By Brandon C. Williams
The Post Newspaper Editor
Millions of people envision finding ways to unshackle their schedule.
And then there’s David Holmen.
Already blessed with titles such as husband, father, Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Children’s Center, Salesman/Public Relations at Ron Carter League City and Board of Directors at Coastal Community Federal Credit Union, Holmen is currently seeking one more title to his buffet of roles: La Marque City Councilman.
“My wife said I was crazy,” said Holmen. “She said, ‘why are you doing this?’ ‘Why do you want to put more on your plate?’ We had a lot of downtime due to the Coronavirus, but that’s not me.”
Holmen’s wife, Gena, understands that her husband’s “all-go, no-quit” mindset is one of the anchors that defines him. The two have been together since first meeting as teenagers in St. Paul, Minn., where they each grew up. Together for more than 34 years, the couple moved to Galveston County in 2002 in less than ideal circumstances.
The Holmens, along with their three children, arrived in Galveston homeless and without employment before they received assistance from The Children’s Center, where they stayed until he found a job at Bob Pagan Ford, where he worked 18 years in sales in Galveston County.
The experience of uncertainty when arriving in Texas only fueled Holmen’s desire to give back and contribute. Those lessons were learned at an early age.
“It began where I grew up,” he said. “It was a blue-collar, tight-knit area. The people in the neighborhood looked out for each other. My Mom was a single mother, and she was befriended by a nun who paid for us to go to school, gave her formula, food and clothing when we needed it. My Mom always told us we had to remember how we were looked out for, so that just grew in me.”
Following his motto of “God’s grace and mercy,” Holmen wants to contribute his experiences and expertise to the City of La Marque, where he moved in 2013 despite the protestations of some who felt that being in the city, which was then in its apex of challenges, was a mistake.
“People need to see a visual that La Marque is not what it has been portrayed to be,” he said. “We have to figure out how we can not make the tragedies and other bad news that has happened not happen again. Everybody needs to take their part.
“When I talk about visuals, I’m talking about putting a face on the good that’s happening. So many people in La Marque are hustling in a very positive way. It’s not a perfect world, but there is far, far more good in La Marque than it is bad.”
Along with pushing the positive, Holmen has vowed not to get into negative attacks against fellow candidates. “There’s too much of that out there now,” he said. “That’s what politics have become. Someone has to change that, and if I’m the one who does it, perhaps that will rub off on others.”
