What is Legislative Leadership? Drafted as a single column by Bill Sargent, the Former Chief Deputy Clerk for Galveston County Elections |
Bill Sargent, Mark Mansius, and John Gay all ran for Congress in the 2012 Republican Primary. They became friends and have been writing weekly columns for the Galveston County Daily News since May 2013. | |
May 8, 2017 In March, I resigned my position as Chief Deputy Clerk for elections after completing some badly needed changes to the election process in Galveston County and inaugurating countywide voting center voting. At the time of my departure; two important pieces of election legislation that I helped initiate remained unfinished. Earlier this year Representatives Wayne Faircloth and Greg Bonnen introduced these measures. They address the following issues:
Working with key players in Austin, we have been able to forge an alliance with the State Republican and Democratic parties. By seeking common ground and addressing the stakeholder’s issues – all the while ensuring we crafted a responsible solution – all the major players willingly testified in support of our legislation. Nobody testified in opposition, not one! Working with Wayne Faircloth’s office, his bill, HB 1735, was amended on the House floor by adding the language of Greg Bonnen’s bill (HB 2691). The combined measure was adopted by voice vote without any opposition. This illustrates how legislative initiatives can be enacted while not compromising goals or principles, but it requires people working together. I’ve learned that legislative leadership is more than just getting bills introduced; it's the ability to pull together divergent views, find common ground, and to forge alliances to get things accomplished while serving the voters with integrity. Our bill now moves to the Senate where we will continue to shepherd it. If enacted, this means all of the Galveston County’s election legislation for this year will become law! A win for our county and a win for voters all across Texas! Bill "Sarge" Sargent
Shown in the photo with Bill Sargent are (left to right) Eric Opiela [Counsel for the Republican Party of Texas] and Glen Maxey [Party Affairs Director for the Democratic Party of Texas]. Both testified in support or our legislation.
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