Rockwall, TX (April 29, 2024) – Yep, without a doubt, we have too many elections in Texas!
But did you ever stop to think what those elections represent? Just look at the one where early voting has just finished and we can still vote next Tuesday, May 4.
This election allows us to pick who is going to govern us at the local municipality level and who is going to oversee the education of our kids. What really could be more important and more relevant…the local way in which we are governed and the way our kids are educated!
And then the next election is on May 28. (Don’t ask why these two could not be combined; ask Austin!)
This election is also important. Here we are electing representatives that will sit on the county Commissioners Court and for the next four years be directly responsible in setting what we will be paying in county tax each year.
We also are electing who will be our representative in Austin making all kinds of decisions that will impact our lives.
This election is a little unique as it is a runoff election between candidates that did not receive at least 50% plus 1 vote in an earlier election held in March of this year.
For the Commissioners Court race, two individuals are requesting your vote: Bobby Gallana and Mike Townsend. Both men have lived in Rockwall for an extended time and both are well known. The individual elected will represent those Rockwall citizens living in county Precinct 1.
For the Representative who will be our individual in Austin, again two individuals are running: Justin Holland and Katrina Pierson. Holland is a local real estate agent who is currently serving in Austin as our representative. Pierson is a newcomer to local politics however, she has extensive experience on the national political scene.
This particular race has been very different from most local races as many thousands of dollars have been spent to barrage we citizens with countless mailers describing everything wrong with the opposite candidate. Unfortunately, the information provided could easily be called “dirty” and something we have not seen in Rockwall in previous elections.
And from personal experience, runoff races are much different than the races held for the initial elections. In the initial races, candidates have generally spent their campaigning trying to explain in detail why they should be elected and what their platform would be when elected. In a runoff, the objective is simply to “get out the vote”. It is strictly a numbers game now: the person with the most votes wins!
Even though we have lots of elections in Texas, all of them are important. Unfortunately, if 25% of the registered voters actually vote in one of the local elections, that has been considered a fairly “good” turnout. However, when compared to the national elections, where we are voting for President, the turnout usually exceeds 75%. We really do need to do better at the local level as this level of candidates elected most directly affect the way we live.
On another subject, the construction project to build two new courtrooms in the courthouse continues on its wayward path as still no contract has been awarded and countless obstacles seem to continually spring forward to delay this project. Since it started with the previous Commissioners Court in 2022, one has to wonder how efficient local government actually is?
Continuing the construction story, the county annex building, also approved by the previous court, using Federal monies provided, that had to be totally obligated by December 31, 2024, finally has been approved by the Court. The cost $17,269,014. This leaves some of the original monies still available. Additions being debated are a security fence for employee parking and a “food court” for employee use.
Using the escalated decision-making process the Court seems to employ, maybe the additions will be decided before the building is finished! And maybe the new courtrooms will be built before the new building!
Please go vote. It really is important…and if you don’t vote, you really have no reason to complain about the results!!!!
Jerry Hogan is a former Rockwall County Judge who volunteers to write this column. He can be reached at 214-394-4033 or 
A Broad View by Jerry Hogan: Voting is Important…and so is Building Facilities! added by Melanie M on
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