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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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?

• 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.

• 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.

• 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).

What are the top 3 areas where the budget for this office needs to be adjusted?

• Legal needs to go down

• Science needs to go up

• Education (conservation programs with local schools) needs to go up

While, yes, I am in fact suggesting increases on the last two, I think the money coming into the district can do more to serve the feepayers than simply trimming down this entity’s budget to the bare bones. For instance, a grant writing resource could be a significant service to municipalities throughout the area seeking awards for low-interest conservation projects funded by the TWDB. Smart meters or recycled water systems (for irrigation) can ultimately save municipalities significant dollar amounts for decades to come.

Will you vote to limit budget increases to a factor based on population growth and inflation? Explain.

No. Maybe. It depends on what this question really means. Will I suggest raising the entire budget above those factors … I don’t really see a reason I would. But, going back to my answer in questions 12, if enough stakeholders really wanted extra money put into some kind of double blind study approach … I’d consider it. Also, having worked there … I know the pay. It wasn’t anything to brag about. I think this question should also consider (and maybe inflation covers this), but the rising cost of quality talent.

Is there anything in your background of an embarrassing nature that should be explained before your election? Arrests/Convictions? Bankruptcys?

I did (mediocre) standup comedy for six years. That’s a little embarrassing. But I wear it as a badge of honor. =)

Do you support the new board engaging an independent third party to conduct an audit of LSGCD operations and make the findings public?

Fine by me.

Should two local government entities force residents to pay billions of dollars for infrastructure development without a vote?

No (that one was too easy … is this a trap?)

List anyone you have lobbied for or represented at any governmental agency during the past five years?

I’ve represented LSGCD as their education/public awareness coordinator from 2015-18.

What actions should the LSGCD take to implement change that would result in lower water rates for consumers?

It is not immediately clear to me that that is a realistic option. I don’t want the costs to go up, but I also understand that there are more people living here than ever before. More people equals more demand. I also don’t believe there is an infinite supply of groundwater underneath us. While I recognize this is not the most popular stance for someone running for such a position, I’m not here to make us all feel better about our water bills—I think that’s short sighted and misses the bigger picture. To be clear, I don’t like paying more for anything than I have to (which I assume is something most all of us believe). On groundwater, it really comes down to the conservative values I hold and try to live by. Groundwater is like a savings account. I’m fine with living off the interest accrued, but I don’t like the idea of potentially depleting or damaging our network of aquifers, especially when we know that our county is growing and the demand is exponentially increasing. I also have concerns that, as this demand influences prices going forward, we will see capital infrastructure projects (including the potential for privately-funded enterprises) that will use the banner of private property rights to buy small parcels of land, use their right to capture, drop mega commercial wells down that draw water for miles in every direction, and then export and sell that water to cities both within and outside of Montgomery County. We are already seeing this in Texas. The Vista Ridge project is delivering rural groundwater through more than 140 miles of pipe to San Antonio. So, circling back to the original question … while I’m not optimistic LSGCD can do anything to meaningfully lower water rates in the present, I do believe we can set effective policies that keep our local groundwater resources local. Groundwater reduction plans could even be a vehicle to dissuade interest in commercial projects specifically designed to mine our local water resources. Some might think this is far fetched, but it’s not. If it can be done more cost effectively than some other alternative, it will be pursued. If that happens, we (and our kids) will be paying for the lack of long-term vision.

In 2009, the LSGCD mandated a 30% reduction on water withdrawal from underground aquifers.  On what scientific data was that decision based on?

I believe that data is based off a 2003(ish) management plan in which it was estimated that there was 64,000 acre feet of groundwater available (without creating a deficit against recharge). I think the recharge rate in that study was a little over an inch per year (from the GAM model, maybe). Instead of guessing at the specifics, I believe the gist was that the study took the area of Montgomery County, applied the recharge rate from the GAM model, and they got the 64,000 acre feet number. Now, I don’t pretend to be a hydrologist and I wasn’t there when decisions were made based off this study, so I want to be clear that I’m not supporting or opposing the findings of this study. We have more scientific data today and we will continue to build on that. I’m all about using what we have to make the best decisions we can.

What political party do you affiliate with? Do you believe in that party platform (all of it or % part - if %, please describe what you disagree with)?

I am a Republican. Do I believe in all of it. No, of course not. And I don’t recall meeting anyone who is. The platform itself is the consensus of all the many people affiliated with the philosophy and values of conservatism. So, I’ll say it this way. I like a government that gives its people the breathing room to solve their own problems. At the same time, I also don’t want people driving the cars 220 mph in a school zone. I wasn’t a fan of Trump (never saw him as a Republican). I preferred Ted Cruz (because he’s impressive when it comes to building effective government policies). My disagreements with the platform mostly are reactions to superficial policy. Build a wall. Sure. But how about we strengthen the legal immigration process while we’re at it. Not a fan of abortion, but if we’re going to make it illegal at the federal level, it’d be nice to also see some additional support for those mothers and children (which is something I’ve always believed in … specifically to dissuade women from thinking abortion was their only option). I could go on for days, but the point is … it is not and never has been about some concrete, ten commandments doctrine. It’s a living tapestry of values that has great potential to advance our individual prosperity and society as whole … if we take care of it (specifically by having ongoing debate, discussion, and critical thinking).

Please explain why you will vote to award any contract with less than three qualified bidders?

Because we couldn’t find a third bidder.

When and how was the LSGD created?  What are the duties? Where is their authority derived?

2001. Officially, protect our groundwater resources (politically, to make sure we were not absorbed into another, multi-county groundwater district … or as Barb Sadler said at the time … to keep Austin out of our business). Their authority is derived by the state legislature.