It is times like the recent ice storm that remind me yet again how unique Denton County is across the nation.
In the past six years, we have dealt with everything from a pandemic to setting up one of the largest mass vaccination clinics at Texas Motor Speedway, from dealing with electric outages during the week-long Winter Storm Uri to recovering from a spree of tornadoes along our northern boundary and even lending a hand during the Hill Country Flooding last year.
The late January storm was no different. Once again, we came together to identify issues, seek solutions, and coordinate collective resources to preserve continuity of government.
Why, might you ask?
As Texas Sen. Brent Hagenbuch learned firsthand and kindly noted in a recent social media post, we bring our stakeholders from across the county together during crises – from school superintendents and regional leaders to our utility companies and transportation providers – to better serve residents’ needs.
We schedule these meetings – from twice a day to weekly as the situation at hand dictates – to share details, establish processes to continue essential operations, and communicate our plans with you.
Individually, we can address quite a few needs. As a whole, we can do so much more.
We lend our state-of-the-art communications systems and our well-trained Denton County Office of Emergency Management staff to neighboring and regional counties during major calamities. Our Department of Technology Services stood side-by-side with our Denton County Public Health teams during vaccination clinics to collect information and keep it secure.
Our transportation crews worked with smaller entities to keep water pumps online during Uri. The Denton County Fire Marshal’s Office has backed up other departments during major grassland fires. Our facilities department monitors county buildings for safety purposes to protect the public as they utilize our services.
These are just a few examples of how we operate as your county government. We are known across the state and beyond for meeting challenges head-on. As one of 254 counties across the state of Texas, we deliver.
And while our facilities may be closed to the public during inclement weather, a vast number of county functions continue – ranging from Road and Bridge employees continuing to monitor and address county road issues as needed while also partnering with the Texas Department of Transportation on major roadways to Denton County Sheriff’s Office deputies, jailers and dispatchers providing around-the-clock services. Other departments, such as our Fire Marshal’s Office, check roads for safety purposes during inclement weather while our Department of Technology Services ensures our system is secure as employees work in the office, field or from home.
Though the wintry season may not yet be over for our area, you can be assured that, if another storm were to occur again, we will be there working on your behalf and inviting everyone back to the table for the next round – all to ensure your needs are met.
After all, when the going gets tough, Denton County gets going.
Connect With Us: If you have any questions or comments, please let me hear from you. My email is [email protected], and my office number is 940-349-2820. For more information, register for my newsletter at Dentoncounty.gov/countyjudgenewslettersignup
