Mr. Ocker...I think the comments posted on November 26, 2009 at 9:03 p.m. were valid questions.

Perhaps I could word some of them a different way for you to have the ability to answer them openly and truthfully.

1. Have you filed the necessary declarations to raise public money for political campaign?

2. Who is your largest contributor as of this date?

3. Are you taking special interest money?

4. If elected how will you bring property taxes to a parity level that you have proposed?

5. If elected, will you sever county relations with the city based on observing your outright animosity of the city and its staff?

6. Who in the Republican party in Victoria county is supporting you?

7. If elected, how will you stop the losses at Citizens Hospital and its over the top spending it continues to do year in and year out?

8. What are your thoughts on severing the agreement between the city and the county jail system?

9. Do you think the airport should continue to get funding?

10. How do you propose to attract large industry into Victoria county and the surrounding region? What is your experience in this matter?

11. Do you not agree the we are in midst of a global economy and that just supporting local businesses over national and international businesess possibly locating here is just a pandering to a political statement to try to get elected?

Simple questions deserving simple answers, Matt.

Matt,

As I quoted earlier, "It's so much easier to pass judgment on a man than on an idea." TxEx can't attack your ideas, so he attacks the man. The cowards & cronies will be coming out of the woodwork to debase your character, and it'll only lend credence to your ideas. Take the high road. Don't stoop to their level.

Mr. Ocker--

Just a couple of questions.

If you don't run for county judge, what will you do with the money you are asking for?

Have you made the necessary declarations with the state to raise money?

Who in the Republican party is behind you?

Are you part of the Tyler/Hagan/Truman camp in the Republican party?

Is it true you are only running for county judge because you think you might have a slim chance to win and the fact that your ex wife is going to take a large part of the ownership of your business and you will need a job ?

Okra,

Ok so I watched the video. If all the appraisals in upper crust" neghborhoods have gone up less than everyone elses how does that make the appraisals to low? Maybe the appraisals in the rich neighbor hood were higher to start with?

Do you have specific addresses in upper crust neighborhoods that are unfairly low? I am gonna go take a look online.....

Matt,

I think I understand. I have been checking out the Appraisal district lately, cant figure them out. My appraisal has gone up a lot also, too much! When you are Judge will you be able to get my appraisal lowered for me? Didn't you say you did a lot of research, are you gonna go after the rich neighborhoods and get thier appraisals increased?

How do I donate to your campaign?

Zorro, you hit the nail on the head with your statement;

"By contrast, here in Victoria, the city council is influenced by special interests that would not dare show their face at a meeting and prefer running things from the shadows."

When steve Roth did not get the bid for the new fire station he contacted Hagan. Hagan lead the charge to throw out the bids and start over. After all Hagan is the only one on council to recieve a large contribution from steve Roth. Cant wait to throw Hagan out!

Right on Ocker!

By the way, what is your definition of a Good ole boy? Try and be specific if you can. Is it income?, where they live? Where they grew up? Race? or something? List the good ole boys in order of "good ole boy" strengh, so I know who to vote against.

Matt,

I've been reading the The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, and I came across a line that immediately made me think of your campaign -- "It's so much easier to pass judgment on a man than on an idea." The establishment has no answers for your ideas, so they'll have to create an answer for the man -- mudslinging, personal threats, or worse. The point will come when you know you're succeeding because they won't address your ideas. Keep it up.

a debate? i can't to hear the questions the babysitter may ask. or at least her comments.

Matt
You hit the proverbial nail on the head:

The same oligarchy that claims publicly to want growth is the very one that behind closed doors prevents it. The ruling elite of this town wants control.

"Finding the the problem is half the battle in solving it".

so why do we need our town to get bigger?

20 years ago, you were hearing that stuff, huh Matt? 20 years ago, you were like 10 dude! Ha! What a joke!

Matt: I agree with you on the fact that lower taxes might be a big help. The problem as I see it though, is that over the years (eh, decades) poor management has caused the city to realize less real progress even though they had the income. Things have continued to slide until we are now at a point that things are near critical mass (overexaggeration). The police department, of which so many bloggers are so critical, is seriously understaffed and has been, for the past fifteen to twenty years. I heard recently that it is not uncommon for there to be as few as five to eight officers working on a given shift. Five to eight officers...in a city of 60,000 plus population. Is it any wonder people are frequently dissatisfied with the service they receive. At the same time they are burning out the good officers they still have. Other city departments are in the same boat, with only the Fire Department really operating in the green so to speak. To simply cut taxes would cause the city agencies in need to take an even bigger hit which would lead to even more dissatisfaction. It will require a complete reconfiguration of the spending matrix and I'm not confident this administration has the ability to pull it off.

