For many voters in Northeast and Central Lubbock's District 1, this year's race for city council representation will look familiar. In 2022, Christy Martinez-Garcia and Pat Kelly were on the ballot for that seat.
A local real estate developer and Lubbock Police veteran, Kelly said he's been involved in local politics for years, but after trying to retire, he was asked to run again to represent District 1 on the city council. Kelly sat down with KTTZ to discuss his campaign and the issues he's hoping to address in the district.
Election Day for Lubbock's 2026 municipal election is May 2, and early voting runs April 20-28. You can find more information and polling locations here.
The following interview has been edited lightly for clarity.
Brad Burt: Pat Kelly, thank you very much for joining us.
Pat Kelly: I appreciate the invitation to come.
Brad Burt: Now, for those who may not be familiar with you, would you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Pat Kelly: Yes, my name is Pat Kelly. I'm a 30-year police veteran in the City of Lubbock. I am also a veteran of the United States Army. I've owned a real estate company; I still own the real estate company. I've been in the building business myself. I currently have a gold and silver shop. So I'm trying to retire until I stepped up to the plate to run for City Council District 1 since I was asked to do it.
BB: What motivated you to run for District 1?
PK: Well, I've been involved in politics many, many, many years but at my age, I decided I want to step back out of it and let the younger guys and girls take charge. But I was approached by several Democrats and Republicans that said they don't like what's going on in District 1, and just wanted me to step up to the plate and run that they believe I can make a difference. And I thought about it, prayed about it, and I said, ‘You know what? I can make a difference.’ So I stepped up to the plate.
BB: What issues have you heard from voters in District 1 through your campaign?
PK: Well, several of them don't like the way the current city council lady is handling things. They don't see a lot of infrastructure being done, stuff like that. It's just that our area is neglected. The focus with the current city council, including our city council lady, is south and southwest. If you drive around and look at District 1 – which is the most diverse precinct or district in the City of Lubbock – it includes the Hillcrest Country Club, Lubbock Country Club, Heart of Lubbock, Arnett Benson, a lot of people don't know Quail Valley [?], which is behind the heart hospital, is in District 1. I mean, I can go on and on. Overton, you know, downtown is the most diverse district within the city.
BB: For some of the longer voters in Lubbock, they'll kind of recognize this matchup. You ran against Christy Martinez-Garcia four years ago. Have you changed anything about your campaign going into this year's race?
PK: No, I haven’t. You know, I just wanted to listen to the people. If they want to change, they'll get out and vote. You know, I just wanted to keep a clean campaign going on. I believe that's what I've been doing.
BB: Development is one of the more contentious issues in Lubbock, and for District 1, especially. How do you balance the need for growth and updated infrastructure while preserving some of the older neighborhoods in Lubbock and their history and culture?
PK: Well, that’s a good question. I said District 1 is so diverse. You know, you go out to Hillcrest Country Club, that's a newer subdivision. Lubbock Country Club, older subdivision, well established, but still has different needs than Guadalupe, Arnett Benson, all that. Now, Arnett Benson, Guadalupe, Heart of Lubbock, Overton and I go on, their infrastructure is some of the oldest in the city, and it's been neglected. Everything's been focused in southwest Lubbock. If you drive around our streets, it's like it's a different world sometimes driving our streets. Downtown, we still have the bricks and you know, it's another contentious issue. But I'm looking at the inner cities. You know, Overton, for instance, I drive around Overton, which is just to the west of Texas Tech across the university, their roads are in bad shape. It's been pothole after pothole, and all they're doing is putting band aids on top of band aids. And that's just not working. When I hear my opponent say, well, she got $14 million in the last four years to address that situation. Well, if my math is right, that's only $3.5 million. That's not very much for road infrastructure. Like I say, I've done that stuff, I know what it costs. We really got to buckle down and take care of the needs of District 1, which hasn't been taken care of.
BB: One of the concerns from voters who sometimes feel overlooked out in District 1, over on the northern edge of town, [is] a lot of unpaved roads for some of the homeowners out there. The city has made paving plans over the years, but it feels like you said, a lot of attention goes to the really big projects in the south and west side of town. Is this something that you've looked into?
PK: I have, you know, they keep saying they're going to do something in District 1. I haven't seen it. I've seen one road put in, and that's 1st and Waco, and that's right behind Amigos, which is on North University. So if you go there and look at that, it's – and I'm not criticizing trailer parks – but it has a trailer park, with probably seven to ten trailers in it. Then on the other side of that street, the brand new street they put in, is about a six-foot chain link fence full of weeds. I sat there for two and a half hours one day and counted the number of cars [that] went down that street. Would you believe zero cars came down that street?
However, I did get attacked by two dogs, wild dogs there. So we have dirt roads in our district. That needs to be addressed. When it rains, they're impassable sometimes. And I realize, you know, they keep saying safety issues in southwest Lubbock. I agree with that wholeheartedly. But you cannot keep disrespecting District 1, their needs, for District 4, 5. You know, out there, even District 2 has a several – District 2 is basically the east side, basically in South Lubbock, South East Lubbock, I ought to correct that – so we need our fair share of money. That's what I would like to see. It's not there. It never has been. And unless we get somebody like me in there that will be a voice for the people, it won't happen.
