The Candidates

David Doerr, Nominee for Board Chair

David Doerr is a public school teacher who has lived in Kyle since 2012. He became active in Democratic Party politics after the 2016 election and coordinated the effort to formalize the Kyle/Buda-Area Democrats into its current structure. Doerr was elected to serve as board secretary in January 2018 and has served in that role since that time. He has overseen KBAD social media channels and helped develop its website. He also helps with managing the KBAD email notification lists, membership rolls, and Zoom meetings. Besides his involvement in KBAD, Doerr also helps as a volunteer with the Hays County Democratic Party’s Communications and Technology committee.

Doerr is now seeking to lead KBAD as the board chair in hopes of empowering new leaders to adapt KBAD to meet the challenges of the day. Doerr aspires to use his prior experience with KBAD, the county party, and his work as a communications professional to help the club accomplish its mission. Doerr strongly believes that the development of community-based, action-oriented clubs like KBAD is the key to building a long-lasting Democratic majority in Texas. And central to the success of KBAD and the Texas Democratic Party is our constant outreach and community-building efforts, aimed at meeting the needs of our fellow Texans. It will be particularly important to build relationships and trust with people from marginalized groups that have been underserved by government and political parties.

Doerr said he is looking forward to working with a new group of board members to elect more good Democrats to office in Hays County and beyond. Doerr said he will make every effort to be a responsive servant leader that listens to the ideas and concerns of the board of directors and the entire club membership as we seek to grow the reach and effectiveness of our organization.

Suzette E. Robinson, Nominee for Vice Chair

Suzette Robinson is a Program Specialist for the Texas Workforce Commission and a retired Navy Commander.  She resides in the Sunfield Community is the mother of two adult children Matthew and Kayla. She has been voting democrat since she was able to vote.  She currently serves as an at-large board member of KBAD and as a precinct chair for 228.  Suzette participation in political activism has increase since retiring from appointed positions where engagement in activities were restricted.  She has made financial contributions, block walked, phone banked, delivered signs, and texted in support of the Democratic ticket.

Suzette has over 30 years of local and district government experience service as a department director, for the City of Pflugerville, TX; Evanston, IL; Detroit, MI;and the Indianapolis Airport Authority.  She also served as the DC DOT’s Chief Operations Officer, managing DDOT's administrations and divisions responsible for maintenance, traffic operations, urban forestry, parking and ground transportation, and public space regulation. She provided administrative management overseeing more than 750 staff members, a general fund budget of $35 million and a capital budget of more than $75 million.

She is designated as a Public Works Fellow by the American Public Works Association in recognition of her more than 20 years of experience in public works management.  She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and a Master’s of Science degree in Management.

Liz Strand, Nominee for Treasurer

Liz Strand has served as treasurer for KBAD since its inception in 2018 where she maintains up-to-date records of KBAD's finances and tracks membership dues and donations using multiple spreadsheets. Liz reports to the Texas Ethics Commission twice per year to ensure compliance. She continues to research member management systems that will improve membership tracking and communication. As treasurer of KBAD, she communicates regularly with other board members. She helps develop and review meeting agendas and minutes and provides input into the management of the organization. Liz also volunteers to help with multiple KBAD projects. Liz has a strong commitment to helping to keep Hays County blue and turn Texas blue.

Liz has owned a small business where she maintained its finances; served as a Director at two different organizations, and has several years experience in project management.

Loretta Barrett, Nominee for Secretary

I am interested in volunteering for the secretary position for Kyle/Buda-Area Democrats (KBAD). I currently work full-time Monday through Thursday as a medical technologist for Clinical Pathology Laboratories (CPL) in Austin. I have worked for CPL since February 2014. I don’t work on Fridays and feel I will have plenty of time to devote to KBAD duties. Prior to CPL I worked a short time as a Systems Engineer for Orchard Software based out of Carmel, Indiana and before that I was the Laboratory Manager for West Texas Medical Associates (WTMA) in San Angelo for 23 years. Both jobs at Orchard Software and WTMA involved database management of a laboratory information system. I am proficient at writing laboratory standing operation procedures and have strong administrative skills.

