Johnny Hopeful: We Cannot Afford The Status Quo

Johnny Hopeful, Democratic candidate for Oxbow County Commissioners Court, represents necessary change by harkening back to an old idea: Government of the people, by the people and for the people.

For too long, decisions about transportation, rural and urban planning, county building and drainage projects and, most important, the levying of taxes, have all been driven by land developers and special interests, working behind closed doors. Multimillion and billion-dollar schemes are struck in private, and then rubber-stamped during “public” meetings that usually serve as little more than theatrical window dressing to soothe the public before their pockets are picked again.

“Haven’t we had enough of this government-sponsored, taxpayer-funded and private interest-driven ‘growth’ shoved down our throats?” Hopeful asked. “We’re told constantly that this artificial growth is good for the county, yet our sitting officials have done next to nothing to bring in jobs for the people in the new suburbs taking over our farmland.”

As a result, our residents are forced to commute hundreds of miles away, to counties that nurture businesses that create jobs.

Hopeful pledges that, when elected, he’ll work to boost the Oxbow County tax base by bringing business and industry to the county – not more ‘master-planned’ suburbs designed to make money for an inside group of developers, engineers and lawyers.

Hopeful Calls On Oxbow County To Publish Check Registry

Johnny Hopeful, the Democratic candidate for Oxbow County Commissioners Court, today called on County Judge Bud Ripener to make the county’s finances more transparent by publishing the county check registry online.

“Oxbow County officials spend millions of dollars each month, and the citizens deserve to know how it’s being spent,” Hopeful said on Tuesday. “Other counties have their auditor make daily updates to what essentially is the county checkbook, and they make those updates available for viewing by the public, on their web sites.

“What I’d like to know is, why have Oxbow County officials resisted this idea?” Johnny added. “Transparent government is honest government, and when I’m elected to the court, I’ll be a strong advocate for absolute transparency.”

Hopeful said such open government practices are especially important given the Oxbow County annual budget of more than $1.3 billion.

“Since by far the bulk of that money comes from taxes levied on our citizens, those same citizens have every right to know how their money is being spent,” Johnny said.

Johnny Hopeful Announces He’ll Run For Oxbow County Commissioners Court

Johnny Hopeful, a long-time Simms City attorney, announced Monday he will run on the Democratic ticket for Oxbow County Commissioners Court.

“I’ve long felt that county citizens were losing their voice in local government when it comes to making decisions about their tax money,” Hopeful said. “I’m running for a seat on the court to give the people a say-so in running their own affairs.”

Hopeful has been an active participant on various city and county commissions, and serves on the board of the Oxbow Undeniably Charitable Foundation.