What makes you qualified for this office? Name three main reasons you believe you’re the best candidate for this position?
I know more about water than the average Joe or Jane.
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As a local journalist at The Courier, I reported on water-related issues in Montgomery County from 2010 to 2015. I absorbed a good deal of varying perspectives in the process and believe I acquired a fairly strong foundation to make my own judgments calls today.
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I worked at LSGCD from 2015-18 as the education/public awareness coordinator. That may sound like public relations (and to a limited extent it was). However, most of my time was spent engaging all kinds of people around the county on the subject of groundwater. I met a lot of different kind of people in the process and learned that the various stakeholders connected to our local groundwater resources have broad and sometimes unique needs (and, occasionally, conflicting ones). I suppose this has helped me recognize that there is no one-size-fits-all solution and that meaningful communication is essential to meaningful progress.
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Lastly … I don’t owe anyone anything. I’m not interested in this position to even old scores or create new ones. I’ve lived in the area my whole life (and genuinely care about it). I happen to have some niche knowledge on this particular subject. I am confident I can use what I know to serve the constituency (as well as the whole of Montgomery County) through prudent, effective leadership.
Who has ownership of the land below and the air above and how far of each? Is groundwater considered a person’s private property under the Texas Constitution?
While I don’t know that much about the air, I think I can reasonably answer, for both land below and air above, no one owns all of it. Physics, for one, makes that a particularly difficult principle to substantiate on a spherical world. But I get the gist. For the land below, the answer is whomever owns the mineral rights. That’s not the same as owning a home and land (although, it can be). A lot of residents throughout this county live in areas where the mineral rights were separated from the surface estates long, long ago. Based on Texas law, groundwater becomes private property though the right to capture the water beneath one’s land. Like anything, though, there are limitations. If I were to fly a large aerial drone (directly above my property) and into the path of an oncoming commercial airliner, I wouldn’t think anyone would believe that is reasonable. Likewise, if I were to drop a commercial well that not only captured the water beneath my property, but the water in every direction beneath all the property owners within that radius, I think most of us would agree that some regulation is ultimately warranted.
Are you familiar with the enabling legislation and any subsequent legislation regarding the LSGCD creation, powers, authorities, duties, etc.?
I am. In fact, I have a substantial historical archive on LSGCD going all the way back to its creation.
Is this position currently fulfilling its obligations?
No. For one, this office threatened civil and criminal litigation against me for posted a document related to an open records request. They believed it had been redacted, but it wasn’t. It was sent in an electronic form and when I scrolled over the blacked out text, I was able to copy and paste it and read its contents. The moment I (a member of the public) could read … it became public by the district’s own mistake. It may seem like a trivial matter, but transparency matters to me. I don’t like the amount of time the current board spends in executive session, regardless of the reason. I want my government to be open. Period. I also think, based on more than three hundred pages of documents I’ve acquired through open records request to LSGCD over the last several years, there are certain individuals influencing LSGCD policy in what I consider a suspicious manner. While I believe private water utilities should certainly have a say in policy decisions (and absolutely welcome them and all other stakeholders to the table), I think the current board has too close of a relationship with one and (since transparency has not been their strong suit), it is difficult for me to put blind faith that everything this organization is doing is actually and intentionally being done to serve all of us in Montgomery County.
What aquifer or aquifers does LSGCD regulate?
LSGCD sets policy on the Gulf Coast Aquifer, which includes the Chicot, Evangeline, Jasper, and (while considered an alternative supply), the Catahoula.
What impact does the LSGCD have on our water bills?
On paper, they have the literal impact (fee) of the less-than-a-dime per thousand gallons of water used. On the broader scale, their 30-percent groundwater reduction policy set everything else into motion … including today’s current costs for water.
In your opinion, does Does Montgomery County have a water resource or regulation problem? Why?
It’s clearly both. The population of our county has more than tripled in my lifetime (I was born in 1983). That kind of growth inherently comes with challenges. We see it with traffic, schools, emergency services … you name it. It is the same for water. And while I’m not convinced we have some existential crisis on our hands, I certainly would prefer a strategic, long-term approach to addressing this challenge. On the regulation side, we struggle with finding the right balance. One could argue that the previous, appointed board went too conservative … so much so that it created a whiplash effect today in which we have hydrologist telling our LSGCD leaders that we are the Saudi Arabia of water and we couldn’t put a dent in the 180,000 million acre feet TERS number if we wanted to. In my opinion, the answer is somewhere in the middle. We have to take care of ourselves today and we have to protect this resource for the generations that follow. I don’t understand how anyone could see it any other way.
What are the 3 largest challenges currently facing this position/office and your road map to address them?
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Working together throughout the county in a way that we all achieve something better than we could achieve on our own. There’s no road map here. All I can do (and we should always be doing) is keep the stakeholders at the table. We shouldn’t steamroll one perspective because it is convenient, but we also cannot let another sink the whole ship because we are not firm enough in our leadership.
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Building effective policy that enables long-term infrastructure planning (that can be executed when it is needed … not too early … not too late). Road map here is science, science, science. And since we will clearly argue about whose science is right depending on the purported results, I’d love to find a way to have something akin to a double blind study. It’s a lofty notion, I know, but I just cannot think of another way to avoid the junk science accusations coming from every side of a given argument.
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Community, citizen engagement. So many people are surprised that we are here. I reported on it as a journo, so I have an unfair advantage. While I recognize how challenging it is to engage citizens on this topic (unless it is sticker shock on their water bill), it’d be great to continue building awareness of what LSGCD can be and do for the residents of Montgomery County. My road map there is to push for consistency and two-way dialogue.
What special interest groups have you belonged to or attended meetings of? Include business, social, civic, educational, environmental or any other cause for which you have advocated or supported with time or money.
Nothing comes to mind. I’ve worked two jobs for a good part of my career and haven’t had much extra time for such activities. As far as financial support, the only thing I can think of is a donation to a pro life organization maybe eight or nine years ago (but don’t recall the name)
Please explain why an aquifer should be regulated based on its physical boundaries, or based on the boundaries of political subdivisions of the state.
It probably should be regulated based on the latter … or at least on the geographic relevance of the entire aquifer system. That would be more fair. But I don’t want fair. I want what is best for our county.
Who is endorsing you and what is their relationship to you?
It is still early, but I can count former mayor of Oak Ridge North, Jim Kuykendahl, as an official endorsement (if you count Facebook posts saying as much). He is a long time mentor. His daughter and I went to high school and church together (and he always kept the watchful eye on me … Lol).