Jodi Vicars-Nance, a licensed social worker, is running for At Large Place 5 in the Denton City Council race.

Running for city council has been a very trial-and-error experience for Vicars-Nance. She has been working on getting out of her comfort zone and on being more extroverted.

Vicars-Nance, originally from Wichita Falls, moved to Denton in 1992 and has lived in the city ever since.

“I cross that city limit sign and it’s just a sigh of relief,” Vicars-Nance said. “I’m back home, this is where I belong.”

She does not have any problems with the current city council and only wants to continue the progress and improvements the city is making.

She said that even though Denton is growing, the city still has a small town feel. She can walk around and still see people she knows.

“I felt more of a sense of community than I ever felt [in Wichita Falls],” Vicars-Nance said.

Vicars-Nance has been on city boards and committees before and said running for city council was the next logical step. She thinks there needs to be a social worker on the council.

Vicars-Nance said she is running a platform of social justice, and that having a social worker on the council will add a special voice to it.

“No matter what happens [in the election], I have already won,” Vicars-Nance said, discussing the interactions she’s had with people she’s met and the experiences she’s had. "I have achieved more than I had thought humanly possible.”

Her platform covers expanding infrastructure and helping vulnerable people in the city.

She wants to create more affordable housing and work on housing initiatives for the city's homeless population.

If elected, one of the first goals Vicars-Nance wants to accomplish as soon as possible is to get Fire Station 8 built.

She said she’s trying to help not just low-income people, but anyone in a vulnerable position in any income bracket.

Running for city council isn’t the only recent first for Vicars-Nance: her daughter, 21, voted for the first time in her life.

“If nothing else, I got my kid to vote,” she said. “Total mom win.”

Running for city council has always been in the back of her mind, but she didn’t think she’d be able to go through the process because of how introverted she is.

She decided to run because she learned the incumbent, Dalton Gregory, wasn’t running again, and because she saw the opportunity and took it.

“Someone had to fill that spot, and I thought why not a social worker,” said Vicars-Nance.

Running for council is something that Vicars-Nance has had to get used to. Being quick on her feet is one thing that has been difficult.

She said that running has politically motivated her more and that if, in the future, an issue comes up that she’s concerned about, she will make a point to attend the city council meetings.