Courtesy of Melody Fowler
Melody Fowler grew up in a family where giving back to the community was second nature, and she has carried that commitment with her throughout her various leadership positions.
From serving on the Arlington Independent School District Board of Trustees as the secretary and president, to being an Arlington Life Shelter Board member, Fowler brings years of public service experience.
Now, she has her eyes set on the District 8 at-large seat on the Arlington City Council, held by councilwoman Barbara Odom-Wesley since 2019.
Fowler and Jason Shelton, a sociology professor and director of the Center for African American Studies at UTA, will face off in a June 13 runoff election. Both candidates failed to surpass the 50% threshold on election night with Fowler receiving 46.91% of the vote.
Early voting ends on Tuesday. Election day is June 13.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
The Shorthorn: Some of the efforts outlined on your campaign website include monitoring the city’s crime rates and lowering property taxes. If elected, how do you plan on maintaining and addressing these efforts?
Melody Fowler: Arlington is listed as the 7th safest city in the nation, and the 3rd safest city in Texas, and that is not by accident. Arlington has been intentional about hiring the best police and fire personnel, and I want to continue making sure to retain and attract the very best, because if people don’t feel safe, they’re not going to want to live in Arlington.
As far as taxes and the budget, nobody wants to have to pay high taxes, and I don’t want that for our citizens. When I get on the council, I want to study the budget and see are there areas, places that we can cut. Are there positions that are not filled and do we really need that position, or is it a position that we can do away with. I want to take that salary and put it back into the budget. I never want to lay people off or fire people; that’s something I will always fight against. I do believe we can continue to look at the budget and find ways to shave some things off.
The Shorthorn: If elected, what are some other things you are looking to change?
Melody Fowler: I’d like to see us bringing in more small businesses.
People need help, and there are so many people who have great business ideas. So I would like to see if there’s a way to start a mentorship program where people with successful small businesses can reach out and help those looking to start a small business. I would also like to see if there’s grant money available to get some of these businesses started.
We need to continue to bring in large businesses. Large businesses are going to bring employees and that is going to bring higher paying wages for Arlington, for our citizens. When our citizens are making more money, that’s going to put more money back into our economy and allow those citizens to have a higher standard of living. So small businesses, large businesses, I would like to encourage that.
The Shorthorn: If elected, how will you use past leadership experiences in your current role?
Melody Fowler: I have over eight years of experience on the Arlington Independent School District Board of Trustees. While serving on the board, I have been a member of several committees, such as the audit, finance and our budget committee, which in our budget is several million dollars. I have also been fortunate enough to speak on the floor of the Texas Senate, representing the school district.
While I realize the district and council are two different entities, they share the same foundation, such as auditing, finance, budgeting, government relations and community relations. Those are things I have done for eight years and things I will do in council.
The Shorthorn: Why did you decide to run for the District 8 council seat?
Melody Fowler: I had several community members reach out to me about Andrew Piel and Barbara Odom-Wesley’s terming out, and they’re both leaving a lot of years of experience on the council.
They reminded me that I have eight years of helping run a multi-million dollar school district with over 8,000 employees and they encouraged me to run. I thought about it, and I love being on the school board; it has been such a joy in my life, but when I listen to them talk about why they thought I needed to run. It made sense.
As a school board trustee, we all run at-large. I chose Odom-Wesley’s seat because it is an at-large position, and that’s just who I am. I want to represent everyone in Arlington, not just my neighborhood.
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