Controversial leader, media pioneer

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Linda DeLeon
1952-present

For some people, DeLeon has been controversial … but she’s been a historic figure also. She was the first Hispanic elected as a school board member under a court mandated change to single-member districts for the Lubbock Independent School District.

But she was involved before taking public office.

As a parent she led a successful effort to keep Wright Elementary open because she felt strongly about the need for neighborhood schools. While serving on the school board she was at the forefront, even through federal courts, to provide a junior high school for central Lubbock students. That effort resulted in the construction of Cavazos Junior High.

Both on the school board and now on the City Council her convictions have often found her on the short end of a vote. In her four years on the council she has stood up for more improvements for her district, held firm against the majority on the location of a new animal shelter and pushed to name a street for Cesar Chavez.

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W.D. "Dub" Rogers
1921-1993

The phrase “pioneer” preceded almost every mention of Rogers’ name.

The Waco native and Baylor grad, introduced the South Plains and much of West Texas to television. On Nov. 13, 1952, Rogers went on air with the city’s first station, KDUB-TV. The station is now know as KLBK.

Rogers also is the only Lubbock mayor ever to have been elected on a write-in vote. Shortly before the 1966 city election, The Avalanche-Journal revealed council members had met secretly to approve raises for several city employees. A group of civic leaders approached Rogers, who had twice before run and been defeated, to run as a write-in candidate for mayor.

Barely 24 hours before the election, and with Rogers out of town, a robust campaign began to elect him mayor as a write-in. He won the election by a 2-to-1 margin. He would serve a second term, leaving office in 1970.

During his tenure he warned of an impending water shortage for Lubbock if it continued to rely on well fields. He also championed tourism, improved streets, better low-income housing and a sales tax to fund city improvements.

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