Published: June 19, 2009 02:55 pm      

Long road ahead

Challenger for County Judge seat starts early, cites civil liberties as key issue

Chelsea L. McGowan

cmcgowan@weatherforddemocrat.com

In November 2010, Cary McKay will stand in line and cast his vote in the election of a Parker County Judge. And although McKay knows running against a popular incumbent will make the race a hard one, he’s decided that when the day comes, he’ll be voting for himself.

“I am a true, conservative Republican, and that is not what we have running our local government right now,” McKay said, announcing his intention to run against County Judge Mark Riley. “We need to limit our government, cut our spending, and fight for our freedoms. I’m tired of people hiding who they really are, for the sake of political expediency. It’s time that somebody stood up.”

Seventeen months is a long time to be a candidate, but McKay said he feels it will take that time to build the support he needs from within the community.

“I’m coming out now, because this is going to be a long race,” he said. “I’m running against an incumbent, and I’m not so naive as to think that this won’t be a hard battle to fight. I’m going to need the help of the people in my community.”

Riley, though, said he believes there’s no need for the campaigning to start just yet.

“It’s much too early in the process for me to discuss the important issues for this community,” Riley said. “Mr. McKay can play while he has the opportunity, and we’ll start campaigning in January.”

McKay first started speaking out in Commissioner’s Court last March, when the governing body passed an ordinance restricting the usage of firearms in subdivisions within Parker County. Although he said he’s always stayed informed about his local government, the court’s handling of the gun issue sparked his desire to be more involved.

“The gun issue was handled the wrong way, start to finish,” he said. “The court arrived at their decision because a mob of 50 angry people showed up, and with one vote, they took away a Second Amendment right. They spent weeks discussing what kind of software they were going to use to make up their agendas, but in one meeting, they took away our freedoms. We can’t have that anymore.”

Like many county residents, McKay was outraged at the alleged intrusion into “personal freedoms”, and said he felt another course of action would have served the court’s purpose without restricting rights.

“My solution to the gun issue was to handle it the same way we handle burning in the county,” he said. “Call into the Sheriff and tell ‘em you’re on your property, shooting your gun. That way, if there is an accident, there’s an address on file and we can trace the whole thing. Would that have been hard? No! But they’d rather just rip our freedoms away.”

The population of Parker County is growing exponentially, and McKay said the county’s best course of action would be to plan for that growth. However, he said he believes many elected officials are shying away from the progress that must be made.

“Growth in the county is going to happen, and we can’t stop it,” he said. “We have to plan for it. Thank goodness we finally passed this $80 million transportation bond. I’ll tell you, that’s not planning for progress... that’s catching up. We had to wait 16 years for this planning, and we can’t wait 16 years again. We’re slower than TxDOT, at this point, and that absolutely falls on the leadership of the county. The buck stops with the judge.”

As a land developer, McKay said he feels like he knows a thing or two about growth and progress. And although he admits to being a political newcomer, McKay said he thinks “positive vision” for Parker County is the most important qualification for leadership.

“I’m a land developer, but I’ll tell you right now that I have nothing to gain from the county growing or not growing,” he said. “Every bit of land I have is already fully developed. I’m done. I’m running for county judge because it’s what I need to do. Speaking out about these issues... it’s what I’m supposed to do.”

Another issue McKay describes as high on his priority list is that of the Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District. He called the situation, wherein an appointed body is assessing fees for water hookups, “a mess”.

“This water issue trickles down to so many other things, if you’ll pardon the pun,” he said. “The Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District is a mess. It all started with an attorney in Austin who not only helped craft the law, but then he lobbied for it, and now he’s profiting greatly off our county, and other counties around the state. That’s trouble for us. We have nobody standing up officially for the county in this fight. It’s time we had someone say, ‘they can’t do that to us’.”

Standing up for county residents is McKay’s self-professed goal, and he said he feels he can do that by getting back to “the true core of conservativism”.

“Maybe nobody understands what being a true conservative is anymore,” he said. “I can’t speak for Mark Riley, and the way he does things. But I can tell you that from my vantage point, that’s not conservatism. It’s time for change.”

McKay said he believes that when voters elect a representative, they should be comfortable knowing that representative will vote along with their platform beliefs.

“We shouldn’t have to worry about how our elected officials will vote on issues that come up in court,” he said. “I can tell you that, as a true conservative, you’ll know exactly how I’ll vote. You’ll know where I’m going to stand. Right now, though, that’s not the case. Right now, there’s no telling how anyone will vote on the next issue that comes up.”

A resident of Parker County for a decade, McKay and his family consider themselves to be average residents of the area. He said one of the reasons he’s announcing his candidacy so early is so that those residents will have a chance to support him.

“Our leaders need to reflect the beliefs of the people,” he said. “I’ve been married for 20 years, and I have an 11-year old son. I’m very active in Northside Baptist Church... I teach 5th and 6th grade Sunday School. My life is indicative of a person who’s had great opportunities. I am grateful to this county and it’s residents.”

At one point becoming overwhelmed with emotion as he spoke, McKay said his vision for Parker County was a “true reflection of our conservative roots”.

“I don’t want to come across as too strong, but this is who I am,” he said, wiping tears from his eyes. “I’m passionate about what I believe is right. I feel like God has called me to stand up for what’s right. Our government is now taking away our freedoms on a local level. I love Parker County, and the people here. Someone needs to stand up for them.”