Previewing Harris County and Fort Bend County races affecting the Katy area

By George Slaughter, News Editor
Posted 10/20/22

Katy-area voters in Fort Bend and Harris counties will select a county judge, while Harris County voters will also select a Pct. 4 commissioner.

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Previewing Harris County and Fort Bend County races affecting the Katy area

Posted

Katy-area voters in Fort Bend and Harris counties will select a county judge, while Harris County voters will also select a Pct. 4 commissioner.

Fort Bend County Judge

Incumbent KP George, a Democrat, faces challenger Trever Nehls, a Republican. Nehls is the brother of U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls. Trever Nehls did not return a candidate questionnaire.

1. Briefly describe your professional background, and how it will help you if elected.

As a small business owner, financial planner, two term Fort Bend ISD School Board member, director of emergency management, and county judge, I can work with the community to develop strategic budgets that meet our growth and deliver results. I have a proven track record of working for the people to turn bold ideas into results. I successfully led Fort Bend through numerous flooding incidents, the COVID-19 pandemic, Winter Storm Uri, electric grid failure, droughts, and major emergencies to emerge stronger and united.

Together, we have worked hard to bring thousands of good paying jobs, made historic investments to our public safety & emergency management programs, and fought traffic congestion for all of our residents.

2. How do you think the county can best manage its growth?

We are one of the fastest growing communities in the entire nation. We just passed a historic budget for the 2023 fiscal year that reflects the most significant increase in public safety & emergency services—leading Fort Bend to be labeled as one of the safest places in Texas to raise a family. Additionally, we have also brought the County Tax rate to a historic low from $0.56 cents per $100 in 1990 to $0.4 cents per $100 in 2022. We will continue this downward trend.

Additionally, our economic growth must keep pace with residential growth too. I have worked to bring major employers like Amazon, Texas Instruments, Frito Lay, and many others to create high paying jobs for our residents. We partnered with Mattress Mack to launch a job center and a business coaching program for small businesses.

3. Several county roads on the south side of Katy must be expanded as the area population grows. How can you, as judge, accelerate the redevelopment of these roads and make traffic less of a burden?

Since coming into office, we have invested millions into effective transportation projects like additional roads and increased public transit like our Park and Ride centers for those working in Downtown Houston but living in Fort Bend.

We will continue to invest in regional solutions with our neighbors to continue building more roads, lanes, better traffic signals, additional transit capacity, and ensuring our infrastructure can be resilient in times of emergency as well.

By working creatively and closely with our jurisdictional partners like the City of Katy, the Fort Bend Toll Road Authority, Texas Department of Transportation, Houston-Galveston Area Council, and others, we can ensure that our projects are identified quickly and completed for the benefit of our residents.

4. If elected, what would your top three priorities be, and why?

Investing in public safety: Thankfully, because Fort Bend is already investing significantly into public safety, we will continue to hire more law enforcement personnel to keep our families safe.

Continuing to cut the tax rate: We have also brought the county tax rate to a historic low from $0.56 cents per $100 in 1990 to $0.4 cents per $100 in 2022. We will continue this downward trend.

Improving emergency services: As residents of the Gulf Coast, we have also upgraded our emergency management operations by ensuring resilient infrastructure, better technology, recruiting highly skilled staff, and developed relationships to leverage in emergencies. I ask everyone to text “FBCAlert” to 888777 to sign up for emergency alerts. We will also continue to make new community partners to support residents whether setting up warming centers like the ones we implemented during the winter storm or even personal protective equipment distributions like we did during the start of COVID.

Harris County Judge

Incumbent Lina Hidalgo, a Democrat, faces challenger Alexandra Mealer, a Republican. Mealer did not return a candidate questionnaire.

1. Briefly describe your professional background, and how it will help you if elected.

When I first ran for this office, I often heard that I was too young, too inexperienced. I never believed that was true. My experience serving as a medical interpreter in Houston, working with the Texas Civil Rights project, and advocating overseas for a more transparent, responsive government prepared me well for this role.

And in my past three years as county judge, I have been tireless in trying to understand the problems we face and the solutions being offered. And I have built a top-notch staff who share my vision of a more equitable, more prosperous Harris County. I’ve also dealt with an unprecedented number and range of emergencies and disasters—from the COVID-19 pandemic to the 2019 Deer Park Fire to the 2021 Winter Storm. These experiences have given me unmatched decision-making experience, which I have honed while always focusing on community impact as my primary motivator.

