Brown leaves the bench to run for Pct. 2 commissioner

For years, people across Liberty County have known him as “Judge Brown.” Now, Wade Brown is stepping away from the bench and stepping into a new race.

Brown, who has served as Pct. 5 justice of the peace, is running as a Republican candidate for Liberty County Pct. 2 commissioner. The move leaves his JP seat open and, if elected, will shift his focus from the courtroom to county roads, drainage and the day-to-day infrastructure issues that affect thousands of residents.

During a recent interview on Bluebonnet News’ Headlines and Heartlines podcast, Brown said the decision to seek a new position didn’t happen overnight.

“The reason why I’m running for Commissioner Precinct 2 is because we have lacked a commissioner that stood up for this area since I’ve been a justice of the peace,” Brown said.

He pointed to long-standing drainage issues and past decisions that, in his view, moved water away from one area only to create flooding problems somewhere else.

“You’ve got to get the water moving,” he said. “Fix the ditches.”

Before he ever served as JP, Brown spent 28 years in education, teaching agriculture, building trades, automotive technology, diesel and tractor mechanics. He has also operates a small business, an experience he says taught him how to stay within a budget.

“I’ve been working within budgets for public education in different school districts for years,” Brown said. “As a small business owner, I also have to work within my own budget.”

That background, he believes, prepares him for the financial challenges of Precinct 2. The precinct operates on roughly a $4 million annual road and bridge budget. Meanwhile, he said, rebuilding just one mile of road can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“With only $4 million for the entire precinct, which is on both sides of the river, there’s no way we can get out there and pave all the roads that need to be fixed,” Brown said. “It’s going to be patch-and-repair the ones, fix the ones, rebuild the ones that are most traveled.”

Still, he said smaller roads serving just a handful of homes shouldn’t be forgotten.

“If you live on the end of a half-mile road and there’s 15 or 20 houses back there, that road ought to be maintained, too,” he said.

If elected, Brown said drainage would be his top priority. According to Brown, Pct. 2 maintains 541 miles of county roads — and more than 1,000 miles of ditches that must be mowed and cleared.

He believes many flooding issues come down to neglected or blocked drainage paths. He referenced Gaylor Creek near CR 2285 and FM 163 in Tarkington as one natural outlet and pushed back on the idea that the Tarkington area is simply too flat to drain properly.

“You just can’t say, ‘Well, it’s all flat, it’s going to flood anyway,’” Brown said. “That’s not a real good way to plan.”

With continued growth in the area, he said proper planning becomes even more critical. As farmland and rice fields are converted to residential neighborhoods, runoff has to be directed somewhere.

“When you drain 250 acres of rice land, that water’s going somewhere,” he said, noting that retention ponds help but must have adequate outlets when full.

Brown said he would aggressively pursue state and federal grants to help fund improvements.

“Grants are a way to go,” he said. “If you go after it, you don’t have to pay it back.”

As a member of commissioners court, if elected, Brown would help set the county tax rate. He said he is not in favor of raising taxes and wants to make sure residents are getting the most value possible for their money.

“I’m more into just getting the biggest bang for the buck off your money,” he said.

When asked whether the county is currently doing that, he answered plainly: “No, I do not.”

In addition to roads and drainage, Brown said he would prioritize support for law enforcement, local fire departments and overall public safety.

At the end of a first term, Brown said he would measure success in simple terms: “Subdivisions not getting flooded.”

To hear Brown talk in more detail about drainage, road priorities, growth in Pct. 2 and why he believes now is the time to run, listen to the full Headlines and Heartlines interview on the Bluebonnet News YouTube channel by clicking the link below: