Johnny Anders
Encyclopedia
John Earl Anders, Jr., known as Johnny Anders (born July 14, 1950), is an automobile
body shop owner who engages in the unusual hobby
of metal
art
work and also serves as the mayor
of Stamford
in northern Jones County
in West Texas
. Stamford is north of Abilene
and straddles the boundary with Haskell County
to the north. Anders was also a member of the Stamford City Council
from 1997 until his election as mayor in the spring of 2005.
Anders was elected in 2005, when the incumbent
, Oscar Armstrong, did not seek another term. On May 12, 2007, Anders was reelected to a second two-year term, having defeated opponent Gwen Baker, 336-127. Texas municipal elections are nonpartisan
, and Anders considers himself an Independent. However, in 2006, he endorsed the Republican
Jim Landtroop
of Plainview
in Hale County
, who fell short in a highly-publicized bid to succeed the retiring Democrat
Pete Laney
, a former Speaker
of the Texas House of Representatives
. Landtroop rebounded to win the seat handily in the November 2, 2010, general election.
As mayor, Anders in 2006 embraced the "Reclaiming Stamford" project, which seeks to rid the community of dilapidated homes, vacant businesses, and overgrown lots. Anders cleaned up his own property, Anders Paint and Body Shop, and then participated in the removal of litter
and debris throughout the city. Reclaiming Stamford is the idea of former city councilman Gary Decker and his wife, Connie. The program gets citizens involved in working together to clean up the city. It has been adopted in Breckenridge
in Stephens County
, Seymour
in Baylor County
, and Anson
, the seat of Jones County.
Mayor Anders successfully pushed for the appointment of the Stamford police chief, instead of the past practice of election. The appointed chief has issued in a year more than $60,000 worth of fines, instead of the fewer than $1,500 by the past elected chief. Anders said that Stamford had too much drug abuse
and other infractions, and the appointed chief has been essential to bringing the crime rate under control.
Anders' paternal grandfather came to Stamford in a covered wagon
in 1928 and went into the automobile business in 1932. Anders took over the family business on the death of his father, John Anders, Sr. (1932–1994). Anders is a native and lifelong Stamford resident who lives no more than a hundred yards from his birthplace. His mother is the former Bonnie Franklin (born ca. 1934) of Odessa
, the seat of Ector County in West Texas. Anders dropped out of Stamford High School without graduating with his Class of 1968 but later procured a GED diploma and has taken some college
courses in law enforcement
. In 1998, Anders married the former Cindy Albus (born 1957). He has a son from a previous marriage, John William Anders (born 1970) of Breckenridge, and two stepdaughters, Tammy Lindley of Abilene and Kathryn McKeever, who attends Stamford High School. Anders regularly attends St Johns Methodist Church in Stamford.
Anders received statewide recognition in 2007 when he was the focus of a segment of Bob Phillips
' syndicated
television series, Texas Country Reporter
. Anders, as an avocation
, makes model dinosaurs and other unusual items from scrap metal and leftover car parts available at his body shop. His dinosaur exhibit was based on the idea that some large automobiles in the 1960s and 1970s were called "dinosaurs" because of their size and use of large amounts of fuel. One of his dinosaur exhibits is in Harmon Park in Stamford; the other, 22 feet tall, which took two years to construct, is located at Anders' body shop.
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
body shop owner who engages in the unusual hobby
Hobby
A hobby is a regular activity or interest that is undertaken for pleasure, typically done during one's leisure time.- Etymology :A hobby horse is a wooden or wickerwork toy made to be ridden just like a real horse...
of metal
Metal
A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...
art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
work and also serves as the mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Stamford
Stamford, Texas
Stamford is a small city located on the border of Jones and Haskell counties in the western part of the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 3,111 in 2008. H. McHarg, president of the Texas Central Railroad, named the site in 1900 for his hometown in Connecticut...
in northern Jones County
Jones County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 20,785 people, 6,140 households, and 4,525 families residing in the county. The population density was 22 people per square mile . There were 7,236 housing units at an average density of 8 per square mile...
in West Texas
West Texas
West Texas is a vernacular term applied to a region in the southwestern quadrant of the United States that primarily encompasses the arid and semi-arid lands in the western portion of the state of Texas....
. Stamford is north of Abilene
Abilene, Texas
Abilene is a city in Taylor and Jones counties in west central Texas. The population was 117,063 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2006 estimated population of 158,063. It is the county seat of Taylor County...
and straddles the boundary with Haskell County
Haskell County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, 6,093 people, 2,569 households, and 1,775 families resided in the county. The population density was 7 people per square mile . There were 3,555 housing units at an average density of 4 per square mile...
to the north. Anders was also a member of the Stamford City Council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
from 1997 until his election as mayor in the spring of 2005.
Anders was elected in 2005, when the incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
, Oscar Armstrong, did not seek another term. On May 12, 2007, Anders was reelected to a second two-year term, having defeated opponent Gwen Baker, 336-127. Texas municipal elections are nonpartisan
Nonpartisan
In political science, nonpartisan denotes an election, event, organization or person in which there is no formally declared association with a political party affiliation....
