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19 Apr 2025

Behind the Ballot with Elizabeth Matus

Elizabeth Matus isn’t running for City Council in District 5 because she’s looking for something to do—her resume is already full! She’s stepping up because she believes Pleasant Grove deserves more, and she’s ready to help make that happen. A lifelong resident, Elizabeth’s connection to the community runs deep, and her passion for making it better is what’s driving her campaign. Her story is one we think a lot of people will relate to, and we’re excited to share it as part of our Behind the Ballot series. Stay tuned to learn more!

0:00

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Host

Elizabeth Matus

Guest

Episode Timeline

00:00

Intro

01:55

What prompted Elizabeth to run for City Council?

04:08

What was the tipping point for Elizabeth to say "I need to do something to change my community?"

06:26

Let's talk about the sidewalks and streets in Pleasant Grove

08:06

Elizabeth has changed Sarah's view of who should run for City Council

09:49

What Elizabeth is learning while block walking

Full Transcript

00:00

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Hi there. I'm Sarah Zubiate Bennett, and I've got a big ask for you this election season. Get out there and vote. If you're ready to see change in our city, this is how you make it happen. Your vote is your voice, and it truly matters. Now I get it. Voting can feel a little overwhelming. There are a lot of names on the ballot, yes. It's tough to figure out who's who, but that's why I'm so excited to bring you this special series where we highlight some of the incredible new candidates running for city council. In this episode, you'll meet Elizabeth Matus who's running in District 5. She's got deep roots in Pleasant Grove and a powerful story that I think will really resonate with you. Her passion for the community is inspiring and I can't wait for you to hear what she has to say. So stay with us, hit that like button, subscribe if you haven't already, and check out the rest of the candidates we're featuring in this series. Thank you so much for being here. Let's make our voices count together.

01:02

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Elizabeth, thank you for being here with me today.

01:04

Elizabeth Matus

Thank you for having me.

01:05

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

I'm glad you're here. And I'm just very interested in getting to know you, learning more about what's inspired you, and looking to see what type of change you're wanting to affect. So thank you for being here.

01:19

Elizabeth Matus

Thank you for having me here.

01:20

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Of course, of course. So Elizabeth Matus, right? Or Matoos. Mathus. And you've told me that your last name is Belizean?

01:28

Elizabeth Matus

Yes ma'am.

01:29

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

That's terrific. So you have a husband and children. And so you have been in healthcare for the better part of three decades.

01:39

Elizabeth Matus

Oh, for sure yes.

01:40

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

But you said twenty eight years. You've worked not just at Children's, but also at the North Central Surgical Center as health unit coordinator, and then also a patient caretaker, which is incredible experience. What prompted you to want to place your hat in the ring to run against Jaime Resendez?

02:05

Elizabeth Matus

So the whole situation started when I developed a really huge passion to help people. So when I started working at Children's, I started there shortly after, I had a sister that had cancer. And so that's what prompted me to give back. And so the only way that I could give back, because you feel helpless, or you feel helpless not being able to help the patient, because we're not doctors or nurses or what have you. The way I could give back was being a patient care tech and working. And so I felt like I needed to give back for all that they gave us. So I'm very grateful for them. And also, that just started a network of being able to reach out to different families. And I was like, I could do this. I can help other people. And so the passion just grew, and grew, and grew. And it hasn't stopped.

03:15

Elizabeth Matus

I love it. I'm very excited to do it because...

03:18

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

It's a sacrifice.

03:19

Elizabeth Matus

It is.

03:19

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

It And you're busy. You work a lot. But it's a sacrifice to serve. And that's what city council was intended to be from its origins. So you're that servant mindset is expanding over into the political space. Yes. Yes. I really enjoy being there for someone who feels like they don't have a voice. I want to be that voice. I want to be able to stand in the gap for them. I'm tired of the division. We need to bring that meaning of neighborhood or neighbor back into fruition. And so I'm ready for that.

04:06

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

That's terrific. And what was your primary reason? I know you love to serve, but when did you say, I don't like what's happening? What was that moment that sparked that passion and desire?

04:26

Elizabeth Matus

Yes, of course. So, as I meant Well, I have a son that's autistic son. And so, he is a high functioning, he's a 30 year old man. But he does ride his bike to work, which is a Walmart that's just down the street from us. And we have a lot of car racing in our neighborhood. It's not just for him, there's another autistic child, young adult that lives around the corner as well, and that is dangerous. You know, they shouldn't have to put their lives at risk just to go have a normal life and be productive citizens. And so and I want to make sure that I leave him something that he's proud of and he says or that he'll be able to say, you know, my mom worked hard for me because she's not always gonna be there. And so I've gotten those hard questions from mom already. You know, mom, mom, it's gonna happen to me once you're gone. And so that just kinda, like, made me stop and think, oh, wow. I need to start making changes to better the neighborhood, to better the surroundings for him, because I want him to be safe when I'm gone.

05:43

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

I love it. It brings tears to my eyes, as you can see, as a mother. Because nothing fuels my passion, my excitement, my fury, my all the things like motherhood. I mean, just last night I was sitting there giving my twins a general landscape on the different 14 districts. And the people that I was hoping would have some type of ability to stand against some of these incumbents, and the reasons why. And that's why I do this. Right? Because you wanna leave this world better. I get that. And so talk to me about the sidewalks and the streets.

