Rick Koster for County Commissioner

1. What experience do you feel best qualifies you to be Collin County Commissioner?

The following experience qualifies me for County Commissioner

a.       The Commissioner's court is in charge of overseeing all engineering of county projects.  I have been a working engineer since 1982.  I have engineering experience in the private sector and in government.  Except for 2 years working for the US Army, most of my experience has been in the private sector.

b.      As an engineer I have been involved in design projects, consulting projects, and planning.

c.       Our county is diverse.  My professional experience has given me the opportunity to work with engineers and managers all over the world.  I will bring this contact with diversity to the Commissioner's court.

2. What are the top challenges for the Commissioner's Court pertaining to indigent health care?

I see two mayor challenges to indigent care in Collin County: budget pressures and red tape

1.      Budget pressures:

a.       Due to the current economic climate the fund set by the county with the proceeds from the sale of the county's hospital is being depleted.  The commissioner's court needs to find the proper mechanism to make sure the health care fund keeps up with the expected demand or it needs to add a budget item to the general county fund.  A budget item in the general county fund will require healthcare to be paid out of tax revenue.

b.      The county needs to take advantage of the provisions of the new Federal health care law to help balance the budget.  I expect the provisions in the new health care law to reduce the demand for indigent care in the county since the law will expand eligibility for Medicare and Medicaid.  The new law will also keep young people on their parent's insurance longer, reducing their need of indigent care.

2.      Red Tape:

a.       In order to apply for indigent care assistance in Collin County a citizen has to complete at least 12 forms and submit supporting documentation.  The completed application requires weeks of processing before a citizen finds out his eligibility for assistance.  This system is unfair to our citizens.

b.      As a commissioner I will work to streamline and automate the application process for assistance.  This will help both the citizen requiring services and the provider of services.

c.       I will also work to make the application for Medicare and Medicate fast and efficient in our county.

3. Do you believe Collin County's infrastructure is sufficient for our projected growth? How do you feel about DART Rail expansion?

The continuing growth of Collin County will require additional infrastructure.  We will need more water, electricity, sewage, natural gas, roads and transportation services.

Today I am confident that for the near future our electricity and natural gas supplies will remain stable.  I believe that to maintain our energy supplies stable, the county should encourage, through it projects and codes, the highest standard of energy efficiency on all public and private projects.

I am a bit concerned when it comes to water and sewage.  Our growth will require new reservoirs and new sewage infrastructure.  The new reservoirs will take over large parcels of land that are both productive and an environmental asset.  New sewage encroaches and disrupts the lives of current residents.  The current structure of the North Texas Municipal Water District makes it unaccountable to the citizens, so that the institution's power of imminent domain is not checked directly by the citizens.

The continued growth of Collin County will require the expansion of our transportation infrastructure.  We will need to expand existing roads, pave dirt roads and build new roads.  Being committed to road construction does not mean that I believe that we can have quality growth by just paving.  Collin County needs to have a reliable mix of transportation options to ease congestion and to improve air quality.  I support mass transit.  I support the expansion of DART.  I think County government can be a catalyst to solve the political and budget roadblocks for DART expansion in the county.

To the Allen Area Tea Party Members

Back in February you asked me where I stood on the issues you care about. Below I go into more details.

The following are the five principles of your Tea Party chapter as described at Allen Tea Party WEB site.

Limited Government:
As our founding fathers recognized restraint of government is necessary to protect the liberty of the people.

Fiscal responsibility:
Government at all levels must learn to live within its means. To saddle future generations with the crushing burden of excess spending is unconscionable

Personal Responsibility:
Liberty is unsustainable without responsibility. Each citizen must take responsibility for the consequences of his or her actions while respecting the rights and dignity of others.

The Rule of Law:
Consistent, independent and uniform application of the law is critical to a free and prosperous society.

National Sovereignty:
We must maintain a strong national defense, effective security for our borders, and sole control over our land and our laws.

I support these principles. I believe that you will find very few Americans, if any, who will disagree with these principles at face value. The question is how a citizen interprets these principles and how they fit with additional principles that the citizen may hold. My interpretation of these principles may or may not agree with yours. These principles can't be taken in isolation, and at time may be in conflict.