BB: District 1 also has a lot of the city's industry, and just the last couple of weeks, we've seen two industrial accidents make the headlines, and over the years, several gas leaks that have affected the homeowners out there. Now, obviously when it comes to elections, people talk about the safety of the residents and the workers, but what role does the city play when it comes to holding some of the industries accountable?
PK: They have to hold them accountable. It's not being done right now. It's just run amok. City council should back up some of its residents. It's not. It's not doing that right now. There is safety hazards there. You know, we hear air pollution quite a bit now, TCEQ is addressing that problem, so I'm not criticizing that, but it's the oldest infrastructure. Our water lines will keep busting, you— you mentioned gas lines. Well, that's done – I'm still from the old-school Energas, but it's Atmos, we need to hold them accountable to get some of that fixed. You know, where I live at, believe it or not, about a month ago is the first time we've got the new lines in there. I mean could you imagine that? You know, our lines are just now put in? Well, it's some of the oldest structures.
BB: Moving to data centers have been a big concern for many West Texans, and specifically about the resources that they could use in water and electricity. January was a proposal was brought to the city and was eventually rejected. Have you thought about what you might require from a builder or developer of one of these data centers in terms of keeping them accountable as well?
PK: I did actually. Believe it or not, a local real estate agent representing a Dallas-based, Dallas-area-based company, visited with me, and we looked at some property on North University for the AI center. And I flat told them, if they don't put all the infrastructure in, we're not interested. I'm not interested. I'm a private citizen. That should have been taken to somebody on the city council, but yet, they came to me about it, and I flat told them I'm against it. We do not have the infrastructure, and the city cannot afford the infrastructure. If you look at some of these places, they want the city to spend their tax dollars to put the infrastructure, and yes, they'll come in and build the building. They will create X amount of jobs, but that will never catch up with how much it's going to cost us taxpayers to put in the infrastructure. We don't have the water, we do not have electricity that's going to run an AI center.
BB: You talked about bringing some of the money back from the growth that Lubbock is experiencing in the south and west side, back to some of the older parts in the city. Last year, the impact fees were reduced to zero, and that was originally installed as a method of kind of bringing that money, but also incentivizing businesses into these older neighborhoods. Would you propose a new impact fees plan? Or have you thought about what tools the city could use for bringing that infrastructure back?
PK: As I said at opening, I was a builder. I've built and built and I paid my impact fees. Have no problem with it. My problem with impact fees was when the big developers wasn't making as much money as they thought they would, the city council did away with impact fees. If I remember correctly, they was going to target a lot of that impact fees to north and east Lubbock. That didn't happen. So yes, I want impact fees to be reinstated. I want that money to be directed to north and east Lubbock to make it fair. We have just as much right to have good infrastructure as the rest of the city. So I'm a proponent of reinstating the impact fee.
BB: Budgets are coming up. As soon as elections get wrapped up, it goes right into budget season. Have you thought about what you'd be prioritizing for budget proposals if you were to be elected?
PK: Everybody say, you know, public safety. As a police veteran, I agree with that. But what I want to do is I want to, before I even start sitting down discussing the budget, I want to take the time – if it's a week or month, whatever it takes – to get deep into it and really look and see where our money's going. That will be my primary focus. Then I'll decide where I want to try to allocate money. I just don't want to be willy-nilly about it. I want to be well-versed. To do that. You got to spend some homework. You got to get your homework done. So I want to get in there and look at where we're at and where our future is, then I'll decide where we need to do what our tax dollars.
BB: One of the things with working on the city council is, it being a non-partisan position, you're gonna have to represent voters that may not agree with your politics. You're gonna have to work with council members and staff that you may disagree with. One of the things we like to ask city politicians is, can you give an example of a time that you may have heard someone you disagreed with and changed your mind on something?
PK: All the time. As you remember when I first started this conversation, I was approached by both Democrats and Republicans with this job. I have real good friends who are Democrats. I have real good friends who are Republicans and independents. So I can sit there and listen to everybody. You don't have to agree with them, but you got to listen to them, respect their views, and that's what I will do.
BB: Anything else you'd like to tell our listeners?
PK: Yes, I would just like to go over a few priorities that I like when I become city council member. Transparency is one of my big issues. I don't think we have true transparency right now in our city government. You know, integrity. Our integrity right now, I don't believe is in place. We need to have transparency. We need to have integrity. You know, transparency in local government is non-negotiable to me. I believe in open meetings.
The problem here with our city council is we don't get very much input from the city, which is kind of depressing to me. They'll rather stay around and complain instead of go voice their opinion at City Hall, you know. And I'll invite them there. Full disclosure, you know, financial disclosure, I'm real big in telling it like it is on financial disclosure. We need public access to government records, I believe in that also. This backdoor policy, backdoor politics, I don't believe in. I want to be a straightforward guy. I am not a politician. I've never claimed to be a politician. I'm the type of guy, if you ask me a question, I'll give you an answer. You might not like it, but you're going to get an answer.
So the only way to make a difference in our city government is to voice your opinion, and that could be done at the ballot box. So instead of sitting home, you know, get out and vote. That is your right to vote. Voice your opinion by voting. And I'll say that if you haven't registered yet, it's too late for this election, but go ahead and get registered for the next election. So just get off the couch. Get out and vote.
BB: Thank you very much, Mr. Kelly, candidate for District 1 on the City Council.
PK: Thank you for having me here.