The Times Record News interviewed the two candidates running for the Precinct 4 Wichita County commissioner in the March 3 Republican Primary.

Aaron Smith, an Iowa Park heating, ventilation and air-conditioning contractor, is challenging incumbent Jeff Watts to sit on the five-person panel that oversees county government. No one filed to run as a Democrat, so the winner of the Republican Primary is likely to win the term.

Why Jeff Watts thinks he is the better candidate

Watts is seeking his fourth term on the Commissioners Court. He sees his extensive political and government experience as making him the better choice.

“I served the City Council of Pleasant Valley for 20 years, built their water and took care of all the duties of a city manager …, as well as served on the Iowa Park School Board for 15 years,” Watts said.

He said he also has served on the West Texas County Judges and Commissioners Association Board of Directors, overseeing 151 counties.

“I think that my knowledge of budgeting and the experience of being involved in municipal, school district and county government far outweighs my opponent’s experience,” he said.

What Watts sees as the biggest challenge facing the county

Watts sees employee costs as being a major challenge in the coming years for the county.

“We have deputies that have had 10 to15 years’ experience making $20,000 less than what a starting police officer in Wichita Falls makes. We have a difficult time maintaining attorneys in the D.A.’s (District Attorney’s) Office, simply because the market has outpaced us tremendously,” he said. “To be able to move quickly to rectify that situation, it is just not something that we’re able to do without just shredding our tax rate to pieces. We have to move a lot slower and be more conservative with that.”

What Watts thinks about the boom in data centers and solar farms

Watts believes the promotors of data centers and solar farms that have expressed interest in Wichita County have the potential to bring in added revenue.

“It gives relief to the taxpayer with a new injection of new revenue into the equation,” Watts said.

He also said it’s important to manage how these enterprises grow, and the area faces a challenge in finding the skilled trade workers needed for the facilities.

“It just worries mainly in that it’s going to be a slower process than projected simply because it’s going to be difficult to get the kind of labor they need to get these things up and running as quickly as what they’d anticipated,” he said.

“We need to grow, and we need to bring new revenue to town,” Watts said. “That only helps the current taxpayer today, and we want to do it smartly and efficiently.”

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Watts sees long experience as plus in Wichita County reelection bid

Reporting by Lynn Walker, Wichita Falls Times Record News / Wichita Falls Times Record News

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