{"id":19527,"date":"2017-02-01T01:48:30","date_gmt":"2017-02-01T01:48:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/?p=19527"},"modified":"2017-02-01T01:49:03","modified_gmt":"2017-02-01T01:49:03","slug":"seliger-takes-brief-turn-as-governor-of-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/?p=19527","title":{"rendered":"Seliger takes brief turn as governor of Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Tweet<\/a><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I have had the pleasure and the honor of knowing many honorable men and women in public life throughout my 37 years in journalism. This blog post is about one of the good guys I have had the honor of knowing professionally and personally.<\/p>\n

I wrote it initially for another medium, but I have chosen to post it here. My interview with state Sen. Kel Seliger took place just before Donald Trump’s inauguration as president of the United States.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

On a day just prior to the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump \u2013 when Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick were out of the state to attend the festivities in Washington, D.C. \u2013 Kelton Gray \u201cKel\u201d Seliger had the task of serving as Texas\u2019s acting governor.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a responsibility \u2013 absent the perks of the job \u2013 granted to him by Patrick, who just days earlier had named him president pro tem of the Texas Senate. He was put in charge of the state in the absence of the two top statewide elected officials.<\/p>\n

Seliger, a Republican who has served in the Senate since 2004, didn\u2019t arrive this day with any Texas Rangers security detail in tow. There were no special arrangements made, no announcement of his arrival, no fanfare.<\/p>\n

Seliger represents a district that stretches from the Texas-Oklahoma border about 100 miles of Amarillo to the Permian Basin, which is another 200 miles south. He maintains Senate offices in Amarillo and Midland and is now essentially a full-time legislator, having sold the steel business he owned with his brother, Lane, several years ago.<\/p>\n

He is a native of Borger who graduated from Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., and who returned to the Panhandle to stake out his future. Seliger entered public service as an Amarillo city commissioner in 1989 and then served as mayor from 1993 until 2001 before joining the Senate after President George W. Bush appointed the late Sen. Teel Bivins to be U.S. ambassador to Sweden.<\/p>\n

Seliger chairs the Senate Higher Education Committee and serves also on the Senate Education Committee.<\/p>\n

We chatted for a time over lunch. Here is what I learned about Kel Seliger.<\/p>\n

Should the state start over with its standardized testing requirement for public school students?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no need to start over,\u201d Seliger said. \u201cBut we need to refine it. We need accountability. These tests are for adults, too,\u201d he said, referring to educators. \u201cKids take tests all the time. Start over? No. Make it better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Are you getting special protection from the Texas Rangers while serving as acting governor?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cNot that I\u2019m aware of,\u201d he said. \u201cThey may be around, watching my back. I\u2019m quite sure if they had the remotest sense my new temporary status created a situation, they\u2019d be here in a heartbeat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Are you empowered to act fully as governor?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIf there is a situation that requires immediate action as governor, yes,\u201d he explained, referring to a possible natural disaster or other catastrophic event. \u201cBut if there was something I would encounter that would require action of another sort, I would check with Gov. Abbott to see if he is OK with whatever I would do.\u201d<\/p>\n

But what if we have a natural disaster? Could you then act as governor?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have emergency people, first responders, on site. (Department of Public Safety) officials would tell me what\u2019s happened. They then would put me in touch with the governor as quickly as possible\u201d to coordinate the state\u2019s response, Seliger replied.<\/p>\n

Why are you serving?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI love public policy,\u201d Seliger said, \u201cand this is the place to do public policy. If you have a good idea, you can work with people and get things done. In Washington,\u201d he said, echoing the new president, \u201cnothing gets done.\u201d<\/p>\n

What has been your greatest success in the Senate?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI think I have made a meaningful contribution to things that matter. I have been able to focus on water policy and supporting water conservation districts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

What piece of legislation that has your name on it makes you most proud?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Seliger said he doesn\u2019t have a \u201cparticular favorite,\u201d but said he is proud of Senate Bill 149 which \u201callows kids who don\u2019t pass the STAAR test, but who do all the rest of their course work and then stand before a committee of teachers and administrators to walk across the stage and get their diploma.\u201d He also is proud of a bill he authored that the 2015 Legislature approved that set aside money for construction of buildings on 64 higher education campuses in Texas. \u201cAnd that includes about $6 million for construction of West Texas A&M\u2019s downtown campus in Amarillo.\u201d<\/p>\n

And your biggest disappointment?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI had a bill that would have banned \u2018dark money,\u2019\u201d Seliger said, explaining that \u201cdark money\u201d comprises funds that come from tax-exempt sources but which the public \u201chas no idea who\u2019s giving it\u201d to politicians. \u201cThis bill was vetoed after the 2013 session by Gov. (Rick) Perry.\u201d He said the then-governor\u2019s reason for vetoing the bill \u201cwas not discernable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do we pay state legislators enough to serve?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe get paid enough so that people don\u2019t have the impression we\u2019re doing this for the money,\u201d he said of the $600 monthly stipend, plus the per-diem expense paid to lawmakers while the Legislature is in session. \u201cAnd contrary to what a lot of folks believe about the Legislature, we don\u2019t get just rich people to serve,\u201d he said. \u201cMany legislators are working people who give up their regular jobs to serve in the Legislature.\u201d<\/p>\n

How does your Senate district benefit tangibly from your service in the Texas Senate?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOthers should be the ones to make that judgment. I like to think we\u2019re working on issues relating to public education and higher education,\u201d Seliger said. \u201cEveryone who serves in elected office believes that they are making the world a better place. I\u2019m just trying to work with people in our West Texas cities, towns and universities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Describe your relationship with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have an effective working relationship,\u201d Seliger said of the man who presides over the Senate. \u201cLook, he named me (Higher Education Committee) chairman. He didn\u2019t have to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

You almost lost your re-election bid in 2014. Are you going to run again in 2018? <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Seliger said. As for his 2014 Republican Party primary challenge from former Midland Mayor Mike Canon, he responded, \u201cI won with 52 percent of the vote. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s \u2018almost losing\u2019 the contest.\u201d He continued: \u201cI don\u2019t intend to stay in the Senate until I\u2019m a doddering old fool, drooling on my lapels.\u201d<\/p>\n

What did you see for yourself when you were 10 years old?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Seliger smiled broadly. \u201cI saw myself as Roy Rogers,\u201d he said. Why Roy Rogers? \u201cHey, I was 10 years old \u2013 living in Borger, Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have had the pleasure and the honor of knowing many honorable men and women in public life throughout my 37 years in journalism. This blog post is about one of the good guys I have had the honor of knowing professionally and personally. I wrote it initially for another medium, but I have chosen … Continue reading Seliger takes brief turn as governor of Texas<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6251,9,14],"tags":[1424,2006,2646,4627,4653,4701],"class_list":["post-19527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education-news","category-local-news","category-political-news","tag-donald-trump","tag-greg-abbott","tag-kel-seliger","tag-texas-governor","tag-texas-legislature","tag-texas-senate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19527"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19533,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19527\/revisions\/19533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}