Prior to leaving San Angelo in 2013, I held different positions on the board of San Angelo Friends of the Environment (SAFE) over several years, one of which included secretary. SAFE is a very small and informal non-profit organization that is very heavily involved in community recycling outreach. I was a regular volunteer at SAFE’s Recycling Center and for Earth Day events. More recently I have volunteered for the American Cancer Society in Austin.

I obtained a deputy voter registrar in 2019 in hopes of getting more people registered to vote in Hays County. I managed to get a few people registered while block walking for Erin Zwiener’s campaign before the pandemic hit. I also joined KBAD in 2019 hoping to meet other Democrats in the area and to get involved in helping to keep Hays County blue and some day to turn Texas blue as well. I am a life-long Democrat born into a family of Democrats and I support the goals and ideals of KBAD and the Democratic Party. Some of the issues that are most important to me include the environment, LGBTQ+ rights, racial equality and healthcare for all.

I am a widow with two grown children but live alone with my two dogs. While I don’t have any experience with several of the duties mentioned, I welcome the challenge of learning new skills necessary for the secretary position. I am excited about the opportunity to work with other board members of KBAD and the rest of the club.

Leah Cady, Nominee for Director at-Large

My name is Leah Cady. I moved from Austin to Kyle Tx in April of 2017. For two and a half years I worked in the community as an early childhood educator. Now in the age of COVID-19, like many others I have pivoted my career and now work in Kyle as a patient care coordinator for a busy doctors office. I am also raising 3 very cool teenagers (one who was a first time voter this year!) and a spitfire 5 year old with my husband of 20 years. In my “free time” I run a small sales business from my home, and lead a support group for mothers whose partners travel or work non-traditional work schedules.

I have had the opportunity to meet many people in the community since moving here. I love supporting local events and making connections with different groups and businesses. I am always willing to volunteer, whether that means brainstorming ideas, recruiting others or just getting my hands dirty. When I moved to Kyle, one of my goals was to become more politically active. I wasn’t really sure where to start, but I soon found a small group of like minded people who really helped inform me about the needs and issues facing Hays county. This election season I had the opportunity to volunteer with Erin Zwiener & Daphne Tenario’s campaigns, became a KBAD member and helped with the assembly of Safe Voter Kits.

I feel very proud of the accomplishments of KBAD and the democratic party during the 2020 election year. I stand with the goals and ideals of both organizations, but once Super Tuesday had passed, I found myself wondering “Now what?”. I am excited that the opportunity to serve my community on the KBAD board has presented itself. I believe I would be a strong asset to the organization. I am applying today for your consideration for the positions of Vice Chair or Director At-large. I have extensive experience and training with social media marketing and an understanding of internet algorithms. I am well-spoken and don’t shy away from public speaking.

I have led and volunteered with numerous community groups such as Girl Scouts, PTA & Youth Coaching. I am most proud of my work on the women’s leadership team at Bannockburn church and with Proven Way Ministries producing engaging women's conferences, one of which I was honored to be invited as a speaker. I would be a great Vice Chair or Director At-large because I am passionate about the issues of the democratic party. Universal healthcare, education, minimum/living wage, human rights and systematic racism are the issues that I find myself most focused on recently.

I will be a trustworthy and responsible member of the board. I am a woman of integrity. I keep my promises, I show up, and I care about the people in my community. I am interested in being a part of the KBAD board because I am eager to learn from more experienced people and strive to always continue learning. I am a person who is just as comfortable taking the lead when asked or needed, as I am being a team player willing to help wherever directed. I am respectful of others ideas and opinions and not afraid to share my own. The future of our country is at stake and I want to be a part of the fight to make it better for every person who lives here or desires to.

Jeff Kaufmann, Nominee for Director at Large

I would be honored to have your vote for the opportunity to serve you in the position of KBAD Director-at-Large.

I am committed to the goals and ideals of KBAD and the Democratic Party and believe my many community contributions and long-term political engagement demonstrate this.

I retired from the State of Texas in March 2020 after forty-four years of service in various health and human service agencies. I will bring to this position and contribute to KBAD the skills and qualifications I’ve learned along the way from having been a front-line worker, program specialist, researcher and program director, and the skills to be both an effective team member and leader as needed. I have extensive experience in strategic and operational planning, performance measurement, program evaluation, human resources and business systems management. I have in-depth skills with state agency budget development, legislative activities, project management, business process improvement, grant application and management, program development, and survey development and analysis. I am skilled in group process facilitation, public speaking, policy analysis and development, consensus building, and stakeholder involvement.

