Jack B. Cox Jack B. Cox, Lampasas County commissioner for Precinct 4, has announced he will seek re-election. He indicated he will file in December and will seek the Republican nomination for the seat.

The GOP primary is in March.

"All of the commissioners are involved in all of the county business," Cox said. "Each commissioner is responsible for the roads in his precinct, but we're also responsible for the budget -- the spending and saving of taxpayers' money."

While he serves Precinct 4 residents, he also represents others who own property in the county but may not live here, he said.

Now in his seventh year as a commissioner, Cox will be seeking a third, four-year term.

One accomplishment of which he is particularly proud is the work he did on the new FM 1715 road project. Some $6 million was spent on the program; $5 million by the Texas Department of Transportation and about $1 million by the county.

In addition, Cox points to his involvement in the new bridge for County Road 2925, in conjunction with TxDOT.

On the projects, he handled right of way negotiations for about 90 percent of the property involved, he said. Cox volunteered to help on the two projects, because most of the property involved was in his precinct. "I'm very proud we could build both these projects," he said.

Cox, a TxDOT retiree, said one of his favorite achievements was doing field engineering for the state agency on the Bend Bridge, built in 1970.

As part of his responsibilities, he controlled the height and width of the structure, Cox said.

Other work experience included serving with the Fort Worth district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A major project he had a hand in was construction on Robert Gray Army Airfield at Fort Hood. "That was an accomplishment to me," he said.

At the time, Cox was attending night school at Central Texas College, where he was studying civil engineering.

For nine years, he served in the financial field, as Lampasas branch manager for Southern Savings.

As for his present capacity as a commissioner, Cox said commissioners' key concerns are the use of tax dollars and transportation issues. Part of his charge is to manage the cost of roads and bridges.

"I know there are very few roads that don't need maintenance at this time due to, first, the bad drought we had and, now, because of all of the recent rains. We realize the situation county residents are in, we're trying to catch up."

Referring to the stewardship role of commissioners, he points out that he was selected -- along with County Judge Wayne Boultinghouse and County Auditor Jack Clark -- to serve on the Commissioners Court's finance committee.

Elected officials and their con- stituents "must continue to work together," Cox said. "I pledge to do the best job of management with your tax dollars."

He also invites the public to attend commissioners' meetings on the second and fourth Monday mornings of each month.

And, Cox said, "I want people to contact me." He can be reached most easily at his mobile number, 734-1796, he said.