Three Republican candidates are vying for the Kendall County judge position being left vacant by Darrel Lux after eight years in the role.
The four-year seat was first filled by Lux in 2013 by appointment after the death of Gaylan Schroeder, and he has been successful in two elections since his appointment.
Precinct 3 Commissioner Richard Elkins is the only sitting commissioner risking his commissioner seat to take the at-large position, but he is facing off with attorney and local landowner Shane Stolarcyzk and longtime Kendall County legacy resident Chris Taylor.
The county judge position sits as the head of the commissioners, guiding meetings much like the mayor of a city council would. While the county judge can hear criminal and civil cases, Kendall County has opted to leave that responsibility with the 451st District Criminal Court judge, leaving the county judge only to hear probate cases typically for estate distribution for deceased individuals.
Elkins said his wife, Pat, has generational ties to the county since 1885. The couple has four children and 12 grandchildren. Elkins managed research and development for the Apollo Program at IBM for three years, managed over 2,000 employees at Datapoint for 15 years and owned and operated management companies for 21 years.
Stolarcyzk has two children with his wife, who he said reside on a piece of rural property in Kendalia. He said he has served in a range of positions in life, from a janitor to the person signing the checks in his business, but he feels all roles are essential. Additionally, he has 20 years of experience as a research attorney and served as a military prosecutor in the USAF Reserves.
Taylor was born and raised in Kendall County, meeting his wife, Holly, at Boerne Elementary School. He said he has a long history of entrepreneurship in the county, starting his first business at 15 with money from the Kendall County Livestock Show. He retired from Hewlett Packard as a legal and engineering operations manager after serving as the operations manager of the family pecan business.
Early voting for the Republican candidate for the county judge position, along with the four other Republican primary races, kicked off Feb. 14 and runs through 7 p.m. Feb. 25. Election Day for the primary is March 1.
The Star asked each candidate the same questions. The following are their answers. Some editing was done because of space restrictions.
Q: Why did you decide to seek the Kendall County Judge position?
• Elkins: I have enjoyed being a 14-year public servant and developing every-day, cost-effective, common-sense solutions and services for Kendall County citizens that protect our natural resources and enable every person in our county to live with dignity, opportunity and security today and into the future. For the past 14 years, I have worked with and learned of the needs of our citizens and businesses and how to protect our quality of life as your county commissioner and judge pro tem. It is a privilege and honor to serve as your county commissioner for Precinct 2 and judge pro tem and be able to pay it forward to citizens of today and future generations.
• Stolarcyzk: I live my life putting service before self. When I was concerned with our country’s safety, I enrolled in the military to be a part of the solution. I now see Kendall County facing numerous challenges. Everyone wants to move here, and who can blame them? But with explosive growth comes many challenges. Out-of-state developers armed with legal teams are knocking at our door wanting to take advantage of our beautiful landscape. The folks running the federal government are telling us what we can and cannot do. I see what our country is becoming, and I want to be a part of the solution again. The greatest change comes at the local level.
• Taylor: Growing up in Kendall County was a privilege and a blessing. I want to do my part to ensure my daughters and my grandchildren will have the same opportunities and blessings I had growing up here. I am fueled by the idea of serving others, and I feel public service is our duty.
Q: What are your qualifications?
• Elkins: Currently, Kendall County commissioner (8 years), judge pro tem (6 years) and experienced in presiding over commissioners court, preparing and managing the Kendall County annual budget, trained in emergency management and have a handle on a wide range of the administrative duties in the county. While working with the members of commissioners court and many of you, we authored and defended legislation at the 2021 [state] legislature. Currently, I am writing new legislation to present to the [state] legislature in September 2022 that will protect our natural resources and manage and control development and incompatible land use.
• Stolarcyzk: I was the first person in my family to attend college (on a baseball scholarship). After that, I attended law school and was hired by Texas’s highest judges to advise them. Since then, I have built multiple small businesses despite the hurdles imposed by government overreach, especially during the pandemic. I am a 20-year research lawyer and have learned first-hand how insiders and special interests try to undercut small counties when we try to protect our personal property rights and freedoms.
• Taylor: I hold a bachelor of arts in organizational administration, a master of business administration, and a PGD in strategic management. I have 38 years of business experience, retiring from HP as a legal and engineering operations manager. I am trained in global procurement and fraud detection and investigation. I earned a United States Patent for a computer system. I have served on various boards and commissions with the city of Boerne under the last three different mayors, and I have over 15 years of experience as a volunteer firefighter. I have served as the president and treasurer in non-profit organizations in the community.
Q: What are the key issues facing Kendall County?