2. How do you think the county can best manage its growth?

We can continue to make progress on Harris County by investing in public safety, addressing flood control issues, keeping our residents safe and healthy, improving transportation access and other aspects of quality of life, and addressing economic and other inequities. These have been some of the focus areas of my time in office, and I will continue to advocate for these and other issues that residents care so much about.

3. Several county roads on the north side of Katy—in Harris County—must be expanded as the area population grows. How can you, as judge, accelerate the redevelopment of these roads and make traffic less of a burden?

Better and more connected transit is also a top priority for the county, along with safer roads for both pedestrians and drivers. In light of this, we have put a $1.2 billion bond package on the ballot this November that improves roads across the county. It includes:

  • $100 million for road rehabilitation.
  • $50 million for vision zero.
  • $50 million for multimodal transportation.
  • $300 million in general road bonds.

I am a huge proponent of multimodal transportation. My vision is for us to get to a point where everyone can quickly and easily take transit to work or school.

Moreover, I expanded “Tow and Go” across Harris County to reduce traffic congestion and secondary crashes by removing stalled vehicles from freeways for no cost to the driver. The service expanded from 175 miles of coverage to 245 miles of coverage through most of Harris County, including the unincorporated areas.

4. If elected, what would your top three priorities be, and why?

Keeping Harris County safe: from natural disasters, from crime, and from any other threat to our health and well-being. I will continue to build on delivering a smarter, safer, and fairer criminal justice system for county residents through evidence- and data-driven policies and initiatives that work to keep us safer while not increasing mass incarceration.

Building an early childhood education system that gives every child in our county a fair start in life. During my tenure as County Judge, we’ve already made transformative investments in early childhood education. I want to continue the work to ensure every single kid in our County gets a strong start.

Continuing to strengthen our flood resilience and our disaster preparedness. We need to make flood prevention a real priority. It took Hurricane Harvey for politicians to set a bond election for flood control. We’ve assembled a Community Flood Resilience Task Force to determine what it will really take to ensure we solve the flooding issues in our county.

Harris County Pct. 4 Commissioner

Incumbent Pct. 4 Commissioner R. Jack Cagle, a Republican, faces a challenge from Lesley Briones, a Democrat.

1. Briefly describe your professional background, and how it will help you if elected.

BRIONES: I am running to bring new energy and ideas to make Harris County safer and more affordable. I worked my way through college and law school, and became an executive of a national nonprofit and a civil court judge. I led the growth of a Houston start-up of several people into one of the leading foundations in America. I have managed multi-million-dollar budgets and have overseen a billion dollars in grants. I am also an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law Center and was a public school teacher before becoming a lawyer. I will use this experience and will focus on fully investing in law enforcement and improving affordable health care, housing, and infrastructure.

CAGLE: For over 30 years I worked with and served the residents of Harris County as an attorney, an elected judge, and now as county commissioner of Pct. 4.

Until my appointment to Commissioners Court in 2011, I served 11 years as judge of Harris County Civil Court-at-Law No. 1. where Harris County voters elected me to the bench countywide in 2000 and re-elected me in 2002, 2006, and 2010.

As a judge, I was proud to consistently earn high ratings from the Houston Bar Association and received numerous awards from legal, business, political, and community groups. Twice recognized as “Judge of the Year” by law-enforcement groups, I was also recognized by the Mexican American Bar Association of Houston and served as an officer in the Association of Women Attorneys. I was elected by his peers to be Administrative Judge for the County Civil Courts and as President of the Texas Association of County Court-at-Law Judges.

I also previously served as a representative on the board of the Houston-Galveston Area Council and the Board of Directors of the statewide Public Power Pool.

Since 2011, I have served as county commissioner for Harris County Pct. 4. I was first appointed, then re-elected in 2014 and 2018. As commissioner, I represent over 1 million residents and manage a staff of over 440 employees with a Pct. 4 budget of $290.5 million.

2. How do you think the precinct can best manage its growth?

BRIONES: Growth is positive and provides the funds to sustain a high quality of life in our community. As Commissioner, I will work to keep Precinct 4 an attractive place to do business, with high-wage jobs. I will use my management experience to cut government waste so we can keep taxes low and provide a high level of services to our growing population.

The most important way to manage our growth is to ensure we have the infrastructure to accommodate it. I am the only candidate in this race who is supporting the county infrastructure bonds on the November 8 ballot. If these bonds pass, Precinct 4 will receive a minimum of $220 million to fund roads, transit projects, drainage, and parks.

