County Judge Roger Harmon and Precinct 4 Commissioner Don Beeson both filed for re-election on Thursday, the first day of the filing period for the March 2 primary election.

So far neither candidate, both Republicans, faces an opponent. That could change because candidates have until Jan. 4 to file.

The term for both offices is four years.

Harmon first won election as county judge in 1995 and has held the office since. He is the only county judge who was not an attorney to win election to the office in Johnson County in more than 60 years.

“I considered three things in deciding to run again,” Harmon said. “That being, is my health still good, do I still enjoy the job, and do I think I’m still effective at it?”

Harmon said he answered yes to all three.

“My health is good, knock on wood,” Harmon said with a laugh. “I enjoy working too much. I’m not ready to retire. And I think I still have something to offer the county and the court.”

Harmon said his 25 years of experience owning an insurance company gave him experience and knowledge to effectively run the county.

Harmon said he’s proud that the court, through employing conservative leadership, undertook several projects and expanded services while at the same time managing to lower the tax rate for four years in a row, a decrease of 18.69 percent from 2005 to 2009.

Harmon said he’s especially proud that the renovation of the Johnson County Courthouse occurred under his term.

Although next year’s budget process is expected to be tougher than those in recent years, Harmon said he believes his experience can be a benefit.

“We had tough times in 1995, hiring freezes and no raises,” Harmon said. “But we worked through it, and we’ll work through it again.

“Johnson County is actually in pretty solid shape, especially compared to other areas. A big part of that is experience and that fact that we saw this coming and prepared by holding spending down.”

A lifelong county resident, Harmon is married to Martha Harmon. They have two grown children, Greg Harmon and Wendi Mikulec, and five grandchildren.

Harmon serves as a deacon and Sunday school teacher at the First Baptist Church of Godley.



Beeson: Increased services while decreasing taxes

Beeson first won election to commissioners court in 2006. At that time he said he would only seek to serve two terms as commissioner.

“I am still humbled that the citizens of Precinct 4 have allowed me to represent them on the commissioners court,” Beeson said. “I am also proud to say that during the last two years the county continued to support the services requested by its citizens and, where necessary, increase services, while at the same time reducing the county’s tax rate.”

Through conservative leadership, commissioners managed to increase county services and add needed employees, such as officers to enforce weights and measures compliance by commercial vehicles traveling county roads.

“We were able to increase services where needed without raising taxes, in fact we decreased the tax rate,” Beeson said.

Beeson said his office has strived to address all inquiries and concerns from residents as swiftly as possible.

“I also hope the residents in Precinct 4 feel that we’ve done a good job of maintaining roads and ditches,” Beeson said. “That been one of our prime concerns, especially since I came into office during the county’s heaviest period of drilling and truck traffic.”

With gas drilling activity having slowed and property values expected to decrease, Beeson said the county will likely face tighter times in the next year or so, a reason to rely on experienced members of the court, he said.

“This year’s going to be different budget wise,” Beeson said. “But I think we can work through it without raising taxes.”

If re-elected, Beeson said he intends to focus on the planned expansion of Texas 121 through Cleburne and other projects.

“We purchased land near the Guinn Justice Center for a new adult probation center, which we need because they’re currently working out of three buildings,” Beeson said. “We’re also working on a grant for a county emergency operations center, another big need. Those are two projects I’m very interested in working on given my background in law enforcement.”

Beeson and his wife, Gwen Beeson, live in Keene.