As I've talked to people around the state about our campaign for Texas Land Commissioner, some folks have rightly asked:

• "What are your conservative values?"
• "How will those values shape the work of the Texas General Land Office?"

To answer these questions, let's first summarize the work of the Land Office over which the Texas Land Commissioner presides. I like to think of the work as fitting into four major areas.

There's more to it than this, but this is a pretty good start:

1. Manage Texas public lands to create a solid and dependable revenue stream for public education.
2. Oversee Texas veterans' benefits. This includes helping veterans find jobs and acquiring healthcare, lower cost mortgages, long-term nursing home care, and even providing a dignified final resting place in a Texas veterans' cemetery.
3. Preserve and make accessible our Texas history and archives.
4. Manage the 367 miles of state beaches and more than 3,000 miles of bays and estuaries.

Here are my 10 Conservative Values and how those values will impact the work of the Texas General Land Office:

1) Perspective

The General Land Office must always maintain the right perspective. The right perspective is simple: this office answers to the people of Texas. The people do not answer to the General Land Office. This is a fundamental principle which must guide all the work of the General Land Office.  Too many times state agencies act as though the people of Texas work for the agency. Instead, it is the opposite. This office works for Texans.

2) Accountability

The Texas General Land Office must always be accountable to the people. This agency, in a way that is perhaps unique among the state agencies, has a trusted stewardship over the assets and resources of the people of Texas. Our public lands, our coastline, our shared historical archives, our veterans -- these assets belong to us, the People of Texas. As such, this office must always be directly accountable for its stewardship over these matters.

3) Transparency

The operations, deliberations, and work of the Texas General Land Office must always be carried out with a maximum of transparency, except where certain matters of confidentiality may be required by law. To the maximum extent permissible by law, the operations of this agency must be transparent and easily scrutinized by the public. There can be no hiding behind bureaucratic firewalls.

4) Honesty

Of tantamount importance is that the General Land Office must always be 100% honest in its dealings with the people of Texas, with the Legislature, with the Judiciary, and with the other elements of the Executive Branch. There can be no tolerance for deceit or dishonesty. In all cases, the Land Office must be a fair and honest partner.

5) Impartiality

The fiduciary responsibility held by this office must always be carried out with the utmost impartiality. This office works closely with the people of Texas and with the private sector. In no form can the work of this office be used to reward friends, campaign contributors, or political allies. Nor can any aspect of the work of this office be used improperly to punish a political adversary.

6) Thriftiness

The General Land Office must always operate as efficiently as possible. It must manage every dollar spent with full recognition that the money spent belongs to the people of Texas. Waste must be ferreted out and eliminated. The people of Texas entrust us with their money, and we must manage it as if it was our own.

7) Constitutionally Sound

The work of this office must always adhere to the Constitutional scope for the General Land Office. Additionally, the work must comply with legislation signed into law by the Governor. The General Land office must faithfully carry out its Constitutional duty and the laws of the State of Texas. There is no room for loose or liberal interpretations of law. When in doubt, this office will coordinate closely with the Texas Attorney General and will adopt conservative interpretations of existing laws and will urge Legislative clarification when necessary.

8) Boldness

Within its Constitutional authority, the work of this office must always be bold. Bold means doing what is right for the people of Texas. Bold means not worrying about our future political careers and instead focusing on today's fiduciary responsibility. Bold means courageously leading others to solutions which build Tomorrow's Texas. Sometimes that means leading other members of the Texas Executive Branch, including the Governor and Lt. Governor. In other cases, it means lobbying and leading the Legislature to do what is right. The history of this agency is filled with bold planning for Tomorrow's Texas, and this is certainly not the time for timidity or political temperature checks.

9) Humility

This office must demonstrate humility in all of our dealings with the people of Texas. When we fail, we must say so, get up, and do the job better the next time. We must not blame others for our failures. We must not pass the buck. This office must always own both its mistakes and its successes and be answerable for both. 

10) Efficiency

This office must find new ways to serve the people of Texas more efficiently and effectively. This will include leveraging innovative technology for the purpose of reducing costs and improving service delivery and forging collaborative partnerships with the private sector.