Candidate Profile: Tammy Fogle

By West Texas Tribune | April 4, 2025 |

Tammy Fogle

Tammy Fogle

Abilene City Council Candidate, Place 6

1. What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment as a servant?
The greatest accomplishment I feel like I have received as a servant is the empowering of others to see what they are capable of. It is so much easier to do things yourself and not take time to include others. You can control the outcome, you can accomplish the task, you can keep the timeline tight. But as a servant leader, I find that empowering others to experience success is the greatest reward. If I can empower others to utilize their God given gifts and talents for a task, then they are going to be more comfortable to use them again in other areas. If in serving I am able to delegate to other capable individuals, then I have done my job well. I am not building my own legacy in serving others. In serving, I empower others to accomplish more and pay it forward in the future to keep the legacy going no matter who is in initiates it.

2. What do you feel like is the greatest challenge facing the city of Abilene, and what would you do to solve it?
One of the greatest challenges that Abilene has, as a city, is public apathy. We have a large segment of the population that doesn’t believe they can make a difference, and that their opinion doesn’t matter when it comes to local government. They do not feel heard by local government, so they have disengaged and stopped sharing their viewpoint (the recent trends in low voter turnout each year at the May City & School Board Elections is a concrete measure of this). If we could reengage that segment of society and help them see that their needs and opinions are valued and desired by local decision-makers, the ones that impact local issues that affect their own neighborhood, I think our city would experience something it has not seen in sometime. Hearing their voice affects how we care for our neighborhoods, our businesses, and public properties will spark in them a desire to bring about a healthy change that benefits our entire community.

3. What do you see as the greatest opportunity for the city of Abilene?
The greatest opportunity that the City of Abilene has is the unrealized potential we have in our citizens. For so long, the local government has been focusing in on specific demographics, and because of this it lost touch with the larger population. I think that, as city government, the more we go out of our way to communicate to the average citizen what is happening in our city, the overall direction we desire to go, and what we want to do for the whole community, people will get on board and create momentum like we have not seen in some time. COVID was an isolating season and I don’t think we have fought to restore the community we had before we were compartmentalized into small isolated segments that lack cohesion. If we see progress happening in Abilene, many do not think it benefits them. That needs to change. We need to ramp up efforts to reengage the community so we can to catch hold of what they offer by being a part of what is happening in the City of Abilene.

4. If you could change something about the City on day 1 what would it be?
I think that creating more transparency would be a game-changer. The amount of effort it takes to find information beyond the surface of what is given to citizens and to figure out what is going on is not for the faint of heart. Most citizens do not have the time or energy to track projects from start to finish. For example, citizens of Abilene, as a whole, did not ask for a high-end one million dollar dog park. When challenged by frustrated citizens, city officials stated that they promised the citizens a dog park (which citizens were promised and how did they communicate that promise was unclear.) Citizens had communicated they wanted two dog parks to have that space to enjoy in multiple places across town. Who made that decision to only focus on one? Why was it more important to pay cash for a high-end dog park than to avoid taking out more debt for our non-discretionary one time obligations? It is almost impossible to follow a project from start to finish to know if it stayed under budget or like many projects it cost the citizens more money than originally presented. Establishing better transparency will make city decisions easier to track and follow. It will also prevent unnecessary frustrations that slow down the city’s ability to accomplish day to day requirements.

5. Sometimes the citizens have a cynical attitude when it comes to elected officials. The attitude is a we versus them attitude. What are you doing or what will you do to foster an environment where every citizen feels important?
Removing that barrier is the main reason I am running for city council. When I started taking an interest in city government several years ago, I found the very attitude “we versus them” to be very present. This attitude also creates a great the disconnect in our city as we spend so much time talking past each other. I thought that by helping people understand what elected officials do and how we can better interact with them would help remove that barrier. Because so many do not trust the people in these positions, I now realized we have so much more work to do. I hope that by being on the council and offering education and more transparency to citizens, I can rebuild some of the trust that has been lost. So many citizens I have spoken to do not feel comfortable interacting with local elected officials. I desire to change that so that there is more unity in creating a city that all citizens can feel connected to.

