Skip to content

Candidate Profile: Tex Morgan for Commissioner of the Texas Land Office

Meet your candidates! It’s an election year, and here at Plano Profile we strive to connect our community; part of that is helping educate the community and giving candidates a platform to address the community.
IMG_0118

Meet your candidates!

It’s an election year, and here at Plano Profile we strive to connect our community; part of that is helping educate the community and giving candidates a platform to address the community.

All of the following opinions are that of the candidate, not Plano Profile. Any and all candidates have the opportunity to fill out our questionnaire to be published on our website, contact us at [email protected] for more information.

Meet Tex Morgan who is running for Commissioner of the Texas Land Office as a democrat.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background.

I earned two BS degrees (Computer Science – Hobart College) and (Computer Engineering – Columbia University) and an MBA (Baruch.) I also played high school and college football as an offensive lineman, and know well the necessity of teamwork.

I overcame early epilepsy and became an Eagle Scout hiking extensively across our lands and shores. I’ve used my education in diverse professional positions including as a chief project engineer; CEO and founder of an IT corporation; a public servant as a Trustee at VIA MTA; and a mentor for youth with disabilities. I am a co-founders of TechBloc.

At VIA, I chaired the Accessibility Committee fighting to improve mobility opportunities for seniors, wounded warriors, and persons with disabilities.

My endorsements include those from Texas workers, youth, Tejano, and many other groups and the San Antonio Stonewall Democrats.

I’m a dedicated environmentalist, have lived through Texas hurricanes, and despise discrimination, “truth decay,” government officials’ sweetheart relationships injurious to the public, and officials’ lack of transparency and openness in government.

Why are you running for office?

I want to lead a new wave of government transparency, honesty, efficiency, truthfulness, and effectiveness.

What makes you the most qualified person for this position?

I have experience as a scientist, engineer and business manager—all essential skills for the Land Commissioner position. I won’t have conflicts of interest in energy leasing.  I can lead the engineering of the Texas coastal area to lessen significantly the impact of storm surge and hurricanes, therein saving lives and billions of dollars.

I have the IT expertise to reach out to our veterans to provide housing and home improvement loan assistance. I have MBA finance training, private business financial experience, and oversight experience with public portfolios, which are necessary to increase the revenues of the Permanent School Fund therein improving schools and lessening the burden on local property taxpayers.

As a scientist, engineer, and business executive, I know how to manage our lands, beaches, and bays the best.

Read more: Meet Chris Spellmon for Texas Railroad Commissioner

What issues are your top priorities? Name three.

I have a 7 Point Reform Program, three of which are:

  • Preserve our Texas natural and fiscal resources. Conserve, re-nourish, or reclaim our state lands, prairies, beaches, bays, estuaries, coastline, wildlife and sea life. Our ecology and economy depend on it.  Furthermore we’ll engineer needed measures along the Texas coastline that will lessen future hurricane and storm surge damage. This will save thousands of lives, tons of hardship, and billions of dollars. In doing this, we’ll produce thousands of Texas jobs and millions of hours of enriched Texas sporting and recreational activity.
  • Increase transparency and open government in the General Land Office. Release all audits conducted on the Land Office’s operations. Presently, the incumbent is withholding one his office posted as complete. Correct the mismanagement. We’ll stop all sweetheart deals, “pay to play” shenanigans, and illicit government fund transfers to nonprofit employees costing taxpayers thousands. It’s time for a new generation of honest, open, and transparent good government.
  • Protect our Permanent School Fund’s resources through careful investments, innovation, tech-savvy clean-energy and oil-and-gas leasing, and eliminating sweetheart investments. By increasing the state’s PSF output we can relieve pressure on the local taxpayers while improving schools.  

What changes would you implement and how?

We’ll improve the General Land Office’s outreach and deliver the benefits earned by and available to our Texas Veterans. Now, too few veterans know about our state Veterans Land Board’s land, home, home-improvement, and assisted living programs. Too many of our veterans remain homeless and ill-housed after they put their lives on the line to protect our families, our homes, and our way-of-life. Improvements must and can be made here. We’ll be proactive, not passive and we’ll do it through technology in which I am trained.

We’ll have the most transparent government agency in history. Austin should not be run by lobbyists and insiders operating without the public’s interest at heart. We’ll stop conflicts of interest in our design and implementation of good government management.
We’ll stop the $ half- billion Alamo “re-envisioning” plan, open a world class museum and fix the deterioration of the Alamo shrine, but it should not cost anywhere near the half billion dollar proposal made with and by out-of-state consultants!

Read more: Meet Kathy Cheng for Justice of the Texas Supreme Court, Place 6

What factors in your life have shaped your beliefs?

A series of events shaped my beliefs. First, I experienced and overcame early epilepsy. This illness and recovery sensitized me to the struggles of the less fortunate and gave me the courage to overcome and motivate others to combat their challenges.

My Eagle Scout and God and Life Award through scouting made me sensitized me the beauty of our lands and coast and oceans and commit to conserving, reclaiming, and re-nourishing our God-given natural wonders that have been deteriorating at alarming rates over past decades especially.

My engineering education at an Ivy League School gave me the confidence that I can recognize the issues and correct them with the application of expertise. My MBA taught me how to do it efficiently. My business experience showed me how to combine effectiveness and efficiently, therein doing the right thing at the right price for taxpayers.

My parents and my total life experiences have instilled in me the ability to recognize things as they are but also to envision things as they can be, and blessed me with the confidence that I, we  have the power to create the better, that is, the much better things that could be. I want to apply these powers to the General Land Office’s operations and mission.

What do you believe should be the function of government?  

The function of government should be to assist societal needs when and where it is necessary; to protect our people and our lands, water, and air; and to deliver necessary services with model efficiency, effectiveness, honesty and transparency.

If you agree, I respectfully ask for your vote. Thank you. You can reach me at [email protected]