Baldwin seeks fourth term in Precinct 3

By Janet Jacobs

October 11, 2008 08:44 pm

— William Baldwin, 72, has been serving Navarro County for the last 12 years, and he’s asking for one more term.
Some of the issues in this election are the same — road conditions and budget — while others are new, for example, the potential power plants, he said.
Baldwin voted against the reinvestment zones for the power plants, although the issue still passed the commissioners court.
“I was voting my conscience,” Baldwin said. “Any way I voted it was going to hurt me. It’s a no-win situation.”
As for the road conditions, Baldwin said he’s done the best he could under a tight budget and after a series of destructive spring rains
“You can just do so much with what you’ve got,” he said. “I try to be fair with everybody. I try to keep people going and out of the mud, and that’s all you can do.”
Baldwin is the fourth generation of his family to live in Precinct 3 in Navarro County, a fact of which he’s proud. He spent some time as a trucker, then running a hay-baling business, and then a mowing service. It was while running his mowing business that he came to the realization that he should consider another field. Some friends had recommended politics, and he first ran in 1992.
He lost that race by about six votes, and decided to forego a recount. He ran again, successfully, in 1996.
Over the last 12 years, he points to his efforts to get the county’s gas tanks moved above ground, in order to keep leaks out of the soil, as one of his accomplishments, along with his fiscal conservatism.
“I’ve tried to do what’s best for Navarro County, not just Precinct 3,” Baldwin said.
Over the next four years, Baldwin said he’d like to see the budget cut even more and the county’s fund balance increased.
“Navarro County is in a good situation where it’s located,” he said. “If the power plants don’t come, somebody else will come.”
With 12 years of experience, and more than 60 hours of continuing education in running a county, Baldwin is a certified county commissioner.

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