Q&A Responses
1. Growth and Infrastructure
Q: How will you ensure county infrastructure, permitting, and public services keep pace with growth so businesses can expand and invest with confidence?
A: As County Judge, I feel the best way to bring confidence to local businesses is to manage growth through predictability and accountability. The way I see it is - growth itself isn’t the enemy. Unplanned, rushed, or politically driven growth is and it’s also what the citizens of Comal are most concerned about right now.
My role as Comal County Judge is to make sure growth happens in a way that is predictable for businesses and FAIR to residents — without shifting hidden costs onto taxpayers. From what I am hearing, one of the biggest challenges that businesses and residents are facing is that our current leadership is allowing growth that increases service demands, expand infrastructure needs and raises long-term operating costs without requiring developers to shoulder their fair share. When new developments are approved, they don’t just add buildings — they add more traffic on existing roads, greater demand for law enforcement, fire, and EMS an increased strain on water, drainage, and utilities and higher long-term operating costs for the county. If those costs are not accounted for upfront, they don’t disappear — they are shifted.
For businesses, this kind of growth model creates uncertainty and congested roads affect employee reliability and deliveries, overstretched emergency services raise risk, rising taxes and fees increase operating costs for employers, and community frustration can stall future development. Instead of supporting economic growth, poorly managed growth can undermine it.
It does NOT mean I am anti-development nor am I anti-business. It means that growth pays for the infrastructure and services it requires, costs are addressed at the planning stage — not years later and existing businesses and residents are not left funding expansion they didn’t request. I am proposing ‘Responsible Growth’ to protect the citizens AND the local economy.
As a strong, grassroots conservative leader I want what the people want – plans before approving, accountability and balanced growth with stewardship. Businesses don’t want chaos, residents don’t want to be ignored — to satisfy both we want competent, disciplined leadership.
Leaning on my experience and background in public safety and operations, I’d like to institute these five disciplined principles to guide me during my term as Comal County Judge: 1) build infrastructure before approving expansion 2) make permitting predictable — not political 3) require growth to pay its own way 4) coordinate public services as a system — not silos 5) respect citizens by involving them early — not after decisions are made.
In closing, my job as County Judge isn’t to stop growth — it’s to manage it responsibly so businesses can invest with confidence and citizens aren’t left paying the price. When infrastructure, permitting, and public services are planned together — with transparency and accountability — growth becomes an asset, not a liability. I believe that’s how you build a County that works for everyone.
2. Emergency preapredness and continuity
Q: What steps will you take to strengthen disaster preparedness, coordination, and communication so businesses can better plan for and recover from disruptions?
A: I believe in strong leadership before the storm, not during it. Disasters don’t become crises because of weather alone — they become crises when planning, coordination, and communication fail. A perfect example of systems failing was during last year’s deadly July 4th Guadalupe River flood that took so many lives unnecessarily. It was an unfortunate combination of failed communication and preparedness between County and City emergency departments.
As County Judge, my responsibility is to ensure Comal County is prepared before emergencies occur, coordinated with clarity and precision during the event, and decisive in recovery — so businesses can reopen quickly, families can regain stability, and our community moves forward without unnecessary delay.
As a firefighter with extensive emergency management and risk mitigation experience, again, I like to use five disciplined leadership actions as my guiding principles: 1) plan for continuity — not just response 2) coordinate agencies before emergencies — not in real time 3) strengthen clear, centralized communication 4) protect infrastructure and supply routes critical to recovery 5) lead a faster, smarter recovery — especially for local businesses.
Planning for continuity isn’t just about sirens and shelters it’s about continuity of operations. As County Judge, I would immediately audit and update, realistic emergency plans that include business continuity. It’s important to identify critical services and supply chain needs with a clear plan to keep courts, permitting and essential county functions operating. It goes back to clear communication with our business community. Businesses need to know what stays open, what pauses, how long the disruption may last so they can predict and reduce losses.
Again, relying on my 15 years of emergency service background, I know that confusion costs time and lives. As the County Judge, I am able to coordinate law enforcement, EMS, fire, public works, utilities and school districts to ensure roles are clearly defined before a crisis occurs. By conducting regular tabletop exercise and after-action review we can have strong coordination between departments to prevent duplication, delays and breakdowns in communication and service.
