The 2026 Jackson County candidate forum occurred last Thursday evening at the JC Services Building, and it was a full house attended by many.
Unopposed candidates: Pam Guenther, Criminal District Attorney; Sharon Mathis, District Clerk; Kate Respondek, County Clerk; Mary Horton, County Treasurer; Cyndi Poulton, Justice of the Peace Precinct 2; David Webel, Republican County Chair.
Contested races are County Judge, incumbent Judge Jill Sklar and Donna Coleman; County Commissioner Precinct 2, incumbent Wayne Bubela and Derek Zarosky; County Commissioner Precinct 4, Russell Bloom Jr., Joe Chaney, who was not present, Angela Hamilton, and Blaine Joines; and Justice of the Peace Precinct 1, Stacy Dugger Cavazos, Craig Kirkpatrick, and Jeanie Paulton.
The night began with one-minute opening statements, followed by a question and answer period, where candidates were given one minute and 30 seconds to respond, and ended with two-minute closing statements.
First question for JP Precinct 1: JP cases often involve neighbors, families and small businesses. How would you balance following the law in treating people fairly and respectably in a close-knit community?
Paulton said she would be transparent, impartial, and building trust in the community. “JPs focus on their voice, respect, mutuality, and trustworthiness,” she said.
Kirkpatrick said fairness doesn’t mean bending the rules for anyone. “One can be firm and still be respectful in order to get the job done,” he said.
Cavasos said in a county like Jackson, no one is a stranger. “The foundation of justice is consistency, and following the law faithfully as she has her entire career,” she said.
Second question: What do you see as the most common issues facing our JP court and rural county and what do you plan to do about them if elected?
Kirkpatrick said one of the biggest challenges are making sure cases are handled efficiently and giving everyone a fair hearing. “My experience of managing the budgets as Chief Deputy taught me the importance of efficiency and accountability,” he said.
Cavasos said many of the cases are financial hardships on people and are sometimes misunderstanding between neighbors. “My law enforcement experience has shown me the importance of listening carefully and following the law consistently,” she said.
Paulton said she has seen a lack of programs for juveniles in regards to tobacco, alcohol and truancy issues, because they’re too expensive to outsource. “These issues need to require special attention and aware of financial hardships,” she said, mentioning that she has a masters degree in criminal justice.
Another question: If elected what is the top three things you would focus on?
Paulton said she would focus on juveniles, build a better relationship with the school district, truancy problems, bringing it back to the JP court as the people’s court.
Kirkpatrick said he would focus on the JP court being fair, consistent and independent each and every time, improve transparency and accessibility to the office, and third, he wants to being prepared leadership to the role.
Cavasos said she the three things she would bring to the office was experience, leadership and a commitment to serve every citizen with fairness and specialism.
One of the questions for County Commissioner Precinct 2 and 4: What is your take on the proposed plant taking residence in Pre- Zarosky said water is our biggest resource, would be a huge boost in economy due to salaries, and believe abatements can be used as tools.
cinct 4?
Joines said there’s still a lot of questions to be asked, our biggest assets is fresh water and the plant would use 2.7 million gallons of water a day, how many gallons of wastewater would be emptied into bays every day, and he’d want to get out into the public and see what they think about an abatement. He’s not a fan of it coming into his backyard, so to speak.
Hamilton agreed with Joines, and she wondered if the plant was going to hire anyone from Jackson County, to which she thinks they would be more likely to hire from Houston and other areas, and doubtful they would actually bring their revenue to Jackson County. She hopes town halls will be held and the water district should be held accountable.
Bloom said one of
his biggest concerns would be the water discharge, and he doesn’t want the plant to ruin the area and be safe to the environment. In his opinion, no abatement, but it’s essentially up to the citizens.
Bubela said the Texana Groundwater District would have to approve the plant, as well as TDECQ. As for the abatement, it’s not been requested yet, but if it is he would have to look at the full-time jobs they’re creating, the valuation of the facility, the amount of the abatement being requested, and the number of years it’s being requested for.
Another question: Although the county judge declares disasters, commissioners are responsible for the resources and spending.
How would you communicate this to the community?
Joines said planning is the key, working with the employees and relay emergencies and everyday operations through a Facebook page.
Bloom said he would research and make sure resources are being properly used. He would meet with residents and make sure their needs are properly addressed. He’s lived through four hurricanes and knows what happens afterwards.
Bubela said the checks and balances would go through the auditor’s office, Texas Department of Emergency Management and the court would see how the money is being spent, how the event is progressing and make good, sound decisions.
Zarosky said all hands on deck are needed, communicating with the community and make sure everyone is safe, spending wisely, and see where is it going.
Hamilton said during normal activity and especially for disasters, we are one, working together. Communicate well, find out the needs, and share with precincts, whether it’s funds, resources or volunteers,
we are one.
Another question: what is your plan to improve the limited budgets you have?
Bubela said evaluate, prioritize, build projects, drainage projects, fix the worst ones first, and continue to be keep work in-house and maximize the funds they do have.
