Personal History
Don moved to Texas in July 1971 and took up residence in the Balboa Apartments of Nassau Bay. There he met his loving wife of 45 years, Sherry, and raised a family of three children: Son Chad & Jennifer, Daughters Kimberly & John, and Ashleigh & Bryce. Seven grandchildren followed - Dylan, Cole, Karlyn, Quentin, Everleigh, Braysdon and Yardleigh. Don earned a B.S. degree from Elizabethtown College in Business Administration and served in the 147th Fighter Group at Ellington AFB to finish out his military duty. Now retired, after 42 years in the Hazardous Waste industry, Don served as V.P. for Clean Harbors Environmental Services, and still serves as a Consultant to that firm currently.
Civic Service
Mr. Matter was appointed as a director of the original Nassau Bay Civic Association. However, Don began his service to the City in 1975 when he joined the Nassau Bay Volunteer Fire Department. After serving as a maintenance captain from 1977 to 1982, he was president of the Department from 1982 to 1984. In 1994, he first ran for City Council Position 2 and then was elected Mayor Pro-Tem by the council in 1995. In 1996, he was elected mayor, a position he held until May 2002. In 2003, Don was elected to Council Position 3, where he served until the following year when the mayoral seat was open again. He was once again elected mayor in 2004 and finished his eight-year term in 2012. Don joined City Council again in 2017, fulling the role of Councilmember Position 1. In 2018, he was elected by Council to serve as Mayor Pro-Tem.
During his term as Mayor, Don was the organizing president or chairman of the Nassau Bay Economic Development Corporation, TIRZ and Nassau Bay Redevelopment Authority. These City organizations where critical in initiating redevelopment in a City that did not have additional green space for development. As a result, the Nassau Bay Town Square was born, and Nassau Bay's building activity continues to grow.
Finally, subcommittees were organized on his watch to address:
- Flooding issues and permanent fixes
- Dredging, which after 12 years was finally able to clear the City's channels
- Infrastructure, providing oversight to our limited staff
- Fire Department, which current Mayor and Council were able to give the City's great volunteers a permanent home with the City's EMS group.
Areas of Concern and Focus
- Sound Financial planning and management, including debt obligations ensuring stability and long-term economic growth to keep our City and its services strong now and in the distant future.
- Continued preventative maintenance to our infrastructure.
- Continued focus on flood prevention as well as house elevations.