State Rep. Thomas Latham of Sunnyvale is part of a stubborn group of lawmakers hostile to local and regional transportation planners and their efforts to expand rail service. He gives the issue lip service but seems willfully ignorant of consensus among local elected leaders.
Fortunately, voters in Texas House District 101 have an excellent alternative in the Republican primary. Mike Anderson, 51, served as mayor of Mesquite for 10 years. When it comes to transportation and regional rail, this former member of the Regional Transportation Council gets it. Unlike his opponent, he understands that the state faces a funding crisis for road construction and as Mesquite mayor, he helped form the kind of local-state partnerships that can be part of the solution.
On many other key issues – including law enforcement, education and local control – the two men are almost identical. But there is a difference in leadership style. Mr. Latham, a 60-year-old retired police commander, recently accused his opponent of using stock party language in mailings, a sign, he says, of not thinking for himself. But Mr. Latham's own performance in the House suggests a lack of broad, independent thinking.
On the other hand, Mr. Anderson, who works in commercial real estate, is an articulate coalition-builder. With support from people like Dallas' John Carona, an emerging leader in the Senate, Mr. Anderson is likely to step into a regional leadership role.
Mike
Anderson Speaks to the
Exchange Club