Mr. Bill Powell, long-time resident, and current Executive Director at South Plains Community Action Association in Levelland, has filed his candidacy for City Council member for District A.
Powell has lived in Levelland since 1980. He has served as Executive Director at SPCAA since 1992. Powell is a U.S. Army veteran who served during the Vietnam War and he graduated from West Texas A&M in 1974. He is married to Kay Franklin. Powell said he believes he can utilize his expertise working with rural communities and managing budgets, along with hundreds of employees, to benefit the City of Levelland.
“I have worked with many communities, and I have experience in working through problems with cities,” Powell said. “I think that the experience will bode well serving on the City Council.”
Powell has experience working with state and federal dollars through his time as Executive Director at SPCAA, where he started as a grant writer in 1974, before moving through the ranks to Executive Director.
“Many of those grants that I wrote are still around,” Powell said. “It’s all part of an organizational building process.”
Also, part of that process, Powell said, is recognizing the importance of people within an organization who make it great.
“I have been very fortunate through the years to hire really good people and support them in their jobs, paying them well, and that has moved this organization forward,” Powell said.
Powell believes that one thing the City of Levelland needs to prioritize in the future is taking care of its employees.
“The city needs to look at its employees and realize by and large that the best commodity, the best thing the city has going for them, is their employees,” Powell said. “The City needs to always recognize that as the most valuable thing we’ve got, they’re the ones who look after the day to day operations of the City.”
For employees to be successful and to retain employees, Powell said it’s important to recognize and acknowledge those employees in ways that matter.
“You want a professional doing those things with a lot of experience and consistency, and those things are not inexpensive,” Powell said. “It’s very important to me that you maintain that workforce, maintain the stability, and maintain a training situation on that helps employees evolve and grow in their jobs.”
Secondly, Powell said he hopes to look at the housing situation on and how Levelland can improve housing op ons for current and future residents.
“We need housing badly in this City,” Powell said. “There are a lot of eye sores, and even though it’s not anything you’re going to do overnight, there is a long-range plan involved and me to look at that to make sure those efforts are ongoing and positve.”
Lastly, Powell said he would look forward to working with city leadership to find the right path, or paths, forward to a better and brighter Levelland.
“The sum is greater than its parts,” Powell said. “I have always been amazed at the work that a group of people can do when you put the right people together...There is a leadership process involved. There are times when the council needs to take the lead and there are times when city management needs to take the lead. It’s the balance that works. If it works well, then your city and its citizens are going to be the benefactors.”
Early voting will begin April 22 and run through April 30. All early voting will be held at the Hockley County Elec ons Office, located at 911 Austin Street. Election day is Saturday, May 4. All registered voters who live within the city limits of Levelland are eligible