Angie Unger – Hays County Commissioner Precinct 4

Angie Unger

 

What is your work history, including current employment? Please respond in a list format.

•   Realtor®, Sky Realty – Hays County & Central, South Texas (Current)
•   Residential, land, and commercial real estate
•   Extensive experience with water constraints, septic systems, wells, floodplains, infrastructure access, and land use
•   Advocate for buyers, sellers, renters, and families navigating affordability and growth pressures
•   Senior Paralegal – Criminal Justice (Office Management Role)
•   Managed day-to-day operations of a criminal justice legal office
•   Oversaw case organization, budget, legal documentation, compliance, and workflow coordination
•   Supported attorney with research, filings, and client coordination
•   Experience managing schedules, records, and operational systems

 

•   Real Estate Investor & Property Owner – South & Central Texas
•   Long-term rental ownership and residential rehabilitation projects
•   Experience with renovation oversight, maintenance, insurance, taxes, and regulatory compliance
•   Direct understanding of housing costs, market cycles, and housing stability

 

•   Small Business Owner – International Business (Mexico)
•   Owned and operated small retail businesses, including cheesecake shops and clothing stores
•   Managed budgeting, inventory, pricing, vendors, and customer service
•   Experience navigating cross-border business practices and local market conditions

 

What is your educational history, including degrees received, licenses, professional credentials, etc.? Please respond in a list format.

 

•   Texas Licensed Realtor®
•   Ongoing continuing education in real estate law, contracts, ethics, fair housing, land use, and consumer protection

 

•   Paralegal Studies Certificate
•   Training in legal research, documentation, contracts, and regulatory compliance

 

•   Notary Public, State of Texas

 

•   Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR®)
•   Professional designation focused on buyer representation, negotiation, and fiduciary responsibility

 

•   Short Sales & Foreclosure Resource (SFR®)
•   Specialized training in distressed properties, short sales, foreclosure processes, and consumer protection

 

•   Continuing Professional Education
•   Ongoing coursework and certifications related to housing law, ethics, negotiation, land transactions, water considerations, water considerations, and regulatory compliance

 

What is your history of supporting Democratic organizations and/or candidates?

My support of Democratic organizations and candidates has been rooted in long-term, grassroots engagement. I am an organizer, administrator, active member or founder of many social media Democratic groups, and help admin a large Democratic grassroots group serving Dripping Springs and surrounding areas. Through all this work, I have supported Democratic candidates and causes by organizing and attending events, holding signs, engaging voters, and helping expand participation at the local level.

I have also served as a grassroots Democratic organizer and volunteer, participating in bilingual voter outreach through door-knocking, texting, translation, and community engagement. I have helped create and share bilingual educational content and videos, supported Democratic candidates during election cycles, and self-funded civic events to encourage participation. My focus has consistently been on expanding access, increasing turnout, and strengthening democracy through direct community connection.

 

What, if any, experience do you have with non-partisan volunteering and community engagement in Hays County?

My non-partisan community engagement has been extensive, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. During that time, I founded DSISD (Parent Village), which became a major parent-led support network for families navigating school closures, remote education, and public health uncertainty. I listened to and documented the concerns of hundreds of parents, including families with immunocompromised children, attended school board meetings, and helped translate community needs into organized feedback and written communication for district leadership.

I also organized child-centered safe events during the pandemic to reduce isolation and support students’ mental and emotional well-being. In addition, I have supported and participated in school and community events highlighting multicultural inclusion, helping families feel seen, represented, and connected.

Beyond the pandemic, I am the founder of Dripping Springs Neighbors en Español, a non-partisan bilingual community platform focused on access to information, resources, and connection for Spanish-speaking families. I have been involved in community outreach and cultural engagement supporting Hispanic traditions through local events and programming. I have also volunteered with Border Mission in Mexico, assisting low-income families and participating in hands-on service efforts, including housing support.

I am also the founder of SSMS Parent and Resource Village, created to bring middle school parents together, strengthen communication, and support families as children transition through a critical stage of development. This work focused on connection, and ensuring families felt supported and informed.

In addition, I am the founder of Bridges of Literature, a non-partisan book club and community dialogue initiative designed to bring people together through literature, shared learning, and thoughtful conversation. The goal of this work has been to build empathy, understanding, and community connection across different backgrounds and perspectives. (Building Bridges Through Literature).

I also volunteer through my church, Dripping Springs Methodist Church, supporting food inclusivity and mutual aid efforts. This has included volunteering time, preparing and sharing meals, supporting children’s groups and youth activities, and helping ensure families feel welcomed and cared for. I contribute and participate in informal support networks where families share resources, information, and encouragement. Through these efforts, I have helped foster connection, care, and mutual support within the community.

