Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1322161
38 Public office and title. Mayor Mark Monroe Massey, town of Round Top, Texas, population 90. Election day. Originally scheduled for May 2020 but pushed to Tuesday, November 3, 2020, due to COVID-19. Your worthy opponent. Barry Bone (the incumbent). Number of votes cast. 90, the highest turnout possible. By machine and mail-in. Where the ballots were cast. La Grange Courthouse (early voting) and Round Top Town Hall, election day. Final vote count. Mark Massey: 54. Barry Bone: 36. When the election was called. 11/3/2020, 10:30 pm. On how the vote was announced. Fayette County website had live updates of voting results as ballots were being counted. Official results were posted at Round Top Town Office. The concession. Mayor Barry Bone called to congratulate me. Campaign platform. "Keep Round Top, Round Top." Meaning, preserve the character and charm of town while still planning for managed growth. Did you actively campaign? Yes. I ran a political ad in The Fayette County Record newspaper, and I went door to door to voters and delivered an info card with a personal note, and also delivered buttons and yard signs. Length of term. Two years. Inauguration day. Sworn in on Monday, 11/9/2020. November 9 was also my 40th birthday, so that was fun! Kasey [Buchtien] designed Mayor Massey hats for everyone. My parents, Fred and Susan; brother Owen; his wife, Sofia; their kids; and Kasey were all in the town offices when I was officially sworn in. Official cabinet. The five town council members, town clerk, and building official. Your kitchen cabinet. No real inner circle of advisers; I want to do what's best for the town and love getting input and ideas from residents and businesses. The First Lady of Round Top (FLORT). Kasey Buchtien, my fiancée. Your Kennebunkport. Kasey and I spent most of summer at my grandparent's Round Top farmhouse and passed the COVID summer days cooking, walking the back roads, and planning our upcoming wedding. Camp David. Our apartment in Houston for some solitude and to recharge. Gracie Mansion. An 1870s farmhouse in Round Top currently under renovation. Mayoral pet. Belle, a three-year-old beagleman rescue (beagle and Doberman), and maybe part cheetah — she loves to run. And Ansel, our four-month dachshund. First state dinner. Kasey created a surprise birthday party for me at my parents' house in Round Top to celebrate with a victory dinner. First official function. Decorating and riding on the Round Top town float in the Christmas Parade with the First Lady and two of her nieces (Whitney and Ava). BY CATHERINE D. ANSPON PORTRAIT JENNY ANTILL CLIFTON MEET MAYOR MARK At 40 years old, newly elected Mark Massey is Round Top's youngest mayor in its 150-year history. Ninety citizens cast their ballots; there was no mudslinging that we could see, no vote recount, and not a Tweet was heard. That's the way to do it. Mayor Mark Massey