Victoria is a great place to live. The location makes it really the ideal place,you have a nice assortment of places to eat in Victoria, great standard of living, top notch medical community and a regional airport, but also you have the major cities all within a short drive, where you have any restaraunt and entertainment events you can imagine. What makes Victoria unique though is all the coastal towns with local places to eat and enjoy. If you look at the big picture of living in Victoria there are not very many other towns that offer what we have here. I have lived here for 11 years now and wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

I think Austin has that California influence, especially after the dot. com boom and Dell computer era look how fast Round Rock has grown..The old timers remember when that was just a wide spot in the road...Plano is another example...It's how fast the surrounding cities are growing; that measures growth..Victoria; not so much.

If it going to happen; it will get its start in Austin.

Well said Zorro! Austin is a "state of mind", and that is why I choose to live there. There is a positive energy in this city, and it comes from the people who live here. However, I will have to agree with exresident on one thing, sure are a lot of yankees starting to show up here. They are showing up in the masses!

Why would anybody want Victoria to grow? If you want to live in a bigger city, move to Houston.

Doesn't anyone find it strange that the mayor owns a moving company? Could there be a conflict between that and wanting to stimulate growth in the community?

"Experts say the county attracts low numbers of outside retirees, lacks the allure of larger cities such as Austin"

I know Austin, went to school there, worked there and have family and friends who live there. I will be there for Thanksgiving. In short, I think I know Austin.

Austin is not only a city but a state of mind. The city is seen by many as a liberal bastion in the heart of a very conservative state. Their slogan is Keep Austin Weird and that sums up Austin. Austin embraces different cultures, races, religions, ideas and way of life. Their city council meetings are long and generally well attended by all manner of special interest groups, which makes them quite interesting. By contrast, here in Victoria, the city council is influenced by special interests that would not dare show their face at a meeting and prefer running things from the shadows.

The political leadership of Victoria has never made a sincere attempt to welcome different peoples to our area. The Czech Festival and Cinco de Mayo celebrations are insufficient demonstrations of a welcome mat for people of different persuasions. You have only to read these forums to get a sense of how most people in this area feel about newcomers and people with differing ideas. I sincerely doubt that Victoria will ever grow in the spiritual sense and it is doubtful it will grow in population either.

Maybe it's the water. It's pretty bad when you order a glass of water in a restaurant and the whole place bursts out in laughter.

Buckey's is always packed because the management realizes that the customer comes first, not last, as opposed to some less-than-speedy convenience stores around here. Sometimes I wish I had a chair while waiting to get checked out with a bag of ice that's already half-melted. A retiree may well collapse under these conditions.

School taxes. Why would a retiree want to fund three new schools? Their kids are gone already.

I always get a kick out of someone new in town, all excited and such, and then a year later they're depressed beyond description and ready to move anywhere but here, literally.

Oh, the "comedy hour" thing...that was great!

VBB - first of all I love your comment about Buckey's! Great chuckle! Re: your comment about competing with larger cities...although poorly written, I think what was meant is that UNFORTUNATELY we have to compete, and we just can't.

Also, they mention education, but if they want people to move here (and you can't just go after the retired population) you have to do something about the public schools here. At an extremely superficial, aesthetic (sp?) level, who wants to have their children go to oh-so-generic sounding schools with the same colors? But seriously, VISD got VERY poor grades from the state, and people don't want that for their children. I DON'T want that for MY children; I have no choice because I live here.

The "young professionals" don't want to live in a town with such a good-ole-boy atmosphere; they want somewhere to live and work and raise a family with modern outlooks and a true democratic (small d - not Democratic, capital D) society. Our "leaders" are elected over and over and over again and nothing changes at all.

Bottom line - you want population growth, job growth, etc.? We better get some new people in office because it isn't going to happen with the people we currently have. They speak a good line, but they really seem satisfied with the status quo.

Advertising Victoria as a great place to go to and die is smart. After living here for a while death will seem a step up.

I say clever billboards like Buckeys, hire their marketing team & Victoria will be booming! Seriously, have you ever seen a Buckeys not packed?

"Although Carol Vanhook said she enjoys Victoria's shopping and dining, no one can argue the city competes on this level with nearby cities such as Austin and Houston"......HUH? Victoria can compete with the larger cities in this area??? Seriously???