Hello Everyone,
It has been a while since I have
written. With everything that has gone on in the last month I felt it wiser to
stay quiet until everything was taken care of than to speak out; however, it is
the time to explain a few things and get them out of the way so we can move
forward towards the November Election.
Many folks have asked and even
more have been talking about what happened with getting Opey Watkins on the
ballot for the Commissioner’s race. Let me clear it up for everyone and explain
it as simply as possible.
First off, I refuse to get
sidetracked by the rumor mill or the questioning of anyone’s motives or actions
in dealing with this. This was not the fault of the County Clerk, the Elections’
Clerk, the candidate, the Milam County GOP, the Democrats, or anyone else. I failed to get Mr.
Watkins nomination certification filed on time and I take full responsibility
for it.
The fact is I had the wrong date
for the deadline. In one of those rare instances when my OCD did not kick in, I
continued to believe August 29th to be the deadline and did not
realize that the 25th was the actual date. I had it on my calendar
to go to the County Clerk’s office on the 27th and take care of the
remaining paperwork from the primaries, file Mr. Watkins Certification, and
verify the ballot for the Elections Clerk.
Once I found out my error I
endeavored to correct my mistake and via the hard work of several individuals
and a ruling by the 3rd Court of Appeals we were fortunate enough to
be allowed to file the certification late and get Mr. Watkins on the ballot and
allow the voters of Precinct 1 to choose their commissioner.
This ruling was issued based on
legal precedent as the court deemed that the voters of Precinct 1 and Mr.
Watkins should not be punished due to no-fault of their own. The court ruled
that it was my mistake that caused this and not anyone else’s. There was no
malice or deception involved here, it was an honest and regrettable mistake.
Mr. Watkins has the full support
of the entire Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Milam County. During
the Executive Committee meeting held to nominate Mr. Watkins a quorum of
Executive Committee members were in attendance and everyone, including myself,
unanimously agreed on Mr. Watkins as the GOP nominee for the Precinct 1 County Commissioner
place on the ballot.
I apologize to the voters of Precinct
1 and to Mr. Watkins in particular as it was never my intent for any of this to
happen. I can assure everyone that no one has felt worse about this entire
situation than I have. I promise to rededicate my efforts to ensure this sort
of incident does not happen in the future.
I also apologize to Milam County
Clerk Barbara Vansa and Elections’ Clerk Sherry Mueck. These two ladies work
very hard to ensure we have fair and efficient elections in Milam County and I
thank them for their efforts. I have always worked very hard to help them in
there difficult job and with one mental lapse managed to make their job that
much more difficult. As the prior court rulings have stated, the County
Chairman is not required to be perfect. I know I’m not, but I apologize all the
same and promise to work harder in the future!
In closing I would like to thank everyone
who helped in this matter. It has always been my hope and goal to allow the
voters of Milam County to choose their elected officials in a civil and fair
manner.
It is my aim to continue to do
so.
Sincerely,
Bill Whitmire
Chairman
Republican Party of Milam County