Zarosky said he sees the cost of repairs to customers due to running a heavy equipment dealership. He said for the future, about possibly increasing the budget by gaining taxpayers moneys to bringing businesses to Jackson County.
Joines said having a daily and weekly plan, better use of man hours, prioritizing plans and repairs, and communicating to the public what roads needs to be repaired. He also wants to start buying better gravel for our roads.
Hamilton said she doesn’t believe there is a limited budget, stating between the four precincts, 2025-26 budget, $914,000 is in the carryover that hasn’t been spent. She said precincts should have to share more equipment, aside from the things they need to use everyday.
Bloom said more street signs for more visibility, and he agreed
with Joines about getting better gravel.
First question for
County Judge: If the county faces a natural disaster emergency situation, how would keep the citizens informed?
Sklar said she is the emergency director for Jackson County and spoke of the cyberattack and working with the Texas military department and letting the citizens know every step of the way, dealing with Covid and going between federal and state mandates and gave the information the best she could to share with individuals, families and small businesses through social media page, office of emergency management page, and CodeRed. “I was recognized by the Texas Military department for being about to carry Jackson County through unprecedented times,” she said.
Coleman said the county judge is the emergency management director and the role isn’t symbolic. She’s completed state and FEMA training in instant command and emergency response, and said the public deserves clear and consistent communication in a crisis.
“Every minute matters during a disaster, people don’t need confusion, they need leadership,” she said, adding that her and Judge Sklar worked together during the Covid pandemic. “The information she shared with the public she received from me to give out to the community.”
Second question: What is your take on the ammonia plant potentially coming to precinct 4 and the company’s request for an abatement?
Coleman said she believes in responsible growth, and not growth at any cost. Although it brings jobs and economic opportunities, asking for abatement means public dollars, affecting school districts, infrastructure and taxpayers. Do your homework, run the numbers and be transparent to the county, she said, and think about water and marine life as well.
Sklar said she appreciated the many accolades she received from Coleman during the pandemic. She said there’s no application for the abatement yet, they’ve only come to court for their plan, there would have to be a hearing if the request was to go forward. Payment in lieu of taxes: they don’t get anything for free, and the county wants the money upfront and an agreement that the value of the property holds true. She brought up the environmental concerns, and mentioned what will need to happen through the Texana groundwater District and TDECQ.
Third question: Will you be in favor of fur- thering developments to the EOC (Emergency Operations Center) if elected?
Sklar said they have five million dollars and she doesn’t believe any more debt to build the EOC, and it will be for the city, county, hospital, ESD, all emergency responses to make plans and protect the public, plus hold the county dispatchers, because they’ve outgrown their current space. “If we’re talking about other things—the planning of an aging jail, a completely separate issue— and what we’re doing is to understand what those needs are,” she said.
Coleman said she believes the voters should have a choice and public safety always comes first. Large scale developments should move forward with transparency and public involvement. “Before committing the county to major financial obligations, the citizens deserve clear information, total cost, long-term impacts and funding plans,” she said. “If it requires a bond or longterm burden on taxpayers, it should go to the
voters.”
Another question: Three things they hope to accomplish while in office.
Coleman said restoring trust and transparency, strengthen fiscal responsibility, and prioritize public safety by identifying what they truly need. She said she would focus on practical leadership, support law enforcement, protect taxpayers and make decision
in the open.
Sklar said infrastructure
and county roads, build EOC on time and in budget, and address an aging problem for the jail. She spoke of having the money for a communications tower and making sure law enforcement and first responders have the tools they need to move forward.
Next question pertained to their leadership style and an example of it in solving a problem.
Sklar said her style is simple, as she starts with getting all the facts and getting everyone affected by a problem in the same room, finding a win/win situation, adding that she thinks boldly and out of the box. Examples: the county didn’t have enough indigent defense attorneys and teamed up with Victoria County and got the state to foot the majority of the bill; the county lacked a proper juvenile probation and didn’t have the money for a full-time juvenile probation officer, so she asked Victoria County if they would be willing to take Jackson County’s state funds and now there’s 12 juvenile officers the county can use. The county teamed up with Calhoun County because Jackson County DPS was pushing papers.
Coleman said leadership has two be steady, accessible and solution focused. She believe in listening first and making decisions that are fair and practical. Example: As Chief operating officer she had a situation where departments had competing priorities over budget allocations, she brought everyone to the table, and shared the numbers to get everyone to understand.
A question was asked about open communication and transparency. Coleman mentioned the lack of commissioners’ court meetings being live-streamed and said the answer was lack of technology or signal strength, so she began live-streaming the meetings from her phone. Sklar answered by talking about the Open Meetings Act and everything is posted, and Coleman does not have to comply with government standards, ADA, and make sure everything is archived correctly and under the gun to make sure it’s done right. She added that she is in talks with two companies to get the meetings live-streamed, but it’s not free. Sklar said she believes in kitchen table conversations, not small-town whispers.
Early voting begins on Tuesday, Feb. 17.
