Common Sense

Tue, May 13 2008

— Galen Scott
gscott@weatherforddemocrat.com
Precinct 1 Commissioner Danny Choate is looking back on 22 years of service to Parker County, and looking forward to some time off.
Toward the end of 2007, Choate made it known he will not seek another 4-year term as commissioner.
“A lot of people don’t realize how old I am,” he said.
Choate, now 58, moved from Fort Worth to Parker County in 1983. He bought a house in Reno and took a job delivering propane.
Choate entered politics as a Reno City Councilman in May 1985, and as a result, formed a relationship with former Precinct 1 County Commissioner Waymon Wright, who has since passed away. The propane job was going well, but people depended on him to stay warm during the winter, and there were times he was forced to work days in a row without going home. He wanted something with better working hours.
Wright was looking for a foreman at the time, but Choate wanted to establish himself within the precinct and get to know the operation first. He signed up to work for the county as a heavy equipment operator in 1985.
On days when the secretary was out, or away on vacation, Wright put Choate in charge of the office. His experience on the Reno City Council was helpful, and he was willing to take care of paperwork. When the foreman quit two years later, Wright asked Choate if he would be willing to take the reins.
Wright and Choate were close friends. For the next 10 years Choate oversaw the road projects while Wright was attending Commissioners Court in Weatherford.
One day Wright asked Choate to help him campaign for his last term of office. In return, Wright promised to help Danny win his old seat in Commissioners Court.
With Wright’s help, Choate beat seven other contestants for the job. He took office Jan. 1, 1997, a time when the Commissioners Court was fraught with turmoil. Once, a commissioner refused to vote on the proposed tax rate and stormed out of the courtroom.
“Things just weren’t going well at all,” Choate remembered. “We had long, long meetings for no reason because we couldn’t get anything done. There were packed courtrooms — it was just a real hectic time. That went on for my first term-and-a-half.”
Eventually, the commissioners settled down and started making some real accomplishments, he said. They dealt with a number of contentious issues like what to do about the sheriff, or the jail, or the volunteer fire departments and their tanker trucks.
Choate is known for disliking bureaucrats and some legislators who seem to decide what is best for Parker County without taking to the time to personally see for themselves.
Recently, he delivered an impressive tongue-lashing against the Internal Revenue Service after the county was forced to devote several meetings to an illogical and cumbersome cell phone policy.
“I’m not on board with that higher-up bunch much,” he said.
Choate is the only current member of the Commissioners Court who has been a county employee, and he has distinguished himself with consistent loyalty to rank-and-file employees. During his first election he publicly supported additional county employee benefits, despite the advice of a trusted political advisor.
“I pretty much go to bat for them, anytime,” he said.
In his capacity as county judge pro-tem, Choate said his closest working confidant has probably been County Judge Mark Riley. Among the commissioners, he singled out Joe Brinkley.
“We probably communicate more with each other than I do with Roth or Webster,” he added.
County commissioners are primarily responsible for maintaining all the county roads in their precinct, but more and more of their time is spent on administrative and rule-making tasks in Commissioners Court.
He said his decision not to seek another term is mostly based on a desire to experience retirement before he is too old to enjoy it, but headaches in the courthouse may also play a part.
“It’s a two-sided coin,” he said. “You’ve got a job here, and you’ve got a job in Weatherford. If I could stay here, and not even have to deal with the other part of it, I would probably stay another term at least. But that’s not the case.”
As March 4 primary elections approach, Choate isn’t publicly endorsing any of the six candidates vying for his seat, though he said there may come a time when he has to. He thinks some of the men running would make a good commissioner, and two of the Republicans wouldn’t.
“I’ll let them figure out who they are,” he said. “It’s real early, and they may change my mind, and I don’t want to go out on a limb and say something I might regret later.”
Choate said the biggest challenge facing whoever emerges as the next commissioner will be getting to know all the new people moving into Precinct 1. How successful he is will also depend in part on what happens to the 20 employees currently working for Precinct 1, according to Choate.
“These guys have been here a long time,” he said. “They know the roads, they know where the bad-weather problems are, they’re familiar with the equipment and they’re a big asset to a new commissioner. Now, if he comes in and does a lot of changing around, he’s going to hurt himself there, and it’s just going to be a lot tougher.”
Choate, who claims he hasn’t taken a sick day in 22 years, describes himself as a common-sense kind of guy, where the simplest path is usually the best one.
He is proud of having replaced 22 of the 32 bridges in his precinct. He is proud of being the first commissioner in Parker County history to earn a four-year certification from the Texas Association of Counties. And he is proud of Parker County.
“I’m happy with where the county is at right now,” he said.