From the President
I am a ruptured duck! I got defeated in my re-election bid, and I am just biding time until my term is up at the end of the year. I really appreciate the calls, personal notes, and kind words that have been expressed to me these past few weeks; I can assure you I am in good shape and am starting to think about the future and other endeavors. I will not dwell on this situation in future columns. There are others in the same boat across the state, and my hope is that they are doing well. I realize this is a possibility that all elected officials face being in office. I have always said the voters know best, and I accept it.
I attended the West Texas conference recently. I had a fabulous time and saw some wonderful people. My hat is off to Tom Green County Judge Mike Brown, 2009-10 West Texas Association president, and his fellow officers for a great conference. The meeting was well planned with plenty of good food, nice programs, and some really great pool and golf tournaments. DID I MENTION I WON SECOND IN THE GOLF TOURNAMENT? I really want to thank the vendors and what they brought to the conference in the way of sponsorships. We appreciate their involvement with all of our associations. I truly thank all 78 vendors who attended the West Texas conference and ask you to do business with these folks who support us.
One thing I notice about West Texas people is how far they have to drive…and they do not complain! I asked a few of these officials how far they were from home. Some drove 160 miles from Fort Stockton, others six hours from Amarillo, and still others drove hours from Vega and Lubbock. I drove a little over four hours from Waco, and my county is in a different region! Again, I did not hear anyone complain about their drive. I was in Connecticut a few years ago getting directions, and the fellow told me to take a certain road that was a long way to the next road, maybe six or seven miles. I wonder how he would feel about the drive from Nacogdoches to Terlingua. I love Texans.
It is my understanding that we are making progress on our oil and gas properties and their valuations. Keep those in mind and other issues that will be facing us in the upcoming session in January. Again, if there is an issue that may affect your county or a concern that may affect all counties, let us hear from you so we can start working on it.
What is going on with our jail populations? Our population went down in December, like it always does that time of the year, and has stayed down. I visited with some other commissioners who are facing the same situation and wondering what is going on. I think California is letting inmates go because of budget woes. With all that said, we have a brand new jail for rent if any of you need space.
By the time you get this I will have gone to the North and East conference in Killeen to gather information, as I did at West Texas. I plan on incorporating suggestions made by officials into our State Association conference in Waco. Our commissioners court has started making plans for the conference, which I will share in future columns.
Hope all of you are ready for summer; be sure and enjoy your vacations!