06:29

Elizabeth Matus

So I'm not sure if you're aware. The city council has decided recently that they were gonna spend $6,300,000 counting those trees. So necessary. Right? That they have really neglected the children of the neighborhood. I went further south, the southern part of Pleasant Grove, they have no sidewalks for the children. The children have to walk in the middle of the street to and from school. They have to jump out of the way in order for the car to go by. Cars are not respecting the children and it's terrifying. The fact that there's a pedestrian in the middle of the street trying to make it home, and they see that it's a child, and they still refuse to slow down, and that puts our children at risk.

07:20

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Mhmm.

07:21

Elizabeth Matus

And that just doesn't sit well with me. Those are basic necessities that need to be met as soon as possible. There's also areas where, since they don't have the sidewalks, their drainages are still open, and so there's stagnant water everywhere. And as soon as you roll into some of these neighborhoods, you can smell the stench come through your vents because it's so bad. People should not be subjected to live that way.

07:52

Elizabeth Matus

They pay taxes just the way I do, the way you do. They should have these basic necessities met.

08:00

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

I think you've changed my opinion about something. So I've always kind of advocated for people to run for these city council offices who are very familiar with financial statements and running corporations and blah blah blah. No. I believe it needs to be someone who has a heart of service, not someone who's power hungry and who has chased labels of right. Just just the metrics of success that are that are used to paint a picture of a successful person. I believe that someone like you is exactly what we need. You are in touch with humanity, with the things that we need, that we're all calling for.

09:00

Elizabeth Matus

Oh, yes.

09:01

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

And so many of these people, it seems like, are advocating advocating for fancier yeah. Millions and millions of dollars for counting trees. I understand that we want to have beautification of the city. I get it. Not at the expense of the safety of our children.

09:21

Elizabeth Matus

Correct.

09:21

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Absolutely.

09:22

Elizabeth Matus

And correct. Absolutely. And it's so sad because what does that communicate to the kids?

09:28

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

That's right. That they're not worthy. They're not worth it.

09:32

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Exactly. They're not worth the investment.

09:34

Elizabeth Matus

Mhmm. And it's so sad.

09:38

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

And I really appreciate you expanding upon that because that's kind of gonna segue easily into this next space surrounding public safety. Can you talk to me about what you're learning while you're blocking pertaining to public?

09:55

Elizabeth Matus

I happened to stop at just a Family Dollar store right off of Buckner, not too far from where I live. And I just happened to go by, and I and I happened to see the cash the lady that works at the cash register outside, and I walked up to her and I said, can I just ask you a simple question? I said, is it hard to work here? How safe do you feel? And she just threw her hands up in the air and said, I'm tired.

10:26

Elizabeth Matus

And I said, Well, please share with me. And she said, well, we have people coming into the store stealing products on the daily. And then they call police, and because it's not a super urgent issue, which I totally understand, and I don't blame the police officers because we're, you know, we need more officers to begin with, and they're short staffed. Of course. They run out with items, they can't do their jobs, they're concentrating on having to chase the person from the store, trying to get the items back, and then if they do see a police officer, she did mention this, that if they do see an officer and they try to wave them down, because the call hasn't come through, they won't respond.

11:15

Elizabeth Matus

So they just get the products and the person just run out the door. I mean, there's nothing else that they can do, and they can't work. So what is that teaching them and showing them that they're not valuable as an employee to that store, because no one's responding for them, no one is backing them up. And that's an awful feeling when you don't have someone to back you up, because you can't function that way. You're not safe. You don't feel normal, because you're always having to watch your back. And we shouldn't live that way.

11:49

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

And you know, it's sad. It's sending a message, yes, to that employee, another message to the businesses because they're not gonna survive if their inventory continues to be And our economy, our respective economy will fail.

12:07

Elizabeth Matus

Oh, for sure.

12:08

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Which is why and it's failing. In downtown, that's why Neiman's right? I mean, now AT&T is probably gonna leave. Now we've I mean, Bank of America's already left. We're the Mavericks, you know, they're probably gonna be looking elsewhere.

12:22

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

I mean, it is sickening that this issue of not addressing safety, adequate adequate numbers of police officers to keep our citizens safe. Yes. And someone recently said, oh, you know, the 4,000 number that Dallas HERO called for is just a random number out of the hat. And I said, absolutely, it's not. That was the the level of police to citizen ratio that was adhered to under Tom Leppart's time as mayor when we were leading the country in terms of our crime rate. So that ratio is exactly what we have counted for.

13:10

Elizabeth Matus

It's a legitimate answer.

13:11

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Of course.

13:12

Elizabeth Matus

It's a legitimate number. Of course.

13:15

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

There's actual, just basic math put behind it to come up with something factual and substantive. So anyway, thank you for sharing that. That's again just a very while it's a simple answer, they complicate it a lot more than they have to.

13:29

Elizabeth Matus

Oh, for sure.

13:31

Sarah Zubiate Bennett

Thank you for being here.