Profile, Dolores Urias, Candidate Commissioner, Pct. 2

NAME:  DOLORES “LOLO” URIAS
POSITION SOUGHT:  COMMISSIONER, PCT. 2
STATUS:  INCUMBENT

BY ROBERT MORALES

Dolores “Lolo” Urias is running for county commissioner, Precinct 2. He was appointed in 2013 by County Judge Carlos Urias to fill the unexpired term of Roland Gomez. He is the incumbent. For the record, both Urias’ share the last name, but they are not related.

Mr. Urias is a life-long resident of Van Horn. For the past 23 years, he has served as a rehab counselor at MHMR, or as it is now called, Permian Basin Community Center.

“I was humbled that Judge Urias appointed me to serve the persons in Precinct 2,” said Mr. Urias. “I had long contemplated running for commissioner, but that wasn’t going to happen until I retired. I believe in public service, and for me, this is the perfect opportunity to reach out to the constituents in my precinct and to the citizens of Culberson County.”

Mr. Urias wants to concentrate his efforts on three primary areas: affordable housing, airport improvements and maintenance of the City-County Park and county buildings.

“I want to continue working with Judge Urias and the other commissioners on making sure we can help provide needy residents in our county with a decent place to live,” he said. “The county’s HOME program is one way of helping low-income persons who own their property have a chance of getting a new modest home. Of course, there are many more applications than there are available slots for new houses, but I will continue to work my best at helping everyone who qualifies.”

Mr. Urias said he wants to put the airport as one of the county’s priorities in 2014. “The airport is not adequately serving our needs right now because we have more traffic. I’m glad our airport is busier, but we need to address lighting and a good radar system. I am in favor of extending the current runway to allow larger plans to land here. I think we