Highlights from West Texas Conference

They can try and cap revenues, and they can attempt to limit appraisals, but there’s one thing lawmakers can’t contain, and that’s the mighty West Texas wind.
“West Texas is the Western Hemisphere’s leader in wind energy,” said Greg Wortham, executive director of the West Texas Wind Energy Consortium.
Wortham touted the benefits of joining the burgeoning wind industry to a packed crowd gathered in Kerrville for the 78th Annual West Texas County Judges and Commissioners Association Conference.
Some 330 elected officials were on hand for the four-day meeting, where the West Texas region welcomed Bandera County as its 118th member, passed 21 resolutions, and elected the 2007-2008 slate of officers.
While in Kerrville officials were schooled on a variety of key topics including fine and fee collection, work zone safety, the county tax rate and records management. Participants were offered up to 12 hours of continuing education credit during the conference, and judges were provided up to four hours of judicial credit.
During the opening session, Wortham gave statistical proof of West Texas’ prominent position in the overall wind energy scheme. For example, from the global perspective, West Texas ranked fifth in megawatt production capability.
Conference attendees responded to Wortham’s request to protest legislation that would hinder wind energy and in fact initiated a petition during the session opposing such legislation.
Wortham’s presentation was followed by a new Q&A class with counties divided into population brackets allowing members of commissioners court to pose questions unique to their county’s size. Panels of experts were on hand to respond; in several cases, regarding issues such as illegal dumping and overweight truck damage, the Q&A session became a group discussion with officials in the audience participating in an information exchange, sharing solutions and challenges.
Daytime classes were complemented by evening group activities to afford attendees and their guests the opportunity to renew friendships and meet the region’s newest elected officials. The opening night Barbecue Dinner and Dance drew a packed crowd, and the following evening Kerr County officials joined forces for Host Court Night, cooking and serving up a mess of catfish to hundreds of guests.
The Installation Banquet included the presentation of the Official of the Year Award to Menard County Judge Richard Cordes. 2006-2007 Immediate Past President Don Allred, Oldham County judge, introduced the Sam D. Seale Award of Excellence in honor of the late Sam Seale, executive director of the Texas Association of Counties. The award, formerly known as the Outstanding Service Award, will be presented each year “for outstanding service to this Association as exemplified