CONLEY
by BRAD ROLLINS
Hays County Precinct 3 Commissioner Will Conley has been elected chair of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s board, becoming the first person who doesn’t hail from Austin or Travis County to lead the powerful regional group.
The appointment will presumably give Hays County added leverage when it comes to allocating the tens of millions of dollars in state and federal transportation funds that the CAMPO board disburses among cities and counties in the five-county area that also includes Williamson, Bastrop and Caldwell counties.
“It is certainly good for Hays County, and it helps bring our issues even more to the forefront of the region and also brings the issues of all the outlying counties around Austin to the forefront,” Conley said.
Last year, Conley was elected chair of the Capital Area Council of Governments as well as the Capital Area Regional Transportation Planning Organization.
Conley represents the county on the governing bodies of the Lone Star Rail District board and the Region L water planning group. He is also a gubernatorial appointee to the Texas State Juvenile Board.
“It’s an exciting time. When you look back at where Hays County was 10 years ago, we were hardly participating in any regional organization,” Conley said. “Not only are we now a big part of the region, we hold leadership positions in many of those organizations.”
