The Issues

Budget

The budget process is simply matching available resources with community priorities. If you want to know what is important to your elected officials just follow the money.

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. - Matthew 6:21

I believe in the A,B,C approach to budgeting. I want to deliver a budget that is:

Adequate. If the county is going to provide a service, it needs to adequately fund that service so measurable objectives can be met.

Balanced. Every budget should be balanced between revenues and expenditures, but budgets can be out of balance in other ways. A budget should also be balanced between wants and needs. When one part of the county is getting its "wants" fulfilled while another part of the county is not getting its "needs" met, then the budget is out of balance. Precinct 4 needs a strong voice who can deliver a budget that is truly balanced.

Customized for the Community. Gregg County is as unique as it's citizens. We should not try to imitate other counties or follow popular trends. Common sense should be our guide. If we do the right thing others will follow us.

We must get away from the tired tradition of basing "new" budgets on revisions of the "old" budget. If we want our county budget to reflect our values, then we, as citizens, must engage in the budgeting process in a meaningful way.

Good is the enemy of Great. - Jim Collins

We must not settle for good service; we must achieve great service for our citizens. Some of my priorities include the following:

Jobs

Economic Development means Employers and Jobs. My goal is to attract new employers and help existing employers expand resulting in job opportunities for the citizens of Precinct 4. I will not support tax incentives for corporations unless there are assurances that the residents of Precinct 4 get their fair share of the new job opportunities. 

Roads and Bridges

Beyond budget duties, the primary responsibility of a county commissioner is to provide oversight of the county’s infrastructure. Maintenance and improvement of county roads and bridges will be a top priority. Use of the latest construction technology and long range planning will provide taxpayers the best return on their investment.

Public Safety

The Sheriffs Department needs to have the necessary funds to increase response time for citizens who are not protected by a municipal police force. Partnerships need to be formed with law enforcement agencies across the region to develop innovative strategies to combat drug trafficking and stop gangs from getting a foothold in our neighborhoods. No citizen should be afraid to go outside after dark.

Gregg County should be on the cutting edge of combating human trafficking. There are still 27 million slaves in the world today. Many of those slaves are young girls trapped in the sex trade. Pretending slavery is a thing of the past is naive at best and immoral at worst. We may not be able to stop it everywhere, but we can stop it here.

Our Volunteer Fire Departments must be adequately funded. No county in the state of Texas should have better equipped or better trained volunteer firefighters than Gregg County. The men and women who serve as our first responders deserve our full support.

Public Health

Mental health problems are on the rise, but mental health facilities are on the decline. We need to be proactive about this issue before it overwhelms our school, jails, and medical community. Throwing money at a problem is foolish. We must be strategic when addressing the issue of mental illness, but strategy without leadership accomplishes nothing.

Foster Care

There is a shortage of Foster Care Homes in Gregg County. CPS is placing too many of our children in homes outside of our county.

There are organizations attempting to address the shortage of Foster Families in Gregg County. We need to be creative in finding ways to partner with groups working on the front lines of this issue.

Helping a child now is better than housing a criminal later.

My Pledge

While it is impossible to anticipate every issue that may come before the court over the next four years, you can count on me to be a strong and vocal advocate for you.

I will be accessible. I will be diligent. I will deliver.