BY ELIZABETH CAMPBELL
Hurst City Council candidate Trasa Robertson Cobern isn’t shy about being part of the clan made famous by the reality show Duck Dynasty.
Her father, Si Robertson, is better known as Uncle Si on the A&E reality show, which highlights the Louisiana family’s highly successful Duck Commander hunting-products business (so successful that for the past few springs it’s been sponsor of a NASCAR race at Texas Motor Speedway).
Cobern, 40, faces at least one opponent for the Place 4 seat: fellow political newcomer Jeff Childers. Longtime incumbent Anna Holzer, 88, said she is not seeking re-election. The candidate filing period ends at 5 p.m. Friday for the May 7 election.
For the record, Cobern said, her father had doubts about her running for office.
“His reaction was, ‘Why do you want to get involved in such an ugly business?’ ” she said.
Cobern, who has appeared on the show along with her four sons, said her father’s charity work has helped shape her life.
“People get caught up in the entertainment and forget about the substance,” she said.
As for her council qualifications, Cobern, who teaches U.S. history at Euless Trinity High School, points out that she has served on boards for the city and Hurst-Euless-Bedford school district.
While on the city’s neighborhood advisory committee, she helped research and draft an ordinance that set criteria for rental property safety inspections. She’s an alumna of Hurst 101, a class in which participants learn about city government and visit various departments.
Other volunteer roles include publicity director and historian for the MidCities PeeWee Football and Cheerleading Association; the PTAs at L.D. Bell High School, Bedford Junior High and Bedford Heights Elementary; the Association of Texas Professional Educators; and the H-E-B ISD District Level Improvement Committee.
Cobern said she is “happy” with the current council but wants the city to find more ways to get families and younger residents involved.
“It needs to be easier for people with families to come to meetings and to be civically minded,” she said. “I have a busy life. I have a job and I do other volunteer work. I can help encourage others.”
Cobern said she tells her students that decisions made by city governments often have a far greater effect on their lives than those at the state or national level.
On the first day of classes, she also tells them about her father and his Duck Dynasty fame. She said many of her friends in the school district also know about it. Their reaction? Everyone is “very blase” about it, she said.
Cobern, who spent most of her childhood in Germany where her father served as an Army staff sergeant, said she learned about the importance of service by watching him work 18- to 20-hour days during Operation Desert Storm supplying the troops.
Source: Fort Worth Star Telegram | ELIZABETH CAMPBELL, liz@star-telegram.com
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