The Mayor by Fernando Verver

For a Tulsa native, Roger Van Horn made himself comfortable in the small town of Nacogdoches. Van Horn moved to Nacogdoches, TX after serving in the military for six years. Having the dream of settling down in a small college town made Nacogdoches the right spot for him.
Since his junior year in college, Van Horn had the passion to become a dentist and for 40 years he has practiced that profession. But being a dentist is not all that Van Horn wanted. He was president of the Jaycee of Nacogdoches and other civic organizations and worked his way up. In May of 2007 the city of Nacogdoches voted Van Horn mayor. Mayor Van Horn is now in his third term and says that he loves it.
Mayor Van Horn says that being mayor is a great thing. He has people always come up to him to talk and he loves to listen. Laughing about it, Mayor Van Horn said he likes when people randomly stop him at Kroger’s to talk to him. He said that being mayor is like a gift that he has to serve. It’s something that he enjoys. Mayor Van Horn spends about 3-4 hours a day and all day Friday on mayor stuff and the rest working on teeth.
According to Mayor Van Horn, being mayor can be fun but very frustrating. Running a strong manger commission government, which is when the mayor has his board to make the decisions with him for the city, can be difficult. Passing laws on smoking in public places, sidewalks and highway crossovers can make citizens upset at points. “ The thing that I had to learn as mayor was to set aside my philosophy,” he said. “I had to learn to put things aside for what’s best for Nacogdoches.” His hope was that the people have confidence in the process, that they listen and trust him. “Being Mayor is not about Roger Van Horn, It’s about the process!” said the mayor.
Mayor Van Horn was asked on his view of the students here at the university and he replied that it’s hard to get them interested. When running for mayor he was told to not worry about the student vote because they never vote. “I want students get involved more. Volunteer yourself more in your community,” he said.
After his term, Mayor Van Horn said that he doesn’t know what will come next. “I was offered manager of a dentist clinic to run it but I’ m still is undecided,” he said with a laugh.