My community work has consistently focused on leadership, listening, organizing, inclusion, and building bridges between residents and the systems that serve them.

 

The cost of living in Hays County has skyrocketed. Within the specific authority of the office you are seeking, what concrete steps will you take to address affordability, housing stability, or the economic burden on taxpayers?

Affordability in Hays County is no longer an abstract issue; it affects senior citizens on fixed incomes, teachers and nurses who serve our community, rural families facing rising costs, and multicultural families working hard to stay rooted where they belong. When people who care for our children, our health, and our neighborhoods can no longer afford to live here, our entire community is weakened.

Within the authority of Commissioners Court, I will focus on practical actions that reduce displacement and lower long-term costs for residents. First, I will push Hays County to evaluate and expand county-level homebuyer support tools such as down payment and closing cost assistance, using models already in place in other Texas counties. These tools help working families and essential workers remain in the communities they serve.

Second, I will prioritize housing stability by pursuing and directing state and federal grant funding; such as Community Development Block Grants toward critical home repairs and rehabilitation. Too often, families don’t lose their homes because they can’t afford their mortgage; they lose them because they can’t afford a $14,000 - $20,000 roof replacement or a failed septic system. Targeted repair programs allow seniors, rural homeowners, and working families to stay safely housed and prevent displacement before it happens.

Third, I will strengthen coordination and outreach around existing state programs that support first-time and moderate-income buyers, ensuring residents; especially bilingual and multicultural families can access assistance that often goes unused simply because information is hard to find or navigate.

I will also carefully evaluate any workforce or mixed-income housing tools the county considers, with strong guardrails, transparency, and clear affordability targets so these programs deliver real results, not just good intentions.

Finally, I will insist on budgeting and infrastructure planning that prevents existing residents from subsidizing new growth. This means ensuring growth pays its fair share for roads, drainage, and services; pursuing state and federal funding to reduce pressure on property taxes; and prioritizing preventative maintenance to avoid costly emergency repairs. Protecting affordability requires discipline, coordination, and honesty about our limits; always keeping people at the center of every decision.

 

Our region faces historic drought conditions. Our groundwater resources are threatened by pressure from development and drought. How will you prioritize water conservation and environmental stewardship when making decisions regarding development, land use, or legal disputes involving natural resources?

Water stewardship must be practical, science-based, and focused on preserving what we have before pursuing new, costly solutions. As a county commissioner, my top priority is protecting our already stressed aquifers and ensuring development decisions align with what our water resources can realistically sustain.

Before pursuing large-scale supply solutions, including regional water sourcing, the county must first exhaust preservation, conservation, and efficiency strategies. Large-scale projects raise serious and necessary questions that must be answered upfront: Where would pipelines run? What land would they cross? Who would build and maintain them? Would sourcing water elsewhere further strain other aquifers or watersheds? And how would these costs impact residents across different parts of Precinct 4?

Surface water and long-distance supply options are often significantly more expensive due to infrastructure, treatment, pumping, storage, and long-term contracts. That raises another critical question; would these costs increase rates or taxes for certain communities, particularly rural residents or those already facing affordability pressures? These are not reasons to rush toward expansion, but reasons to proceed cautiously and along with preservation-first strategies.

Preservation starts locally. I support expanding rainwater harvesting not only for private homes, but also across county facilities, courthouses, and school systems, so conservation becomes both infrastructure and education for the next generation. Public education is essential, including helping residents understand Texas native plants and landscaping, why commonly used grasses like Bermuda and St. Augustine requires significantly more water, and what alternatives are better suited for our region. I also support education around building choices, such as metal roofing compatible with rainwater harvesting and solar panels that reduce long-term strain on water and energy systems.

Conservation tools must be accessible. I will support pursuing state and federal funding to help rural families and well owners offset the cost of rainwater harvesting and retrofits, and I will prioritize addressing aging infrastructure and water loss, because reducing leaks is one of the most cost-effective conservation measures available.

Finally, strong water stewardship requires supporting our groundwater conservation districts, especially those that rely primarily on wells and permits and lack adequate funding. These districts are on the front lines of protecting our aquifers, and they need the resources, data, and scientific capacity to do their jobs effectively.

Water decisions are ultimately people’s decisions. When groundwater is overdrawn or development outpaces supply, the impacts are felt first by rural residents, well owners, seniors on fixed incomes, and families with the fewest resources to adapt quickly. Responsible growth requires asking hard questions, relying on science, and proceeding with caution so today’s decisions do not create tomorrow’s water crises. The tide is turning and communities are recognizing that preservation must come first.

 

Hays County is becoming an attractive target for Data Centers that use a significant amount of water and electricity to service primarily non-local data requests. How can we balance technological advancement while preserving our resources?

