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Pati Jacobs
Pati Jacobs was a Democratic candidate for the District 17 in the Texas House of Representatives in the November 2, 2010, state legislative elections.
Education
- M.A., Middle Eastern Studies University of Texas at Austin
- B.A., Middle Eastern Studies University of Texas at Austin[1]
Professional experience
Excerpt: "Pati started the Bastrop Cattle Company not only because it's a promising business, but also to demonstrate that sustainable agriculture is a practical and desirable industry that will help her community thrive amid the challenges of the 21st Century. Pati values the rural way of life she grew up with including the irreplaceable natural resources of fertile soil and clean water...
She traveled and studied in Europe, Central America and Israel before returning home to help on the ranch. From Austin, she started a consulting firm to help high-tech manufacturers distribute their products in the Middle East. Later, she offered similar services in Europe and Mexico. In 1988, Pati focused her efforts on trade opportunities with Mexico...She worked on the environmental protocols for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and translated the Mexican Hazardous Waste Regulations for the treaty-negotiating team. Pati worked with the Commission for Environmental Cooperation in Montreal, which monitored environmental issues in the three countries, and her firm had an office in Mexico City for nearly 10 years.[1]
Issue Positions
Jacobs outlines her positions on four major issues on her campaign site:
Water Excerpt:"Texas is growing. This decade, we added 4.5 million people to reach 25 million. We may double in thirty years. Most of this growth is taking place around major cities, and they are thirsty for water...In the 20th century, the federal government subsidized projects to move huge amounts of water over vast areas of the dry states to our west. There is no federal money for a similar program for Texas today. Texas ratepayers will pick up the tab; Texas taxpayers will assume the risk. Operating costs will be steep; water rates will soar...Right now, the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA) proposes to pump 45 million gallons a day from Bastrop and Lee counties in my district down to San Marcos. This is to replace river water that was committed for the cooling needs of a controversial nuclear power plant in Victoria. Tapping into my district’s groundwater to make up for GBRA’s overallocation of surface water is tantamount to water rustling. Transferring water from one of Texas’s fastest growing counties to another will lead to cascading problems...The Legislature must address the fundamental problem that groundwater and surface water are treated so differently...As someone who works the land and sells directly to customers in and around Austin, I understand urban and rural needs. I am uniquely positioned to build consensus and provide leadership on this issue."
Education Excerpt:"Sam Houston called public education "the road to distinction ... equally open to all." Keeping that road open, from pre-Kindergarten to college, is our state's greatest responsibility and challenge...We must keep higher education affordable. Since 2003, when the legislature deregulated tuition, tuition and fees at our four-year colleges has gone up 63% while state funding hasn't even kept up with inflation. As a legislator, I will work to reverse this trend and increase the state's share of the cost of higher education...With an attrition rate of 23%, the public schools of district 17 are doing better than the state as a whole, but there's more we can do. Bastrop's schools appear to have made steady progress retaining students of all ethnicities and narrowing the gap in graduation rates between white and minority students...Calculating the graduation rate in Texas has become more controversial than it should be... It's a basic principle of business that you can't manage a problem unless you measure it accurately, so as a legislator, I'll hold the state agencies accountable for accuracy."
Jobs & Economy Excerpt:"Job creation and economic development are more than just interests to me. I’ve been involved in these areas for most of my adult life. After college, I helped Austin high-tech companies set up distribution agreements on three continents. As a community leader, I founded and led Opportunity Bastrop County and developed a plan promoting economic development while protecting natural resources such as ranch land and water...Texas needs to be leading the country in creating good jobs. I see renewable energy, agriculture and biomedical as areas where we should concentrate. Two of the major highways in our district, US 290 and Texas 21, link our two great research institutions, the University of Texas and Texas A&M University. With the right leadership, District 17 is well situated to tap into this Knowledge Corridor and harness local entrepreneurship onto world-class research...I will aggressively pursue opportunities to better serve our veterans and to attract service and manufacturing jobs to our district that will directly benefit our returning heroes."
Agriculture Excerpt:"Agriculture is the second biggest industry in Texas, but we also lead the nation in the rate that we're losing productive agricultural land. In the past decade, Bastrop County has grown almost twice as fast as Texas as a whole and is one of our rural counties most heavily impacted by nearby urban growth...As a legislator, I'll work to protect productive agricultural land and increase economic opportunities for rural communities in the district and throughout Texas. Since beef represents about half the value of all agricultural products in Texas, I will bring the perspective of someone from a traditional industry and a dynamic, new segment of that industry to the job at hand."[2]
Political Courage Test
Jacobs did not provide answers to the 2010 Political Courage Test.
Elections
2010
Jacobs ran for election to the 17th District seat in 2010. She had no opposition in the March 2nd primary. She was defeated by Republican incumbent Tim Kleinschmidt in the general election on November 2, 2010.[3]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 17 2010 General election results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
 Tim Kleinschmidt (R)
|
28,266 | 65.09% | ||
| Pati Jacobs (D) | 13,868 | 31.93% | ||
| Travis Hill (L) | 1,291 | 2.97% | ||
Campaign finance summary
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Contact
Pati Jacobs Campaign
PO Box 115 Bastrop, TX 78602
Phone: 512-985-6791
Email: Pati@patijacobs.com
External links
- Campaign Site
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Facebook page
- Candidate Twitter Page
- Texas Democrats YouTube Channel
- Official Campaign Contributions
- Contributions, Follow the Money
- Texas Tribune Profile
- Imagine Election Profile
Footnotes
