Burnet County Candidates Forum for Court Judge and State Representatives

Burnet County court nominees Angela Dowdle and Cody Henson appeared at the Burnet County Republican Women’s Forum in Burnet on Thursday, February 10. Staff photo by Suzanne Freeman

Burnet County court candidates and the state’s Representative for District 19 traded beards at a forum hosted by Burnet County Republican Women and attended by Texas First Lady Cecilia Abbott , Thursday, February 10. Lunch was held at the Reed Building in Burnette.

Challengers for the county court’s open seat have continued a row that began at a forum several weeks ago. Current judge Linda Bayless is retiring after seven years. Angela Dowdle and Cody Henson, both lawyers, are looking to replace her.

In her five-minute introduction, Dowdle said she would be a full-time judge and said Henson planned to continue practicing real estate law. Henson also owns a title company.

Henson did not respond to that accusation during his five minutes, but told DailyTrib.com after the meeting that if elected he planned to be a full-time judge.

“In fact, it is illegal to continue to practice (as a lawyer) once elected,” he said.

Dowdle pointed to her 30 years of experience in family law, which she says make up the majority of cases in this court, as her biggest asset to the job.

“A decision made about a child affects us all,” she said. “These decisions should be made by someone with experience in family law. It is not negative to say that I have 17 years more experience than him in family law. He’s a real estate attorney, and he’s not a real estate court.

She also raised an accusation that Henson made at the last forum, saying she accepts contributions from lawyers.

“I’m a member of the county bar association, I’ve been president of the bar association – I have mentor status now – and they know me and what I’m made of,” he said. she declared. “That’s why they support me.”

She also pointed out that attorneys are only allowed to donate $1,000 each and that a law firm can only donate a total of $5,000.

“It’s a drop in the bucket of what is needed to run a campaign,” she said.

When Henson took the mic, he said that as a judge he would plan for growth by instituting programming orders and setting plea bargain deadlines in criminal cases. He said most cases brought before a judge would be criminal law, not family law.

“Plea bargain deadlines move cases,” he said. “Victims and defendants deserve justice.”

Scheduling orders are given to attorneys outlining trial dates and giving expectations.

“I will issue scheduling orders that say ‘thank you for filing your case, here’s your trial date,'” he said. “‘You can do whatever you need to do here, but be prepared to judge your case on that date.’

He added that he would not accept donations from other lawyers because “it could lead to prejudice if they came before me with a case”.

DISTRICT STATE REPRESENTATIVE 19

Three of the four candidates from the newly created District 19 showed up at the forum. Their champion nominations were Ellen Troxclair, Justin Barry and Perla Hopkins. Nubia Devine was not present.

Barry and Troxclair challenged each other’s conservative credentials, while Hopkins focused on her own positions, which mostly concerned education.

While the county court nominees were given five minutes each to introduce themselves, no questions were asked of them. The three state representative candidates gave two-minute presentations and then answered questions previously posed by attendees.

The candidates mostly agreed with each other when asked what they would replace property taxes with to fund schools and cities.

Troxclair said it will work to eliminate the maintenance and operation portion of the school property tax and use upcoming state surpluses to cut property taxes in half over 10 years. She explained that the Legislative Assembly recently passed a spending cap that ensures more money will flow into state coffers than will flow out in the future. She wants to use this surplus to pay property taxes.

“This will ensure that public schools are always fully funded by the state,” she said.

Troxclair called herself the “only conservative voice on the Austin City Council in the most liberal city in the state.” She represented District 8 on the board from 2015 to 2019, which she called “being in the belly of the beast.”

Hopkins, a veteran married to a veteran, explained that when she and her family moved from South Carolina to Texas, she was shocked by the difference in property taxes.

“We paid in a year in South Carolina what it costs us for a month here,” she said. “I am passionate about lowering property taxes.”

A former teacher, Hopkins said she left the profession because school districts are “harming children” by what they teach. She vowed to work against unions and Planned Parenthood if elected.

Berry, who served as a police officer for 13 years, pointed to continuously rising assessment values ​​as the biggest problem with the property tax system.

“I propose that we decouple our property tax system from assessment values,” Berry said. “I bought my property at a certain rate. Why should I be taxed and penalized because my investment has been so successful? No offense, the government did not help me with my investment. Let’s keep it at sale value.

The candidates were also asked about last February’s major winter storm, and all three said Gov. Greg Abbott had done a great job of making sure Texas wouldn’t face the same problem again.

suzanne@thepicayune.com