The Mayor by Maegan Prejean

Imagine being a dentist in the morning and running the town by noon. Roger Van Horn deals with all kinds of sticky situations day by day. Whether it’s cleaning teeth or keeping the city streets clean he’s always on the job.
Roger Van Horn is a dedicated 65-year-old citizen who spends his days getting involved in the Nacogdoches community. In the morning he performs dental work, and by noon he is mayor of a strong manager commission government setting policies and goals. He feels being mayor is a gift he has been given.
Although the mayor makes no money Van Horn doesn’t want to give up because he enjoys his job and said,” I am getting better at it all along.” The first time he ran for mayor he ran unopposed. This is his second term and he has learned that it is not always about him. “I had to learn to set aside my personal philosophy for the city,” he said. He didn’t have put an end to his personal morals, but as mayor he has learned to think about what is best for the city of Nacogdoches.
Mayor Van Horn was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He doesn’t mind the population difference in Nacogdoches though. It makes him feel good to know all of the people in his community because he knows they care about him as much as he cares about them. When he first moved to Nacogdoches he went to every ribbon cutting ceremony and tried on clothes in every men’s clothing store to meet new people. Now that he is so widely know in the city he is often approached. He said citizens usually don’t come up to him to talk about positive things. People usually want to talk about a problem they have. “In my life they either ask me about a pot hole or they’re taking something out of their mouth for me to check,” he said. He pretended to take teeth out of his mouth and the audience laughed. He feels this city is a great size because being mayor he can affect things and talk to people.
Mayor Van Horn is learning how to give his time to the community. As he stood behind the podium and held on tight he said, “Being Mayor Roger Van Horn is not about the process, it’s about thinking of more broadly what’s good for our city.” The city works together to make decisions based on what is good as a whole and will benefit the city.
After his term is up as mayor, Van Horn would like to do some service work somewhere. He likes to see students get involved in the community. Helping the community doesn’t have to be through service work. He said taking time out to coach a softball team or simply attending a city commission meeting counts as being involved. City commission meetings are held the first and third Tuesday of each month at 5:30 pm in downtown Nacogdoches.