First Town Hall down and more to come

Monday evening in Milano we held the first of our Town Hall meetings. During the campaign, I made one promise and that was to serve as County Judge in a manner my grandfather referred to as Open Stewardship. That means serving as openly, as honestly, and as transparently as possible. To accomplish true Open Stewardship, we wanted to have at least three forms of open communication with folks.

First, we hold Office Hours twice a week in our office. Office Hours is an open-door policy that allows folks to come in and talk to us about what is going on such as their concerns, their questions, and their suggestions. Access to your elected officials is one of the most important aspects of public service so it’s imperative that we as elected county officials allow that access. So, in our office here at the courthouse, we hold Office Hours on Monday from 1-4 p.m. and then again on Friday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Please call ahead as sometimes those times can fill up or we can work different times in if those times aren’t conducive to someone’s schedule.

Second, Public Hearings on important issues. We will be holding public hearings on important issues as they are needed. 

For instance, in the next few months we will be holding public hearings on the upcoming budget. Bear in mind that we are mandated to hold some in the courthouse during business hours and just before commissioners’ court meetings; however, we also intend to hold public hearings at more convenient times and in more convenient venues, so folks can actually attend and be a part of the process and not simply hear about the process. 

Third, we will hold more Town Hall Meetings like we did this last Monday. This gives folks the opportunity to come out and meet their elected officials, ask questions, express concerns, and hopefully give everyone a better understanding of what is going on and how people feel. 

About 40 people participated in Monday Night’s Town Hall in Milano with eight elected county officials on hand to answer questions and have discussions about what matters to those in attendance. These meetings not only give information to the participants, but also allow the elected officials an opportunity to better understand what is going on here in Milam County as well. 

It is easy to get into office and fall into the vacuum that detaches elected officials from the realities of life. So, holding these Town Halls allows the Elected Officials the opportunity to better understand the issues people are facing as well from a different perspective. These are wonderful opportunities for respectful information flow that in the future we hope will include some of our elected state and congressional officials on hand as well.

All of these opportunities for communication are important, as are these newspaper articles and our Wednesday radio programs on KRXT at 7:45 a.m., and on KMIL at 9 a.m. I appreciate all of these opportunities to meet and interact with folks and look forward to our upcoming Town Halls. 

The next Town Hall will be at Bea’s Kitchen in the Milam County Annex at 806 N. Crockett in Cameron at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, June 26. I look forward to seeing many of you there.