C A N D I D A T E Q U E S T I O N N A I R E C O M M I S S I O N E R   P R E C I N C T   1 QUESTIONNAIRE COMMITTEE Hon . Howard Jefferson Dr . Zeb Poindexter Annise Parker Roland Garcia Leon Preston Peck Boswell Jay Jenkins Jeff Ross CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE COMMISSIONER PRECINCT 1 NOMINATION VACANCY As someone who has been mentioned as a possible nominee of the Democratic Party for the position of Harris County Commissioner, Precinct One, on the November ballot, the Harris County Democratic Party is inviting you to complete the following questionnaire on key issues that are critical to those within Precinct One. Upon completion of the questionnaire, your responses--along with the other participating candidates' responses--will be posted on the Harris County Democratic Party's website and emailed to all eligible Precinct One Precinct Chairs (on June 17) for their review. The purpose of this survey is to assist the Precinct One Precinct Chairs with making an informed decision when selecting a nominee for the November ballot. Choosing the best candidate is essential to creating a leadership body that understands how to strategically set goals and execute initiatives to reach that vision. Please complete and return this questionnaire to Dominique Davis via email at dominique@harrisdemocrats.com by Thursday, June 16, 2016. 1 QUESTIONS BUDGET Q1: Is your first priority to provide services or to reduce the tax burden for county residents? ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ Q2: On what basis would you allocate your budget between needs inside city limits and those in unincorporated Harris County? How would you prioritize street and bridge work versus park and recreation expenditures? ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ Q3: In FY2015-16, Harris County's budget allocated nearly as much money for jail operation and medical costs ($238.5M) as it did for all Infrastructure, Systems, and County Services ($239.95M). As Commissioner, would you use budgetary negotiations to impact how the criminal justice system presently operates? How? ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ 2 ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ INFRASTRUCTURE/ROADS Q4: Mayor Turner has spoken about the need to fund other transportation improvements besides more roads. What role do you see Harris County providing in building a multi-modal system that addresses the increasing transportation demands of this metropolitan area? ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ Q5: What experience do you have working on infrastructure projects? Please identify the 3 most significant infrastructure projects to which you were substantially involved? ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ 3 ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ CRIMINAL COURTS & JAIL Q6: As Commissioner, how would you utilize your position on the Harris County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council to reduce jail population numbers and reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system? ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ Q7: Nearly two-thirds of defendants charged with crimes in Harris County cannot afford an attorney. As Commissioner, how would you ensure that Harris County's poorest citizens receive quality representation through expanding the Harris County Public Defender's Office, a managed assigned counsel program, reform of the money bail system? How would you do that? ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ 4 ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ Q8: Do you support a complete review of the Sheriff's Department? What are your thoughts regarding the treatment of mentally ill persons in the Harris County Jail? ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ APPOINTMENTS Q9: As County Commissioner, you will be responsible for appointing board members to several departments. Name three essential traits that you are looking for in appointees. What are three traits that automatically disqualify an appointee from consideration? ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ 5 ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ PROGRAMS/SERVICES Q10: What type of services should be in place to stimulate and enhance neighborhood development, improvement of community facilities/services, expansion of employment opportunities, and promotion of business and industrial growth? Do you have any neighborhood-specific plans? Overall plans for Precinct One? ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ Q11: What would you do to ensure that services provided by Harris County are the same for the minority community that are provided to other communities? ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ 6 ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ Q12: The late Commissioner El Franco Lee had a special touch as it relates to Senior Citizens. Will you continue to improve those relations in your administration? ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ACCESSIBILITY Q13: Understanding that there is a great level of attention that must be applied to the work of your position we are concerned as to whether you will still remain accessible to the community leaders of Precinct One once you have gained the seat. If selected as the next County Commissioner, how will you go about remaining open to the precinct chairs and community leaders? ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ 7 ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ Q14: Do you currently have a plan in mind that will bring your entire precinct together relating to the concerns and issues of the entire Harris County Precinct One on a quarterly or annual basis? If yes, what is it? ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ Thanks for taking the time to complete the questionnaire. Now turn it into Dominique Davis via email at dominique@harrisdemocrats.com by Thursday, June 16, 2016. 8