Mayor says local merchants, contractors remain city's 'backbone' BASTROP - A delegation of local officials made a recent trip to South Korea to encourage companies involved in healthcare, manufacturing, construction and technology to plant roots in Bastrop.

Mayor Ishmael Harris, City Manager Sylvia Carrillo-Trevino and Economic Development Corp. Chairman Gary Blake spent five days - Oct. 12-Oct. 17 - in South Korea meeting with business leaders as the city looks for ways to prepare for growth, they said.

"I'd rather be sitting across the table asking questions than standing outside wondering what happened," Harris said in a social-media post.