News and Events: As Great As It Could Be ...

The following are excerpts from the welcoming speech Commissioner Jeff Barton gave to delegates at the 2008 Hays County Democratic convention.


Welcome to Precint. 2, crossroads of the county, and of change. Growth and change seem a constant here, but it is worth reminding ourselves that in many nations, especially developed nations, population is steady or even declining. We’re here in the fastest growing part of one of of the fastest growing counties in one of the fastest growing states in on one of the fasting growing nations in the world. On behalf of my colleagues on the commissioners court, especially Debbie Gonzales-Ingalsbe, who, with me, represents part of Kyle, and on behalf of the Kyle city council members present, welcome….

So it’s fitting that we’re here in the second largest town in the county, but the fastest growing…. My family has made our home in the part of the county for seven generations. I know this history like my own soul. It is the tapestry of Hays County: Tonkawa and Comanche, the Spanish, then settled by English and Scotch, and by Africans brought here slave ships. Germans were imported to work the farms. And Czechs, a few Italians. Then successive waves of Mexicans escaping turmoil in their own country. So that finally, today, we are made up of every race and creed, enriching this community and this county in countless ways.

The constant is that we continue to change. Many of us are sad to see the old ways pass, just as we are nostalgic for quieter streets and more green fields. But the pace of change here is a reminder to all of us that life is about change, that it is inevitable in one fashion or another. We adapt or stagnate. Change is always about loss, but it can also be about gain -- about growth, both literal and spiritual, about replinshment, restoration, about expanding horizons. Change is many things, including sometimes, fear, but it is at least in part about what we choose to make of it.

This whole county is changing. It is destined to change more -- to double and triple again in the near future. So it is altogether fitting that this year’s convention should be here in Kyle, the epicenter of change. We’re glad to have you. 1

Before we go further we need to thank some people…. [recognize out-going chair Gloria Whitehead and in-coming chair Ana Martinez Bolling, as well as precinct chairs and elected officials from throughout the county, and local school board members.] Thank all of you who came here today, but especially welcome those who are at their first convention. How many at your first county convention? How many have been here before? How many have been to at least four or five -- 20 years or more of toil in the vineyards? [Remarks on the convention and Democratic politics.]

…. I don’t know how many of you have opportunity to to travel all over this county. We are a diverse place. We have our differences.

In fact, in some ways we are divided -- the Edwards Plateau runs down our county, creating Hill Country to the west and rolling prarie to the east. Water patterns, altitude, demographics, traffic, water availability, rainfall, temperatures, ethnic breakdowns, even the soil itself -- you can see traces of that fault line in a hundred different ways -- in the very soil itself.

There are other differences. To the south, parts of our county identify more with San Antonio. To the north, the county is in Austin’s sphere. We have different media markets. We are brown and white and black, of the county seat and not, newcomer and crusty old-timers. Among as are the retired and the wealthy, the working and the impoverished, young and old, dreamers and disillusioned. In this room are environmental Democrats and economic Democrats and social equity Democrats.

More than most places, Texas has these vast differences. More than most counties in Texas, Hays has our own. It is a problem sometimes. It is a challenge, always. I am one of those who does not think you can overcome a challenge until you recognize it, acknowledge it. But standing here in the crossroads of the county, close to the geographic center, in the center of change, I want to tell you of my firm belief, also, that those differences across this country and across this county are also our greatest strengths.

We have a range of ideas and people and rowdy competing politics -- and we are stronger for it. Here and there are deep divides, canyons and arroyos of misconception between us, but it is within our power to build bridges of commonality and compassion to cross over -- to join up and pitch in, to make change for the better.

We should not let the choice become beautiful homes OR fair housing. We should not let it be good transportation OR clean rivers, roads OR rail, health care for our poorest neighbors OR modest tax rates. Our future is in that womanly art -- sewing and weaving. To weave together the golden threads of our diversity, to sew up the tears in our fabric-- not to hide our differences and disagreements, our different colors and cloths, but to stitch them into a stronger and more vivid tapestry -- the three Es.

We cannot do everything. We should not fool ourselves that we can.

No. We cannot do everything. But we can do more.

Reveling in our differences and our diversity, embracing our kinship and our community, I am confident we can come together -- that we will come together -- as we have in the past, that we will come together as we never have before, to make this county, as we strive today to make this nation -- not just as great as it has been, but as great as it could be….