Name:

Jim Popp

Office Sought:

Wise County Commissioner, Precinct One

Philosophy on Leadership:

In the office of Wise Count Commissioner, leadership in my opinion is having the intestinal fortitude to stand up for what is right and what is in the best interests of the residents of Wise County, at all times, on any issue, no matter what other pressures are being applied by outside influences to pursue another direction.

Do I own property and pay taxes in the Precinct that I will represent?

Yes

Have I ever been late in paying my taxes?

No

What is the number one issue facing the citizens of Precinct One? How do I plan to address that issue?

Most Precinct One residents that I have spoken to mention immediately that the non paved, poor, condition of our county roads is their biggest concern. I have stated openly in my website www.jimpoppcommish.com) that there are other important issues facing our residents too, but with regard to our county road situation, I have stated to those residents personally that almost immediately upon being elected I would ascertain the total yearly amount of monies budgeted and allocated to Precinct One for road work. I would then take Precinct One and divide it into four sections, and schedule the road work and the county roads to be paved, equally each year for each of the four sections of Precinct One. I would then make sure that this schedule was adhered to. This would then continue each year, equally, until all our county roads in Precinct One are paved. In this manner, no part of Precinct One or any particular area's residents can, or will, feel slighted regarding having the roads in their areas paved. There will be no preferential treatment given to any one resident, no matter who they are and all residents will be treated equal using this plan.

What have my life experiences taught me to prepare me for the office I seek?

Having been an independent businessman for quite a number of years, I have dealt with rather large budgets and I have handled the unexpected, unforeseen, problems that can arise from time to time and that were not initially considered within those original budgets. I have personally handled statewide and national contract negotiations with some of the nation's largest corporations and I have dealt with people and clients for all those years, covering a variation of situations, which can and do arise.

How would I rank the following in importance? Explain.

On a personal level, I believe that protecting our fresh water resources is the most important and most urgent issue we face in Wise County today. After all, without plentiful, good, fresh water resources, our need for improved county roads and anything else we can think of will be a distant second, since no one new will want to move into our county and our present residents will be moving away eventually, if we don't have good fresh water resources.

I also believe that we must keep our tax rate as low as possible for all our county residents, at any point in time, in order to help them maintain their quality of life and take care of their families financially, whether they are retired residents on a fixed income or younger residents raising a family. The cost of energy at the present time is putting too much of an added strain on most of our county's resident's budgets as it is already.

This next issue shouldn't even be "ranked" in this list, in my opinion. I plan on doing what I can immediately upon entering office, if I am elected, to start addressing this problem. The condition of many of our county roads in Precinct One, and the percentage of those roads that are paved, is certainly not the best when compared to other Wise County's precincts. We may even fall last. Since I personally live on a county road, two miles in and off of any blacktop road, I can well understand the frustrations expressed by many other Precinct One residents about Precinct One county road conditions. My wife and I experience those rough conditions everyday too. I have already expressed in a previous question, what I would do as Precinct One Commissioner to begin to alleviate those bad conditions and finally get Precinct One on our way to better county road quality, in all parts of Precinct One.

Working with regional leaders regarding transportation issues is important also, but should be done by all of our County Commissioners with the best interests of all Wise County residents as their first concern, before making any decisions with regard to this subject. On any large decisions or projects, regarding this subject, the citizens of Wise County should be afforded a fair chance to hear about the particular project and then have citizen input heard, before our County Commissioners permanently commit our county to any long term commitment on this issue.

What kind of change would I like to see in Wise County and how can I help make that change a reality?

I have already stated openly my answer to this question, every time I speak to any Wise County residents and initially, in my interview with the WCM upon my filing for my candidacy for County Commissioner of Precinct One.

I would like to see the residents of Wise County be given the opportunity for much greater input into what is happening in our county and the decisions that are being made at, and by, our County Commissioners Court on many matters that ultimately will affect those same residents. So far, too many major decisions have been made by our County Commissioner's Court without the input of our county residents, in my opinion.

To correct this situation, as I said the day I announced my candidacy in the WCM, back on January 2, 2008, I will hold Town Hall meetings, once a month, for Precinct One residents and which will also be open to ALL Wise County residents. In those Town Hall type meetings, I will discuss with the residents in attendance the important issues before the Commissioners Court and answer any questions they might have, to the best of my ability, regarding those issues. I will then have open back and forth discussion with those residents about their feelings on the various issues and their thoughts with regard to those issues. I know I am personally very tired of electing a County Commissioner and then only hearing from him again in another four years. I suspect many other residents of Precinct One feel that way too from my personal discussions with them. All three other County Commissioners will also be welcome to attend these Town Hall meetings too, and provide their input and answers to the residents in attendance.