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Texas House of Representatives, District 52 Candidates

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By Candace Birkelbach Friday, 03 October 2008

House District 52 candidate forum - video

Bryan Daniel, Republican

Lived in district: nearly eight years

Education: Bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural education, Texas Tech University
Career: Texas Tech College of Agriculture; National Council for Agricultural Education; House Agriculture Committee, Soil and Water Conservation Board; United States Department of Agriculture; Ag Workers Insurance
Contact info: 388-8212, www.bryandaniel.org

Q. What got you interested in politics?: A. From my work with the United States Department of Agriculture and as a staff person in the House Agriculture Committee, I realized that government does so many things that are connected to our daily lives. More and more, I realized there are a lot of ways to help people deal with their concerns, and I wanted to see all the ways that government works to make that possible. I became increasingly interested in the decision-making process and becoming involved with policies that influence us all.
Q. What is your platform?: A. There are three huge issues affecting this area — property taxes, transportation and education. Property tax is the issue that comes up more than any other. People want to know that their taxes are under control and being used wisely and efficiently. Beyond that, they want to know what the limit is on property taxes. Everyone has a different take on transportation depending on where they are. These are simple issues to understand, but the solutions are not as simple because it’s different for each area. Education is critical in any community but especially one with high growth. We need to make sure there are educational opportunities for everyone. Public safety, health care and energy are also important issues.
Q. What do you hope to accomplish if elected?: A. People need transparency in their taxes so they can know the entire process of where their money goes and what it’s being spent on. It is the job of the state representative of district 52 to make sure the transportation needs are met with limited state funds. There are areas of education that the state is involved in above the level of school boards. I hope to work with educational funding in the next legislative session.
Q. Why are you the best choice for state representative?: A. I’m a small-businessman; I have experience with higher education and the public schools in Texas and have worked with the government before. My experience plus my philosophy brings you to my vision of government working on things it does well while letting local entities do the things they do best. My conservative beliefs give me faith in the individual and the ability for the community to address issues. I give credit to the community for the things they have done and will continue to do.
Q. Why did you decide to run for state representative?: A. My time has showed me the issues government deals with and there are so many opportunities to find ways to address those issues. I wanted to be part of that decision making process because it impacts me too. The most effective legislators are the folks that go to Austin with a core set of values and make good decisions based on those core values. I like to see that honesty and integrity in decision-making. I really think if a person has an opportunity to have public service, they should take that opportunity to greater the community. It was the right time for me, professionally and personally, to take on this service.

Diana Maldonado, Democrat

Lived in district: 11 years
Education: Bachelor of arts in business management, St. Edwards University

Career: Supervisor of tax applications, comptroller’s office; Round Rock Board of Trustees from 2003 to 2008, board president 2007 to 2008
Contact info: 501-3578 ext. 1105, www.dianamaldonado.com

Q. What got you interested in politics?: A. There are multiple things that got me interested in politics. My parents always taught me to put my best foot forward and to give back to the community. I’ve been doing that since elementary school through various volunteer projects and mentoring programs. From my mentoring experience, I realized that education was so important and can make a big difference in a person’s life. This encouraged me to run for school boards and different civic groups focused on education. Now, I have the ability to impact education along with other important issues at the state level.
Q. Why did you decide to run for state representative?: A. The leadership needs to reflect the community. There is a need for strong leadership in this district because it is a strong community with an educated workforce and knowledgeable citizens. There are a lot of issues that need to be addressed at the state level. My experience with the comptroller and school board has given me the ability to work with different voices and perspectives on finding common ground to make sure business gets done. That’s what I’ve done on the school board, and I want to continue that on the state level.
Q. What is your platform?: A. We need to continue to put our students and families first by advocating for public education, affordable college tuition and health care. We also need an open process to transportation so we can be good stewards of the environment. These pocketbook issues are what matter to taxpayers and citizens. We need healthy and vibrant communities, and these issues will ensure vitality.
Q. What do you hope to accomplish if elected?: A. First and foremost, I will serve as a clear voice for your community. I will bring balance to the Texas Legislature and work more with the existing leadership so we can be more efficient in policy making.
Q. Why are you the best choice for state representative?: A. I am already an elected official in Williamson County with over five years of service and a proven track record with more than 22 years of service in state government. This gives me a varied perspective on state government, the legislature and policy making. While my service on the school board was nonpartisan, I am able to work across party lines and build trust through sustaining relationships so we can continue to move in the right direction. Whether you are a democrat or republican, we can agree that we need good schools for children, safe neighborhoods and efficient government. Government needs to focus on the mission that they are serving the community.

Lillian Simmons, Libertarian

Lived in the district: 14 years
Education: Two years at Louisiana State University, studied education
Career: Worked as a certified professional legal secretary for 10 years

Contact info: 246-2597, xld.com/ls/home.htm

Q. What got you interested in politics?: A. I am a Cuban exile and became interested in freedom issues because of the situation in Cuba. The country used to have a good economy and a lot of individual freedom, but now there are a lot of political problems. We lost our freedom, and I want to prevent that from happening here.
Q. Why did you decide to run for state representative?: A. The Libertarian Party was recruiting, and I was interested in the Trans-Texas Corridor. It seems very dangerous, and I want to try to stop it. The item that concerns me the most is the refusal of officials to state the purpose of the Trans-Texas Corridor — that it is primarily a trade route to move more imports (primarily Chinese) from Mexican ports into the U.S.
Q. What is your platform?: A. I am opposing the Trans-Texas Corridor and the initiative on referendum. We should enable citizens to bring up an issue they are concerned with to overcome elected officials who are not responsive to the wishes of the people. I am also concerned about the North American Union trying to merge or erase our borders. This amounts to more unelected government power, trying to set up a trade board to manage “free trade.” All they are after is just more unelected power — it’s the same old story.
Q. What do you hope to accomplish if elected?: A. I will probably be doing the same thing I have been doing for a lot of years — fighting corruption. I have been involved with several jobs fighting corruption. I was involved with the drive to stop the school bond in Round Rock, and that was a successful drive.
Q. Why are you the best choice for state representative?: A. I have integrity. Elected officials should represent the people in an honest way and should have the integrity to fight corruption.