Blanco County – My Home

I would like to thank you for taking the time to visit my website and see why Blanco County is dear and important to me.

I am a proud native Texan, born in San Antonio. By the grace of God, my family moved to Blanco in 1969 when I was fourteen years old. I have called it home ever since. Over the years, the folks here have become my extended family. For decades we have celebrated wins and newborns along with mourning losses and tragedies together.

The Blanco and Pedernales rivers run through our blood. I am inspired by this county’s strong Christian faith, conservative values, love of country and willingness to help in a time of need. We are a diverse county that ranges from astronauts to zoologists. We are the true heart of the Hill Country, populated with professional, resourceful and conscientious residents who understand the fine balance between growth and preservation.

Anyone who was in Blanco County on the Memorial Day weekend of 2015 will forever be reminded of how this community from all walks of life came together so quickly and in such a way to care for the people in need. Small children, elderly couples, weekend campers and affluent ranchers along with others, all working side by side, shoveling mud and moving furniture. Local residents opened their homes to people who had nowhere to go. Churches, fire departments, EMS and the Sheriff’s Department, City of Blanco, Johnson City and many other local agencies immediate jumped into action to bring aid and security. The County Commissions, with their Road & Bridge crews, along with the Department of Public Safety, worked day and night to help people affected by the flood. I was overwhelmed with emotion. I realized that “this is who we are.” This is why Blanco County is so dear to me. This is why I want to serve this community.

I thank you for your support and trust in me for the last four years to work for you and I am asking for your support to continue to serve Blanco County.

When I was first approached by a few good friends asking me to run for County Commissioner, I read the job description and realized that I had direct experience relevant to the job. I put together a list of the qualifications I would bring with me on the first day.

1. I have years of experience managing budgets, annual and monthly plans of action
2. I have managed employees, payroll, equipment maintenance schedules, along with experience with sales and leasing contracts
3. I have experience in subdividing properties both commercial and residential, and have worked with Commissioners Courts, County Engineers in Blanco, Comal, Kendall, Gillespie, Burnet and Hays counties, along with the City of Blanco Planning and Zoning and the City Council. I have worked with all of these government entities in various degrees, dealing with subdivision planning and design, drainage design, road construction (subgrade through asphalt). I have experience with surveys, construction and maintenance bonds along with TxDOT on right-of-way permitting.

In May of 2015 after a primary with three opponents and a spirited runoff, I was appointed by County Judge Bret Bray. I was to fill the Blanco County Commissioner Precinct 1 vacancy left by my good friend Johnny Wood. He is a man of great compassion, patience, and a strong sense of duty. Johnny and I got in the truck and surveyed all of the roads and bridges in Precinct 1. We discussed past, current and future projects he had been working on. He has been and still is a magnitude of help and support. I have been blessed to have the opportunity to work with the most professional, dedicated and experienced men and women in county government. It is a real pleasure knowing that their dedication is sincere and they are determined to do what is best for the residents of Blanco County. The following is an ongoing list of some of the challenges and achievements we have worked on collectively in the past four years.

DUTIES & ACCOMPLISHMENTS
PROJECTS & PROGRAMS

I worked with the County Judge and other County Commissioners to approve three annual budgets for the following departments:

• Sheriff’s Department, County Jail, Constables 1 and 4
• County Judge, JP-1 and JP-4
• County Attorney, Adult Probation
• District Clerk, County Clerk
• County Treasurer, County Auditor
• County Tax Assessor Collector / Motor Vehicle / Elections Administrator
• County Inspector, Extension Agent, Courthouse and Annex (North and South) maintenance
• County Road & Bridge Precincts 1, 2 3 and 4, Recycle Center
• Oversee ESD 1 and 4 budgets
• Annual County Contributions, Community Resource Center, Blando and Johnson City Libraries, Food Bank, etc.

Commissioner Court Projects & Programs in the Last Four Years

• Designed and oversaw construction of the Blanco County South Annex
• Digitized county records and plat 1880 to current
• Changed and updated Sheriff’s Department and Emergency Services computers, radios, (mobile and land-based), body cameras and software
• Worked with all entities involved with planning and construction of the new Community Resource Center
• Helped negotiate and draft a long-term lease with Blanco County Rodeo Association
• Worked alongside the County Judge and the County Attorney to negotiate and draft right-of-way and county road crossing contracts and agreements
• Worked with the County Judge, fellow Commissioners, developers, ESD, Blanco-Pedernales Groundwater Conservation District and others to adopt new subdivision rules and regulations including new water availability and quality regulations
• Worked with the Blanco State Park and Texas Parks & Wildlife through Commissioners Court to define boundaries along River Road
• Worked with the City of Blanco in assisting clean-up, clearing and hauling gravel from the City Water Plant
• Assisted with oversight of more than five new subdivisions, including plat approval through construction
• Helped implement new road repair and paving processes. Helped to restructure our County Road & Bridge equipment; We eliminated some of the antiquated equipment and started to retool to a more modern, faster, lighter fleet. We are also staring to share equipment and manpower in all four precincts
• We also do continuous maintenance on 35-plus miles of paved Precinct 1 roads as well as assist all the other precincts with paving and other duties
• I am fortunate to have two of the best, experienced and devoted men to work with. They live and raised their families in the precinct. They are out there at 3am clearing brush from flooded bridges and crossings and are willing to do whatever is needed to help. I commend their expertise and their continuous efforts to maintain good, safe county roads we all share
• For four years, I am one of two Blanco County Commissioners sitting on an advisory board in Austin known as the Capital Area Regional Transportation Planning Organization (CARTPO). CARTPO is made up of judges, mayors, county commissioners selected from a 10-county district to discuss relevant transportation topics. We evaluate and recommend projects with a regional impact to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). My fellow commissioner and I feel that it is our duty to voice the concerns of Blanco County residents and to explain the effects we are experiencing along the US-281 / US-290 corridors with all the growth and construction along IH-35. We are constantly reminding TxDOT of the impact on Blanco County with the cars and trucks using US-281 as a bypass to miss all of the congestion along IH-35 from San Antonio to Dallas.
• Along with the projects and day-to-day duties, I have been able to attend conferences and seminars to accumulate more than 60 classroom hours of continuing education. This gives me a chance to learn and share experiences with judges, treasurers and other commissioners from all over Texas. May of the professionals from around the Hill Country and state have already dealt with rapid growth. They have seen increased pressures on their departments and communities, so it is always good to keep an open dialog tto learn and stay ahead of tomorrow’s demands.

I would like to continue to learn and bring Blanco County answers to our growing needs.