By former Justice of the Peace Terry Lange
I was Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1 for over 24 years. I took great pride in serving in that position. The office became very efficient to the benefit of the county and the public.
I left no back log, other than those with a future trial date setting. When I was up for re-election, if I was going to retire, I hoped it would be someone that would continue the same level of service.
I believe the two (Steve Brennan was one) that filed for the office did not meet that level of service, so I ran for and was re-elected without a run off.
I would like to offer my take on the current candidates. Steve Brennan was the elected Constable for Pct. 1 for 20 years, as such he was to be my court bailiff and serve civil papers.
He did nothing in 20 years. In Ector County, for over 50 years the constable is not paid, has no office, no phone and is not expected to do anything. Why do they seek the office? Because they get free county health insurance.
Constable is the only office where they do nothing. What is free health insurance worth? So Brennan has no record to run on. He has spent 20 years selling soap to car washes. I believe Steve wants to be called judge not actually be a judge.
Candidate Jennifer Woodall called me prior to the last election wanting to know if I was going to run. The decision had not been made at that time. I heard that she had recently used my name in some audio form. I have called her and asked that she not use my name in any manner, I do not endorse her. She now has gone to other county office(s) to see if Judge Carlos Chavez, Pct. 1 has a back log. Other offices don’t know that she is grasping at straws and seeks unfounded claims to boost herself. She won’t find them.
Judge Carlos Chavez was selected by the commissioner’s court. I have known Judge Chavez for over 30 years, while I was with the police department. We have the same background, work ethic and knowledge of the law.
He has picked up where I left off, on top of his office serving the public. He would have been my pick.
I’m asking those who voted for me to please extend your trust and vote for Judge Chavez.
Also, Linda Angelly is running for commissioner, again. When she ran against Freddie Gardner, she called me for advice, I could not, Freddie, was a friend and she was running as a Democrat, bad choice.
Later, she ran for JP against me as a Republican. She claimed to be a “new star in west Odessa.” Ask her if she failed to file her finance reports and had to pay a $400 fine. Does she just want to be on the gov’t payroll in any office?
Mike Gardner is a common sense guy, just wants to support the employees so they can do the work and serve Ector County, no hidden agenda, don’t ask him if you don’t want to know what he thinks. Reminds me a lot of his dad, Freddie, and that is a good thing.
Tisha Crow, what else needs to be said, so bad. Her group tries to use “gotcha” questions so they can distort your answer.
They asked me, “what are you going to do with the backlog of warrants?” It is a dumb question, showing their ignorance. The question is meant to criticize. The answer is simple, when warrants are issued by the JP court, or any court, the warrant goes to law enforcement, it is no longer in the purview of the court, until the person is arrested.
Candidate Ronnie Lewis is doing a great job, hang in there.
ECISD good bond, right on the money and right on the two new locations, it worked.
Terry Lange is the retired Justice of the Peace, Pct. 1.
