Nacogdoches’ new mayor talks busy first month in office

NACOGDOCHES, Texas (KTRE) - It’s been a month since the May elections, the new mayor of Nacogdoches, Randy Johnson spoke on the position on Wednesday.

Randy Johnson owns and operates Johnson Furniture on Main Street in downtown Nacogdoches. He also served on the Nacogdoches ISD school board as well as a year on the city council and wanted to continue doing work for the citizens of Nacogdoches.

“Nacogdoches has been great to my family, it’s been great to a lot of people who live here and it’s just paying back something to the community that has done a lot for me, my family and my business here. I think I have something still that I can bring to the table,” Johnson said.

Johnson said there are a lot of exciting things that are happening in the city. SFA is joining the University of Texas system, they are looking for a new city manager, a few new subdivisions are being built, and more. He said improvement to infrastructure is a must.

“If we don’t grow then we are dying. We are going to grow by default whenever UT comes here, it’s going to happen. So, we better be prepared with our infrastructure or its going to get away from us and we won’t be able to handle the people that are here,” Johnson said.

After residents petition canceled the certificates of obligation to pay for fixing issues, a capital improvements committee was formed to come up with alternatives for upgrading fire stations, parks and water infrastructure. Johnson said the committee will present their plan in a few weeks. For him, it’s a priority.

“We will just have to wait till we get the final committee report and then we will go from there. We will see how it will affect our tax rate as far as a bond issue is concerned and we will come up with a number that the people of Nacogdoches can afford,” Johnson said.

The city also awaits a full report for the possible water system meter and transmitter project from the finance department.

“I want this council to be very, very open and transparent in every single thing that we do, and I think all of council wants the same thing,” Johnson said.

Johnson’s term ends in 2025.

Copyright 2023 KTRE. All rights reserved.