Judges should be able, talented, experienced, firm and impartial. They should have keen judicial insight coupled with compassion for all who appear in their courts. A bad judge can send you or a friend to jail or let a dangerous person walk. A bad judge can saddle you with debt you don’t deserve or give a free ride to a deadbeat. We don’t think about who judges are until we are in front of them and they have our lives in their hands.

A patient, calm, and respectful judicial temperament, integrity, intellectual competence, compassion, experience, fairness, courage, willingness to work hard and a true commitment to public service. These are the qualities we look for in the judges we select to serve in our judicial system.

These are the qualities that Chris M. “Matt” Dillon has honed over a lifetime of service to his family, his clients and to the larger community. These are also the qualities that he will bring to the 21^st District Court. I urge you to vote for Chris M. “Matt” Dillon for 21^st District Court Judge. He is the most qualified candidate who has both the honor and integrity to serve the cause of justice for all of our citizens.

Robert E. Jenkins, Jr.
Smithville, Texas

I wanted to pen a few lines anout the fantastic charity car show rececently held at Riverbend Park near Smithville. It was a well-run show sponsored by the Bastrop Area Cruisers. The location was perfect and even the weather cooperated. About 200 cars showed up and most were parked under giant live oaks in the park. The Smithville chamber offered free rides into historic Smithville all day. Several clubs showed up in force, including the local Blue Fames.

What was most impressive was the public response – the place was packed! Everyone enjoyed the great food and even a swap meet with many vendors.

Most importantly, this was a charity event with proceeds raised for local high school scholarships. The raffle netted about $2,400, with those proceeds going to the Wounded Warrior Project.

Bottom line: Another great day for Bastrop County!

Bill Heslep

Bastrop

I’m writing in support of Joe Ternus for County Judge. Having made the acquaintance of Joe at
an Opportunity Bastrop meeting and spoken with him on many occasions about the problems ahead
of the county, I feel certain that with Joe, the county judgeship would be in the hands of a thoughtful,
intelligent, capable, very well qualified person. He is a mild mannered person with an aggressive
determination to find the most reasonable solutions to problems. When he has found what he considers
to be the best solution, he is relentless in his efforts to implement it.
Joe contends that we can both have development and save the beauty of Bastrop County. He is
sentimental about the beauty of the area:  for 41 years he owned a cabin off of Cottletown Road, but he
is thoughtful and analytical about the problems we face. If you take the time to go to joeternus.com you will see why I believe he is competent and fair. Among other things, Joe shows that he understands
the needs of developers. As County Engineer for Bastrop County, he organized the Development Services Department which included a “one-stop shop” for development permits.  He updated and established new regulations for subdivisions. He is qualified to deal with Bastrop County transportation, having administered traffic and transportation programs in the cities of Midland, Beaumont, Austin and Fort Worth.
I hope you will consider Joe as you go to the polls; Joe is smart and he’s competent and he deserves
our votes.

Emily Hewitt
Smithville

As a taxpayer and concerned citizen. I am appalled that we have an attorney running to be our 21st District Judge who has abused the court system by filing 116 personal court cases since 2000. That is roughly an average of one case each month.

Derek Van Gilder has filed these 116 court cases as the Plantiff against tax paying citizens in Bastrop County as evidenced in county court records available on the Bastrop County website. And we wonder why our courts are backlogged.

Now this “lawsuit happy attorney” wants to be our 21st District Judge, representing the people of Bastrop, Lee, Burleson and Washington counties? You have got to be kidding me.

E. Plummel (Walkin Eagle)
Bastrop

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During SXSW, these two fellows, Patrick Knipple and Lander Schmidt, came from Berlin to attend the festivities. They are motion picture producers in Germany in both feature film and documentaries.

They rented a cabin north of Smithville, which they loved, and toured the area by bicycle, and dropped by the airport and visited me. So I acted as the “Ambassador to Smithville and Bastrop County!”

