Jeff Brazill

Father of two Flatonia ISD Elementary students, Charlotte and Chase, and husband to Flatonia native Stephanie (Lev) Brazill, son to Flatonia residents Steven and Carol Brazill and son-in-law to Flatonia natives Stephen and Judie Lev.  Jeff and his family have been permanent residents since 2021 but really it all started for Jeff 17 years ago. 

“From the moment Stephanie brought me here for Czhilispiel in 2008, I had a feeling Flatonia would be home one day.  I still remember that trip.  Flatonia reminded me a lot of where I grew up”

Jeff grew up in a small town himself: Mesquite, NV.  In fact, he was the first Catholic altar server and first Catholic CCD recipient in the town’s history.  

“Mesquite was pretty small – initially quite a bit less than Flatonia’s population.  It took a number of years for us to even get a stoplight.  That was such a big deal!  But most of all, I remember the closeness of the community, the safer environment for kids and overall quality of life.”

Jeff later went on to attend college in Michigan and eventually moved to DFW for an employment opportunity.  Jeff met his future wife, Stephanie, through a coworker who happened to be a Flatonia native himself.  It didn’t take long for Stephanie and Jeff to start coming “home” to Flatonia on a very regular basis.  Jeff later took an employment opportunity in Round Rock.

“Flatonia was already starting to become our home away from home, so moving closer and making it even quicker to get here was wonderful.  Our first born was also due at the time and we wanted a better place to raise kids.”

An incredible opportunity presented itself to Jeff and Stephanie in late 2020 to move to Flatonia and they jumped on it, officially making Flatonia their home in March, 2021.

“The chance to move to Flatonia ended up happening at the perfect time, and thinking back, it took an entire series of unplanned and unrelated events that even made it a possibility.”

Jeff wanted to get involved in the community and start giving back.  He joined Czhilispiel in June, 2022, as the 5K Run/Walk Race Director, later being elected to also serve as Treasurer on the newly re-formed Czhilispiel board.  Jeff was also invited to join the Flatonia Chamber of Commerce in December of 2022 and elected to serve as Treasurer shortly after as well.  Jeff continues to remain closely involved with the Chamber and Czhilispiel.

Jeff has had some notable accomplishments with Czhilispiel.  He immediately grew the 5K participation from an average of 60 people to 250; Jeff introduced the first-ever credit card purchase option for food and beer tokens and WAG’s merchandise booth; Jeff also modernized the event registration experience, introduced a budget and forecasting process and increased P&L transparency.

“Czhilispiel holds a special place in my heart, so having a leadership opportunity here has been amazing.  We just delivered a $3,000 check to the Flatonia Fire Dept that’ll go towards such a big need, and we look forward to having some additional flexibility going forward to give even more back to the community.”

Jeff has thoroughly enjoyed his time with the Flatonia Chamber of Commerce’s numerous events, including the annual banquet, Crawfest, Wine Walk and the other community contributions it organizes.  While on the Chamber, Jeff delivered monthly financial reports to the board, provided his experiences during debate and discussion to shape voted course of actions and helped spearhead the process of bringing financials in-house – a huge milestone for the Flatonia Chamber of Commerce.

Jeff also made media coverage several times in 2024 for his public opposition to the Mustang Wind Project outside of Flatonia and raising concerns of potential conflicts of interest related to the BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) plans within Fayette County while publicly speaking at the Commissioners Court meeting in LaGrange.  Jeff worked closely with FayCoSaysNo founder TJ Mac on several key tactics and was ultimately offered a position on the FayCoSaysNo board.

“This windmill project caught a lot of people off-guard, but it was amazing how so many people came together to fight this off.  In the meantime, it’s also opened a lot of eyes to how quickly an outside entity can sneak in and what the local impact may be of certain projects.  There are several things that remain on the radar that we’re keeping a close eye on.  I will continue to advocate for you just as I did for the people of our county that day.”

Jeff isn’t the only one in the family so involved in Flatonia – his wife, Stephanie, also dedicates a lot of her time, including the Flatonia Parks and Recreation, Flatonia ISD PTO, Education Foundation and Czhilispiel.  Jeff emphasized how important it is to set a good example.

“As a family unit, we are especially involved in rolling up our own sleeves.  It also teaches our kids how important it is to contribute and give back to the community.  Between community commitments and supporting the Bulldogs as much as we can, I also enjoy baling hay with my father-in-law, Stephen Lev.  He put me on the rake maybe 13-14 years ago and hasn’t let me off since!”

When asked about Jeff’s experience and how that will help him as a Councilman, Jeff noted, professionally, as an Account Executive, his job is to engage, listen to and advocate for his clients while successfully executing his employer’s objectives in a way that meets the needs of everyone.  

“I see a lot of parallels there as a Council Member – listening and advocating for the needs of the entire community and incorporating that in the City’s plans as best I can.  Finding positive resolution to the big, and small, problems.  My day-job requires a lot of tough conversations, negotiation and a thick skin, but it’s also so rewarding to find a solution that makes all parties happy.”

Running for an elected government position is completely new to Jeff and, as someone who works for an employer that operates within a pretty strict regulatory environment, a process that took several weeks to even get approval for.

“I don’t think my employer gets many of their employees requesting to run for an elected government position, so something like this had to go to the top, then through HR and then through legal for final approval.  Strangely enough, I was also advised I would lose one of our more significant employee benefits.  I think it’s obvious what my decision was.”  

“From getting approval from my employer, to starting a campaign from scratch – it’s definitely been a learning curve.  I’m mostly just worried about following the rules and not making a mistake.  Our signs, for instance, missed a couple of required disclosures and specific verbiage that, fortunately, we caught before any went out and were able to fix with maybe six hours’ worth of work, but it was 100% the right thing to do.” 

“I’ve been asked what my message is, what I’m running on.  My take on that is: the future of our city and protecting what makes Flatonia such a wonderful place to live.  I feel like we also need to recognize that we have some real immediate challenges to work through and almost certainly future issues that we’re going to need to overcome.  Roads, clean water and 24/7 police are very high priority to me — but we also need to hire a city manager, which is one of the most important and consequential positions for Flatonia, we have well documented budget issues that need to be addressed in a smart way as well as positioning the City of Flatonia for a bright, healthy and sustainable future.”

Call Jeff at 361-596-6886 – he is always open to hearing from and listening to anyone from the Flatonia area.

“I would encourage anyone to call me about anything, anytime.  Or if you know someone who has some questions, please give them my number.  I hope to be worthy of one of your three available City Council votes in this upcoming election.”