Trish Cook Taylor

I was born in Urania, but after graduating from LaSalle High School, I left for college and didn’t come back here to live for fifty years. Many of the people in Urania who grew up during the time I was gone don’t know me, so I would like to tell a little about myself. In 2016 I came home to Urania to live with my mom after my dad passed away. Ten years later, I’m happy to say, we are still here. Mrs. Evelyn Cook will celebrate her 100th birthday on the 15th of this month. I left college to get married, and was a stay-at-home mom until my kids were in school. Then for 13 years I was a rural mail carrier with the US Postal Service, based in Palestine, Texas. During that time I returned to college and earned a Bachelor's Degree in History. After living in East Texas for 30 years, I moved to Austin, the Texas capital. I was there 20 years. In 2013 I retired from the Community Preparedness Section at the Texas Department of State Health Services. I retired as Texas State Administrator for the TRAIN Learning Management System. Working for the State of Texas paid the bills, but my real passion was for volunteering and community building. Over my time there, I worked with a number of non-profit organizations. These experiences showed me that things go better if we all try to give back what we can. Presently, I continue to serve long-distance on the Board of Trustees for the Ethical Society of Austin, where I have been a member for 17 years. Since coming back home to Urania, I have served for nearly 10 years on the Board of the Centennial Cultural Center and have volunteered many hours there with their kids camps and other community events. I am also the Center’s representative to the LaSalle Economic Development District. For several years I wrote a local history column in the Jena Times, North LaSalle History Tidbits. I hope to be able to do some more of that in the future. I love learning new things about the history and families in our area. If you don’t know where you’ve been, it’s hard to know how to go forward. Urania has a great slate of Alderman candidates, and I’m sure any one of us will do a good job. The qualifications I offer are my experience on other boards, and in State and Federal government jobs. I have lived in a variety of different-size towns, and have seen things that have worked and things that haven’t. My most valued quality is fairness. “Life isn’t fair”. I know that’s true, but to the best of my ability, I will always strive to ensure fairness in all my dealings. We have had good leadership in our town for decades, and I will work to build on that record and to look for ways to expand it. Please consider voting for me. #104 Trish Cook Taylor