City Council candidate James Sargent speaks to calling, cooperation

James Sargent on Saturday launched his second bid for a seat on the Abilene City Council against a backdrop of colorful balloons and youngsters playing in the gym behind him at the Family Life Center at First Baptist Church.

A mechanic by trade after serving in the Air Force, Sargent lost his first bid for the council last spring, drawing 39% of the vote against Place 5 incumbent Kyle McAlister.

This time, Sargent is seeking Place 3, a race that offers two others candidates — Shawnte Fleming and Blaise Regan. Sargent entered the race on the first day of filing Jan. 18 but held a launch event Saturday.

His motto is "Biblically founded. Constitutionally grounded."

"Did it seem practical that I ran last year?" he said. "Maybe not in some eyes but I was being obedient to the calling that God had on my life. And that's what was important to me."

He said a role in governance of individuals never was an intention but he sees a seat on the council as a way to continue his mission of service.

Time to step up ... again

The family atmosphere was not coincidental. James and Keavy Sargent are foster parents. Sargent also is involved in prison ministry, an extension of his faith, he said.

Attending was mayor candidate Ryan Goodwin. Sargent attended a kickoff event Thursday for another mayor candidate, Carlos Quińonez. Sargent on Saturday touched on themes that were similar to those candidates — that city government can be about more than infrastructure, water and other nuts-and-bolts duties.

A year ago, Sargent listed three priorities: making Abilene a "sanctuary city for the unborn," greater transparency in city government and increased support for small business as his top goals.

Though he wasn't elected, the push for a sanctuary city ordinance was successful, as voters by 53% approved the measure in November.

That goal checked off, Sargent said Saturday that the other two goals remain.

"Now, how can we advance? How can we improve upon that?" he said.

Asked what he gained from his first campaign experience, Sargent said, "Not only do you learn about the arena in which you're seeking to serve, you're learning how to approach things in a more educated and experienced manner. Last was great. We had the three platform issues and they were key and important. Two of them are still on ours."

He said that even after the election, he continued to have discussions about Abilene.

"We were blessed to have several community members reaching out to me and saying, 'This is what we hear is going on or this is going on ... what can be can be done about?'"

One issue that rose in 2022 post-election was books in the Abilene Public Library system deemed inappropriate for younger readers. Groups speaking at library board and City Council meeting asked that those books be removed or relocated. One book in question was removed by the city manager.

In August, Sargent said, “I understand they may get thousands of books per year but there should be some consistency, some vetting process that is the safest practice for all members of our community.”

On Saturday, he spoke to the value of activism.

"Seeing there's a problem, what are the facts and how can we move forward in a positive manner?" Sargent said.

How he got here

After prayer with supporters Norm and Angel Poorman, who referred to the candidate as a "David in a realm of kings and kings to be," Sargent told those gathered about himself and his beliefs, giving a shout-out to his wife for her support. She blew him a kiss from where she sat.

Sargent said he grew up south of Houston but his summers while growing up in Abilene with his grandparents. When he joined the Air Force in 2000, he requested duty at Dyess Air Force Base.

"I'd still be in Texas, I'd see my grandparents and I could still ride my motorcycle," he said.

Instead, he said, the Air Force sent him to a foreign land — Delaware. He would travel to more than 40 countries in the military, putting him in contact with a "wide array of individuals but also a tyrannical government, an overreaching government." Those experiences molded him, he said, to the man that he is today.

He retired and chose Abilene to be his home.

What to address

Sargent targets three goals for the city in his campaign literature, and spoked briefly on those:

• Utilize: skilled city personnel, connections with community organizations and relationship with Dyess Air Force Base

• Improve: Communication with the public, transparency and budgeting (he held a thick city budget and said he is wading through it and others)

• Advance: Public safety, citizen involvement and a balanced budget

"I am James Sargent and I am running for Abilene City Council, Place 3. But I want to make a distinction in this," he began. "Not as a politician, but as a public servant."

Sargent returned to the role of service several times during his speech.

"It's far too easy to say something needs to be done, to point out the faults and failures, but harder to put action to it. Harder to get a movement going," he said. That includes taking R&R — the right and responsibility to vote.

Like Quińonez two days earlier, Sargent targeted community issues of teacher retention and the effects on students, drug addiction and mental health. He, too, said the need to foster likely will rise with sanctuary city ordinance in place.

He noted support for large businesses but the need to balance that with help for small businesses.

And while the city was frozen in its track during the February 2021 storm, it was a number of community organizations that responded to help those in need.

"My heart is to serve," Sargent said.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Council candidate Sargent speaks to calling, cooperation and connection