Kennedale News – Candidate Press Release
Re-Elect Linda Rhodes – For City Council Place 4
To My Fellow Kennedale Constituents,
Two years ago I made the decision to run for City Council Place 4 and was humbled and honored by your vote of confidence to serve. This year, being the only unopposed candidate on our local election ballot, I am humbled and honored once again. At this time I would like to thank you for your continued support and reassure you that I will continue to perform the job at hand to the best of my ability. As a brief background for those that may not know me, in 2017 I retired with almost 35 years experience in municipal government. I was an employee with the City of Kennedale from 1982-2002, working in the departments of finance, tax, and utility billing, along with being the very first Board of Adjustment secretary since its inception. In February 2002 I had the opportunity to work for another municipality serving as City Secretary until retiring in 2017. Even though I was able to retire at that time to watch grandchildren, I wanted to keep my options open for the future; therefore, I was never stagnant professionally. I have continued to grow and remained active in the municipal environment by keeping up my certifications, trainings, organization memberships, and by serving as your council member for one two-year term beginning in May 2018. Therefore, I have over 38 years of continued municipal experience.
I am a life-long resident of Kennedale, as well as my husband. We raised our two adult children here and all four of us are Kennedale Alumni. Over the years I have seen Kennedale go through a lot of changes and grow. Two years ago when I ran for office, one goal was to help bridge a gap between a divided council and city by bringing my professional background experience and knowledge to the table as well as my compassion for my hometown. There will always be differences; however, if each person can make it a priority to calmly have a respectful dialogue with each other, it will help prevent things from escalating to a personal level and to remain focused on the task at hand, which there are many. While the current pandemic continues to put hardships and uncertainties on virtually every aspect of our lives, we must work together even harder to persevere, grow, and keep Kennedale a safe and wonderful place to call home.
Some things I supported during my last campaign and still do are budget collaboration, city staff, senior citizens, and business growth. One of the main things I am proud that was accomplished during my term was the increase in property tax exemptions for our senior citizen homeowners 65 and over and for homeowners who are on the disabled tax roll. There have been some things that have passed during my term of which I was not in favor of; however, council acts as one body to approve or disapprove its actions. I was very thankful our council unanimously approved the tax exemption increase for our seniors and disabled persons. Moving forward we have many things to continue to work on. Improving our fund balance, revising management of the senior center, and the ongoing task of trying to attract more businesses, which in turn effects tax rates are a few examples.
Lastly, I would like to encourage each of you to get out and vote. Especially don’t forget to go all the way to the end of the ballot for your local election!
[Re-elect Linda Rhodes, for Council Place #4]
Please feel free to reach out if you have any comments, concerns, or questions. Thank you and may God bless our City of Kennedale.
-Linda Rhodes
817-483-1199