I’ve lived in Buda, TX since 1984 and have been involved in many community activities. I have been a staunch Democrat ever since I could vote. I have worked on political campaigns over the years including block walking, phone banking, texting and letter writing for various Hays County, statewide and national candidates most recently including Beto O'Rourke, M.J. Hegar, Wendy Davis, Erin Zwiener and Joe Biden. I served as a Hays County delegate to the 2020 Texas Democratic Convention. After a previous bond election failed, I’m proud to have been appointed to serve on the successful 2001 Hays Consolidated Independent School District Citizens' Bond Advisory Committee. Together we helped improve community engagement needed to achieve passage of the $86.9 million school bond package for HCISD. I was appointed by County Commissioners Jeff Barton and Mark Jones in 2009 – 2010 to serve on the Hays County Parks and Open Space Advisory Board which identified and recommended to the Commissioner’s Court critical parcels of land in Hays County which now have been protected from development. From 2004 – until last year I was active with the Hays Youth Soccer Association as a coach, team manager and Grade 8 soccer referee officiating recreational and select soccer matches.

I am a hard worker and if elected will dedicate my energies to achieving the success of KBAD and Democratic candidates and priorities.

Thomas Just, Nominee for Director at-Large

To the honorable members of the Kyle Buda Area Democrats Nomination Committee:

I am ready, willing, and able to effectively help this organization achieve its goals and grow into a political powerhouse. In the following paragraphs, I will lay out my qualifications, why I want to serve, and finally, my vision for the Kyle Buda Area Democrats.

The dominant theme of my life story and resume is public service. I joined the Air Force immediately after high school graduation and just months after the attacks of September 11th. I spent six years in uniform, where I worked as an intelligence analyst. After I took off the uniform, I enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin, where I interned for Congressman Lloyd Doggett and worked as a policy analyst for Project Vote Smart. After earning my bachelor's degree in Philosophy and Government, I matriculated to The Seattle University School of Law. While in law school, I clerked for the Washington Attorney General and served as the legal director for Seattle stand down, which provides pro bono services to indigent veterans in need.

After the election of 2016, my wife and I started having long discussions about what we were doing and why. We moved back to Austin, Texas, where we believed we could make a real political difference in local politics in an area I love. Upon moving back, I started volunteering with the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, flying to Washington D.C. on several occasions to lobby Congress on behalf of fellow veterans in support of crucial veteran legislation. I also started serving within the leadership of the ATX Democratic Veterans. The Austin City Council appointed me as a commissioner for the City of Austin Veterans Affairs Committee. I was subsequently accepted as a national fellow with the Truman National Security Project. I was also elected to the Texas Democratic Veterans' board, which is the official veterans' caucus of the Texas Democratic Party.

But a little over a year ago, my wife and I again started asking whether we were in the most politically useful place. We loved where we were in Austin, but it felt like we were preaching to the choir again. So, we bought our first house in Buda to be in Hays County, where we think we can have a much more significant marginal impact. I want to serve effectively, and in our current political environment, that means doing everything I can to destroy the party of Trump and Trumpism. Trumpism is anathema to everything I love about this Country that I have spent most of my life serving, in one way or another.

All of which brings me to both why I want to serve within the leadership of KBAD and what my vision for the organization is. Even before I officially moved to Buda, I started to know some of the people within KBAD, and I have been thoroughly impressed with its members' energy and dedication. I find the mission of KBAD to be of critical importance in flipping a predominantly Republican-controlled County that has one of the fastest-growing populations in the Country. My vision for KBAD is for it to become an absolute political powerhouse. We should have an army of grassroots support within the community. Our political endorsement should become indispensable for any candidate, local ordinance, or legislative decision. We should start grooming and producing a bench of political talent to fill the offices up and down the ballot.

If I am chosen to help lead this crucial organization, I will roll up my sleeves and get to work. If not, I will roll up my sleeves and get to work.