Popp joins crowded field for Pct. 1 commissioner

Precinct 3 commissioner Richardson draws opponent in Smith

Published Sunday, January 6, 2008

By Brandon Evans

After recently helping lead a succesful battle against the Texas Railroad Commission, Greenwood-area resident and small business owner Jim Popp now turns his sights to running for county commissioner.

On Wednesday afternoon, Popp filed to run as a Democrat for Precinct 1 commissioner. Facing no primary opponents, he will square off against one of four potential Republicans running for the position, including incumbent Robert Rankin.

"I think the people of Precinct 1 need a commissioner that represents the people and will look after the interests of the people only," Popp said. "I believe I can do the job better than anybody."

He said the biggest problems in Precinct 1 are road conditions and water issues. He correlates the water issues to improperly regulated disposal and injection wells.

"I am 150 percent behind our domestic oil and gas industry," Popp said. "It lessens our dependence on foreign oil and gas and it provides a lot of jobs here in Wise County. But I want it done in a correct and responsible way, in order to protect our water and our roads."

He said the heavy traffic of oil and gas trucks is responsible for a lot of damage to county roads.

He also said the county must do all it can to prepare for growth.

"I think Wise County is growing beyond all expectations. I believe I can help expedite the growth and make it a healthy growth all around."

If elected, Popp said he will hold regular town hall style meetings in order to meet with his constituents and keep them abreast of the work being done by the county.

Although a majority of the elected county positions have favored the Republican Party during the past several years, Popp remains confident he can win.

"The people of Precinct 1 are intelligent, and they will vote for the best person. It won't matter if they are Democrat or Republican. They are smart enough to vote for the man and not the party.

"The election process is a job interview. If the people want to hire me, they will vote for me."

Popp said he's been a registered Republican and voted independent for most of his life. He only recently decided to go with the Democratic party.

"I think on the local level the Democrats better reflect the concern for the health and well being of the people at this time."

Although Popp has worked as a private investigator for much of his life, he spent the past two years working with a group of his neighbors in the Greenwood area to keep an injection well out of their neighborhood.

The citizens finally won their battle in December when the Third Court of Appeals in Austin ruled in favor of the group's arguments against the Railroad Commission (RRC). The well was to be located near the intersection of county roads 2625 and 2735.

During an early hearing with the RRC, the group presented ample evidence that the RRC did not adequately address all the public safety concerns when approving an application permit to Pioneer Exploration, Ltd., to create an injection well to dispose of waster produced from oil and gas drilling near Greenwood.

The RRC seemed to ignore the evidence and proceeded to approve the application.

The appeals court in Austin found in favor of the residents and said the RRC used too narrow of an interpretation of the "public interests" in order to "rubber stamp" the permit.

After helping lead a battle against the RRC and speaking to communities all over Texas dealing with similar situations, Popp said he felt prepared to see what he could do for the county as a commissioner.

In November he will be facing Rankin, Danny White, John Peterson or Cory Scwhinn.

Other filings:

Although incumbent Precinct 3 commissioner Mikel Richardson is facing no opponents in the primary, he will run against Democrat Bill Smith in the November election.

Also, Clinton E. Phillips of Chico is running for district attorney of Wise and Jack counties as an independent. Phillips will face a three-man race against current county attorney Greg Lowery (R) and Gerald Hartley (D), an attorney from Runaway Bay, in the general election in November.

Also, train dispatcher Charles William Randolph (D) of Decatur will run for District 61 of the Texas House of Representatives. He will face either incumbent Phil King (R) a Weatherford attorney or Joe Tison (R), a consultant also of Weatherford.

Incumbent District 30 state senator Craig Estes (R) of Wichita Falls will face Charles R. Stafford, a school board member and real estate agent and developer from Denton, in the March primary.

As of Wednesday at 6 p.m., the deadline for filing, no Democrat had filed to run for the state senate seat.