Rick Cooper -- Republican for Randall County Commissioner, Precinct 3

The following are the complete and unedited responses submitted by the candidate listed below to the Amarillo Pioneer’s Candidate Questionnaire.

Photo by Jose Contreras, Contreras Photos

Name: Rick Cooper

Office Sought: Randall County Commissioner, Precinct 3

Party Affiliation: Republican

Age: 66

Educational Background:

I have a BS degree in English and Physical Education and a Master's degree in Education from Wayland Baptist University. I also attended WTAMU to work on Mid-Management Educational Leadership Certification.

Occupation: Retired, College Coaching & Administration

If you are a business owner, please list the business or businesses that you own. (If this question is not applicable, please note that below.)

Not Applicable

Please list any civic boards or commissions (non-profit, government, union, religious, political, etc.) on which you have served as a board member or equivalent.

I have served on numerous work related boards and committees including the National Association of Basketball Coaches Board of Directors.

Have you previously held or do you currently hold any elected office? If so, what office(s)?

I have not served in any elected office.

If your campaign has any online campaign resources where voters can learn more about you, such as social media accounts or a website, please list them below.

We do not have any active campaign social media accounts.

Why did you decide to run for this office in 2024?

There is a need because Rusty Carnes has chosen not to serve another term as the Randall County Commissioner for Precinct 1. I am seeking to fill that need. Although I've never considered running for public office until now, this opportunity has shown me a new way to serve our community. Randall County has been my family’s home for 25 years, with 20 of those years spent in Precinct 1. Our two adult children, their spouses, and 5 grandchildren all live in Randall County with my daughter and her family residing in Precinct 1. We are all blessed to live here because of the great people and the conservative values and principles prevalent in both the citizens and the government of our county. I seek to maintain and enhance the county’s excellent conservative and fiscally responsible leadership, and assist in meeting the future challenges our county will face. I would consider it an honor and privilege to represent our friends, neighbors, and families as Randall County Commissioner for Precinct 1.

If elected, what will be your top three priorities in office?

I will prioritize the safety and security of our citizens by recruiting, training, and retaining the best first responders and providing them with the resources necessary to perform their jobs at a high level of excellence. I believe safe and well maintained roads and bridges are a large part of this safety and security for essential access to our Randall County citizens by emergency vehicles.

I will utilize my conservative principles, values, and mindset to promote and insist on fiscal responsibility, limited government, low taxes, and a positive business environment keeping Randall County a great place to live, work, and raise a family.

Responsiveness to our Randall County citizens in a timely and productive manner will always be a priority of mine,

What is an issue you believe has gone overlooked in your race and how will you address it if elected?

Because of our citizens, excellent county government and local leadership, Randall County is a great place to live, work, own a business and raise a family. The attractiveness of our county has created an environment of explosive growth and change, especially in our rural areas. The land usage is, in many instances, changing from traditional ranch use to housing development. This change and population growth will stress our road, bridge and drainage infrastructure, county services, first responder staffing, and water availability, as well as creating other possibly yet unknown issues. Our County Commission has already taken some necessary and positive steps to assist with this land use change and growth by writing and approving subdivision policies related to required water availability studies and road construction. I am committed to working with our Randall County leadership, county department heads, business leaders, city partners, developers, and citizens to stay ahead of this issue by thinking “outside the box” and developing new ideas and ways to deal with these future challenges.

Do you have any notable endorsements you would like to highlight for voters?

One of the first people I reached out to for advice and his knowledge of Randall County when we made the decision to seek this position was long time servant leader, Sheriff Joel Richardson. I am honored to say that he has endorsed my candidacy.
I have also been blessed with and proud of the endorsements of long time Amarillo businessman Alex Fairly as well as Amarillo City Council member and local business leader Tom Scherlen.
Jimmy Lackey, long time friend, treasurer of our campaign, and respected President and CEO of Kids Inc has endorsed my candidacy for Randall County Commissioner.

Why are you the best candidate for voters to support for this position?

Immediately after filing for a place on the Republican Party Primary ballot, I went to work attacking the learning curve of becoming a Randall County Commissioner. I began by asking for time with as many County Department heads as possible to learn what they do and what their department function is in the county government structure. I met some highly motivated, very intelligent leaders and many dedicated county employees. I came away from that multi-week journey understanding that we have a many great things being done by some very motivated individuals to make Randall County the special place that it is.

I am a lifelong conservative Republican who has lived, worked, attended church, and raised our family in Randall County and Precinct 1 for the better part of 2 decades. This is home to Janie and me, our adult children and our 5 grandchildren. I have experience planning and implementing the use of multi-million-dollar budgets in both a private and state organization setting. I know that my leadership experience, team building background, communication, and problem-solving skills would allow me to serve our constituents well as a Randall County Commissioner. I have been representing our county, city, state, and university in the public domain as a coach or athletic administrator in a positive way for many years and would consider it an honor and privilege to represent the people of Randall County Precinct 1. I have spent a great deal of time learning county department functions from the people who do it every day by meeting them in person on site. From that experience I have learned many things about our county offices that will make me a better citizen and give me a great start as County Commissioner, Precinct 1. Most of all I learned that we have some highly motivated, devoted people doing great things for our county. Finally, I am fully retired and have the time and energy to devote full time to this very important position.