Transportation

Johnson County is one of the fastest growing counties in the state of Texas - with most of that growth being in the northern portion of the county. Some projections predict that our county will double in population over the next two decades.

In addition, we've all seen the tremendous increase of traffic on our road system due to the natural gas industry. The large trucks are rapidly accelerating the wear to our county roads much faster than anticipated.

Precinct #3 is authorized more manpower staffing than any other precinct budget. Why then, are citizens of Precinct #3 not seeing any road repairs other than the filling of an occasional pothole?

Johnson County precinct commissioners routinely negotiate with representatives from the gas industry for either monetary reimbursement to the county to repair the roads, or for donation of road building materials to compensate for the damage that the large trucks are causing to the roads, bridges, right-of-ways, culverts, etc. During the calendar year of 2007, the Commissioners recovered the following damages from representatives of the gas industry:

Commissioner McFall, Precinct #1	$ 374,716.81
Commissioner Matthews, Precinct #2	$ 161,413.50
Commissioner Carpenter, Precinct #3	$ 660.00
Commissioner Beeson, Precinct #4	$ 159,240.19
(Information from Open Records Request received January 14, 2008, from Kirk Kirkpatrick, County Auditor, Johnson County)

Over the past several months I've been asked many times, "Why aren't our roads being repaired?" As you probably know, a portion of your taxpayer dollars is designated for county road repair. At the time of this writing, we are almost halfway through the 2007-2008 fiscal year. The following is a chart showing the amount of road repair budget each Johnson County commissioner has, and what percentage of that budget has been utilized so far this budget year:

Commissioner	Budgeted Amount	% Used
Pct #1, Comm. McFall	$ 768,695.00	18.3%
Pct #2, Comm. Matthews	$ 400,000.00	37.9%
Pct #3, Comm. Carpenter	$ 766,209.00	10.8%
Pct #4, Comm. Beeson	$ 651,398.00	33.5%
(Information from Open Records Request received February 13, 2008, from Kirk Kirkpatrick, County Auditor, Johnson County)

Management of Taxpayer Revenues

The projected revenues for the Johnson County operating budget for fiscal year 2007-2008 is set at $ 33,834,164.00. With those projected revenues, the Commissioners' Court funds operating budgets for the various county offices and functions.

Each of the four precinct Commissioners is responsible for managing their separate precinct budgets, covering various expenditures such as road crew and office staff salaries, bridge & culvert repair and construction, road repair materials, petroleum products, office expenses, and numerous other accounts.

Unlike many governmental entities, Commissioners' Court Precincts are allowed to move unspent funds from one budget year into the next, and place them into an interest bearing "reserve account" to use for unspecified county projects. They are called "Unencumbered Funds" because once they are moved into the new budget year, they are no longer tied to the particular account from which they came.

While it is a good idea to have a reserve balance in case of unforeseen situations or emergencies, I would think it would be difficult to justify an extremely large reserve fund considering there are many roads in Johnson County that are in desperate need of repairs.

Here's the fund balances for each Commissioner as of December 31, 2007:

Commissioner McFall, Precinct #1	$ 1,636,296.63
Commissioner Matthews, Precinct #2	$ 101,517.34
Commissioner Carpenter, Precinct #3	$ 1,735,374.86
Commissioner Beeson, Precinct #4	$ 316,099.58
(Information from Open Records Request received January 07, 2008, from Kirk Kirkpatrick, County Auditor, Johnson County)

Some Commissioners may state that by maintaining a large reserve account, they are saving Johnson County, and ultimately the taxpayers, money. I personally disagree with that statement, as we still pay our taxes regardless of the amounts in a reserve fund.

Public Safety

Many rural citizens are surprised and alarmed to learn of the deficiencies in the public safety sector of Johnson County. Are you comfortable with the fact that your entire county is patrolled, on the average, by only four or five patrol deputies? Do we want our employee pay scales to be such that we have employees eligible for food stamps?

Our sheriff, Bob Alford, does an excellent job with the resources he is provided; however, the Sheriff's Department needs more support in the funding of additional personnel and the increase in salaries and benefits for its employees. Johnson County should not be the training ground for deputies and jail personnel, only to have them move on to other departments because we cannot compete. Our safety and the safety of our families depend on it.

Juvenile Detention Center

With my many years of experience in the criminal justice field, many of which were in positions that allowed me to work directly with youth, I realize that the answer to combating a rising crime rate is to address the issue of juvenile crime. I am a strong supporter of a juvenile detention center in Johnson County. Area law enforcement personnel, courts, and social service organizations share this opinion yet the commissioners court as a whole has not supported it.

Fire Protection

One of the many duties of a County Commissioner is to subsidize rural fire protection. During the period from August 2006, to May 2007, approximately 2100 families of Johnson County were in real danger of losing all fire protection due to decisions made by the City of Burleson. Roughly 1600 of those families live in Precinct #3. From first learning of this situation, I was the leader in the legal planning and implementation of the successful campaign to regain the fire protection for all 2100 families.

Within days of the announcement that Burleson would no longer provide fire service, I was at work researching the issue and learning what it would take to fix the problem. At my personal expense I provided and continuously updated a website so that all affected residents could be informed of the progress. I walked door to door to inform residents of the issues, obtained signatures on a required petition to call for a countywide election, put out signs to promote the election, personally made many group presentations throughout the county, and made many phone calls to get the vote out. The campaign won at the polls overwhelmingly.

Then I tackled the next step - to build a fire department to better the fire service and reduce the fire insurance rates for the residents living in the western portion of Precinct #3. I organized the first fundraiser to gain funds to build the fire department building and it raised over $14,000.00 in one evening with more activities planned for the future. Our efforts are continuing and we will be successful.

During the nine months spent regaining the fire protection for 1600 families in Precinct #3, the incumbent commissioner wrote a single letter to the editor in support of our efforts.

Good Government

I am a strong believer in a community being involved in its government. The best solutions to problems are derived from the energy and wisdom of citizens and it is my goal to be accessible to residents of Precinct #3 so that they may add their perspectives and input. Subsequent to that belief I feel that a public servant should be accountable to citizens for their service in office. In preparation for running for office, I am continuously talking with people to learn their opinions on issues, and, if elected I will continue to listen and learn.

Over the past few decades the term "politician" has almost become a negative one. When I was approached and asked to run for county commissioner, I replied that I had no interest in being a "politician". I was told that I was asked to run for that very reason. "Politicians" across the country are often known for "back door deals" and "under the table handshakes". That is not the way I operate. I am not running for office to further any political aspirations or to pad my bank account. I am running because I sincerely feel I can make a positive difference in the commissioner's office for Precinct #3 and for Johnson County as a whole. I hope the result will be to make things a little better for the folks who live there. I would rather my career be defined as being a "public servant", and that is how I intend to represent you.