WILMER - Traditionally, blue jeans, a shirt and boots would do for Jeff Steele and the mayors who came before him in the southern Dallas County town of 3,000 with a decidedly blue-collar image.
JIM MAHONEY/DMN
Yet when Steele walks into City Hall in his suit and tie and dress shoes, he projects a new image for a town that's long been beset by strife and a revolving door of elected and appointed officials.
"We're trying to take the black eye off the community," said Steele, 48.
Wilmer will share in a 6,000-acre inland port development with Lancaster and Hutchins that is expected to create 30,000 jobs and millions in property taxes.
The change hasn't come without turmoil.
In the last year, the Wilmer City Council has fired three administrators, including the city manager and city secretary. And former Mayor Don Hudson resigned midterm to move to his new home out of the county.
Hudson fired Crystol Birdwell, the city secretary, saying she failed to pay city bills on time, didn't answer records requests in a timely manner and didn't provide accurate financial information to council members. Birdwell denied those charges.
It was unclear why the city manager was fired.
With the recent dismissals, some city employees feared for their jobs under the new administration. In a letter to employees in the days after his appointment in November, Steele tried to ease employees' minds.
"Now is the first day of a new beginning for Wilmer," he wrote.
The goal is to create a transparent, honest administration "that conducts business so that someone's success doesn't come at the expense of others," he wrote.
The new mayor is approaching his position as a businessman.
"We tell him he doesn't have to [wear the suits]," said longtime council member Tiny Lange. "But he says, 'If I'm going to meet with people, I have to represent us.' "
Steele knows what it's like to be in the spotlight. He's married to country singer Janie Fricke. For the last 20 years, he's managed his wife's career, booking tour dates and concerts nationwide. He also plays drums in the band. But the tour dates are slowing now, and Steele said he needs something else.
The transition from concert hall to City Hall has been seamless, according to his wife.
Fricke said her husband is a born leader. On drums, he sets the rhythm for the rest of the band. At City Hall, it's not much different. Since her husband's appointment, Fricke has noticed a renewed enthusiasm from those who had grown disenchanted by Wilmer politics.
"There's a new interest that's popped up. You've had all those people sitting back waiting for something good to happen," she said. "I think we'll be hearing more from people who've stayed silent for so long."
Steele may be a unique mayor for Wilmer. But he'd be a unique mayor for many cities.
He's a humble manager who likes to fish, happens to have a superstar wife and is an acquaintance of President George W. Bush.
On a recent Monday, Steele attended a meeting of the North Central Texas Council of Governments. The next day, he hobnobbed with dignitaries at an invitation-only party hosted by Vice President Dick Cheney in Maryland.
"I can be a chameleon. And I mean this in a good way," the mayor said. "If someone needs a good old handshake and a chew of tobacco, I can do that. Or shaking hands with the president, I can do that, too."
Steele's friends are used to both of his personas - as an old friend and a socialite. But they'll need time to get used to his attire.
On a recent day, he gets away for lunch at the Runway Caf at Lancaster airport. Sitting at a table near an entrance are some of Steele's hunting buddies who can't get over the mayor's new clothes."
"You're dressing the part now?" Brad Justice asked. "What do I address you as - 'Your honor'?"
"Your Excellency is fine," Steele joked.
