Belton government

As the light turns green on the corner of Sixth Avenue and Main Street, junior criminal justice major Nick Warren pulls around the corner on his way to visit his stepfather who is in the hospital. Within seconds of pulling onto Sixth Avenue, red and blue lights flash in the rearview mirror. Looking down at his speedometer he notices he has exceeded the speed limit by 15 miles an hour.

“The officer recognized that I was concerned and upset,” Warren said. “Based on the reputation the Belton officers have, his attitude was very unexpected. I had heard they were rude.”

The policeman, seeing Warren’s emotional state, let him off with a warning.

Community officer Robert Gatewood said that sometimes he pulls over two UMHB students a day, but his impression of them is postive.

“Typically, even when one of your UMHB students is in trouble, I don’t find them lying or making excuses,” he said. “Most of them are educated enough that they justify their actions.”

The officer said as far as non-criminal action, most of the students have a firm belief in God and understand the consequences of their actions. They do what they’re supposed to do, and they have lots of self-discipline.

While the Belton Police Department may have the most direct contact with students, other local government entities provide services and opportunities while establishing a symbiotic relationship with the university.

Among the ancient halls of the Bell County courthouse on Central Avenue in Belton, George Jones, county treasurer, crunches the county’s numbers, having almost no contact with students except for the occasional part-time cashier hired from the UMHB school of business.

“We’ve had some excellent students and workers from UMHB that needed part-time job and it’s worked out real well,” he said. “We always try to work with students’ schedules.”

Jones added that though his office has little contact with students, the university plays a big role economically in the county.

“There’s no doubt that UMHB plays a big role in the county by bringing in students who spend money,” he said. “So there’s definitely an economic factor there. ”

Just up the stairs from the county treasurer’s office is county auditor Donna Eakin going about her daily duties, interacting with students and UMHB affiliates only when they come to observe her accounting and business practices.

“Most recently, Dr. Patrick Jaska, a professor of business systems, and one of his classes were invited to come to our office,” she said. “I enjoyed working with students and giving them a tour of the building. They seemed interested in learning and gaining good experiences.”

Although Eakin’s main interaction with the university is through a classroom setting, she said that she is impressed with how seriously students take their work.

“They are very aggressive in learning the materials and putting to practice what they’ve learned outside of the classroom,” she said. “They bring a richness to the city’s academic world.”

Because Eakin appreciates the knowledge students bring to Belton, she said she doesn’t mind the expansion and growth of the campus.

“I think any time there is professional growth in the community and an addition to the work force, that is never a negative thing. Personally, I enjoy the learning environment.”

Belton city manager Sam Listi agrees with Eakin that the additions to UMHB and the chance for potential educational development are beneficial to the city.

“(The university) is an asset to the community and a partner to Belton,” he said. “When something builds up on campus, it makes our community more than we are. It provides resources and educational enhancement opportunities.”

The city has even helped the university open up the campus to the community so more people can take advantage of its learning prospects.

“We helped redo the university’s entrance,” he said. “We helped with the brick work. It was a joint project between UMHB and the city.”

Although some Belton residents have resisted the school’s growth, Belton police officer Gatewood said it is the small town mentality that has raised the most concerns.

 “It’s no different than Wal-Mart or the big HEB that’s trying to come in,” he said. “Every time you have something growing, that means they have to expand and there are people who live next to UMHB that can lose their houses.”