, and Anders considers himself an Independent. However, in 2006, he endorsed the Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Jim Landtroop
Jim Landtroop
James Franklin Landtroop, Jr., known as Jim Landtroop , is a businessman from Plainview, Texas, who is an in incoming Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 85 in the South Plains. In the general election held on November 2, 2010, Landtroop handily unseated two-term...
of Plainview
Plainview, Texas
Plainview is a city in and the county seat of Hale County, Texas, United States. The population was 22,336 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Plainview is located at ....
in Hale County
Hale County, Texas
Hale County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 36,602. It was organized in 1888, and is named for Lt. John C. Hale, a hero of the Battle of San Jacinto. The seat of the county is Plainview. It is home of the noted former Hale County Judge, Judge Bill...
, who fell short in a highly-publicized bid to succeed the retiring Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Pete Laney
Pete Laney
James E. "Pete" Laney is a U.S. Democratic Party politician from West Texas. He was a member of the Texas House of Representatives for 34 years from Hale Center . Laney served as Speaker for ten years from 1993 to 2003, a record matching that set by his predecessor, fellow Democrat Gibson D...
, a former Speaker
Speaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...
of the Texas House of Representatives
Texas House of Representatives
The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members elected from single-member districts across the state. The average district has about 150,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits...
. Landtroop rebounded to win the seat handily in the November 2, 2010, general election.
As mayor, Anders in 2006 embraced the "Reclaiming Stamford" project, which seeks to rid the community of dilapidated homes, vacant businesses, and overgrown lots. Anders cleaned up his own property, Anders Paint and Body Shop, and then participated in the removal of litter
Litter
Litter consists of waste products such as containers, papers, wrappers or faeces which have been disposed of without consent. Litter can also be used as a verb...
and debris throughout the city. Reclaiming Stamford is the idea of former city councilman Gary Decker and his wife, Connie. The program gets citizens involved in working together to clean up the city. It has been adopted in Breckenridge
Breckenridge, Texas
Breckenridge is a city in Stephens County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,868 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Stephens County...
in Stephens County
Stephens County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 9,674 people, 3,661 households, and 2,591 families residing in the county. The population density was 11 people per square mile . There were 4,893 housing units at an average density of 6 per square mile...
, Seymour
Seymour, Texas
Seymour is a city in and the county seat of Baylor County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,740 as of the 2010 Census.-Geography:Seymour is located at ....
in Baylor County
Baylor County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 4,093 people, 1,791 households, and 1,156 families residing in the county. The population density was 5 people per square mile . There were 2,820 housing units at an average density of 3 per square mile...
, and Anson
Anson, Texas
Anson is a city in and the county seat of Jones County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,556 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Abilene, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, the seat of Jones County.
Mayor Anders successfully pushed for the appointment of the Stamford police chief, instead of the past practice of election. The appointed chief has issued in a year more than $60,000 worth of fines, instead of the fewer than $1,500 by the past elected chief. Anders said that Stamford had too much drug abuse
Drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
and other infractions, and the appointed chief has been essential to bringing the crime rate under control.
Anders' paternal grandfather came to Stamford in a covered wagon
Covered wagon
The covered wagon, also known as a Prairie schooner, is an icon of the American Old West.Although covered wagons were commonly used for shorter moves within the United States, in the mid-nineteenth century thousands of Americans took them across the Great Plains to Oregon and California...
in 1928 and went into the automobile business in 1932. Anders took over the family business on the death of his father, John Anders, Sr. (1932–1994). Anders is a native and lifelong Stamford resident who lives no more than a hundred yards from his birthplace. His mother is the former Bonnie Franklin (born ca. 1934) of Odessa
Odessa, Texas
Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small portion of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 99,940 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Odessa, Texas Metropolitan...
, the seat of Ector County in West Texas. Anders dropped out of Stamford High School without graduating with his Class of 1968 but later procured a GED diploma and has taken some college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
courses in law enforcement
Law enforcement agency
In North American English, a law enforcement agency is a government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.Outside North America, such organizations are called police services. In North America, some of these services are called police while others have other names In North American...
. In 1998, Anders married the former Cindy Albus (born 1957). He has a son from a previous marriage, John William Anders (born 1970) of Breckenridge, and two stepdaughters, Tammy Lindley of Abilene and Kathryn McKeever, who attends Stamford High School. Anders regularly attends St Johns Methodist Church in Stamford.
Anders received statewide recognition in 2007 when he was the focus of a segment of Bob Phillips
Bob Phillips
Robert Leon Phillips, known as Bob Phillips , is an American television journalist best known for his long-running program Texas Country Reporter...
' syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
television series, Texas Country Reporter
Texas Country Reporter
Texas Country Reporter is a weekly syndicated television program hosted and produced by Bob Phillips. It airs in all 22 Texas media markets, generally on weekends, and reruns are broadcast nationally on the satellite/cable channel RFD-TV...
. Anders, as an avocation
Avocation
An avocation is an activity that one engages in as a hobby outside one's main occupation. There are many examples of people whose professions were the ways that they made their livings, but for whom their activities outside of their workplaces were their true passions in life...
, makes model dinosaurs and other unusual items from scrap metal and leftover car parts available at his body shop. His dinosaur exhibit was based on the idea that some large automobiles in the 1960s and 1970s were called "dinosaurs" because of their size and use of large amounts of fuel. One of his dinosaur exhibits is in Harmon Park in Stamford; the other, 22 feet tall, which took two years to construct, is located at Anders' body shop.