Candidate Chris Daniel outlines his three priority issues:
Parking and the overall burden of performing jury duty have plagued the office for some time.
For blue-collar workers on hourly wages, the small wage paid for jury duty is meager at best. But when that wage is taken away by the cost of parking, little if any is left for covering the intended price of lunch. Adding insult to injury, if the regular parking garage is full, one is forced to pay more than the first days’ juror pay to a higher priced, nearby lot. You would actually be paying to perform jury duty in addition to taxes already paid to the county.
The simple solution is to work with county government and local builders to construct a parking garage, utilizing the land and abandoned warehouses just north of the jury assembly area. With the right planning, the garage could be partial rented out commercially and even have retail built into the bottom, thereby paying for itself in the long run. This would also provide short-term and long-term jobs. With my municipal bond and campus building experience from my elected term to Lone Star College Board of Trustees, we can provide free parking to jurors without raising taxes to you, the tax payer.
Collections and disbursements for child support are antiquated at the District Clerk’s office.
Even if the amount due is paid on time, it can take an average of eighteen days for the payment to run through the system and then get properly disbursed to the payee. For single parents barely getting by, this is unacceptable. Working with local banks and the proper state agencies, we can move to an online payment and deposit system to expedite the process.
The online filing system has much room for improvement.
It is not currently compatible with other major counties in Texas, nor is it compatible with the Federal Filing System. Proper technological vetting of the existing systems in other states and at the Federal level would have overcome these short-comings and even brought in new features. As an example, the PACER system in Washington State can allow you to withdraw from a case from your smart phone in simple cases. The limited District Clerk filing system is a symptom that the current system is not wholly the idea of the current office holder. With my background in engineering and project management, and with my legal experience in using both the local and Federal filing systems, I am in the best position to overhaul the existing District Clerk filing system and truly bring it into the 21st century. An improved filing system will improve the bottom line of the office and reduce the cost for doing business for the local attorneys.
About Chris Daniel
I’m Chris Daniel and I am running to be your next District Clerk for Harris County. I am a native Houstonian, and a mechanical engineer with a legal background. I am active in many local charities and civic clubs, and attend Second Baptist Church. After designing oilfield equipment and managing the implementation of cost saving technology to multi-million dollar accounts, I moved into the field of intellectual property and patent law. I am therefore uniquely qualified to improve our court filing systems and to manage the infrastructure needed for our judges.
As a current elected official to the Lone Star College System Board of Trustees, I have been a steward of your tax dollars by lowering tax rates while increasing the quality and efficiency to the second largest community college system in Texas. Now I plan to restore efficiency and sound business practices to the office of District Clerk—the office once held by Charles Bacarisse and Theresa Chang.
I will keep costs down and to return efficiency to the District Clerk’s office while continuing to upgrade the office into the 21st century. With your help, we can bring online the collections and disbursements of the courts—particularly child support. I will work with county leadership to make jury duty less burdensome—especially parking. And I will continue to build on the online filing system to make it compatible with other major counties in Texas, as well as the Federal Filing System.
As a proven conservative, I follow the Republican Party Platform and will continue to uphold our ideals as the District Clerk. I am grateful for what Harris County has done for my family. It is an honor to give back to our County and to you. Please join in supporting me for Harris County District Clerk.
For more information, go to www.chrisdaniel.org or email at [email protected].