An overriding concern impacting our ability to grow is flooding. My plan includes aggressive ditch and bayou maintenance, substantially increasing the number of detention ponds (including small neighborhood greenspaces that can hold back stormwater during major rain events and serve as parks and exercise fields during dry weather), and green solutions to flood prevention, including saving the Katy Prairie and restoring nature-based infrastructure.

I will work with our federal delegation to secure funding for both short-term and major long-term proposals such as fixing the Addicks and Barker Dams, building the Ike Dike and the Galveston Bay Park plan to prevent a catastrophic storm surge in the Ship Channel, and exploring other potential solutions such as a deep, underground tunnel system.

Finally, I am committed to fully funding all projects promised in the 2018 flood bond.

CAGLE: Managing growth is all about the four P’s:

Public safety—ensuring that every citizen feels safe in their home, place of employment and house of worship. I also include flood mitigation under this heading since this greatly affects growth and our quality of life.

Property Taxes—it is imperative to keep property taxes low so you and your family can keep more of your hard-earned money.

Potholes—residents should expect their commissioner to make sure the roads and bridges are maintained to keep traffic moving; allowing you to spend more time with your family.

Parks—Pct. 4 parks and centers are the pride of Texas. Our team works daily to ensure that the parks are maintained, the restrooms are kept clean and we have safe walking trails.

3. Several county roads on the north side of Katy must be expanded as the area population grows. How can you, as commissioner, accelerate the redevelopment of these roads and make traffic less of a burden?

BRIONES: The fastest way to get these projects done is to secure funding for them. I am the only candidate in this race who is supporting the county infrastructure bonds on the November 8 ballot, which will bring hundreds of millions of dollars into Precinct 4 for roads, traffic, and transit projects.

CAGLE: Since redistricting was finalized on March 31, 2022, I have prioritized projects in the northern Katy area using a regional approach.

The below projects are in various stages of project development (study, design, construction) to handle the traffic demands that north Katy residents experience on a daily basis.

  • Porter Road from north of Morton Road to north of Clay Road
  • Clay Road from Katy Hockley Road to west of Peek Road
  • Clay Road at Katy Hockley Cut Off Road
  • Peek Road from north of Grand Parkway to south of Clay Road and north of Stockdick School Road to Beckendorff Road
  • Katy Hockley Cut Off Road from south of Stockdick School Road to north of FM 529
  • Intersections along Katy Hockley Road
  • At Beckendorff Road
  • At Clay Road
  • At Stockdick School Road

Pct. 4 recognizes the need to not only keep up with rapid growth, but to get in front of it. To address future growth, we plan to develop a Precinct 4 Road and Drainage master plan with a goal to reduce the delays experienced by drivers and pedestrians.

4. If elected, what would your top three priorities be, and why?

BRIONES: Crime. Like too many of us, I have been a victim of crime. I will work to fund law enforcement, increase neighborhood patrols, invest in crime-fighting technology, and prevent crime by interrupting the cycle of violence.

Affordability. I am a working mother who grew up in a working family. I get how hard it is to make ends meet when prices are rising. I will work to make life more affordable by cutting the tax rate, bringing down costs for essentials like health care and housing, and cutting government waste so we can all pay less.

Health care. I am the only candidate in this race who supports investments in public health and health care. I will redouble the county’s efforts to convince the state to provide access to Medicaid insurance coverage to more than 200,000 uninsured Harris County residents. I will explore a potential bond measure to rebuild our public hospitals. I would also like to partner with Baylor College of Medicine and other health care providers to locate SmartPod mobile health clinics in areas without easy access to clinics or hospitals.

CAGLE: If re-elected, my top three priorities will be:

Public safety—The failed catch and release scheme (promoted by the majority on commissioners court) is allowing criminals to go back onto our streets to steal, rape and kill again. This has to stop…now!

If re-elected, I’ll push to end their bail bond reform and keep our residents safe. Additionally, I will make sure that law enforcement gets the resources they need to protect you and your family. I have always supported our brave men and women who protect us, so it’s no surprise that EVERY law enforcement organization has endorsed me, including the Harris County Sheriff’s Deputies; the HPOU; MASO; Constables Mark Herman, Ted Heap and Phil Sandlin.

Flood control—After Hurricane Harvey devastated our community, we came together to pass the $2.5 billion flood control bond to protect us from future flooding; dozens of projects have either been completed or are still in the works.

Property Taxes—Thanks to the failed policies of the majority on court, property taxes have risen almost as high as the crime rate. I’ll reform the property tax appraisal system allowing you to keep more of your money.

Fort Bend County, Harris County