Williamson County needs an open and fair Commissioner’s Court. The history of the last decade shows this hasn’t been happening. For nearly ten years there has been no challenge to the way things have been run and that has bred the incompetence of cronyism. I am the candidate that will bring a new light into WilCo politics.

Issue # 1:

How have things gone wrong in Williamson County? One example is illustrated by the law suit filed 22 December 2010 by a Republican attorney (Ms Jana Duty) working in the District attorney’s office that alleged misconduct and incompetence by the County Judge. The County Judge, Dan Gattis, was cited for 5 counts of hiring outside legal counsel without authorization from the Commissioner’s Court. The attorneys were hired to defend Don Higginbotham, a County Court at Law Judge, who was accused of committing acts of sexual harassment and verbal abuse. His term would have ended in January 2011, but he retired from the bench on June 30th while the plaintiff’s complaint of sexual harassment was pending with the Texas Workforce Commission. Judge Gattis got the OK to hire a new judge until the next election. Douglas Arnold was hired and both he and Gattis immediately fired the plaintiffs against Higginbotham. Then County Judge Gattis was sued by Jana Duty. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011 on a legal technicality and the public never really got a full explanation from the office holder as to what transpired. The legal technicality is the so-called forgiveness doctrine (Texas Local Government Code – 87.001 and – 87.006). This states that a government official “may not be removed …for an act the officer committed before election to office.” So the fact that Gattis was County Judge when accused is a moot point because he was reelected in 2010. According to the interpretation of the rule he couldn’t be removed for something that occurred before his 2010 election. We can thank Judge Rick Morris for that ruling. And of course a retaliatory lawsuit was filed against Jana Duty. That went nowhere. Judge Gattis never answered the charges nor apologized for his conduct. This is cronyism at its worst. We can do better than that in Williamson County!

Issue #2

Leadership that is fair and transparent is a key to good government. Let me give an example of how that is not playing out in Williamson County. In 2013 former law enforcement veteran, Robert Lloyd was being interviewed by the Commissioner’s Court for a job as constable in precinct 3 of Williamson County. During the interview he was asked about his views on religion, abortion and gay marriage and who he voted for in the last election. Any interview for a public service job should be about performance, experience and qualifications. Mr Lloyd was told he needed to come up with better answers to the questions he was asked. It was an egregious and arrogant move on the part of the Commissioner’s Court. Ken Stofle, whose brother-in-law, Hal Hawes, is an attorney for the Commissioner’s Court got the job. Cronyism? You be the judge. Stofle is a demoted former assistant police chief in Georgetown, TX. Robert Lloyd filed a lawsuit against the Commissioner’s Court that Williamson County taxpayers will pay for. The county can’t afford expensive law firms for lawsuits created by poor judgement and leadership.

Issue #3

     The Williamson County Commissioner’s Court continues to flagrantly abuse their power and the trust voters placed in this organization to run a fair and open government that truly represents the interest of taxpaying Texans. Williamson County commissioners voted on Tuesday, February 18, 2014, to select HNTB and Prime Strategies to lead Williamson County’s road bond construction program, as the county prepares to go to sale with road bonds. “While we had several firms with strong qualifications, these two firms have a proven track record of offering outstanding program and construction management for the past decade,” Bob Daigh, senior director of infrastructure, said in a written release.
However, the truth is somewhat different regarding HNTB as the Austin American Statesman reported in March 2012. Texas allowed HTNB to administer the public works portion of the Texas Hurricane Ike-Dolly disaster recovery program. Originally the contract was for 69 million dollars but was later “improperly” expanded to 144 million dollars according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Texas rules state that when cost are significantly increased in a contract that contract must be solicited again. HUD recommended that Texas be required to pay back 9 million dollars in overcharges that HTNB billed the government in inflated labor costs.
The other interesting component of this story is that County Judge Gattis, Commissioner Long, Commissioner Morrison, and Commissioner Covey each received $1,000 in campaign contributions from HTNB’s PAC. Commissioner Birkman received $500.00. The bottom line is this: An organization, HTNB, which has bilked Texas taxpayers for 9 million dollars and contributed to the campaign funds of the incumbents of the commissioner’s court, is given a contract in Williamson County for our road construction bond program. Does this really seem like a good idea? Do you think cronyism might apply here?