From the President

It is a great personal honor to serve as president of the County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas, particularly in the year 2007. This will be a year of great challenge for county government, and the opportunity to be in a leadership role is a unique privilege.
I am finishing my 12th year as Trinity County judge. Trinity County is a rural county located in East Texas in the area of the state known as the Piney Woods. During my years as county judge, I have tried to be active and involved on issues that affect my county. I have been involved in the Texas Association of Counties, serving on the board of directors and as chairman of the Workers’ Compensation Board of Trustees. Currently, I serve on the County Judges Education Committee, as vice chairman of the Region H Water Planning Group, and as chairman of the Forest Counties Payments Committee, which is an advisory committee to the U.S. Congress. I served as president of the North and East Texas County Judges and Commissioners Association in 2000.
Prior to being elected Trinity County judge, I worked for the Texas General Land Office, specializing in real estate appraisals. It was a great job that allowed me to work in and visit many of our state’s counties. So there is a good chance I have been in your courthouse. My wife, Elizabeth, and I have two daughters, Taylor, age 6, and Avery, age 3.
I wish to congratulate DeWitt County Commissioner Gilbert Pargmann, the Association’s immediate past president, for a fine job as president and in planning and conducting the 2006 annual conference which just concluded. I also wish to thank the staff of the Texas Association of Counties, County Progress, and the V.G. Institute of County Government, a part of Texas Cooperative Extension, for all of their time and hard work in planning our conferences. Also, let’s don’t forget our vendors and sponsors who do so much to make our conferences successful.
The CJCAT Annual Conference in 2007 will take place on Galveston Island Sept. 24-27 at the Moody Gardens Hotel and Convention Center. If you haven’t stayed at Moody Gardens, you are in for a pleasant experience. This is a wonderful, family oriented facility that has a great deal to offer our members and our vendors. Galveston Island is, of course, a great place to visit. The other officers and I will be working diligently during the next 10 months to ensure that the 2007 CJCAT Conference is a great one, so make your reservations now.
I especially want to thank Commissioner Pargmann, Borden County Judge Van York, Tarrant County Commissioner J.D. Johnson, and the late Polk County Commissioner Bobby Smith for their friendship during the last two years as I moved up the ranks.
This January county government will face the great challenge I mentioned earlier. The 80th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature will convene in Austin. Appraisal caps, revenue caps, unfunded mandates, jail overcrowding, indigent health care, and all of the issues we faced last session will be back. Once again, it will take a unified approach and a united front from counties and our affiliated associations to present our case. It was this unified approach that enabled county government to get through the last session, and it will be needed even more in the upcoming session. But this session, let’s add another topic to the discussion and debate, something that counties need: Alternative Sources of Revenue.
During the upcoming session, let’s be informed on the issues, talk regularly with members of the House and Senate, attend the TAC Tuesday morning breakfast, continue to work together, and STAY INVOLVED.
This month we have the opportunity during the Thanksgiving holiday to come together as families and give thanks for the many blessings God has bestowed upon us. November is also a time to remember our veterans and their service to our country. This year we have tens of thousands of our soldiers and Marines in the field. They will spend their Thanksgiving far from their homes and families in service to their country. Let’s remember our servicemen and servicewomen in our Thanksgiving Day prayer.
Mark Evans, Association President