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KENNARD — Donald Lamb was fighting a losing battle against his ever-growing East Texas lawn when his neighbor, City Council member James Westbrook, approached him.
Westbrook was ready to retire and he had a favor to ask. Would Lamb take over his position on Kennard’s City Council?
“You think about it,” Lamb recalled Wesbrook saying. “And if you want to do it, come up to the meeting here this Monday.”
That conversation was 18 years ago. The council quickly confirmed Lamb to fill Westbrook’s seat. Since then, Lamb, 67, hasn’t faced a competitor. He was up for reelection again this year — in fact, a majority of the City Council was — but no one challenged the incumbents. So the city canceled its election. And Kennard residents …