County Commissioner Will Conley Re-Elected for Precinct 3

By Carlos Marquez & Rebecca Banks
News Reporters

Republican Will Conley has been re-elected for Hays County Commissioner Precinct 3 with 82.35 percent of votes, leaving his opponent Rob Roark with only 17.65 percent.

Conley has held office for Hays County Commissioner Precinct 3 since 2004.

Former Governor Rick Perry appointed Conley as Commissioner of a state juvenile board and served as chair for the Capital Transportation Planning Organization. He was recently elected as chairman for Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization.

Conley worked to rebuild the Fischer Store Bridge after it was destroyed in the Memorial Day flood. The bridge was finished three months ahead of schedule. During his term, Conley secured $3 million for Jacob’s Well Land Trust to protect Wimberly’s landmark. In addition, Conley allocated $2 million to develop Blue Hole Regional Park. The effort was joined by Texas State University and San Marcos for Spring Lake and Aquarena. Additionally, Conley created the first Habitat Conservation Plan to secure $5 million in grants to protect local natural resources.

Conley’s opponent Rob Roark grew up in Ann Arbor, MI, with his mother, where he frequently volunteered to improve his community.

He has lived in the San Marcos and Hays County area for 13 years. Roark believes the biggest issue in Hays County is growth. He says limited resources, infrastructure, water transportation and the roads in Hays County are major issues.

His goals include providing living wages for employees in Hays County. He says citizens should vote for him because he is a working-class republican. Roark says he is not looking at this position as a long-term career and believes citizens should have the opportunity to execute their ideas through the Hays County Government.

Roark, who considers himself a ‘blue-collar republican’, previously ran for U.S. Congress to represent the I-35 corridor in 2012. He hopes to draw together the cities of San Antonio and Austin to connect the towns in between, such as New Braunfels, San Marcos, Kyle, Martindale and Lockhart. He believes this would build a stronger community along the I-35 corridor.