• Elkins: According to the citizens: Develop and execute a plan that addresses the traffic congestion issues of today and prevents it from happening tomorrow. Protect our natural resources and our water. Work with the legislature to pass new legislation that will allow commissioners court to protect our way of life, natural resources/environment, manage and control development [and protect] our property rights to prevent incompatible land use. Additional medical services so that we are not required to go to San Antonio for healthcare. Need another H-E-B between Boerne and Bergheim. Expand the Kendall County jail and integrate the [Kendall County] Court at Law into the judicial system. Do not increase the tax rate.
• Stolarcyzk: Explosive growth, transportation and mobility issues and curbing government overreach of our personal freedoms. These are complex issues that can be solved by someone who has spent the last two decades as a trusted advisor to our state and country’s highest leaders to address similar “unsolvable” problems. We share these with other similarly situated counties. These problems have been creeping up on our county for the past decade. I will handle not only the current fires we need to put out but also start planning longer term strategies to tackle the challenges to be faced in the upcoming years.
• Taylor: Transportation mobility, particularly in the southern portion of the county, is a big concern. Rapid growth and the problems that come with it – ensuring we have enough water, the loss of native habitat, roadway congestion, etc. – are other concerns. Most importantly, the lack of a plan to tackle these issues is a great concern.
Q: How does the county best handle/accommodate growth?
• Elkins: By continuing to refine our development regulations, collaborate with developers and other local governments while seeking and obtaining necessary legislation to protect our property rights and manage development that will today and in the future ensure our Hill Country way of life and its natural resources.
• Stolarcyzk: The best way we can handle and accommodate growth is to use the legal tools provided us by the state to ensure that any and all developers are put through a strict review process. Many counties have fallen prey to out-of-town/state developers who trick the authorities with false promises and leave the county holding the bag for the developments’ broken promises. There are steps we can take, which have proven successful in other counties, to help weed out the developers who are not coming to our county with the respect and diligence our county is owed.
• Taylor: In Texas, county government is not given much authority by the state of Texas. Because of that, working collaboratively with the school districts, the cities of Boerne and Fair Oaks Ranch and with community partners in our smaller communities like Comfort, Alamo Springs, Sisterdale, Kendalia and Bergheim, as well as with the state representative and senator is of utmost importance.
Q: What is the most glaring weakness the county has at this time, and why do you think that?
• Elkins: Due to inadequate legislation, we cannot protect our quality of life. Legislation, from our Texas Legislature, removed local government and citizen control to manage development, removed our property rights, increased property taxes all while limiting and taking away tax dollars that pay for necessary services for you.
• Stolarcyzk: Our county needs a strategic plan so that all four precincts are engaged and support our overall plan going forward. One thing my military career has taught me is that we may not all agree on all subjects, but we are stronger united than divided. Our county deserves a county judge who will earn the respect of all four precincts and will give voice to all four precincts in order to develop a strategic plan that will serve as a starting point for official county actions.
• Taylor: Some longtime residents of Boerne and Comfort can remember when some of the store fronts downtown were unoccupied during the recession of the 1980s. It would have been difficult for anyone around back then to imagine a Boerne and Comfort busting at the seams and even more difficult to advocate establishing a plan for future transportation needs. But that is exactly the position we’re in now, and we can no longer avoid that reality.
Q: How do you successfully lead an entity like Kendall County?
• Elkins: By being an edu cated and experienced public servant that works and communicates proactively with the citizens.
• Stolarcyzk: My small business background and military career has shown me that the only way to successfully lead is to be elbow to elbow with the folks who are boots on the ground. How can you understand the struggles of a particular department unless you have walked in their shoes? How can you understand the struggles of our justice system unless you have participated in it? I am ready to put in the work to personally appreciate the challenges of each county department and to listen to their thoughts for better operational processes.
• Taylor: First, with humility. Accept that you will not always have the answers, and it’s important to listen well to others. Second, with grace. Remember that you will not always see eye-to-eye with everyone, but there is much to be learned from other perspectives. Third, work collaboratively. Engage the school districts, the state, the cities, communities and community stakeholders to come together to strategize and work towards common goals. Fourth, be transparent, communicate and be attentive to the citizens. Finally, make plans, then work them.
Q: Why should people vote for you?
• Elkins: I am a public servant, not a politician, with the necessary experience, education and proven leadership that is currently working for you. I am not an unknown capability. I have been working with you, executing the job for eight years.
• Stolarcyzk: You will not find someone who will work harder than me to protect what makes our county great. I chose to be here. I am raising my children here. I intend to retire here. I am not in this to receive a paycheck. I am in this to protect what I hold dear, and I think you hold dear: preserving our great county.
• Taylor: My educational background, my business experience and my years of community service, such as my years as a volunteer firefighter, have made me Taylor made for county judge.
Comment
Comments