Stephen F. Austin State University

Latterious Starks, an SFA junior and political science major, has filed to run for the city commission position representing the northeast ward.

A self-described "very ambitious person," the 21-year-old native of Rowlett said he is running to bridge the divide between the student and citizen communities.

"A lot of the time, there's talk about us as two separate entities, but we actually are a unit as a whole," Starks said in a telephone interview. Starks also said he would represent students on the commission better than in the past.

"I've noticed that the city commission has kind of put the campus to the side in certain aspects," he said. "I just feel the registered voters of this campus and the students who live on campus and in the northeast ward deserve a voice."

The question of students' role in local government is a perennial question in communities across the country because they do not pay local taxes and are not often permanent residents. But Starks addressed the criticism by noting that students are a significant economic driver for local sales tax and contribute to the community in other ways.

Starks said he is working on his campaign platform by listening to committees of constituents. He plans to publicize his agenda in about three weeks, he said.

Starks has previously demonstrated his interest in politics, at the university and on the national scene. He worked in Tyler as a volunteer for Barack Obama's presidential campaign and organized a group of students to travel to Washington, D.C., to see Obama be sworn in last month. Starks also serves as the speaker of the university's student government association and is a cadet in the ROTC program.

In anticipation of objections about his age or experience, Starks invited critics to see for themselves.

"I just ask that if there are individuals out there who feel that a 21-year-old student political science major can't handle the process of running for office and actually being a city commissioner, I just ask them to come in and have a sit down with me and we can have a mature conversation."

Starks is running for the northeast ward position presently occupied by Randy Johnson, who said previously that he will not run for the position again and plans to spend more time on his business.

David Crawford, an area manager for Sysco, has also filed to run for the position.

Two other positions are up for election, including the northwest ward, where incumbent Don Partin is unchallenged so far. The at-large or mayoral position is also up for election. Incumbent Roger Van Horn is being challenged by former mayor Richard Johnson.

The deadline for filing to run is March 9.