Uvalde resident Jennifer Gilleland has called for local law enforcement accountability for two years, since a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary.
The police took 77 minutes to end the massacre, with some of the victims taking their last breaths on the way to the hospital. After being dissatisfied with the town’s leadership after the shooting, Gilleland announced this month that she’s running for mayor.
Over the last two years, she’s spent her time rolling through the town in her electric wheelchair, often showing up to display her support for the victims' families. Gilleland was born with spastic cerebral palsy which affects her ability to walk and has impaired her speech.
“My professor always equates my speech patterns to Shakespeare. Once you understand it, you understand it,” she said.
Gilleland was inspired to run after Kimberly Mata Rubio lost her campaign for mayor to Cody Smith last year. Rubio lost her 10-year-old daughter Lexi in the shooting.
“Well, I saw Kim run and I thought 'okay, maybe Kim will get in and then changes will occur.' And then Kim lost,” she said.
One of Rubio’s campaign highlights was improving law enforcement across entities and regaining the community’s trust in law enforcement. This is also one of the key focuses of Gilleland’s campaign.
“Open communication between all of the entities, and I want more people to be involved and really know what’s going on,” she said.
Critics of Rubio’s campaign last year dismissed her as a parent with an agenda after losing her child in the massacre. Rubio’s campaign was much more expansive than just addressing law enforcement accountability.
In her campaign video, Rubio stated, “I don’t want this town to stay where it is and just be remembered for this tragedy. I want to move forward but I want to bring along our children and those two teachers.”
In addition to adequately honoring the 21 victims, Gilleland aims to build more sidewalks, make buildings more accessible, and bring an end to the division in the town that has only been exacerbated since the shooting.
Anson Bills is Gilleland’s campaign manager. He believed that she could bring the community together.
“Well, the number one thing is Jennifer has got the right mindset to not only fix what’s going on within our city leadership, but she’s also got a master’s degree in counseling. So she can help heal our community which is great,” he explained.
Smith resigned in early April and was replaced by Mayor Pro Tem Everardo Zamora. Uvalde residents will have an opportunity to elect a new mayor this November.
