Commissioner’s Court Needs Policy Wonk

Come Labor Day, people will start announcing for various offices. One I’m watching closely is the race for County Commissioner for the seat held by Commissioner Willie Gandara. He has made no indication as to whether or not he’s running, but there is already one candidate and several rumored candidates including Irma Contreras who’s run before, Dora Oaxaca (only if her boss doesn’t run), and Ruben Lujan.

Who is that? That’s what I said, and I thought I knew all the politicos in town. He’s a Justice of the Peace who’s allegedly been having conversations about running for the seat.

But here’s the thing with all of those candidates. None of them are known to be policy wonks. The valley deserves strong leadership with an understanding of the people, the area, and the intellectual tool box to make the decisions that are best for the area.

There has to be a serious and rigorous debate in the valley about policy. We have to get past the debates about personality, money, and affiliation and get in to a discussion about economic development, infrastructure, budgets, and transportation.

The valley needs a candidate that knows and understands the complexities of policy, the ramifications of policy decisions, along with a connection to the people. I see some of the qualities in a couple of the rumored candidates, but the valley deserves the total package. A viable representative they can be proud of and will make decisions based on facts and analysis.

Any ideas?