KEVIN YACKLY ARRIVED FROM Cleveland, Ohio to Texas City with only $50 and a credit card and achieved his American Dream. More than three decades later, Yackly wants to give back to the community in the role of Commissioner at Large, which he is running for in Tuesday’s election.
“I have never left since I arrived,” said Yackly, the former owner of Grand Prize Barbeque. “I didn’t run from hurricanes or other calamities. I stayed and fed the police department, National Guard and other first responders, and I did out of the love of my heart. There was never a political motive behind it.”
There is plenty of motive behind Yackly’s vision of how he wants to improve Texas City, in particular the ending of kill shelters. An avid animal lover, Yackley has used his platform to bring light to how animals are treated.
“We will change the rules on how we treat animals,” he said. “I will also push for more adoptions so that abandoned cats and dogs can have a better chance of finding a place they can call home.”
Few people in the area have made a more passionate commitment to senior citizens than Yackly, who has devoted much of his 32 years in Texas City to championing their cause. He has also let his love for helping seniors evolve into a vision for Texas City, which he feels is rapidly becoming a popular location for seniors to relocate and settle into.
Atop his goals for seniors is a plan for a center that will cater completely to them. The center would include not only space for technology and exercise but also become a location that welcomes the majority of the city’s older population.
Yackly’s love of supporting seniors was extended over the weekend by a return visit to The Resort in Texas City, which was besieged with coronavirus cases throughout much of the spring and early summer. Yackly visited them on Good Friday as he and Senior Share — which he oversees — delivered 90 floral bouquets along with treating The Resort’s staff with lunch from Grand Prize.
“The baby boomers are coming here,” he said, “and many of them here have not been properly represented. They have been underserved, and in order to make them feel like they belong, we have to go out and get them involved. That means having people check on them and getting them to contribute to the city. Another thing that is important to helping them is having more PPE gear since so many seniors have chosen to hold back since the start of the pandemic.
“We also have to make sure we can start creating low-cost housing for them. It’s important for seniors to have an affordable place to live.”
Tending to the needs of small business is also a major goal of Yackly. “A lot of the small businesses in Texas City have taken a beating since the pandemic,” he said. “I want to find ways to work with them and create opportunities to promote them.”
“I want to help others become more involved in Texas City,” he said. “That’s why I am running, because if we’re able to get everyone involved, we can make this city even better than what it is now. Texas City gave me a chance to be successful, and I want to help others experience what I have over the years.”
