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Charlie Hale
LAWTON – This year’s race for the District 1 seat on the Comanche County Board of Commissioners will pit the incumbent commissioner against the man who ran against him four years ago.
The race includes a rematch between Commissioner Gail Turner and business owner Charlie Hale, who ran unsuccessfully against Turner in 2018, The third candidate in the race is Elgin resident John O’Brien.
The three candidates will square off in the Republican primary election, set for June 28. The candidates who make it past the primary will advance to the general election in November.
A reporter for Southwest Chronicle recently interviewed Hale about his decision to run again, the skills he would bring to the table and other topics. Here are questions and interviews from the interview, edited for clarity and brevity.
Q: What is your occupation?
A: Construction. I own Charlie’s Backhoe.
Q: What made you decide to run for the District 1 seat on the commission?
A: A lot of things, I guess. Probably more than anything, a little change.
And Gail’s (Turner) been there for 24 years. I heard he was retiring.
Q: What skills do you have that would make you an effective commissioner?
A: I’m a business owner and have been for 25, 26 years. I can run a crew.
I’m hands-on, you know. Get out there, and we work with the best of them.
I’m a people person. I own a business. I’m active.
Q: Are you satisfied with the county’s current direction?
A: Somewhat. I mean, without knowing what the budget is, you can’t really say that I’m satisfied or dissatisfied, because I don’t know what the budget is.
I’m sure they’re doing everything they can with what money they have, and COVID didn’t help.
Q: If elected, what would you like to see the county accomplish over the next four years in any area you can think of? Economic development, managing funds better, whatever?
A: Of course, all that comes into play. Without knowing what the budget is, it’s kind of really hard to figure out how you want to divvy up your money.
What goes to the county police force? What goes to bridges and roads? There’s plenty of bridges and roads that all need to be fixed, but then again, if you don’t know what the budget is, you can’t promise to do something.
Everybody wants a new road. But if there isn’t the money for it, then I’m not going to sit here and make a promise that I can’t keep.
Q: Do you think the county is sufficiently transparent in the way it deals with taxpayers’ money and addresses taxpayers’ concerns?
A: I would say we’re about as transparent as any other county.
Q: Generally speaking, without being familiar with the details of the budget, are you satisfied with the county’s performance as a steward of taxpayer dollars?
A: Well, I can’t say that I am, and I can’t say that I’m not. I can say that I feel like there’s places they could improve on. But during that pandemic, they might have had to cut budget.
There are certain things that I would think wouldn’t cost a whole lot to keep up a little better on. But if they didn’t have the manpower to do it, they did the best they could.
Now that the economy’s coming back and people are going back to work, it might be a different story.