October 5th, 2026AD
Granbury City Council candidates Janet Logsdon and Alex Wolf used Monday night’s Hood County Express Candidate Forum to make a similar case for changes at City Hall — calling for greater transparency, earlier public involvement in major decisions, opposition to data centers inside the city and reconsideration of Granbury’s Flock license-plate camera system.
The forum, held at Generations Church in Granbury, was hosted by Hood County Express and moderated by Dr. Andrew J. Wolford. Eva Royer served as master of ceremonies.
Logsdon is challenging incumbent Councilman Gary “Skip” Overdier for Place 4, while Wolf is running unopposed for Place 6. Both seats carry three-year terms. Overdier was invited to Monday’s forum but did not participate.
The evening was designed less as a debate than as an opportunity for voters to get to know the candidates, with prepared questions followed by questions submitted by audience members.
Across nearly two hours of discussion, several policy themes repeatedly surfaced: public trust, development, surveillance technology, taxes and spending, infrastructure and how much influence residents should have before the City Council makes consequential decisions.
TRUST AND TRANSPARENCY
“My biggest priority is to bring trust back to City Hall,” Logsdon said.
Logsdon repeatedly returned to what she described as a need for “trust, transparency and accountability,” arguing that residents should receive information earlier in the decision-making process.
“A public hearing shouldn’t be the first time that the community hears about a problem,” she said.
Wolf proposed holding monthly town halls where residents could raise concerns while he could explain upcoming decisions, potential costs and what city government is considering before matters reach a final vote.
He said information may already be publicly available but is not always effectively communicated to residents.
Both candidates also addressed nondisclosure agreements involving economic-development discussions.
Logsdon said she opposed NDAs while acknowledging that certain commercially sensitive information may legitimately require confidentiality.
Wolf went further.
“I will not be signing any NDAs,” he said.
Wolf distinguished NDAs from information that elected officials may already be prohibited from disclosing, including certain matters discussed in executive session.
FLOCK CAMERAS DRAW OPPOSITION FROM BOTH
Both candidates expressed opposition to Granbury’s use of Flock license-plate reader cameras.
“I think Americans should be able to drive down the road without being surveilled,” Logsdon said.
Logsdon argued that privacy concerns are compounded when the public does not receive sufficient information about how the system is being used.
Wolf likewise criticized the technology and said rapidly developing surveillance capabilities are outpacing existing law.
“I do not think that we should be surveilling the innocent and the guilty alike,” Wolf said.
Wolf said eliminating the system would be his preferred approach. Short of that, he said a warrant should be required to access that level of information.
DATA CENTERS DOMINATE POLICY DISCUSSION
Data centers generated some of the evening’s longest and most detailed discussion.
“I am not a fan of data centers inside Granbury,” Wolf said.
Logsdon also opposed data centers within the city and argued that city officials should give greater weight to recommendations from the Planning and Zoning Commission.
Logsdon tied the issue to her involvement in the recall effort that preceded her City Council campaign.
The candidates were discussing potential future development, not a data center already approved for construction. According to the City of Granbury’s most recent published Project Patriot information, as of September 9th the city had not approved, permitted or authorized construction of a data center and had not received a development application or approved a site plan for one.
The discussion broadened when Wolford described his recent visit with Wolf and others to a large data-center development in the Abilene area.
Wolford, whose professional background includes engineering, physics and risk analysis, offered a more nuanced assessment than a blanket criticism of the industry.
He said he went to Abilene expecting to see problems but instead found a project that appeared professionally managed by experienced companies.
“I fully expected to go and find a crisis,” Wolford said. “It really wasn’t a crisis.”
His concern, he said, was what that comparison could mean for Granbury and Hood County.
“A good data center is sited properly,” Wolford said.
He argued that communities considering projects of such scale need sufficient engineering information before decisions are made and access to technical expertise capable of evaluating what developers submit.
Wolf also described being struck by the physical scale of the Abilene project and the number of workers involved in its construction.
During the discussion, several figures were cited concerning the Abilene development, including approximately 8,000 workers and hundreds of contractors or companies working on the project. Hood County Express had not independently verified those figures Monday night.
WHO PAYS FOR GROWTH?
Both candidates said new development should bear the costs it creates rather than shifting those costs onto existing residents.
“The new development should pay its fair share of infrastructure and services it requires,” Logsdon said.
Wolf said residents should be told before a project is approved if making the project financially viable could require bonds, utility-rate increases, incentives or other costs ultimately borne by the public.
“If I think the existing residents are the ones paying, then I’m going to say so at the dais,” Wolf said.
That issue resurfaced during discussion about the thousands of temporary workers who could accompany construction of a hyperscale data center.
Audience members questioned whether Granbury and Hood County have enough hotel rooms, rental housing, roads and other infrastructure to absorb such a workforce without affecting residents and the tourism economy.
Wolf said that if such a project were ultimately built, the developer — not local taxpayers — should be responsible for addressing worker accommodations and infrastructure impacts.
“If they break our roads, they need to fix them,” Wolf said. “If they have people to house, they need to house them.”
Logsdon said a large influx of workers could consume hotel rooms, short-term rentals and other accommodations normally supporting Granbury’s tourism economy and potentially affect residents’ quality of life.
Wolford suggested that city and county officials study communities already experiencing large-scale data-center construction to learn how workforce, housing and infrastructure pressures developed and how those communities responded.
PROPERTY TAXES AND CITY SPENDING
Taxes also surfaced through an audience-submitted question.
The questioner characterized Granbury’s recent property-tax action as amounting to an “average of over 17% increase” and asked the candidates how they viewed the increase.
Hood County Express had not independently verified the audience member’s 17% calculation as of publication.
