Toby Wilburn has made it into a Republican Party Runoff for the office of Commissioner, Pct. 1, currently held by Bruce Karbowski. Additionally, Zach Zbranek is in a runoff with former Republican County Attorney, Wes Hinch for the new County Court At Law #2 position.
Wes Hinch has been a Republican and Conservative leader in Liberty County even when the number of members of that party couldn't fill a phone booth. Zach's family has been a prominent Democrat family for decades, Zeb Zbraneck, Zack's brother, was a Democratic Party State Representative. Actually, the majority of his family members are still voting Democrat even in the last primary. Their loyalty to the Democrat party running so deep, his own brother wouldn't break from this past Democratic Primary to vote for him in the Republican Primary. The last thing Liberty County Republicans should want is a judicial office holder with a liberal thought process, especially in family court issues. it would be notable to mention to voters, both Zeb & Zack are still considered 'Hard Democrats' by their voting records in most voter software models.
Wilburn's tale, a former Democratic Commissioner, is a long one fraught with citizen outrage and lawsuits, as well as facing federal charges for wiretapping the County Courthouse.
Though in the end, the grand jury did not take action against Wilburn, KSHN 99.9 summed it up best back in that time period: " According to reliable sources, a Liberty County Grand Jury voted last Wednesday to take no action on possible state felony charges against the three men, who by their own admission, conspired to bug offices and wiretap phones at the Liberty County Courthouse."[1]
Perhaps bringing up the candidate's legal troubles may lead some to say "let it go" (We're sure Wilburn does), as he was acquitted. We can agree with that, but his story goes much further. At one point, citizens in Woodland Hills subdivision having to sue over conditions so poor on their roads under his mismanagement that buses and EMS services could not safely travel on them.
"County officials also learned Friday that a lawsuit had been filed against Commissioners Court over an issue that plagued Wilburn since he took office in 1999. Residents of the Woodland Hills subdivision in Wilburn's Precinct 4 are suing for unspecified damages, saying commissioners were negligent in allowing their roads to become too dangerous for school buses and ambulances. Wilburn had complained of insufficient funds to repair roads, but other commissioners argued that he had mishandled his budgeted money."[2]
“Toby came to me and said I just can’t survive this,” Liberty County Democratic Party chair John Archer recalled. It wasn’t so much that the new map split his community in two that bothered Wilburn, it was that they had removed the very boxes he was counting on to get reelected. After only a couple of years in office, everybody else in the precinct hated his guts.
The problem was the roads. In rural counties, a commissioner’s chief duty is keeping the roads in good condition. He spends most of his time not at the courthouse, but in the county barn, where his paving equipment resides and his men receive their orders. By all accounts, Wilburn’s machinery spent too much time in the barn and not enough on the roads. More development around Dayton has meant more traffic, and maintenance on what used to be farm roads did not keep pace with the growth. Roads were particularly bad in the low-lying areas along the river, where periodic floods had taken their toll. Potholes and decaying shoulders were causing accidents. In some of the new subdivisions, conditions had gotten so bad that homeowners were getting organized. In June, a demonstration in front of the courthouse made the front page of the local weekly, The Vindicator. Most ominously, a resident of one of the new subdivisions filed suit against the county for lack of maintenance.
People blamed Wilburn, and not without reason. “Toby just didn’t have a plan,” Archer said. One of his first moves was to repave the road in front of his barn. Wilburn did a good job on it–maybe too good. “It was a nice road. Asphalted. While we’ve got roads that school buses are driving down to pick up kids that are pretty dangerous roads,” Archer said.
Yet when citizens threatened a lawsuit, the other commissioners offered to bring their equipment and men to help Wilburn out. But Wilburn wasn’t interested, Archer said. “He said ‘Get out.'”[3]
Simply put, it is unfathomable that voters seriously consider putting a candidate back into the very office that he failed so miserably at the first time. We can only imagine at this time of growth in the County, games such as above would be disastrous.
Of course, this go around, Wilburn and Zbranek both know they need a certain label to be considered seriously in the County. That being, a Republican office seeker. However, good memories, and a few reminders are well needed in this race. It appears even Democrats are smart enough to become Republicans to win a race, regardless of their principles. They certainly provide cover for old Democrats hiding under the Republican label to comfortably vote for a liberal without jumping the primary, while holding the ability to fool others who don't recall the past.
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1
http://kshnfm.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=277:april-2002&catid=20:2002&Itemid=18 KSHN Vol. 17 No. 64 4/2/2002
2
https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Official-gives-up-Liberty-County-seat-during-probe-2053155.php Houston Chronicle 06/09/2001
3
https://www.texasobserver.org/359-dateline-texas-a-little-bit-more-equal/ Texas Observer 08/17/2001