In the running for City Commissioner Ward 1 is Pampa native, Wendi Miller Horst, who wants nothing more than to serve a commmunity she loves and to help promote growth and keep Pampa a place where folks want to live and plant their roots.
“My children are planning to move back and start their lives here,” she said. “My oldest wants to have kids and I want to be there for my grandbabies, so I want to make sure that Pampa is the best place for them to be.”
Wendi has no grievances or complaints for the town she has spent her entire life in, but she is passionate about maintaining it and keeping it beautiful for generations to come.
With no political history of her own, Wendi has done her research on what the role of a city commissioner is and has asked many city personnel questions regarding the inner workings of the city and why certain decisions are made.
“When I went to my first meeting, I asked a million questions and I imagine they were irritated with me,” she laughed. “But you can’t imagine how much I learned in just one meeting and it sparked the fuel in me to learn more.”
“I’m not seasoned by any means and I will never claim to know something that I’m not sure about, but I do want to learn and I have the drive to learn and be completely involved in it.”
With the extensive knowledge she has obtained by simply asking questions, she encourages anyone who may have their own questions and concerns to reach out as well and if she is elected the role of city commissioner, she ensures that she will do her best to provide information to curious citizens, just as she was given.
She understands that the role of a commissioner isn’t limited to what the public may see during the city commission meetings, and there is so much going on behind the scenes that the commissioners do to help keep the city in operation.
Her father and grandfather ran their own plumbing business for several years, Joe Miller Plumbing, and there was something about the skilled trade that Wendi found fascinating and in a way, fits perfectly with the role that a commissioner plays for their city.
“There’s something about plumbing that no one sees what you do. You can go into that bathroom or to that sink and see that everything works, but you don’t know how it works, you don’t see it all because it’s hidden. But there is something about it when you work on it and you fix it, it’s the most thankless job. Whenever we would be out in the backyard after installing a line, it was that sense of accomplishment I felt and knowing that it was going to work for that person.”
Being raised primarily by her grandparents and her dad, Wendi was able to receive the best of the generations before her and retain those bits of wisdom that come with each one, holding a vast appreciation for all the things she has learned through them and understanding that they hold a strong relevance still today.
“There has to be a connection between my generation, our children’s generation and the older generation about what we can all offer,” she said. “I still have that connection with my grandparents and there are so many gems of wisdom that I got from them and you can learn so much just by listening to someone who has that experience, and if we apply that knowledge into our day and age with all the advancements we have today, it would be a home run for everyone.”
Wendi has worked for the Carson County Cotton Gin for several years and has her own business, WK Partyology, where her works of art have been showcased at many events around the panhandle, so running for an elected position is entirely brand new to her, but she’s not out to completely change Pampa nor the way it is operated: only to help contribute to it and its residents.
“Everyone has to start somewhere. Do I want to win? Of course I do, but it’s not going to be devasting if I don’t and I will still go to all the meetings and learn everything that I can, and maybe down the line, I’ll try it again.”
“This place is my bread and butter,” she smiled. “There’s something about walking into the grocery store and running into someone that sat in church with my grandma that I’ve known my whole life and they call me by name, or they’ll tell me ‘your dad was a great man’ or ‘your grandpa was an amazing man’, just that feeling-I want my grandkids to feel that when they grow up here and people can say, ‘your grandma was an amazing woman.’ You only get that when you’re home.”
