Name: Sylvia Elaine Stephens
Office Sought: Amarillo City Council Place 4
What is your age? 66
What is your educational background? Please list any degrees or certificates earned and any institutions attended.
Graduate Student at Dallas Baptist University, Dallas, Texas
Final Goal: Doctor of Education Degree, in Educational Leadership
44 Graduate Hours in Biology and Education; Major: College Level Biology Teaching, Certificate: Spanish; June 2000 to December 2002, Portland State University; Portland, Oregon
Graduate of the 33rd Amarillo Citizens’ Police Academy, November 2024
Graduate of the Goodwill Industries Basic Computer Course in Windows 11; and Microsoft
Word, Excel, and PowerPoint; 07/2024
Currently accepted into the General Amarillo 101 Class
Was one of fourteen applicants selected as a Ronald McNair Scholar, from over two hundred applicants, at the University of Texas at Arlington, in 1994
RESEARCH - CHEMISTRY AND BIOLOGY: Portland State University, Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine, University of Texas at Arlington, and The University of Texas at Dallas: 06/1992 to 12/2003
TEACHING – CHEMISTRY AND BIOLOGY: Portland State University, University of Texas at Arlington: June 2000 to May 2007
Bachelor of Career Arts, Applied Business Administration, May 1987, Dallas Baptist University, Dallas, Texas
Certificate: Vocational Nursing; El Centro College of Nursing; Dallas, Texas; December 1988; License: April 1989
Certificate: Medical Assisting; Texas College of Medical and Dental Careers; Dallas, Texas; July 1983
License: Real Estate; Texas; 1993
License: Mortgage Loan Officer; Texas; 2005
Real Estate Investor: 2016 to 2022
What is your occupation?
WORLD MISSIONS PASTOR; RETIRED TEACHER, NURSE, SCIENTIST, AND BUSINESS OWNER
Please list any civic boards or commissions (non-profit, government, union, political, etc.) on which you have served as a board member or equivalent.
I am the President of the Board of Directors for the following nonprofit agency: Great Heads, Hearts, Hands, and Homes for the Sistas (G4H for the Sistas), which I founded on April 1, 2021. It is an agency that assists single females with buying a home. I am also Director of the International Police Support Team (the IPST), which I founded on November 13, 2024; and I very successfully launched the first event with the Amarillo Police Department. That team assists police officers, worldwide, with personal and professional matters, including public safety issues. Moreover, I am the Director of a Gang Task Force that I established on November 14, 2024. That Task Force does mediation and conflict resolution, in relation to gangs. For one thing, it significantly helps in reducing crime.
Have you previously held or do you currently hold any elected office? If so, what office(s)?
No, I have not previously been an elected official, nor am I a current official, but that has not stopped me from greatly working in my community, as a volunteer, in many areas. For example, as a World Missions Pastor, I do things for people in my community a lot. To be more specific, let me say that I frequently minister about Christ, to people. I feed them; give them clothes; pay their bills; and educate them on various matters. I also give them work, and Advocate for them, personally and professionally, in other ways, as well. Plus, I frequently help get new laws passed, and current laws changed; and I help get policies in organizations, including companies, created or changed, while helping to enforce current laws and policies. However, I feel that, as an elected official, I will be able to do even more.
If your campaign has any online campaign resources where voters can learn more about you, such as social media accounts or a website, please list them below.
You can find me on Facebook if you type, "Sylvia Elaine Stephens in Amarillo, Texas," in the search engine, when you go into your Facebook Account.
Why did you decide to run for this office in 2025?
I feel like I have a lot to offer the city of Amarillo, and I want to be able to do even more for the citizens, than I do now. Furthermore, being on the City Council is a great way to help make sure that laws are passed that will provide citizens with what they need, as well as some of the things they want - legally and morally.
If elected, what will be your top three priorities in office?
1. PUBLIC SAFETY - This is the most important one to me. I have two PUBLIC SAFETY PLANS that I would like to carry out, partnering with the Amarillo Police Department, in doing that.
2. I would like to restructure the tax system, on the local and federal level, to a much more citizen-approved and citizen-friendly system.
3. Massive Recycling - I have a much better recycling plan than the one I am told, by people, that Amarillo has right now; and I have seen it work very well other places. What's more, recycling will also help with cleaning up the city.
What is an issue you believe has gone overlooked in your race and how will you address it if elected?
I think that the upkeep in neighborhoods with large numbers of African-Americans has been overlooked; and I would like to play a major part in greatly improving those neighborhoods, but not to the point where it raises the property values and taxes too high. Moreover, with my plan, there will still be a lot of affordable housing in those neighborhoods.
What is your position on the issue of taxpayer-funded lobbying? Please explain.
First of all, I do not agree with it, because, for one thing, I know that you do not have to pay to present your causes or issues to any government - local; state; or federal, whether you are an individual or an organization, as I have done it several times. What's more, you do not always need an expert to get things done either! By the way, I am proof of what I am saying, and I have been very successful in getting what I want! Another thing, just like with a lot of political campaigns and elections, as well as court cases, an unfair advantage and/or corruption is encouraged, with practices like taxpayer-funded lobbying, because, more often than not, the ones who have the money to get what they want, are the ones that get what they want, right or wrong; and that, in itself, is morally wrong, and unfair to everybody else. Said another way, I think that people should get what they need and want, based on moral principle, and not education and training; money; and/or power!
Why are you the best candidate for voters to support for this position?
I am the best candidate because I am running for the right reasons, which I pointed out above. By the same token, I am highly qualified to be on the Council for the following reasons:
1. I am a law-abiding and law-enforcing citizen who has a lot of education and professional experience in several areas.
2. I have more than thirty years of supervisory experience; and I have proven that I am a great leader, as a Pastor; Teacher; Nurse; Scientist; and Business Owner.
3. I have more than thirty years of experience working successfully with the public as a paid or volunteer employee.
4. I have consistently received commendations for excellent customer and public service.
Moreover, I put integrity, or doing the right thing, above everything else. Furthermore, I believe in having one-on-one relationships with citizens as much as possible, building relationships on trust and respect, and not just making decisions in a bureaucracy, behind a desk, for people that I have never met, and do not know at all.