HAYS COUNTY
SHANNON WEST
STAFF REPORTER
A San Marcos resident might think that the candidates running for Hays County Commissioner Precinct 3 won’t impact them much as the majority of San Marcos is in Precinct 1. However, that would be untrue. Though Precinct 3 may historically be based around Wimberley, with some rural areas of Dripping Springs and a small part of Kyle, it is moving further into the western portion of San Marcos. The most recently drawn commissioners court precinct maps show that Precinct 3 now includes streets like Barnes Drive, Burleson Street, Belvin Street and San Antonio Street to the west of Old Ranch Road. If one lives in San Marcos off of Hunter Road to the west of the Historic District, they are also in Precinct 3 as the map stretches all the way to I-35 in that part of town. There are two candidates up for Hays County Commissioner Precinct 3 — Rebecca Minnick, for the Democratic party, and Morgan Hammer, for the Republican party.
“I’m really good about hearing everybody’s side of things,” Hammer said. “I’m not one of those people that just has my mind made up before I speak to somebody. I think that everybody’s opinion matters, and everyone deserves representation.”
Hammer owns a small real-estate business with
SEE HAMMER PAGE 3
Morgan Hammer her husband, whom she met at Texas State University’s San Marcos Hall on freshmen move-in day 12 years ago. She is also a financial advisor by trade. She has a two-year-old daughter who dances at the San Marcos Academy Dance Studio.
“I was born in Kansas City,” Hammer said. “I’ve lived in Colorado, California and I ended up in Stephenville. I graduated from Stephenville High School, and I’ve never really had a place to call home. And this is my home.. I don’t think I’ll ever leave. I feel like I have my community and my people here, and I never feel a sense of not having people around me that will love and support me. …[Hays County] is special to me because it’s the first place I’ve really had as my home base. ”
This may be her first political position, if elected, but it isn’t her first leadership role. Hammer has served on various leadership committees at her church. She’s chair for San Marcos Young Professionals, which is an extension of the San Marcos Area Chamber of Commerce that provides career development opportunities for professionals ages 21 to 45. She is also Mission Able board vice president, a group that does home rehabilitation and restoration for low-income families in the area.
“A politician should be a public servant, through and through,” Hammer said. “This is my first run at it, but I definitely think it’s something that I was called to do.”
Hammer thinks that she would be a good fit for Hays County Commissioner because of the importance placed on the county budget and her finance experience in addition to her willingness to openly listen to others’ points of view.
“I’m a financial advisor and doing things that are fiscally responsible from a budgetary standpoint [is something I have a lot of practice doing]. I’m great with numbers. The thing I like about numbers is they’re very objective,” Hammer said. “I do it every day with families and households, finding ways that we can incorporate things in the budget that they didn’t think were possible. That is something that I think I can take to a bigger, more macro standpoint. I think that that would make me a phenomenal county commissioner.”
Hammer would like to focus on improving public safety, preserving environmental resources and bolstering emergency services, if she is elected as county commissioner. She plans to lead the charge in those three areas similar to the current precinct 3 commissioner, Lon Shell, whom she said has done a fantastic job. As far as emergency services, she’d like the communication to be clear and direct and figure out ways to ensure everyone has service and is able to receive warnings.
“In those times of need, people don’t really have a clear communication system that they feel safe, confident and secure in,” Hammer said. “People want to know exactly what to do, and… with dead spots in the areas where you know there is no service, maybe looking into ways that we can get communication to stream to those areas as well. Because it’s so big, making it so everyone in Precinct 3 has a great line of communication during any type of emergency responses, I think is very important.”
As for law enforcement, Hammer said 60 cents of every dollar received for county taxes goes to law enforcement and the criminal justice system.
“I think we’ve done a really great job so far. I do see that there’s areas of improvement, but I think here in Hays County, we really prioritize our law enforcement officials. And I think we can work on holding the courts accountable a little bit more from our criminal justice system. … I really want to just continue to lead the charge,” Hammer said. “From a county commissioners standpoint, 60% [of every county tax dollar] that’s got to be where your majority of your thoughts [and efforts lie]. Within law enforcement, we’ve seen some fentanyl coming into Hays County, and we’ve seen deaths within our schools. So really prioritizing education around fentanyl and making sure that people in our school system are safe and aware of it. I think that’s extremely important as well.”
Hammer has been considering running for an elected position since she was a child, dreaming of becoming the first female president of the United States.
“I’ve always wanted to be in a role where I could just serve others, and mainly, I want to make sure that my daughter has a great role model. I want to make sure my daughter is raised in a safe county,” Hammer said. “I just want people to know — at the end of the day, whoever you elect, as long as they’re representing Hays County with the utmost integrity and transparency and availability, that’s who you should have. So I want people to understand I’m going to be available. I’m going to be very accessible. I’m always going to be transparent, and I will always hold the highest integrity.”
Learn more about her at hammerforhays.org.