Data centers can bring jobs and investment, but they also can carry significant water and energy demands that have real impacts on communities in drought-stressed regions like Hays County. Data centers require large amounts of water for cooling systems, and statewide analysis shows that data center water use in Texas is projected to reach tens of billions of gallons annually, sometimes comparable to the daily consumption of hundreds or even thousands of households. These demands matter in communities already facing limited groundwater supplies and historic drought conditions.

In nearby San Marcos, proposed data center projects have sparked community concern and debate precisely because of water and environmental impacts. In some instances, city councils have paused or rejected proposals without required public votes after residents raised questions about resource use and sustainability.

As a county commissioner, I believe we must balance technological and economic opportunities with responsible stewardship of our natural resources. That starts with asking clear questions before approvals: how much water and energy a project will require, where those supplies will come from, who pays for infrastructure upgrades, and whether existing supplies will be stressed. We must protect access for residents, rural well owners, seniors on fixed incomes, and families who are most vulnerable to shifting water availability.

I support a preservation-first approach to resource use, where conservation, efficiency, and education are prioritized before committing to water-intensive projects. Any project that significantly increases demand should demonstrate a net benefit to the community, account fully for infrastructure costs, and meet high standards of transparency and accountability. Technological advancement should not come at the expense of long-term access to water for the people who live here.

 

A judge recently overturned the 2024 Hays County Road Bond due to insufficient public notice, and that decision is being appealed. What processes will you follow to ensure appropriate notice and public input in the decisions the county faces?

The 2024 Hays County road bond was overturned not because residents opposed investing in roads, but because the process failed to provide clear and sufficient public notice, limiting meaningful public awareness and input. To avoid repeating that mistake, I believe transparency and engagement must begin early and continue throughout the process. As a county commissioner, I will prioritize clear, early notice with detailed agenda descriptions that explain the purpose, scope, and potential impacts of proposals in plain language. I will support the use of citizen and bond advisory committees early in the process, so community voices help shape proposals before they reach a vote. I also believe in hosting community forums and workshops, both in person and virtual, to reach residents across the county and precinct 4, including rural areas and those who cannot attend meetings during business hours. Information should be communicated in plain language and, when appropriate, multiple languages, so people understand what is being proposed and why it matters. Finally, I will support ongoing feedback loops, where public input is acknowledged and residents can see how their feedback informed decisions. I do not believe any elected official knows more than the people they serve, and avoiding costly legal setbacks requires treating public participation as a core part of governance; not an afterthought. I am running a community first campaign centered in collective solutions and governance.

 

What do you consider the most urgently needed road projects in your district and how will you ensure the work is done?

For me, the most urgent road needs in Precinct 4 are the ones that affect safety, everyday life, and access; especially where growth has moved faster than the infrastructure meant to support it. That includes roads with safety concerns, recurring drainage or flooding issues, heavy daily use, and routes relied on by school buses, emergency responders, and rural families who often don’t have another way around.

I don’t believe in guessing or grandstanding about specific projects. I believe in doing the work. As a commissioner, I will rely on engineering data, safety assessments, and, just as importantly, listening to the people who live on and use these roads every day. Residents often know where the problems are long before they show up in a report, and that input matters.

Ensuring the work actually gets done means accountability at every step. I will push for clear scopes of work, realistic timelines, and transparent budgets, with regular public updates so people aren’t left wondering what happened after a project was approved. I also strongly support preventative maintenance and drainage improvements, because fixing problems early saves money and prevents repeat failures.

I will pursue available funding; county, state, and federal, and work collaboratively with cities and neighboring jurisdictions when roads cross boundaries. Roads are basic infrastructure. People deserve to feel safe traveling and confident that when projects are approved, they’re followed through on.

 

What Democratic principles are most important to you and how will they inform your actions as a commissioner?

The Democratic principles most important to me are equity, inclusion, transparency, participation, accountability, and unity. At its core, the Democratic Party should be the party of the people; the party of the little guy, and our responsibility in government is to protect the most vulnerable while bringing the community together.

These principles mean ensuring that marginalized voices are not only heard, but valued, including the LGBTQ+ community, multicultural families, rural residents, seniors, and working families who are too often left out of decision-making. No one should feel invisible in the systems that shape their daily lives, and no one should be left behind.

As Texas Representative James Talarico has said in his work, democracy works best when it is rooted in humility; when leaders listen first, protect the most vulnerable, and remember that public service is about people, not power. That belief guides how I lead.

As a commissioner, I will govern in a way that is people-centered and participatory, not top-down. That means communicating clearly, inviting public input early, listening with humility, and bridging divides in a politically mixed community. My goal is to build trust, strengthen unity, and ensure that the government works with the people and not above them.

 

Yes or no, did you use AI to assist you in answering any of these questions?

No. These responses reflect my values and lived experience. I am a natural writer and I love writing.