DON KOESTER RUNNING FOR RE-ELECTION AS WASHINGTON CO. PRECINCT 1 COMMISSIONER
(courtesy photo)
Washington County Precinct 1 Commissioner Don Koester has announced his intent to seek a third term in office.
Koester has served as county commissioner since January 1, 2017 and will run as a Republican in the March 2024 primary. A lifelong Washington County resident, he worked for 32 years at Sears Roebuck and Co. before retiring in 2005. He now owns Don’s Appliance and has trained several technicians in the service business.
Koester says he prioritizes honesty and being available to the public at all times.
Some previous accomplishments Koester pointed to included completing the Engineering and Development Services facility that houses the road and bridge, addressing and environmental departments; providing additional opportunities for county fire departments to receive funding; and budgeting conservatively to be prepared should any problems arise. He says he is proud of all county departments and believes in supporting them all, adding that the county is trying to give meaningful raises to employees.
One way Koester says the county will be able to save money in the future is by paving its own roads, rather than bringing in an outside contractor, using in-house road and bridge equipment.
Koester is a former member of the Brenham Volunteer Fire Department and has served as a commissioners court liaison to the county’s volunteer firefighters, as well as for Faith Mission, the Washington County Expo, Margaret E. Blizzard Senior Activity Center and Brenham museum.
In addition, Koester is a member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church and has been involved with the Washington County Chamber of Commerce, Texas Quality Water Association and Washington County Historical Commission. He and his wife of 22 years, Lessie Ann Koester, are active members of the Washington County Republican Club and have attended local and state conventions.
Koester will be joined on the primary ballot by Misti Hartstack Corn, who declared her candidacy for the commissioner position earlier this month. The first day to file for a place on the ballot is November 11th.
Here are my thoughts on Mr. Koester’s comments about paving roads:
Doing it in house will allow us to save money.
That’s great, that means we can pave more roads. I’d love to see more roads get paved but I’d love to see them paved correctly. Unfortunately, I’m afraid that the county can’t do it right. I’ve been down some of the roads that have been paved or re-paved lately and haven’t been impressed. It seems like they’re running the motor grader over the fresh asphalt instead of a compactor and this is leaving the grader tire tracks in the asphalt so when you drive down the road you get the constant hum of the vehicle tires running over the tracks in the asphalt. I’m sure it’s annoying to the people who live on those roads that have to hear that noise. Although I would rather have that than the unpaved roads.
I’m pretty sure you’re mistaking paving roads for patching roads. First of the county really doesn’t pave roads. They seal coat. Which is often mistaken for paving. Apparently even by the commissioners. Paving is laying down an asphalt mix in thin layers. Seal coat is prepping the gravel roads by smoothing of the loose layers of gravel. Then a thick layer of sludge like oil topped with a thin layer of gravel.
I travel the county daily and can say there are very few gravel roads left.
Yes, I used the word “paving” loosely, and probably in the same context the Commissioners do, because that’s really not what the county does. It’s a cheap fix that doesn’t last long before it’s full of potholes in need of constant repair. Either way, it would be nice for them to stop making excuses and pave or seal coat or what ever they want to call it the gravel roads. There is plenty of money moving into this county to generate tax revenue. Give the SO and other departments a raise and finish some roads. I live on a stretch of dirt road that is blacktop at both ends but gravel in the middle and they won’t finish it. Meanwhile, I’ve watched them pave dead end roads, tear up existing blacktop roads to repave them, and now they’re seal coating roads and leaving motor grader tracks in them. And their selection criteria for which roads get paved doesn’t make sense to me, either.
His precent has some of the worst roads. Trust me I drive them every day. We don’t have oil field traffic like some of the other presents. I agree the patch hot top is an improvement over the pot holes and hug dips but be better to repair those areas correctly.
There is a process where they take used tires and shred them up removing the wire “belts” and the rubber is mixed with asphalt. These roads last almost 3 times longer than normal asphalt, are easier on vehicle tires, and are safer in wet conditions….the bad thing is titans in the tire industry have done everything possible to stop this process from being the standard as consumers go thru considerable less tires….of course its what they want, not whats best for the people….