City records show the council adopted a property-tax rate of $0.485 per $100 of valuation for Fiscal Year 2026-27. The figure cited by the audience member was presented at the forum as part of the question and should not be read as an independently established HCE calculation.
Both candidates used the question to argue for tighter spending discipline.
“I’m not a fan of taxes at all, especially property taxes,” Wolf said.
Wolf argued that government should distinguish between needs and wants and questioned why growing tax revenues should automatically be accompanied by growing expenditures.
Logsdon said government should operate within its means and examine the full long-term cost of projects rather than focusing solely on their initial price.
“Every taxpayer deserves to know that their money is being spent responsibly,” she said.
CITY MANAGER QUESTION DRAWS DIFFERENT RESPONSES
One audience question directly addressed City Manager Chris Coffman, asking whether the candidates would hold him accountable and whether they would consider replacing him.
Logsdon said any city official should be held accountable and said she would support replacing Coffman.
Wolf stopped short of taking a position on Coffman’s continued employment. Instead, he focused on what he sees as an imbalance between professional city staff and the elected council.
Wolf said city employees provide valuable expertise but cautioned that elected council members must ultimately make policy decisions rather than defer those decisions to staff.
He described the proper arrangement as a “council-manager” relationship and said he believes Granbury has at times operated more like a “manager-council.”
Under Granbury’s governmental structure, the City Council appoints the city manager, who serves as the city’s chief administrative and executive officer and oversees day-to-day operations.
ROADS, WATER AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Both candidates acknowledged that Granbury faces significant infrastructure challenges as the community continues growing and major highway construction approaches.
Wolf warned residents that the coming period could be difficult.
“I think we’re in for a rough time,” he said while discussing road construction and traffic.
He specifically raised concerns about emergency response during major construction and said planning would be necessary to ensure emergency vehicles can navigate congestion and construction barriers.
The City of Granbury is already relocating utilities in preparation for TxDOT improvements to US 377 and SH 144.
Water produced another development-related discussion.
Wolf said protecting the area’s water resources will require cooperation among the city, Hood County, the Brazos River Authority and state regulators.
Logsdon said the city should determine available capacity, infrastructure requirements and long-term costs before approving major developments.
“We need to understand the available capacity and the infrastructure requirements and the long-term cost before we make any major decision,” she said.
KEEPING GRANBURY GRANBURY
Both candidates are small-business owners, and both repeatedly connected economic development to preserving Granbury’s identity.
“We need to keep the square the square,” Wolf said.
Wolf argued that local government should distinguish between regulations that legitimately protect neighboring property owners and processes so burdensome that only large corporations with teams of lawyers can easily navigate them.
Logsdon similarly called for reasonable regulation of small businesses and said growth should not erase the characteristics that attracted residents and visitors to Granbury.
“I want Granbury to grow without becoming unrecognizable,” she said.
The candidates also addressed what an appropriate economic-development partner should look like.
Logsdon said a good partner should add value to the community, provide good-paying jobs and fit Granbury’s character rather than diminish it.
Wolf said prospective developments should fit the city’s identity and residents should have meaningful input into what comes to Granbury.
LAWFARE, DISAGREEMENT AND REPRESENTATION
Asked whether they would condemn “lawfare,” defined in the question as misuse of legal action to silence critics or punish political opponents, both candidates said government should not use legal processes to suppress citizens.
Wolf said residents have the right to speak publicly, petition government and challenge government through the courts when they believe rules have been violated.
“I think we should be able to disagree in public,” he said.
The candidates were also asked how they would represent residents who disagree with them.
Logsdon said representation requires listening not only to supporters but also to residents who hold opposing views.
Wolf pointed again to his proposed town halls and said he has made his phone number publicly available to residents who want to speak with him.
FAITH, BUSINESS AND PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
Because organizers designed the forum partly as an opportunity for residents to learn more about the candidates personally, questions also moved beyond specific municipal policies.
Both candidates discussed their Christian faith and said it influences how they approach their lives and leadership.
They also discussed experiences running small businesses.
Wolf described navigating the COVID-19 period shortly after expanding his jiu-jitsu business and said conservative financial decisions helped the business withstand the disruption.
Logsdon described overcoming resistance when she and her family took over their business and said persistence, service and building relationships ultimately helped them succeed.
Asked how they handle conflict, Logsdon said she generally gives a dispute time before responding, allowing emotions to settle and additional information to emerge.
Wolf said he tries not to begin disagreements by assuming bad motives.
“I tend to not ascribe villainy to the person that I’m talking to,” he said.
HARRELL ADDRESSES STATE ISSUES AND VOTER TURNOUT
Near the end of the evening, Greg Harrell, chairman of the Hood County Republican Party and SREC Senate District 22 committeeman, addressed the audience.
Harrell discussed the Republican Party’s response to data-center development and said state policymakers are increasingly confronting questions involving power demand, water use and other effects of large data centers.
He also discussed his work on legislative priorities ahead of the 2027 Texas legislative session.
Harrell then urged Republicans in attendance to participate in the November election and encourage other Republican voters to do the same.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF FORUM
Hood County Express co-founder Kolton Krottinger opened the event by explaining why the newspaper organized the forum and announced that HCE intends to host additional candidate forums for city and county races in the future.
“Candidates should have the opportunity to show up, make their case, answer the questions, and let the voters decide,” Krottinger said.
Wolford closed the candidate portion of the evening by saying much of what he heard centered on trust, transparency and availability.
Logsdon returned to the same theme in her closing statement.
“I want all of us to be heard,” she said.
Wolf emphasized preserving Granbury’s identity while giving residents stronger representation at City Hall.
Early voting begins October 19th and continues through October 30th. Election Day is November 3rd.
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