Wednesday, November 8, 2000

Chill failed to dampen police efforts

By Bill Whitaker

If Election Day rain and chill dumped cold water on the anticipated record turnout at the polls in Taylor County, it sure didn’t defeat the Abilene Police Officers Association.

Despite nasty weather, association members bundled up and fanned out to 11 polling places in town, braving wind and drizzle while asking voters to sign petitions seeking a public vote on higher police pay if city administrators don’t satisfy their requests.

Over at Sears Park Recreation Center, one voter took pity on officers shivering outside with petitions and brought them coffee.

“And they were big ones from Fina, too, with sugar and cream,” officer Rafael Perea said.

But Abilene Christian University employee Randy Robinson did that one better. When he noticed lawmen standing in the rain outside the polls at Hillcrest Church of Christ Tuesday morning, he offered them an entire tent.

“That was all we needed to hear,” officer Bernie Kastner said. “We took him up on his offer.”

The brush-off

Whatever her luck at the polls, Dr. Debra Monde didn’t let her bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Charlie Stenholm get in the way of her practice or her family on Election Day.

Besides last-minute stumping, the 37-year-old family physician and Libertarian saw patients from 10 a.m. to noon and 3 to 5 p.m.; dropped everything to admit another patient into the hospital; and took 10-year-old son Nathan, whom she home-schools, to the polls for a handy civics lesson.

“She took him with her into the polling booth when she went to vote,” said Monde’s husband, George Schwappach.

“He even helped her cast her vote. In fact, he’s the one who voted against the city fluoride proposition.

“Of course, she reminded him right afterward that this meant he was going to have to take a lot more responsibility for brushing!”

He said ‘uncle’

David Rogers, 48, owner of Classic Cabs, made good on his Election Day promise to ferry handicapped and elderly voters to the polls in Abilene for free while dressed up as Uncle Sam — but only to a point.

When the weather turned bitterly cold Tuesday morning, Rogers kept the colorful top hat and facial hair, but dressed considerably warmer elsewhere — even though it meant breaking his pledge to wear red, white and blue from head to toe.

Most voters appreciated the gregarious cabby’s gesture, but declined to comment on how they were casting their votes.

“That was fine,” Rogers said, “although I did tell them I was kind of stuck having to vote for Bush because my wife, Carol, used to baby-sit the Bushes’ twin girls and her mom, Phyllis Stine, is high up in the Republican Party back in Midland.

“My wife assures me the Lincoln bedroom is ours if Bush wins, but I kind of have my doubts,” Rogers said in between ferrying almost 70 voters to the polls.

Contact associate editor Bill Whitaker at 676-6732 or whitakerb@abinews.com. Check out Bill’s previous columns at www.brazosbill.com.