The Mayor by Cameron Mebane

Roger Van Horn has been the mayor of Nacogdoches since May 2007. He has been a dentist with his own full-time practice since the 1970s.
He says that some of the biggest decisions he has made in his life were random. When he was in college in Missouri, he was unsure of what he wanted to do. His roommate was readying himself for a dentist interview and Van Horn decided to apply as well. He still has no idea why he got accepted. Later, he was looking for a small town with around 50,000 to 60,000 people with a university. On his way back north, he drove through Nacogdoches and his car broke down. The people were so kind and took care of them for three or four days. He got to know several people over those few days and realized as they were leaving Nacogdoches, that this is where he wanted to live.
As mayor, Van Horn is the chairman of a strong manager city commission. There are four other commissioners. He said, “My vote is no different from the rest of the commission. We have five votes.” This is different from other cities, such as Houston, where they have a strong mayor system of government. He spends three to four hours a day and all day Friday working as mayor. He spends most of his time as a dentist.
Going from being a dentist to being mayor, caused some frustration for Van Horn. He said, “For me, the pace of it is really frustrating. I get closure 15 times a day.” He sees a problem and fixes it right away as a dentist. He said, “The city…you never get any closure.” Also, when he runs his dentist office, he can change policy repeatedly whenever he wants to. He doesn’t have to ask anyone. Being mayor is not like that.
He encourages students to get involved by going to the city commission meetings, volunteering, and giving to the community.
Mayor Van Horn is a natural at public speaking. He never seemed nervous when speaking in front of about 25 students. He even said that he is considering becoming a teacher after his terms as mayor are over.