T E X A R K A N A M A G A Z I N E
BOB BRUGGEMAN What motivated you to get involved with city government? I love my community. I have lived here my entire life. Serving in city government has allowed me the opportunity to give back and work to make Texarkana USA a better place to work and live. I was also encouraged by others who were involved in city government. I would want people to know Texarkana is a great place to live, work, worship, raise a family and attend college. The cost of living is reasonable, and we have great quality of life offerings such as parks, as well as bike and walking trail systems. What is your favorite thing about Texarkana? My favorite thing about Texarkana is its people. What a caring and giving community! Our great citizens strongly support non-profit organizations, What is one thing you wish people knew about Texarkana? schools, the arts and churches. I hear all the time from tourists and visitors how nice the people are who live here. I think the most pressing issue in 2022 could be health care services. COVID-19 has put a huge strain on our local health care resources. Current hospitalization rates are elevated. It will take some time for our health care resources to be replenished. Our local health care facilities are working hard to provide medical care to our citizens. If you received a $1 million grant to use for the city any way you wanted, what would you do with it? If I had $1 million grant to use for the city any way I wanted, I would probably spend half of it on demolition of substandard structures and the other half on street What do you believe is the most pressing issue in 2022?
Tell us about your family.
improvements. These are two areas where there
I have been married to my
wife, Jackie, for 37 years. We met at Texas A&M University-Texarkana. I was a student, and she was working part time in the Admissions
is more need than available funding.
If you wrote a book about your career so far, what would you title it? My book title would be Recalculating . When driving a vehicle following navigation directions, we sometimes pass by where our directions
Office. Jackie is a teacher of the visually impaired. I have two daughters.
Elizabeth, “Liz” is married to Micah Friday, a local CPA, and they have two children. Liz works at TISD. My daughter, Olivia, operates
are sending us, or when we make a wrong turn, we hear that familiar voice, “recalculating.” Life is that way too. We sometimes must recalculate
Olivia Claire Hair and Boutique and does video production and reporting. Do you have any mentors? I have two mentors who are no longer living. They are former Major League Baseball Umpire, Durwood Merrill and Billy Taylor. Durwood taught me proper positioning and on-field mechanics, and how to handle various situations. The umpiring skills I learned from him have helped me in my umpiring career. Billy
to make sure we reach our destination in life.
What was your very first job (that’s not on your resume)? The first job I had was during my high school years at Tom & Stan’s Automotive at Third and Ash Streets. It was an
automotive parts store. I delivered auto parts to
local garages. I also stocked inventory in the lobby and kept the store room in good shape. I learned there is a lot of work in running a business. A business must be competitive and provide superior customer service in order to stay in business. How do you handle undeserved criticism? When it comes to undeserved criticism,
Taylor was my Little League baseball coach. He not only taught me about baseball, but he taught me about life skills, such as how to treat others, work hard and give back to the community. I still use those life skills he taught me. I will always be indebted to him for making sure I was on the right track in life. What are your hobbies? My hobbies are playing golf, washing and detailing my vehicles and working in the yard, especially the flower beds. I enjoy being outdoors. Where did you graduate from high school? I am a 1980 graduate of Texas Senior High School. I played on the golf team.
I always try to take the high road. It stems back to my upbringing. My parents taught me there will always be those who criticize others.
What superpower would you choose for yourself?
I would choose to be Superman—just an ordinary guy who springs into action to help others in a time of need.
22
23
B U S I N E S S & P O L I T I C S
B U S I N E S S & P O L I T I C S
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs