Architects in Corpus Christi, past president of the Texas Society of Architects, and currently a Regional Director for the American Institute of Architects. But the challenges going into this race would prove to be insurmountable. The fact that the state redistricting battle delayed the entire election was just one layer of an already
When I compete in architecture work, almost always I am competing against people I like, that I admire, friends and people that I respect. Running for public office was not that easy.
After an arduous and educational campaign experience, Bill Wilson has settled back into a satisfying practice.
complex, tiered cake. On the day Bill filed to run, he and Texas Architects Senior Advocate David Lancaster met at the offices of the Republican Party of Texas early in the morning to prepare the paperwork and spent the day conversing with elected officials from his community. Shortly thereafter, his opponent dropped the bombshell that he was switching parties and running against Bill in the Republican Primary for District 43 — which consists of San Patricio, Bee, Jim Wells, and Kleberg counties. He jokes, “I had this naive belief at one time that I might have an uncontested primary ... which now seems just completely ridiculous. But, at the time, it seemed quite real. Suffice it to say that when we decided to take that hill, we did not understand the magnitude of the army that was being assembled on the other side.”
66 Texas Architect
11/12 2012
Laura Bennett, AIA, is an architect in Corpus Christi and an instructor in the Architecture/Drafting Technologies Department at Del Mar College.
Portrait by David Keith
Compounding the situation, two campaign consultants that Bill intended to hire to help him run his campaign went to work for his opponent. He remarked that he learned some hard lessons about politics. “Lesson number one in politics is that consultants are for sale, and there is no loyalty.” He elaborates on the political animal. “Everything is calculated and I don’t want my life to be calculated. I don’t want my friendships to be calculated. I don’t want them to be strategic. We all have strategic relationships, but when that is all that you do, when every move is calculated ... I don’t want to be like that.” I remarked that, through this process, you learn who your friends are and that it really tests your values. He agreed and related, “When I compete in architecture work, almost always I am competing against people I like, that I admire, friends and people that I respect. Running for public office was not that easy. It was
harder than I thought it would be ... and much harder on my family than I expected.” Bill compares his experience to the profession. “I’m not a diplomat. I’m a problem solver, as are most architects. My observation is that the political process is not kind to deliberative thinking.” He elaborates. “As an architect, I am used to examining problems, to thoroughly understanding the problems before crafting a solution. We all learn, ‘Don’t jump to conclusions.’ Don’t try to design the solution before you completely understand the problem. Developing that approach to solving problems is really important if you want to become a collaborative leader. But being an effective collaborative leader is in direct conflict with the political process. I was advised to not bring up a problem unless I had an answer. And that is the absolute antithesis of what I believe and how I work. That was hard to deal with because the process lends itself to canned answers. You begin to focus on articulating principles as opposed to articulating answers.” Running for public office was a difficult experience, but one from which Bill walks away with a sense of humility, affirmation, and wisdom — with no regrets. It’s a gamble. When you decide to stand for what you believe in, you run a risk. But despite the risks and the sacrifice he and his family endured throughout this process, Bill still took a stand and came out on the other side with a knowledge that can only come from experience — knowledge to draw on in pursuit of the next challenge.