Changes not welcomed by Jim Sherrill
BY DAN PARKER
SOUTH JETTY REPORTER

JIM SHERRILL

Editor's note: With the new year -- a time when people traditionally look ahead with renewed hope and predictions -- the South Jetty is publishing a seven-part series of interviews with the current and past Port Aransas mayors reflecting on the state of our island town and its future. The first three articles in the series were interviews with Claude Brown, the town's current mayor; and with Georgia Neblett and Glenn Martin, who served immediately before Brown. Following is the fourth article in the series, an interview with former mayor Jim Sherrill, who served immediately before Martin. Later articles will feature interviews conducted with former mayors Dale Bietendorf, Charlie Brown (no relation to Claude Brown) and Bob Flood. Jim Sherrill lived in Port Aransas from 1970 to 1999. He served as mayor from 1994 to 1998 and also was a member of the Port Aransas Independent School District Board of Trustees during the 1970s. A semi-retired accountant, Sherrill, 77, now lives in Corpus Christi with his wife, Nona Beth Sherrill, who is former manager of Nueces County Water Control and Improvement District No. 4.

South Jetty: What is the state of Port Aransas? How are we doing? Sherrill: The whole complexion of the town has changed. The charm of the town is gone. It was inevitable, because of its location, it was going to balloon, and big money would come in and do all they're doing. That's good for the community, I suppose, but it really takes away from the charm of the town. ... The things we liked about it are not there anymore -- like getting together down at Woody's for a fish fry, and everyone shows up. You know, just community things. But now, outside money is coming in, and that had to be. I understand.

SJ: Where does that leave us, in your opinion? From this point, what should Port Aransans do to make this the best town they can?

Sherrill: I don't know. The thing is, most of the old timers over there are having to sell out and move because they can't afford to live there anymore. Nearly everyone I talk to over there, which is not a lot of people, and they say they are going to get out one of these days. People used to live there in Port Aransas because they liked it, not because they wanted to make money. ... It was not a place to make money, just a nice place to live. The answer is, if you don't like it, move out. That's not why we (Sherrills) moved out. We moved out before all this started. We've been here (in Corpus Christi) seven years.

SJ: Why did you move away? Sherrill: We didn't intend to, really. We had been living (for 30 years) in a (Port Aransas) house where all the living was upstairs, and we decided about seven years ago that we wanted something on the ground. We even bought a lot off 11th Street (in Port Aransas) in a little development out there, and we were planning to build a house on the lot. But then we thought, let's look around Corpus. We wanted something on the ground, kind of like a garden house, not with a great big yard, so we looked around and saw something we liked (in Corpus Christi). And our daughter, Jennifer, lived in Corpus, and she had three kids, and that was a motivating factor. Plus, we were getting older, and I didn't want to fight hurricanes in the future. It wasn't dissatisfaction (with Port Aransas) or anything like that. It was just a combination of things.

SJ: How much do you visit Port Aransas? Sherrill: Very little now. I don'have occasion that much. But I get very disillusioned when I come over there -- all the big money and all the new business there that caters to the tourists. So many of the old timers have left. ... We come for funerals and weddings and things like that. But we did come over the other night to have dinner with a Winter Texan friend of ours. I don't have any bitter feelings about Port Aransas at all. All this stuff I don't like now -- all the big money moving in and ugly stores and everything, none of that was really happening when we left. ... Most of what I don't like now hadn't happened until after I left.

SJ: What are some of your fondest memories of Port Aransas?

Sherrill: Well, I guess that nearly everyone knew everyone else. There was a lot of social exchange -- dances in the old Community Center, fish fries down at Woody's. Just a nice bunch of people, nice place to live. And I was in the Rotary Club and some other things I enjoyed. And I was on the school board a couple times. So, I was pretty much part of the community, I think.

SJ: Describe your experience on the school board.

Sherrill: Back in the '70s, they were talking about building a high school, and I just thought that was not a good idea, because I thought the student population would be too small. I just thought they could get a better education at either one of the other high schools (in Aransas Pass and Flour Bluff). I thought kids needed to get away from the island, get into an environment with other kids, a social environment. ... So, I ran on the platform of not having a high school here, and then I got on the school board, and they voted to have a high school. And so there I was, building a high school. (Laughs.) But I guess it worked out alright. (Port Aransas High School graduated its first class in 1980.)

SJ: How do you look back on your time as mayor?

Sherrill: There were two terms. The first went real smoothly. There was very little dissension between council members. ... Then we got some mavericks in there the second term, and it seemed like it was a fight every council meeting.

SJ: What accomplishments are you most proud of during your terms?

Sherrill: I didn't start it, but we finished the new library during my term, and we started the (Port Aransas Community) Park and the pool during my terms. [Sherrill later faxed a list of more than 20 accomplishments during his terms, including the city's adoption of a coastal management plan. In a follow-up phone call, Sherrill said, "We had the first coastal management plan in Texas, which I think was an achievement -- not just for me but for the council and (City Engineer) Jim Urban."]

SJ: You plainly are disappointed with some of the development in recent years and what seems like a loss of charm in Port Aransas. But can you suggest anything that locals should do to make the town the best they can from this point on?

Sherrill: First of all, let me say it was inevitable this was going to happen. It wasn't anyone's fault. (Port Aransas) just became better known in the country. People started coming down, and it was going to happen. So, it wasn't anything anyone did or didn't do. It was just a natural evolution. ... But a lot of people like school teachers are going to have a hard time living there because of the cost of housing and property taxes. A lot of old timers are gone because the cost of living is so high. So, I don't know. The city council has a big job to make sure that growth is done in an orderly way. These (developer) yahoos who want to put in a 39-story condo -- I think that is irresponsible.

SJ: Are you talking about Maravilla del Mar, planned for an area of Mustang Island a few miles outside the Port Aransas city limits?

Sherrill: Yes, but I'm saying the Port Aransas City Council in general can prohibit stuff like that from happening (within the city limits) by zoning and other things. They can control some, to an extent.