US Vote Smart

Home » 2022-03-01 Republican primary » Montgomery County » County Judge » MCTP Score of: 81

Submitted by john wertz on 2022-01-18 05:15:10

Pros:

As a businessman, was elected as a constitutional conservative reformer
Immediately reduced his salary(12%) and has refused any increases since
Experienced at running the court efficiently
Passed budget that adopted "no-new-revenue" tax rate budget in 2019; continued in 2020 and '21
Campaigned to (and the court did finally) end tolls on 242 flyover(a year after it had been defeased (paid off);
Campaigned against Certificate of Obligation Bonds and so far, no non-emergency CO's have come before the court;
Believes in term limits and makes a strong case for them;
Believer in Zero-based budgeting;
Sent a "Right-to-Try" letter, regarding the use of a certain therpeutic (Ivermectin) in hospitals,
Clarified consent agenda in interview (15:30 mins of video; that all items have been previously discussed at one time or another)

Cons:

Has had several snaffus in past:
- was defensive during MCTP interview (and Jan. 6th forum) when pressed on the following issues -
  - unconstitutional lock down during the pandemic(more below);
  - the associated curfew
- tax appraisals(did nothing when it was pointed out that several govt. officials received favorable treatment);
- accident issues(discuss in Q&A), inability to actually reduce taxes;
- partially answered a few questions;
- seconding speech for liberal Speaker Joe Straus as a state rep;
- Claimed to stand against the tyranny of the fed and state government during the pandemic, but his video says otherwise; put in place an unnecessary curfew; says he learned his lesson about shutting down the county, but there's concern otherwise;
Unemployment up 257% from March 2020 (4.9%) to April 2020 (12.6%);
Returned $7.1M in federal tax relief (it was designated for renters and landlords);
At least one committee member felt Mr. Keough had an air of arrogance during our interview and in the Jan. 6th forum. They thought Mr. Keough didn't seem too sympathetic of having a night court for those constituents who work and can't make it during the day;
Established Ethics Commission to hold government accountable (though its appointees are favorable to the court), but it's not clear if they even meet;
Has testified against tax-payer-funded lobbying, though MoCo uses one (Rob Eissler);
Believes that nepotism in county government has gone away, though there are still many instances that's not the case;
as Chief Executive of the county, the internal services fund was reportedly depleted from $17M to 0;
says he doesn't endorse in races 34 mins mark); but apparently did w/Constable 4 Rowdy Hayden and Constable 2 Chris Jones 2 years ago.
In EF forum, said at the 1:06:30 min mark that "this is the best, more honest commissioner court yet", which most conservatives would take issue with;
reportedly wanted to give other taxing agencies funds for radio upgrades totaling approx. $4.7M, removed item from agenda after community outrage.
While he was Texas House rep, inexplicably did a seconding speech for liberal House Speaker Joe Straus.