6. How do you believe the citizens of Abilene can help make this a better community?
Without the citizens, we have no community. We have no revenue from tax payers. We do not have business or commerce. We do not have employees to provide services. We do not have children to play in our parks or go to our schools. Citizens are the key to utilizing our man power to shift the atmosphere from one who feels ignored and isolated to one that is looking out to find ways to contribute to the success of our community. As citizens, we must find our place to use our gifts and talents to upgrade the way we do life here. It is not up to non-profits or elected officials to do all the heavy lifting. It is up to each individual to know what is going on and use that information to do something positive. Many have sadly moved outside the city limits because of high taxes or bad infrastructure. By truly engaging citizens( one of the city council’s current strategic goals) in the process, we unlock unlimited potential

7. What makes you uniquely qualified to serve on the City Council?
When I started this journey, I wanted to learn how things worked at all levels of city government, from budgets and bonds to public safety. I also learned about advisory boards, city staff, streets, public works, and infrastructure. I took a deep dive into it all of it. The more I learned, the more I wanted to help educate others in a simple way that they too could understand city government and let their voice be heard. I really do think that it is possible to listen to all citizens, be transparent, and effectively communicate needed relevant information to the public. I am just an average citizen wanting to include and involve other average citizens to make a shift how we impact our local community.

8. We seem to be at a place in politics where individuals campaigning for office can be extremely mean to each other. Could you pay your opponent(s) one compliment?
It is not hard to speak positively of my opponent. It is clear that he cares deeply about serving others. He has served as a youth pastor, as a spiritual director at a local university, and on many boards in our community. I think that is a noble mission.

9. The city council is searching for a new manager. What qualities and traits would you hope the new city manager would have?
I think that in this new season of the City of we need a city manager who can create a work environment that city staff look forward to working in. If the city manager is leading in such a way that directors down to employees know they are being equipped to do their job well, they will be excited to keep working hard to make things better. We don’t need a city manager who can do it all, we need a city manager who can empower, delegate, and maintain high staff moral while implementing action to the policy goals established by council in a fiscally responsible way.

10. If you could have dinner with anyone from the past or currently living, who would it be and why?
To choose only one person is a hard ask. William Wilberforce is someone I think would be fascinating to listen to and entertain over a meal. Wilberforce didn’t have much in the beginning, but thankfully he had extended family who helped him open doors to find success early on. He also had success in the English government. In the height of his success, he realized and recognized that he could not accomplish anything truly great without the gift of salvation from God. Once he became aware of how men and women were created in the image of God, he could not unsee the horrors of slavery. It cost him everything to stand up for the right thing when many would not. Even after years of no success he stayed the course and was finally able to be a force to stop the horrors of the slave trade in England. He inspired men and women in our own country to do the same. His ability to stay the course when it cost him his political positions, dear friendships, and his health has inspired me to not count the costs when it comes to doing the right thing in standing up for those created in God’s image. I now recognize that my job is not to succeed, but to do the right thing regardless if it looks or feels like I am making a difference. We can never truly know what our obedience to God looks like if we are looking to other for our success. Our success comes when we are told, “well done, good and faithful servant.” I would love to chat about the price he paid and what it felt like to see the shift to end slave trade happen in his lifetime.

11. Tell us a little about your family, hobbies, etc.
I have been married to my husband, Patrick, for almost 27 years. We have four children whom I have homeschooled for the last 12 years, now with only one left to graduate in a couple of years. I am an avid photographer, book-reader, coffee-drinker, and I have started directing media productions over the past few years, including my podcast, Just An Average Citizen. I have also taught myself to cook so that I can easily host a dozen or two around my table for a good a meal with great conversations.

12. Are you supported by a PAC and if so what is their purpose?
I am not supported by any PAC.