We live in the town of Mineral Wells, Texas. It’s not the end of the world…but you used to be able to see it from here!

Not any more. Our town is 60 miles west of Fort Worth, and the town between, Weatherford, has been eaten up with new comers. To the point that the “locals” no longer run the town. The once conservative government has been taken over by the new comer liberals.

There was a big fight about the courthouse lawn in Weatherford several years back, and at least the “locals” won this one. It had been tradition that each Christmas season a crèche was placed on the courthouse lawn. The new-comers had a fit. What were these people thinking of, putting a Christian symbol on the lawn of a public building? How shameful! It probably violated lots of folks civil rights. Well, on that occasion the “locals” won and the crèche remains every Christmas season!

But their town is over run. What was once a small, historical town in North Central Texas has become a bedroom community for the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. And it’s headed west!

By the way, as a historical perspective, this is the area of Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove. Our county, Palo Pinto, is where the Goodnight and Loving ranches were and where the Loving family still has a ranch today. Loving is buried in the Greenwood Cemetery in Weatherford. This place is keen on Texas history.

But, hey, back to Mineral Wells NOW. So far, our politics, while it is small town, and in some cases, not what you’d always want to call legal, it’s still ours. You know?

We just held elections for school board and for one place on the city council, and all the people who won were “locals”. In fact, most of them were born and raised here.

But…

We have one fellow on our City Council (I won’t mention names, but if you’re from here, surely you’ll know) but he ain’t from around here. He’s, well, from up North some place…likely the Midwest…but not from here.

Now it doesn’t much make a difference which way he came from, the difference is made in his attitude. He came here because of work…we do have some fine industry here. And after he’d been here a little while, he ran for public office.

He’s been on the City Council for years, ‘cause, I reckon, he hasn’t said things to most folks in the area that he’s said to my husband. When he first won his seat, he smiled a Raf at a high school band concert and said he just couldn’t get over this town with all its in-breeding!

"This is really the shallow end of the gene poll!" he said.

He went on to say that most of the folks here were on welfare (quite a number are) and that most are just plain dumb...not deaf and dumb, just stupid, I reckon. Now, I guess he said all this to Raf knowing Raf wasn’t from around here, either. The difference is, Raf didn’t come here trying to change us, but to fit in!

Well, now Mr. New Comer wants to run for mayor, and I’m afraid he will. With that attitude, do you think he should be mayor of this town? I don’t. Perhaps he wants to be king. Or maybe he just wants to show us “locals” how really stupid we are. What do you think?

I think, in fact, if he doesn’t like it here and considers it such a terrible place, perhaps he needs to go back where he came from…and stay there!

Those are my thoughts on the subject, and I’ll stick to them. And, if he runs, I’ll vote for almost anybody BUT Mr. New Comer!