They wanted an aerial tour of the area, and that’s just what we did. One of the funniest things that happened was when Lander asked me about something he had seen on Google Earth when investigating the area they would be staying near. He saw what many in the area know about, is that name “LUECKE” cut out in the pine forest north of the airport. He thought it was a “Google Prank!”  I informed him it was quite real, so I flew them over and they took photos from the air. They are real nice guys, said they hoped to return next year.

Unofficial Ambassador
Sandy Meyerson

I am pleased to announce that the Bastrop County Aggie Moms Club will be offering scholarships for the 2012-2013 school year. The student’s permanent address must be within one of the Bastrop County school district boundaries. Students must be enrolled for the fall 2012 semester as a full time student at Texas A&M University, and passed a minimum of A&M hours (24 for undergraduate and 8 for graduate) excluding transfer credits and credit by exam. Applications must be postmarked no later than June 1. More information and the application is posted on our website at http://bastropcomoms.aggienetwork.com/drupal/scholarships.

Liz Wysocki

President, Bastrop County Aggie Moms Club

Bluebonnet members have recently received mailings, door-to-door solicitations and automated calls urging them to vote for two candidates in our upcoming board election. Some of these solicitations have asked our members to hand their voting authority over to interest groups supporting those candidates. The three organizations making these solicitations are not violating any rules of our current election process. But their actions illustrate a potential issue that our directors have been studying for the past two years and addressed during last month’s board meeting.

Our current at-large voting system and our current proxy system makes it possible for members in four counties – Bastrop, Caldwell, Travis and Hays – on the western side our service area (that account for 60 percent of our meters) to dominate elections. That means if the folks in those counties were to organize, they could elect virtually all of the members on the Bluebonnet board.

This is a fundamental flaw in our election process that our board felt should be addressed to ensure every part of our service area has fair and equal representation based on our demographics.

So, this summer, our board will develop a plan to evenly divide our service area into districts. The board expects to present its plan for final approval at its September meeting. We anticipate the first election cycle in which our members will be able to vote for directors in their districts will be in 2013.

Under the current voting structure, co-op members are able to cast votes in person at our annual meeting or “by proxy,” designating another to cast their vote or allowing the co-op’s proxy committee to vote in their stead. Under that system, the member has the option to either direct the committee to vote for specific candidates or they can allow the committee to cast their vote at its discretion.

The move from at-large voting will effectively end our proxy committee. In most cases where elections are held by district, proxies are not assigned. Or if they are, they’re assigned to individuals, not a proxy committee.

Transparency is critically important during this process. We’ll communicate our board’s progress and we’ll solicit input from our members from start to finish. Long before any election is held in 2013 we’ll inform our members of everything they need to know in order to participate in the election.

Mark Rose
General Manager, Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative

To our dedicated Smithville teachers and staff, we thank you and appreciate you for listening to our child, for he will communicate.

Helping him to feel secure, for he will be free to learn.

Letting him work independently, for he will grow.

Knowing how he grows, for his needs can be met.

Helping him achieve, for he develops a positive concept.

Accepting him as he is, for he will become his own person.

Loving him, for he will know his boundaries.

Many thanks for the many kindnesses you have extended to our children that we as parents, grandparents and the community have never heard about.

Florence Neal
Rosanky

Thank you Smithville! The benefit held Saturday, April 14, for Joshua McCann was a great success. The number of folks involved was staggering. Businesses allowed us to put up a flyer advertising the event and many, many folks came by to shop or visit and donate.

What a wonderful outpouring of love and concern. Again, thank you.

Norma Anderson
Smithville

Smithville Community Clinic opened its doors on Saturday, April 14, to professional basic medical care for our uninsured residents. Dr. Passmann, nurses and other dedicated volunteers assisted a full capacity day of patients toward a step to better health.

Smithville Community Clinic is committed to providing the best medical care possible to those in need of our services. Clinic services will expand as indicated by patient demand and as permitted by patient and community support.

K-Lee Starland

Smithville