Mount Pleasant’s new mayor to be sworn in

MOUNT PLEASANT – The City of Mount Pleasant’s newly elected Mayor, Wesley Lyon, will be sworn into office on Wednesday, according to our news partner KETK.

“The biggest thing I want is for the citizens to trust the government again,” Lyon said. “If something needs to be said or something needs to be done, then I’m going to say it or I’m going to do it.”

He was elected to this role on May 3, beating Incumbent Mayor Tracy Craig Sr.

“I certainly wish the new administration the best of luck because I want them to succeed, because if they succeed, the people in the city of Mount Pleasant will succeed,” Craig said.

Craig served three terms and said the new mayor will inherit a community involvement issue.

“It’s kind of tough to get a feel about what the entire public wants when you don’t have that minimum amount of people participating in the council meetings to let the council know the direction in which they want to go,” Craig said.

Craig, along with his city manager and city council members, are facing charges centered around travel reimbursement issues.

“I had no wrongdoing, so I’m not really concerned with it,” Craig said. “I’m just waiting on the time to go to court. I mean, I’m ready to get it over with.”

They were indicted by a Titus County grand jury and are now under investigation by the Texas Rangers.

“It’s out of our hands now, and we don’t need to forget about it, but we need to put it behind us,” Lyon said.

Instead of focusing on the case, Lyon has set several goals including implementing the city’s new animal ordinances, creating more community engagement and financial transparency. He hopes to make changes to the city’s website to show where every taxpayer dollar is spent.

“Have a little button that says what Mount Pleasant spent today, and you click on it and you see who and the amount and why,” Lyon said.

Lyon also wants to hear from drivers by creating a page to easily report traffic issues and potholes.

“You click on it and you put it in, and then when they fill it in, they check it off and you say it was done,” Lyon said.

It will also be his job to support the city council and work together with them to get the city’s finances back on track.

“Inside of Texas, we are number two on the cities that are most in debt,” Lyon said.

Most of all, Lyon said it’s going to take an entire community working together to get it all done.

“I’m hoping that people see this and they get involved,” Lyon said.