To strengthen centralized communication, my priorities include a single, trusted source of county information. I will conduct regular briefings that include business impacts and timelines. Businesses and residents need timely, accurate information to make decisions — not speculation.
Protecting infrastructure and supply routes are critical for recovery. Fast recovery depends on roads reopening quickly, restoring utilities efficiently and position emergency services strategically. I will prioritize infrastructure resilience planning decisions, coordinate with regional and state partners for rapid response and ensure recovery resources are deployed where they matter most. Every hour saved reduces ECONOMIC damage.
For businesses especially, leading a faster, smarter recovery could mean the difference in a short disruption the business can recover from or doors shuttering for good. As County Judge, I would streamline re-opening processes, provide clear guidance for permits and inspections, coordinate with state and federal recovery programs. Helping small businesses navigate without bureaucratic delays will help recover fast, protect jobs and stabilize the local economy,
Reactive leadership waits for disasters and improvises during a crisis. Prepared leadership plans, trains, and communicates early. Businesses invest in communities where the government is competent, the information is reliable and recovery is predictable and smooth. That confidence doesn’t happen by accident — it’s built through preparation.
Bottom Line — emergency preparedness isn’t about politics — it’s about responsibility and accountability. As County Judge, my focus will be preparation before the storm, coordination during the crisis, and fast, transparent recovery afterward — so businesses can reopen, families can recover, and Comal County remains resilient. That’s how you protect both the economy and the community.
3. Workforce and community stability
Q: How will you support a stable workforce through coordination with courts, schools, and health providers to reduce disruptions that affect employers and employees?
A: In my 15 years of public service, I’ve learned a stable workforce doesn’t just start at the workplace — much like a firefighter in an emergency crisis, it depends on HOW WELL systems are planned, trained and well-executed that determines success. When courts, schools, health services, or county operations are misaligned, the disruption shows up in missed workdays, lost productivity, and economic strain for families and employers alike. As County Judge, the responsibility is not to control schools, courts, or health providers — but to coordinate with them. By presiding over Commissioners Court, overseeing county operations, and serving as the county’s emergency management authority, as County Judge, I help ensure decisions are aligned, disruptions are minimized, and working families and businesses can plan with confidence.
Using my five focused leadership actions concept, as County Judge I would 1) lead and coordinate emergency management to preserve workforce continuity 2) set priorities, agendas, and coordination across county departments and external partners 3) ensure operational decisions consider downstream impacts on working families and employers 4) promote policies that reduce avoidable delays, closures, or bottlenecks that impact the workforce 5) act as advocate for county residents and communication liaison between local municipality, businesses and citizens
Responsible and sustainable growth doesn’t happen by accident — it happens when leadership ensures infrastructure, public safety, and county systems keep pace with development.
Hypergrowth without planning may benefit a few in the short term, but it often creates long-term strain on the workforce, disrupts businesses, and weakens community confidence. When roads are congested, emergency services are stretched, and systems fall behind, employers feel it through higher operating costs, lower foot traffic, higher prices or employee absenteeism, turnover, and unstable workforce – sometimes it even leads to displacement or doors shuttered.
The County Judge plays a critical role in managing that balance — not by stopping growth, but by coordinating it responsibly. By aligning infrastructure planning, public safety readiness, emergency management, and county operations, as your next County Judge, I will help to ensure that growth, with strong leadership, can strengthen the local economy instead of undermining it.
My focus as County Judge will be predictable planning, disciplined coordination, clear communication and action — so businesses can invest with confidence, the workplace can rely on stable systems, and Comal County continues to grow in a way that supports both economic opportunity and community well-being.
That’s how you protect the workforce, support employers, and build a county that thrives and meets the citizens’ expectations so they can earn an income, raise a family and live in a town that provides a fulfilling, productive life.
When leadership doesn’t insist on that BALANCE, the community pays the difference. The concerns being raised are not about growth itself — it’s about who pays for it, are families and business owners prepared for it, can our county sustain it and have we looked at ALL VIABLE OPTIONS before making a decision.
Listening to the citizens (residents and business owners), that are feeling the pinch of hyper-growth, are asking to SLOW down, let’s take a look under the hood and do it right!