We should agree, however, that WE are the government. Our government is a reflection of the desires and expectations, successes, and failures of our citizens for over 230 years of our constitutional republic.

Since WE are the government, the most important principle is that of Personal Responsibility. Through our elected officials WE are responsible for how limited or interventionist the government is. WE are responsible for government programs, and WE are responsible for paying for them. WE are responsible for how the laws are interpreted. WE are responsible for our national character.

Each one of us has a definition of what limited government means. I share with my Libertarian friends the belief that the government should stay out of my personal business. What that means is that what I do in my home, with my body, or my mind is off limits to the government and anybody else.

I don't extend this principle to corporations. Corporations have one purpose: making money. Making money is a good thing, but since corporations are amoral actors in our society we need to limit their power as much or more than we limit the power of government. In our modern society, government has expanded to check the power of corporations. We do this with regulations that limit the right of corporations to pollute our communities, deceive individual consumers, manipulate the market, and commit other offenses against the public good..

Unlike my friends the Libertarians, I believe that the marketplace is unable to provide social insurance. I support Medicare and Medicaid. As a society we have chosen to provide a safety net to cushion against the ups and downs of our economy in the form of unemployment insurance and food assistance. Other insurance programs I support are crop insurance and flood insurance.

Let's talk healthcare insurance. Today, individual healthcare insurance is a game of Russian roulette where the looser dies or goes to the poor house. Unless you are fortunate enough to be covered by government healthcare insurance such as Medicare, Medicaid, and the Veterans Administration, you better pray that you don't get seriously sick. In our current insurance market there is no way to hedge against a severe or long term illness. In the current insurance market there is no way I can take personal responsibility for healthcare risks. The current state of healthcare insurance is bankrupting our citizens and corporations, and making us uncompetitive in the world market. I support President Barrack Obama's effort to fix this problem. I am not happy with every detail of the current bills in the US Senate and US House, but I feel they are a good starting point. I encourage you to read both bills and decide for yourself what is the good bad and ugly of the legislation. This is a good opportunity to fix a problem that has dogged our nation for almost a century.

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Maury Marcus, Rick Koster, Debora Angel-Smith and David Smith at the Martin Luther King unity walk January 16 2010

League of Women Voters
Introduction
February 13, 2010

I want to thank the League of Women Voters for the opportunity to participate in this candidate forum.

My name is Rick Koster and I am running for County Commissioner in precinct 2 on the Democratic ticket.

If elected, I will bring to the Commissioner's Court over 25 years of experience in the practical profession of engineering. 

Except for 2 years working for the US Army, I have spent my professional career in the private sector, working for and with companies of all sizes.  I get things done.

I’m convinced that the citizens of Collin County will be better served by a Commissioner's Court that includes diverse perspectives.  I have a lifetime of experience as a native speaker of both English and Spanish, as a person at home in both U.S. and Latin cultures, as someone with an Ivy League education who understands and gets along with ordinary Texans.

As to the issues, many in Collin County think this election is about cutting taxes. 

As a parent of college age children, I applaud and will seek responsible efforts to lower taxes. 

That said, I don’t like and won’t play the con game of tax cuts that hide cost transfers to tolls and fees.  Nor will I take part in a tax race to the bottom.  County government is necessary, and it won’t run for free. 

Most Texans learned when they were little, just like I did, that you can’t get something for nothing.  What the citizens of Collin County want is value for their tax dollars, government that takes care of true county needs, as prescribed by law, in a prompt and responsible manner.  As commissioner, I will make your tax dollar stretch, and do my best to return some of it to you.

Another reason why I’m running is to promote the discussion of community goals.  Here are some questions that I think need airing:

Should Collin County invest in transportation infrastructure beyond roads?

Should our roads be free or tolled, public or private? 

What is the proper role of county government in meeting the health care needs of our citizens?

What should Collin County be doing do to help clean up regional air pollution?

Should the county help foster a county vocational school system to improve the opportunities of our children?

My name is Rick Koster and I want your vote.  You can vote for me twice, in the primary and in November.