Hurst’s newest council member doesn’t duck jokes about her family

Trasa Robertson Cobern, daughter of the Duck Dynasty star known as Uncle Si, officially took her seat on the Hurst City Council on Tuesday night.

Cobern, 40, was sworn in along with longtime Mayor Richard Ward and council members Bill McClendon and Nancy Welton, who won re-election earlier this month.

“How about this duck girl,” Ward joked.

In the council chamber were Cobern’s family, friends and students and teachers from the Hurst-Euless-Bedford school district. Her father, Si Robertson — the long-bearded Vietnam vet known for sipping iced tea — wasn’t there. Cobern said her father isn’t much for ceremonies.

She said everyone has been “very nice” and taking her Duck Dynasty ties in stride.

“The mayor was very nice and asked me if I mind if he jokes about Duck Dynasty. I said no, it’s part of my reality now,” she said.

Cobern, who teaches U.S. history at Trinity High School in Euless, said she ran for office because she wants to emphasize programs and activities that focus on young families and also to look at how the city spends its money.

Although Cobern and her four sons have been on several episodes of the popular A&E reality show, she said her father always encouraged her to live her own life.

Describing her father as having a great influence on her life, Cobern talked about how he instilled the values of hard work and family.

Before running for council, Cobern served on several boards for the city and school district and took the Hurst 101 class that introduces residents to how city government works.

When Cobern served on Hurst’s neighborhood advisory committee, she helped research and draft an ordinance that set criteria for rental property safety inspections.

In other business Tuesday, the council approved a resolution authorizing city administrators to apply for a grant from the criminal justice division of the Texas governor’s office to purchase 56 body cameras for the Police Department. The cameras are activated in the officer’s patrol car when lights or sirens are turned on or if the officer travels at a certain rate of speed.

The department is testing five cameras.

This story was originally published May 17, 2016 at 10:43 PM with the headline "Hurst’s newest council member doesn’t duck jokes about her family."