Patrick Rose

Editorial Board, Austin American-Statesman.

State Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs, continues to be a forceful advocate for District 45, with a leadership style that focuses on building consensus at the Legislature. As a result, Rose has an impressive list of accomplishments that has helped improve the quality of life for district residents and all Texans. He is the best choice for the March 2 Democratic primary.

The District 45 seat represents a swing district split between Democrats and Republicans.

Throughout his tenure, Rose has been a moderating voice at the Legislature, a quality that helped spur his fast rise in a chamber controlled by Republicans. Rose, 31, is chairman of the House Human Services Committee. During the 2009 legislative session, he passed a bill that increased oversight and security at state institutions and community homes that serve Texans with disabilities.

Rose authored a bill last session guaranteeing that extra money be sent to midsize school districts, including Wimberley and Dripping Springs. He worked with Republican state Sen. Jeff Wentworth of San Antonio to secure $1 million in state funds for the River Systems Institute to monitor the San Marcos Springs, an outlet of the Edwards Aquifer.

Since going to the Legislature in 2003, Rose helped secure more than $26 million for special programs at Texas State University and nearly $80 million for construction of facilities. He also helped passed legislation to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program. On economic development, Rose wants the Texas Enterprise Fund to offer incentives to small businesses that relocate to the state.

Rose faces a primary challenge from Andrew Backus, 49, a real estate investor from Driftwood. Backus is a one-issue candidate who is running to call attention to the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District, a volunteer board on which he serves. He wants legislation to expand its authority and financing. Beyond that, his grasp of the issues is shaky.

In elections for county judge of Hays County, Democrat Jeff Barton, 50, has the temperament, proven record of accomplishments and vision to lead. He is the best choice in that primary. He is challenging incumbent Elizabeth "Liz" Sumter, 50, of Wimberley.

On the Republican side, Bert Cobb, 64, a San Marcos physician, offers the knowledge and skills to do the job. He

faces Peggy Jones, 46, a businesswoman, in the GOP primary for county judge.

Barton, who has been a county commissioner since 2007 and also served as commissioner from 1992-1998, has shown a superior knowledge of the challenges regarding groundwater, conservation, transportation and law enforcement in Hays, one of Texas’ fastest-growing counties. Those are important attributes as the county weathers growing pains in its shift from mostly rural to suburban.

Under Barton’s leadership, the county nearly passed an initiative in 2008 to improve public safety for families living on smaller lots in unincorporated subdivisions. It was spurred by a 2007 shooting incident in which 7-year-old Daniel Galicia was killed while jumping on a trampoline in his family’s yard east of Kyle by a stray bullet fired by a neighbor shooting targets in his yard, which was less than half a mile from Daniel’s home.

The ordinance would have banned the shooting of firearms on lots smaller than two acres in unincorporated areas and would have passed except that Sumter cast the vote that defeated it.

Her job was to make policy to protect all residents. Instead she made a raw political calculation. And Sumter’s tenure has been divisive. In one case, she brought embarrassment to the court by passing along to the country district attorney invalid allegations of corruption regarding road projects in fellow commissioners’ precincts. The allegations were swiftly dismissed, but the damage has lingered.

Cobb also is knowledgeable about challenges, including transportation, groundwater and the budget. He wants to reduce regulations for construction companies that he says are choking the creation of jobs and economic development.

There is a clear contrast between candidates seeking the District 45 House seat and the Hays County Commissioners Court’s top leadership post. We urge voters to choose Rose, Barton and Cobb.