Mayor Dwayne Ariola marks the end of an era
TAYLOR — Outgoing Mayor Dwayne Ariola — a Navy veteran — knows how to run a tight ship, and he spent his political career trying to bring some of that discipline to City Hall.
This year he chose not to run for office May 2 as the city for the first time switched to a voter-elected mayoral system.
Before voters approved the change in 2024 to the City Charter, the City Council — not the people — chose the mayor from within their own ranks.
Ariola has served on the council since 2017. He was selected as the city’s chief executive by his fellow council members after his reelection in May 2024 on an at at-large ticket.
Jim Buzan was elected Taylor’s new mayor by popular vote on May 2. He will be sworn in on May 12, which will be Ariola’s final day as mayor. Buzan’s first council meeting is May 14.
But this isn’t the last the people will see of him, Ariola said.
“I tell people my calendar is going from 150% full to 110% full because I just like being involved in a lot of different things,” added the military veteran and businessman.
SERVICE ABOVE ALL
After graduating from Taylor High School in 1985, Ariola enlisted in the Navy and quickly climbed the ranks.
His career included serving on submarines in San Diego and Pearl Harbor. He worked as a submarine mechanic and helped design fast-attack underwater vessels. When he retired in 2005, he was chief of boat on the USS Albany, which was recognized with the Battle E Award as the Best Submarine for the Atlantic Fleet.
Ariola honors his military career by serving as the vice commander of American Legion Post 39. He also has a full-time job at Burkert Fluid Control Systems, an international company specializing in measurement and control technology for fluids and gases. Ariola is the area sales manager overseeing Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana.
Still, he said his experiences in the highly regimented area of military service and the highly efficient arena of private enterprise did not quite prepare him for the disorder he found when he took his first seat on the council dais nearly a decade ago.
DESCENT INTO CHAOS
The veteran city leader recalls pre-2020 city operations as lacking formalized organizational systems. He described a situation where the Public Works Department wasn’t tracking which roads were being fixed and city growth was not being directed with the vision of master-planning documents.
He set his sights on bringing city efficiencies in line. He lists one of his greatest accomplishments as having each department today know their clearly defined goals and objectives.
“In my day job, if something’s broke I recommend how to fix it and it’s done. In (the) City Council world, you identify the problem, put it on a priority list, put it on the capital-improvements list, put it on a funding list, hopefully it gets approved and then it gets incorporated so far down the road,” the erstwhile mayor said.
Ariola said the working relationship with fellow council members can either help the city move forward or stymie growth.
“You can’t just throw a hand grenade over the wall and say, ‘Here’s what’s wrong, y’all need to fix it,’” he said. “You gotta come up with the solutions and it makes it a whole lot easier if you get buyin from your other council members and staff members.”
In large part, he said he has successfully completed his goals.
The city adopted a comprehensive plan in 2021 and is currently revamping it. A downtown master plan as well as drainage, water and wastewater and fire-services master plans have been developed during Ariola’s time on the council.
Others including the parks master plan are scheduled to be updated soon.
“When you’re requesting funds from different entities, they’re not just going to send you a check, because hey, you put your name on the list,” he said. “I mean, you gotta have master plans. Nobody with a checkbook will listen to you unless you have a master plan.”
CREATING A LEGACY
Other than streamlining city operations, Ariola is proud to have been part of the leadership team that heralded a major new chapter in Taylor’s history. The town of 18,000 situated on the Blackland Prairie has transitioned from primarily agrarian and small businesses to a high-tech hub expanding at light speed including bringing Samsung Austin Semiconductor to town.
Top of his list: Bringing jobs to town, he said.
During an address at the recent groundbreaking for Gradiant Technology Park, Ariola said such projects will reverse the trend where Taylor “exported its people” to jobs in Austin.
NOT EVERYONE’S A FAN
Though he has helped lead the city through an era of sometimes dizzying development, Ariola noted he has his detractors. Some of his critics have said a change in city leadership is needed to focus more on social equality, lower taxes and nonpartisanship at City Hall.
The Blueprint Data Centers project, which has been protested by some neighbors on the south side of town, was granted economic incentives by the city last year. The development is currently under litigation.
Ariola also faced criticism last year when he declined to sign a proclamation supporting Pride Week observances, although local events went off as planned. The event led to a change in the city’s proclamation policies. Now, only a preapproved list of city-sponsored events can receive proclamations.
So the big question: With all the controversy, why seek public office in the first place?
The city statesman believes that if you don’t like what’s happening, you should step up and change it, even if it means exposing yourself to all the “hate and discontent and just the craziness” of being the town’s top official.
“I absolutely love Taylor, Texas. It’s my hometown,” Ariola said. “You know, prior to Samsung, we were never going to stay small because FM 3349 was already approved and the farmland was just going to become too expensive.”
He added, “I own my home. I’m not a small business owner and I have no other land so, you know, all my decisions were for the best of the community.”
MORE TIME FOR FAMILY AND HEALTH
Even though Ariola is putting down his mayoral gavel, he isn’t giving up his workaholic ways.
At 59, he plans to continue full-time employment for at least five more years. He said the traveling he does for his job is an extra benefit in his marriage, allowing him and his wife, Alice Marie, to get away together.
He and his spouse spend time with their grown children Koby, Joanna and Jennifer and a 4-year-old grandchild. There is extended family in the area, so Ariola will have more time for birthday parties and get-togethers.
Shortly after announcing he would not seek another term as mayor, Ariola also announced he had been diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer. With a family history of the disease, he said he has been conscientious about regular testing.
He had a procedure to remove a mass in March and doctors said no further treatment is needed aside from monitoring.
He encourages all men aged 50 or older to get regular prostate-cancer testing as the disease has a high survivability rate when caught early.
GRATITUDE FROM HIZZONER
The military veteran and public servant
took a few moments to reflect on the contributions of city staffers, a job he said is thankless.
“I don’t think we’ve ever had a better staff in my nine years. Not that the others weren’t the right people at that particular time, but for our current situation, with... all these changes coming,” he said.
“Our council is very well diverse in their expertise and the staff that we’ve brought on know their business, the downtown people know their business. Permitting people know their business. I mean, it’s just, it’s quite impressive.”
And while Ariola no longer will chair council sessions at City Hall, he doesn’t see himself slowing down. He intends to take a larger role in the renovation of the American Legion Hall.
He also wants to find time to reconnect with old Navy shipmates. And maybe, just maybe, he might start jotting down a few notes to write a book on his adventures navigating the choppy waters of small-town government.
— DWAYNE ARIOLA MAYOR, CITY OF TAYLOR
Comment
Comments