(Seguin) – The Seguin Daily News continues its look at those local candidates appearing on today’s election day ballot. Monday, KWED featured the candidates in the race for Guadalupe County District Clerk and Guadalupe County Commissioner Pct. 4.
Locally, there are only four contested county races. Each of those races appear on the Republican ticket. There are no Democratic candidates for local voters to consider. The Seguin Daily News again features a pair of those races and the candidates seeking the Republican nomination for those positions.
Today, the highlighted contests are Guadalupe County Clerk and Guadalupe County Justice of the Peace Pct. 1.
Appearing on the ballot for County Clerk are Incumbent Teresa Kiel and Stacy A. Melton.
Kiel says she has enjoyed her years of service to the county and wants to simply continue that job.
“I don’t think it was a decision really. It’s just something I love doing. I love serving the people of Guadalupe County as their county clerk. I enjoy every day providing solutions to people who come in and need help with whatever they are trying to look up and get an answer to. I’ve worked hard to streamline office operations and I’ve created efficiencies where they didn’t exist before and it’s a challenge that I meet every day and enjoy. I truly enjoy it,” said Kiel.
Kiel says over the years, she has continued her training and has exercised what she has learned on the local, state and national level. She is part of numerous organizations including the County and District Clerk’s Association of Texas and the national board of PRIA, the Property Records Industry Association.
She says this knowledge has allowed her to serve the position to its fullest.
“I am definitely the right person for the job. I have been doing this job for 19 plus years and prior to that, I have knowledge and experience in the areas needed for this job. I feel like I am the best person for this job because I have come into this office and empowered my employees with the knowledge and education, the statutes that they need to do their job and we are known as one of the best and most knowledgeable county clerk offices in Texas. In fact, we have several people calling us daily to get instruction on how to handle certain issues. I have had attorneys call me for instruction on how to solve a problem. So, I am very involved on a national level, a state level, and a local level.”
“So, I’ve got my eye and ear on things that are going on across the nation and I feel like I am serving Guadalupe County in the most honorable way, and I am proud of the recognition that Guadalupe County gets because of my service,” said Kiel.
Challenging Kiel for the County Clerk’s position is Candidate Stacy A. Melton. Melton, an area realtor, says throwing her name in the race, was an effort to give back to the community and be of service.
“For the last year or so, I’ve been wanting to try to do something more in the community maybe run for one of the county seats and so this came up and I have background in I guess just working with the records in the county clerk’s office and I used to work for a title and abstracting company that worked with all 254 county clerk offices in the state of Texas. So, when this came up, I thought maybe this is more of a fit for me because I am kind of familiar with what the county clerk’s office does so that’s why I decided maybe just try to run for this position,” said Melton.
Melton says she has confidence in the skills that she brings to the table and is committed to doing the job that voters elect her to do.
“I have 15 years. I worked for a title, research, and abstracting company and six of those years, I was a production supervisor, so I have managerial skills, supervisor skills. In that job, I was made to just be very detailed oriented to make sure all of the records were right, all the research that we did was accurate like quality control. I’ve worked with the 254 counties in the state of Texas, the county clerk offices also with the Secretary of State office to kind of get this worked done. We did a lot of work for large law firms, mortgage companies, some of the government agencies. I also own two businesses in Selma, so I know that people have asked, do you have any financing background? I don’t have any financing backgrounds but owning two businesses, you obviously have to learn the financing and budgeting to run those businesses,” said Melton.
A trio of candidates will also be appearing on the ballot for Guadalupe County Justice of the Peace Pct. 1. Seeking the JP position are Incumbent Darrell Hunter and candidates Kelly M. Cross and Sam “Saundra” Meyer.
Judge Hunter says it’s been an honor to have served as judge over the last several years and wishes for another term in office.
“The main reason is I am just not ready to walk out of this office yet. That’s one main reason and the other reason, I just absolutely love being the Justice of the Peace. This is one job that I can honestly say that I have just loved to death,” said Hunter.
Judge Hunter says he is allowing for his courtroom success to speak for itself.
“Darrell Hunter is still Darrell Hunter no matter what way you look at it. I believe that I have proven my (loyalty) with this community. I am seeing reelection because of the passion I have for this job and of being a public servant and I do feel like that I am a very effective justice of the peace,” said Hunter.
Challenging Judge Hunter for the position is Cross, a local attorney. Cross says she believes bringing legal experience to the bench is what is now needed for this rapid growing county.
“About 30 years ago, I answered a calling that I felt I had to become an attorney and I did that to help people and to advocate for the marginalized and the voiceless people in the county that I was living in and this race is a continuation of that effort to help the people that really have been abandoned by society or left on their own and so JP Court is usually known as the people’s court and many of the people that come here, don’t have attorneys so I believe that a judge with real legal experience when someone is available like that for a county should be the one sitting in a judicial bench. I know Texas is a very big state with 254 counties and there’s not always legal talent to choose from and so in many many places, having a non-attorney as your county judge which is called a constitutional county court or a JP, it is a necessary evil,” said Cross.
Cross says, if elected, she hopes to bring new and positive changes to courtroom procedures.
“I believe coming in with those news ideas, innovative solutions to our modern problems using mediation, using contact with the public and community engagement for speaking to them directly, I have a proven ability to work and resolve disputes within the boundaries of the law. My statutory probate experience, oh my gosh, I handle an immense number of cases each year and it taught me a lot of valuable lessons that I am going to bring to this court such as what I said mediation or warring parties. They can creatively – logically assessing any kind of legal issue quickly, open mindedness but above all, I bring in a lot of gratitude for the grace of God who has always brought me into public service whether it was through a campaign or just through getting up and doing it,” said Cross.
Meyer, also a practicing attorney, says she entered the race to also serve the community and bring about what she believes are some much-needed changes.
“I’ve been an attorney practicing for a little over 12 years and I have been in all of the JPs pretty much in almost the entire Central South part of Texas. I have seen a lot of issues with the JP system, and they are all so different and I just want to get in there and make a difference and try to help with the structure, with the way things are handled and serve my community,” said Meyer.
Meyer says she is committed to working hard for the people and making the courtroom as valuable as it can be for the public.
“I love this community and I want to thank everyone whether I’m elected or not, this community has given me so much. I have only lived in Seguin for a few years, but this has been the best place that I have lived in my entire life, and I want to tell the voters that I would work very hard. I would pay attention to detail. I would learn my job and do my job to the very best of my ability. I bring a very long experienced knowledge of the law, a knowledge of the people, an understanding of how hard they work for their money and an understanding of right and wrong and I believe I would make a difference. I believe that I would work hard for the people, and I think they would not regret putting me in office. I have some new ideas, some new thoughts and I really hoped that this would be a very fair campaign. I think we should all stop taking our signs down and all should get along and try to make this fair and make this considerate of each other. I don’t like the meanness. I think we should all work together, and I would work together for the people if they voted for me,” said Meyer.
The other two locally contested races include Guadalupe County District Clerk and Guadalupe County Commissioner Pct. 4. Polling locations will be open today from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.