What made you want to run for the commissioner’s position?
I’ve already been doing the work. I am the HOA president; I’ve been the HOA president for eight years, that’s a volunteer position. I am an elected official on the MUD board. I am a small business owner. I was also a former precinct captain, as well as an elected precinct chair. So, for me, running for this position made a whole lot of sense. I am already on the ground doing the work. I can build on the work that I’ve already been doing for the last twenty plus years in the county and continue to help the residents in Precinct Four.
What do you like about living in precinct 4 and Fort Bend?
I’ve seen the growth in the thirty years that I’ve been there. I’ve seen the dynamics change of the people, different cultures of folks moving in, moving out. So, I’ve been able to see everything. I’ve seen the building that has gone on, Within Precinct Four, when I first moved there, there was nothing. We didn’t have a Mission Glen library, we didn’t have the Girls and Boys Club. We had a lot of empty fields where trucks parked, and I was like, “Oh, we got to get rid of those trucks.” So as I kept looking around the neighborhood, I thought I’ve got to find a way to help make sure our property values don’t go down. So that was a driving force in me wanting to leave the community better than I found it.
You are a leader in your community, what about your background got you here?
I think what makes me want to be a leader for the people is natural. Some of these people don’t want to speak for themselves. Or some cannot speak for themselves. Some people need people to kind of help them. So I think the leader I am, I’m grassroots also. So I’m a grassroots leader. I think I can talk to anybody anywhere from the maid up to the CEO in any corporation. So, I’m the type of leader that will listen to you and pick up the phone and call you back. Right now, most of my homeowners have my telephone number. I tell them, call me. Call me directly. So, I like the personal contact with my neighbors in Precinct Four because I want to talk to them personally. That’s the type of leader I am. I don’t have fifty people around me saying, call this person, call that person. No, call me directly. Let me know what your issue is. I want to try to resolve it and work with you so that it is resolved.
How do you imagine you will work with the other precinct commissioners if you win your election? I think no matter where you are, you have to be willing to work with everybody. There are going to be times where you disagree, but I think you have to find some middle ground and compromise. That’s the only way to get things done. I think we see the gridlock in Washington which is sad, you must meet and compromise. That’s the only way to get things done. Otherwise, you’re going to see gridlocks.
I would be there to listen to the other commissioners. And hopefully they would listen to me and my perspectives. But I think that’s the only way you get things done in anything you do by listening and listening to other folks’ point of view, whether you agree or not.
What glaring thing are you looking at? That’s happening in the county or happening in commissioners court that really stands out to you and you’re like this needs to be changed. What I am really concerned about is the budget. I have not been given a straight answer on how the budget is done. What I mean is who comes up with that budget? Where is the money going? Where is it being spent? How is it being allocated in the community? So my first, My first day on day one, if elected is to audit the budget.
What do you see that needs to be changed in the county on safety issues, especially in Precinct Four? I think we need more constables on the ground within our community. We need to make sure our constables are being paid equally to other places, as in Harris County, and based on their experience. That’s second on the list to do if elected. Look at what the constables are being paid. Talk to Sheriff Fagan and just kind of understand what’s happening at the sheriff’s department there, because my understanding is there is a shortage of constables, and that is a scary critical issue. Safety is paramount. We must have qualified constables, and we must be paying them fairly in accordance with their experience and then have training programs, ongoing training to make sure we have the best constables on the ground.
How are you talking to voters? How are you reaching out to voters and what are you, you know like how are you getting support or hearing support within the community? I am reaching out by being on the ground, block-walking. I’ve been knocking on doors every day since the primaries. I am reaching my voters face to face. I think that is critical: face to face door knocking. So, I am reaching them by door knocking and by texting. I am going to meetings where voters are asking questions of me. I am reaching voters in all kinds of ways that I can. I want to hear from them. I want to hear what their needs are, what you know, what they would like to see in their commissioner.
Election night, were you surprised at the outcome? What was your reaction that night? You never know what’s going to happen in a race. knew I wasn’t going to do bad because I’ve been in this area for over thirty years. I know a lot of people, a lot of my homeowners know me. I built relationships for quite a number of years, so I didn’t think I was going to be bad, but of course, I mean you never know where you are going to fall. I was pleasantly happy, and I kind of expected that I would do at least pretty well. So I am happy with where I landed, and I want to build on that.
There were a lot of candidates in the race. Why do you think you are the best person for this position out of the four on the Republican side and the other six Democrats? I think out of all the candidates, I’m the better choice because again I’ve been on the ground doing the work in the community. I’ve been the former treasurer of the Democratic Party, a former precinct chair and neighborhood captain, and a small business owner. I’ve built relationships in the community, not not just with my homeowners but other elected officials. I built those relationships and I will continuously build relationships.
It is my experience and my background, I have a B.A. in Political Science Legal Studies from the University of St Thomas. I’m a paralegal, so I’ve been a paralegal since ’92. I think my education and my experience on the ground and my ongoing experience on the MUD board, and as HOA president qualifies me to continue to do the work that I am doing. I think I am the most qualified person in the race.