ELECTION GUIDE
GLEN ROSE REPORTER & YOURGLENROSETX.COM | Thursday, February 13, 2014 | PAGE C6
MEET THE CANDIDATES - County Judge (cont.)
Mickey Garrett, 65 50-year resident FAMILY • Wife of 28 years, Candace • Four children My family came to this area before Somervell County was a county, settling in the Nemo area, with property that has been in our family for over 100 years. EDUCATION • Glen Rose High School graduate, 1966 • Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education (TCLEOSE) Certification • Texas Municipal Judges Conferences 2012, 2013
ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE • Three-time Glen Rose mayor — worked to reach a balanced budget, strived to ensure that those funds were distributed in a fair and equitable manner and that the budget was appropriated and utilized correctly. I worked to recruit businesses for the city to help build the tax base and create jobs. CURRENT CAREER • Municipal judge, City of Glen Rose • Personal Home Remodeling Business If elected, I will be a full-time judge with no outside job interests. PREVIOUS PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE • Municipal judge, City of Glen Rose 2012, 2013 • Retired from the Somervell County Sheriff’s Office, 16 years of service
• Military officer in charge of the Gettysburg office in the Avian Influenza Outbreak • President of the Glen Rose Baseball Association, 1996-98) • Glen Rose ISD Trustee
Dr. Mike Jones, 57 30-year resident FAMILY • Two sons, Philip and Matt, both graduates of Glen Rose ISD and Tarleton State University.
• Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee • President of the Extension Service Executive Committee
• Daughter, Hope, 11
• Currently serving on the Glen Rose City Council.
EDUCATION • Ranger Junior College, Tarleton State University 1974-76
CURRENT CAREER • Veterinarian, private practice in Glen Rose since 1984
• Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine, 1976-79 ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE • U.S. Army, 19791984, officer in Charge of various military veterinary posts, Ft. Lewis, Washington, U.S. Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay
If elected, I will still own my business, but this is a career pause to be county judge. I will endeavor to find a young veterinarian with a family to fall in love with Glen Rose and Somervell County as much as I have to hold my place for as long as necessary. Emergencies will be taken in the evenings or on Saturdays if available
PREVIOUS SERVICE AS ELECTED OFFICIAL • Three-time Glen Rose mayor 1977, 1979-80, 1981-82 PREVIOUS APPOINTMENTS • Appointed to an unexpired mayoral term, 1977 CURRENT MEMBERSHIPS • None listed VOLUNTEER SERVICE • Somervell County Museum
Garrett Q&A Q: What are the duties of county judge? A: The judge presides over a five-member commissioners’ court, which has budgetary and administrative authority over county government operations.
receiving and canvassing election returns. The county judge may perform marriages. A county judge has judicial responsibility for certain criminal, civil and probate matters. The county judge is also head of civil defense and disaster relief, and in counties under 225,000 population, the judge prepares the county budget along with the county auditor. Q: What are the most pressing challenges currently facing Somervell County? A: Yearly decreasing revenue from the plant with county budget increasing yearly. Q: Explain your ideas for balancing dwindling revenue while maintaining services.
The county judge handles such widely varying matters as hearings for beer and wine license applications and hearing on admittance to state hospitals. The judge is also responsible for calling elections, posting election notices and for
A: As in any budget, all areas have to be looked at. Each elected official and department head will be asked to truly look at their individual budgets and work with the court to see if there is any waste or if there can be any improvements
to keep my professional skills.
VOLUNTEER SERVICE • None listed
PREVIOUS PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE • Texas Veterinary Medical Association Board of Ethics and Grievance member
Jones Q&A
PREVIOUS SERVICE AS ELECTED OFFICIAL • GRISD School Trustee, 1998-2000 • Glen Rose City Council 2013-present PREVIOUS APPOINTMENTS • Golf Course creation committee, 1987 under judges Crump and McPherson • Glen Rose Economic Development Corporation (4B) 200910 • President GRBA (Baseball) 1994-96 CURRENT MEMBERSHIPS • American Legion • Chamber of Commerce • Somervell Republican Club
Q: What are the duties of county judge? A: “The Texas Constitution vests broad judicial and administrative powers in the position of county judge, who presides over a five-member commissioner’s court, which has budgetary and administrative authority over county government operations.” The judge holds public hearings for licenses, juvenile courts and appellate jurisdiction from the JP courts are included. At the least, your judge needs to have a beginning background in emergency management, able respond appropriately to emergency situations. Your judge will also be the primary person many people see when they are considering moving their business to our area. As always, the most important duty of the
made. That includes job positions also. Q: You are faced with a need to cut expenses. What adjustments do you feel could make the greatest difference (cost savings) for the county? A: The present commissioners court has been hard at work to address these pressing issues, but I feel that if we have a facility that is continuing to lose money and we’ve tried every option in restructuring it to bring it into a balanced budget, then we would only have two options. One, is to sell/lease it. Two, we’d have to raise taxes to maintain it. Q: What is your stance on economic development? How do you feel Somervell County can best attract such growth? A: I believe we should explore all avenues of economic development. We should demonstrate the need for certain businesses and seek them out. Somervell County should be willing to help new prospects in county judge is diligent service to citizens. Their financial trust and the promotion of the general welfare of the community should always be the principle that guides decisions. Q: What are the most pressing challenges currently facing Somervell County? A: We have enjoyed having a wealthy county since the nuclear plant began generating 25 years ago. The success of community has been a product of the development of schools, the hospital and county amenities subsidized by revenue from the plant. There needs to be long-term solutions for the stable collection of revenue from the largest property in the county, our nuclear facility. I would recommend a legislative fix to stabilize the taxable value of the plant in direct relation to its production of energy, not necessarily an evaluation of its appraised value. Q: If elected, you would serve as the chief financial officer
every way that we can… possibly offering tax breaks for the first few years. I do feel optimistic that the power plant will continue to be utilized… whether by nuclear power or by natural gas. Texas isn’t producing enough electricity at present. I don’t feel that they’ll let the plant go to waste. However, we should NOT put our financial plans in that hope! We’ve already made that mistake once. Let’s make sure we’ve learned from it. But I do think it will pick back up and add to our economic growth in the years to come. Q: What makes you the best candidate? Working as a sheriff’s deputy, mayor and municipal judge, I’ve gained a lot of personal experience in interfacing with others on a professional level. Problem solving — I have the ability to understand the goal and what rules should be applied to solving it. for Somervell County. Explain your ideas for balancing dwindling revenue while maintaining services. A: Just like a household budget, if there’s less money coming in, something has got to give. If it means increasing the replacement intervals for vehicles and equipment, it means we drive a few more miles. As personnel retire, attrition coupled with a hiring freeze may be required. Insurance policies that have low deductibles and low co-pays can be changed, however this costs employees money. With health care in such a mess nationally, it’s still early to predict how those changes can best be achieved. I personally have a high deductible at $5,000, and my insurance is only $265 per month. If the employee wants more of their money in their pocket, a cooperative agreement between the county and the employee may be beneficial to both. see Jones, C16