ECTOR COUNTY, Texas — We are officially less than a week away from the March 1 primaries, which means there are many decisions to be made.
NewsWest 9 spoke with the candidates running for Ector County Commissioner in precincts 2 and 4 about their plans for the county.
In precinct 2, Ryan Patton and Billy Tripp are running against incumbent Greg Simmons on the Republican ballot for the commissioners seat.
Patton said one of his plans if he is elected is to set a plan for the county that incorporates many functions of it.
"My main objective is I want Ector County to have a plan and a vision for the future, because right now we are not planning for 20 years down the road," said Patton. "Today, we are not planning to make sure the infrastructure that we need for a vital community is in place. So, first and foremost, I want to push the court so that we get a plan for the long haul so we can take care of things like our courthouse, our library, our roads and broadband."
Simmons, the current commissioner for precinct 2, who is seeking re-election, told NewsWest 9 he plans to continue to make public safety a priority.
"The primary purpose of the county government is to maintain safe roads and to provide for the safety of our citizens," said Simmons. "Through things like law enforcement, is where I tend to put a lot of my focus and a lot of my priority. We want to make sure that things like the library are not forgotten about too, but my priorities have always been the roads as well as the law enforcement."
Tripp said he plans to focus on the structure of public building and keeping people in the county.
"We have a real problem with our courthouse, and we have a real problem with our library," said Tripp. "We have first responders that are being trained here, and go elsewhere for higher pay. We've got to address those issues."
Over in precinct 4, Savannah Morales is running against incumbent Armando Rodriguez on the Democratic ballot.
Rodriguez, the current precinct 4 commissioner, said he plans to continue to make the county cemetery a priority.
"Right now, there is the possibility that we might be shutting the cemetery," said Rodriguez. "I don't want that to happen. We are very lucky that we do have land close to the cemetery to remain open. I also want to make sure to build a new health department and possibly help the volunteer fire department."
Morales said she plans to bring ideas that were previously presented to court and try to find a solution.
"I really want to be able to get out there and just look into everything that has been brought to the table before," said Morales. "I want to see why it wasn't able to get approved and just focus on issues like public health, public safety. I want to educate the community on resources on what we can do to help them."
Candidate Billy Hall is also running for precinct 4, but is running unopposed on the Republican ballot.