getting a cut on our electric bill, which we should be doing.

A2: We could use a lot more of our streets being paved and fixed, lots of streets. We have parks already. They’ve gotten bigger, nothing wrong with them.

But I think we need to concentrate on something else. From the outside looking in, I just see a lot of frivolous spending. I just see so many bad things. Somebody’s got to speak for the people.

A3: I think they’ve invested in enough. I think they just need to sit still a little bit, let this all catch up.

A4: I would think as a businessman… a business way of putting it in there, a business way of talking about it, a business way of discussing it, a business way of making it come out the other end trying to make it work out.

Michael Daniel (I)

Daniel did not respond to multiple attempts to contact him.

*(I) denotes incumbent