In a county judge race where experience and public perception are points of contention, Tom Head and Austin Carrizales agree on at least one thing.

Lubbock County Commissioners shouldn't have given elected officials, including County Judge Head, five-figure raises this fall, both candidates for county judge said.

Carrizales, Head's Democratic challenger in the Nov. 4 general election, said the move to raise elected officials' salaries shows a lack of transparency from a commissioners court that touted a small property tax decrease when it passed this year's budget in September.

"They talked about a tax cut, and they could have lowered the property tax rate by nearly a whole cent (per $100 valuation)," he said. "But that's where they get their money to pay for that raise."

For Head, the sole vote against the pay raises, the issue is a chance to let his "theology hang out."

Though he said he's voted against pay raises for himself for the last decade, Head fared the best of all elected officials during this raise cycle.

His annual wages will rise from $77,450 a year to $109,925 a year, a 42 percent increase beginning this month.

The Republican acknowleddged one option is to not accept the pay increase or return the extra money to the county.

Instead, he sees a higher calling for the money.

"If I refuse it, it goes to the secular government, then God's kingdom is not going to be advanced," he said.

He's considering several options to donate the extra money.

A member of Church on the Rock, Head said he'll consider supporting several ministries through his church and such organizations as Christians United For Israel or Jewish Voice Ministries.

"There's a number of places I can help," he said.

Moving forward, though, both Carrizales and Head said they're generally opposed to pay raises for elected officials.

"If you're going to run for a public office, you're going to earn the amount of money that was on paper when you ran for that office," Carrizales said. "A cost of living adjustment like 2 to 4 percent is one thing, but what they did was too much."

Experience

and image

Carrizales, a Lubbock attorney and recent graduate of the Texas Tech University School of Law, said he's running, in part, because of what he described as a "negative" image the county has received with Head at the helm.

"It's long overdue that Lubbock quit having negative representation," he said.

Head is finishing the last year of a term that has put him in national headlines for sharing in a local TV interview his concern of a potential United Nations intervention in Lubbock County. He attended a conference on racism after a posting outside his office in 2009 offended many people in the community.

Head addressed his image last November when he announced his intention to run for re-election.

"I can't divorce myself from my theology and my philosophy," Head told a room of about 30 supporters, officials and reporters during his announcement in the commissioner's courtroom. "I'm going to let my theology hang out a little bit, so if that offends anybody you can leave now or you can sit here and be offended, but I can't do that. I can't divorce who I am and my theology and my philosophy together. That's who I am."

Carrizales described himself as a conservative Democrat.

"But I'm not your typical Democrat," Carrizales said. "I carry a gun all the time, I'm a (concealed handgun licence holder), I'm pro-life."

Carrizales touted his masters degree in public administration and legal experience as why he's well-suited for the judicial and administrative roles of a county judge.

"I'll be able to utilize my skills as an administrator and as an attorney in heading the commissioners court, working to set a county budget and, in the judicial role, in probate and guardianship hearings," he said.

Head, a Republican, was first elected in 1998 after serving as Precinct 2 justice of the peace for six years.

Head touted his experience during a campaign event last November announcing his intent to run for a fifth term.

He told a crowd gathered in the commissioners chambers that he's heard a "prophecy" of good things to come for the county, including continued economic and population growth, but said he is cautious economic instability around the country could threaten the county.

"I would like to be in office to try to repel that," Head said. "I don't think now is the time for a change of leadership."

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