The Brown County Republican Women’s Club held its monthly luncheon at the Brownwood Country Club Friday, where candidates in the May 24 county runoff elections were invited to speak.
Among those in attendance, and who addressed the gathering, were Precinct 4 Justice of Peace candidates incumbent Ted Perez and H.Q. Thomas, Precinct 2 County Commissioner candidates incumbent Joel Kelton and Jeff Hoskinson, and Brown County Judge candidates Shane Britton.
Brown County Judge Dr. Paul Lilly did not attend the meeting, as BCRW President Cheryl Jones stated Lilly sent an email on May 6 stating he could not be in attendance.
Britton, who served as Brown County Attorney for more than 20 years, was allotted Lilly’s speaking time as well, and he addressed his opponent’s job performance.
“It have become evident to me after sitting there for over 20 years, that we’re not in good spot and we’ve got some problems at the courthouse, some really, really serious problems in the courthouse.,” Britton said. “I’ve tried for the last six months not talk about Judge Lilly, but it became very obvious when we became the judge that he was not capable of handling cases. He messed up some cases really, really badly and we’re very lucky we didn’t get sued. The judicial commission did investigate him and issue negative findings so they advised that we stopped filing cases in his court because he was not capable of hearing those cases.
“What has happened in the last three and a half is those cases have all been bumped to the County Court at Law. Judge Moss is a full-time family law judge and he’s also trying to manage a criminal docket. We’re to a crisis level. The goal is to dispose of as many cases as we file. Our outstanding cases have gone from 600 to 1,100. And that 500 case addition is only going to get worse unless something changes. We file 1,200 to 1,400 criminal cases a year but unfortunately in the last three years that system has ground to a halt. We’re not handling cases and disposing of cases and that’s because the county court was set up as a the criminal court.”
Britton also discussed his background and the duties he performed while serving as county attorney.
“County attorney is probably the most diverse job in the courthouse. We have civil responsibilities, we have family responsibilities, we have criminal responsibilities. There is not a county our size in the state of Texas that has filed more cases and gotten more convictions than our office. We track the numbers.”
Britton added the county attorney’s office handles all CPS cases in Brown County and since 2000 he had all the CPS cases personally.
Among the Precinct 2 County Commissioner candidates, Hoskinson brought up the idea of fire hydrants along U.S. Highway 183 and how they could have assisted the May area during wildfires earlier this year.
“One thing I would look into with the ARP (American Rescue Plan) money is down 183 there are eight-inch lines that Zephyr water line has,” Hoskinson said. “I would be for supporting fire hydrants on that road because when they had that big fire out there they had to go to May to get their water and May almost ran out of water. If you had fire hydrants, if you did this then your ISO number go down and your insurance on your house goes down. That’s a way to save money to overcome the high taxes that we’re paying.”
“May is a smaller that runs on wells, it’s not tied into any larger system and is not big enough to support fire hydrants,” Kelton later responded. “I’m sorry, I wish we could but it’s not big enough to support fire hydrants. I’m not sure Zephyr water is actually giving us water from their tower they’ve got there just south of May. They have to have someone man that to get water for us.”
Hoskinson also spoke of additional ideas he had, including the county using its own equipment to pave roads opposed to hiring contractors, while Kelton talked about his record, what has been accomplished during his time in office, and what can be down with the ARP money the county has received.
Perez and Thomas both reviewed their law enforcement careers and also spoke about their desire to serve as Justice of the Peace for Precinct 2.
Thomas said, “I miss helping people. I still want to help as many people as possible. I had always been in conversation with Judge Cavanaugh and I was waiting for him to retire and I had plans on running for Justice of the Peace and I hope y’all will consider your vote toward me.”
Perez added, “My reason for seeking this office is to continue to work that Judge Cavanaugh and the Brown County Commissioners entrusted in me and I hope that I continue to do so. It is my belief that my training as a police officer, patrol sergeant and administrative sergeant in the crime prevention unit and internal affairs unit, being bilingual, along with my current 10 months as a judge qualify me as the best choice to be elected Justice of the Peace for Precinct 4.”
Early voting in the runoff election will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, May 16 through Wednesday, May 18 as well as 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, May 19 and Friday, May 20 at the Elections Office at 613 N. Fisk. Polls will be open countywide on Election Day Tuesday, May 24.