18-year-old ‘over the moon’ in Alvin runoff
Young hopeful isn’t being taken lightly by his opponent, 69
An 18-year-old Alvin Community College student says he is “over the moon” that he is a candidate in a runoff election for an Alvin City Council seat.
“I want to make sure that the people are being heard,” said Joel Castro, who is running against John Burkey, 69, in a March 24 election for At-Large Position 2.
The seat became open after Chris Sanger resigned because he was moving out of town. A Feb. 3 special election among Castro, Burkey and Jamie Vaughn, 29, resulted in no candidate gaining more than half of the vote, setting the stage for the runoff between the two top vote-getters.
Castro received 166 votes (45.23 percent) and Burkey received 133 (35.69 percent). Vaughn got 70 votes.
Castro described his platform as “beautification, development and infrastructure.”
“I campaigned for the first election by going out and meeting as many people as I could at community events, club meetings, knocking on doors and, of course, social media,” Castro said. “I am over the moon about everything that has happened, and I am ready to go at it 10 times harder.”
Burkey, a retired Air Force veteran, is campaigning with the slogan “Common man — common sense” and wants to ensure controlled commercial and residential growth in Alvin.
“I am pro-growth,” he said. “I want to make sure that the (population) growth doesn’t outpace the city’s ability to handle it.”
Burkey said that he does not consider Castro’s age an issue, and he is not going to make it one.
“He is not your typical 18-yearold,” Burkey said of Castro. “He is very knowledgeable, a formidable opponent and not to be taken lightly. I can’t take it for granted that he’s ‘just 18.’”
An Alvin High School graduate, Castro said his interest in politics led him to participate in organizations like Keep Alvin Beautiful and Brazoria County Young Republicans. His major at ACC is criminal justice.
“I wanted to run because of my love for the city and the people in the city,” Castro said. “I want to do what they want me to do.”
Castro says he was inspired by Mike Floyd’s successful bid last year to be a Pearland ISD trustee when Floyd was 18 years old and a senior at Dawson High School.
Castro said he and Floyd had both attended a summer camp for high school juniors interested in politics.
“There were about 1,000 people from around the state, but I was the only representative from Alvin,” Castro said. “I remember Mike Floyd and hearing about him, although I do not know him personally. He is an inspiration to me in the fact that people my age can do it. He seems like a really great guy.”
Floyd, now a college student at University of Houston, said he is not familiar with Castro and will not endorse any candidate in the council race. But Floyd is pleased to learn that he inspired another Brazoria County teen to seek political office.
“Hopefully we get more young people elected,” he said.
Burkey was born in Pennsylvania, where he worked on a dairy farm as a boy. He eventually operated a milk truck and later worked in a lumber yard. He then served in the Air Force for more than 26 years, retiring as a senior master sergeant in 1994. He later worked for an RV dealership for 16 years.
This is Burkey’s first time running for any political office, but he said he has closely followed national and local politics.
“I have lived here for 23 years, and I love Alvin,” said Burkey, who has been married 49 years to his wife, Donna. “I am retired and I have time to devote to this. I want to offer something to the city and pay it back to the community.”