7/23/2019 2016 SDD Dori Garza

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2016-sdd-dori-garza 1/2

For

use

by

Stonewall

Democrats

of

Dallas

2016

Judicial

Candidate

Questionnaire

(Note:

Judicial

candidates are asked

to

ONLY

answer the Judicial

Gandidate

questionnaire,

and

NOT

the County or

State Level

questionnairel)

1.

Why are

you

seeking

the

endorsement from

Stonewall

Democrats

of

Dallas?

For over

twenty

years,

the

justices

that

have served the state on the

Texas

Supreme

Court

have been

of

the

same

judicial

philosophy

and

party

affrliation. Currently, there

are only

two

females

and one Hispanic.

I

am

running to

correct the

gender

and

cultural

deficit that

exists on

the court and to add a different

perspective

to

the

debate

ofthe issues addressed

by

the court. An endorsement by

Stonewall Democrats of

Dallas

will

help me

show

that

my

election

will make the

court

more representative

of

the

state s

political

and

demographic

makeup.

2. What

are

your plans

to

participate

in a coordinated

campaign

in

the

general

election?

I do

not have any

plans

at this time,

however,

I

will

consider

a

plan

that

will

permit

me to

participate

in

a

coordinated campaign

without violating

the canons

on

judicial

ethics.

3.

Will

you

use

the Stonewall Democrats

of

Dallas

endorsement

in or

on

a)

your

website

-

Yes

b)

your

campaign literature and

mailers

-

Yes

c)

your

social

media

assets

(Twitter,

Facebook, etc.)

-

Yes

d)

your

campaign advertisements

-

Yes

4.

When

elected,

how will

you

recruit,

retain, and create

a

friendly environment

for

LGBT and

LGBT-

friendly staff?

I have always hired and

retained

staff

in a non-discriminatory

manner.

For

years,

I have

worked

with members

of

the

LGBT community

in

various capacities

and maintained

a

friendly environment.

I will

continue

to

do

so.

5.

Would

you

be

willing to appoint a

liaison

to

meet

with

the

LGBT

community

on

an ongoing basis?

lf

not, why?

I

do

not

believe

it is necessary to appoint

a

liaison. As

a

public

servant,

I

recognize

my

responsibility to

meet

with

all

constituents and

am happy to

personally meet

with

representatives

of

the

LGBT community,

as

long

as

the

discussions

remain within the

confines

of my ethical

guidelines.

7/23/2019 2016 SDD Dori Garza

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2016-sdd-dori-garza 2/2

6.

Understanding

that administrative

matters can

take

up a

significant

percentage

of

your

work day,

what are

some

ideas

for

policies

or

procedures that you think you

can

improve court operations

for

the court

which

you

are seeking office?

What

are

the

most important

policies

or

procedures you've

identified as

needing

improvement?

At this time, I have not

identified

any

specific

policies

or

procedures

utilized

by the Texas

Supreme

Court

that

need

improvement

as

I must tirst work

in the environment to determine

where

improvement

is

needed.

By way of

example,

after

joining

the

l3th

Court of

Appeals

thirteen

years

ago, I was

instrumental

in

implementing a mediation

policy,

revising the

internal

operating

rules

of

procedure

and

assisting

the

Chief

Justice

in various

administrative

matters. I have a take-charge

personality

and am always

interested

in contributing

to

improvement.

7.

How

would you

handle a

situation

in

which

you or an

employee

under you felt

the

need

to

not

fulfill

all

your

lawfulwork duties due to

deeply

held religious beliefs ?

 Deeply

held

religious beliefs

do not take

precedence

over

following the

law

when

deliberating

legal issues. If

an

employee assisting

me

on

the

court felt

he

or

she could

not

follow the

law,

I

would

have no choice

but

to

ask the employee

to leave

the

employment

of

the court.

|,@,amseekinganendorsementfromtheStonewallDemocratsofDallasforthe

2016 elections.

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