Greetings! Have you ever heard the old saying that you always go in the direction of your thoughts? I guess that is true, but how can you do that when you have so many thoughts in your mind? I have been trying to focus on the budget for this year, focus on transportation issues, focus on emergency management during our tornado aftermath, and so on. I have also heard that when you divide your thoughts, the efficiency of everything that you do goes down. How do you maintain balance? I left one small thing out, and that is politics. I guess that is why we get paid the big bucks.
Now to more serious business. The 83rd Session of the Texas Legislature is over, unless we have a third Special Session. With the help of our general counsel, Jim Allison, the Conference of Urban Counties, the Texas Association of Counties (TAC), and all of you who made telephone calls and attended hearings, I believe that we in county government came out with very few bruises. You all did a great job during this Session, and I want to thank all who helped.
I would like to remind all of you that the TAC 2013 Legislative Conference will be held in Austin Aug. 28-30. This conference is extremely important as we go over all of the legislative bills that will affect county government. Jim Allison always does a great job of going over all of the changes.
I just returned from the North & East Association Conference at La Torretta Resort in Montgomery County. Association President and Jasper County Commissioner Charles Shofner and his officers organized a great conference. While I was there, I attended their Inspirational Breakfast. The speaker was the pastor of a Cowboy Church. His message was on the importance of standing on the principles that our founding fathers of our nation put in place in our Constitution. During his devotional he also talked about the importance of our leaders having a vision for our future, and he quoted Proverbs 29:18: “Where there is no vision the people will perish.” I hope you agree that our nation needs a vision for the future of our country. We, too, need vision as strive to lead our counties.
Hope to see you soon.
– Roger Harmon, Association President