Ellis plans run for vacant county seat

Emmett to announce today his selection to temporarily fill Lee’s Precinct 1 position

State Sen. Rodney Ellis plans to run for the Precinct 1 Commissioners Court seat of the late El Franco Lee, whose short-term replacement is expected to be named today.

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett plans to introduce his short-term pick Friday morning to replace the late El Franco Lee as Precinct 1 Commissioner, even as longtime state Sen. Rodney Ellis announced Thursday he intends to run for the seat.

Ellis has begun making calls to local Democratic party leaders about his plans to seek the position left vacant by Lee’s death early this month, a spokesman said.

Emmett will announce and swear in Lee’s temporary replacement on Friday and Lee’s name will remain on the ballot for the primary.

Ellis’ campaign spokesman David Edmonson said late Thursday the Houston lawmaker was not pursuing Emmett’s interim appointment.

Ellis has researched the statute, and he and others asked lawyers to lay out the steps a candidate like him would need to take to get his name removed from the November ballot for re-election should the Democratic party chairs choose him as the candidate for commissioner.

The Houston native served three terms on the Houston City Council before his election in 1990 to the Texas Senate.

Meantime, Emmett already has a secret interim commissioner selected. And somewhere around town, that person is remaining dutifully mum.

Emmett plans to introduce the appointee Friday morning. For the two days since he made his decision, he has opted to tell just his wife and his spokesman the identity of the soon-to-be officeholder. The designee was authorized to share the news only with his or her spouse.

One of the most powerful aspects of being a Texas county judge — an administrative rather than judicial position in urban counties — rests in a provision of state law granting the judge the sole responsibility of picking a replacement if a commissioner leaves office mid-term.

Lee’s sudden death Jan. 3 gave Emmett the responsibility of picking someone who will remain in the position at least through the end of the year, when the candidate Democrats select to replace Lee on

the ballot takes office. The Democratic pick will run unopposed, since no Republicans or fellow Democrats had submitted their names for the ballot.

For the interim post, Emmett, who is a white Republican, has said he intends to appoint an African-American Democrat Lee would have supported in the role. He wants a skilled placeholder so the Democrats can choose for themselves someone else to fill the job permanently.

Still, this moment offers Emmett an opportunity to be a genuine power broker, a kingmaker or queenmaker.

One person knows what it’s like to be inside that bubble with Emmett. Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle was the last person Emmett appointed to Commissioners Court under a similar cloak of secrecy.

When Jerry Eversole left office in 2011 as part of plea deal in a federal corruption trial, Emmett had a different objective. He was looking to appoint a skilled campaigner capable of winning the seat in the primary in a few months’ time. The precinct had been run by a Republican and its residents were mostly Republican. Emmett asked the Republican committee for names, resumes and recommendations.

Cagle, then a civil court judge, sent a letter to the county judge expressing interest. A number of his friends sent letters of support. Cagle said Emmett had heard from “67-someodd” others.

A week or two later, Emmett showed up at Cagle’s chambers for a formal interview. Emmett was cordial, businesslike.

“I do not remember the specific questions,” Cagle said, “but a number of them were very pointed questions about the issues of the day, and he gave no clue what he wanted as the correct answer. I had no indication whether I got the questions right or wrong in his mind.”

A week or two later Emmett invited Cagle to meet him at an office near Rice University, which both men had attended. Cagle knew he was close but he wasn’t sure what Emmett was going to say.

“Judge Emmett, when he wants to play it close to the vest, he does,” said Cagle, who said he has no idea whom Emmett has tapped to replace Lee.

That day in 2011, Emmett invited Cagle in, told him he had the job and began briefing him on the assignment. Being commissioner in those early days felt “like drinking water from a fire hydrant at high pressure,” Cagle said.

Emmett told Cagle the job would start the following Monday. When a person from the office popped in, Cagle said he put on his poker face to avoid any suspicion. Then it was time to go.

“I remember getting into the car and grinning from ear to ear,” he said.

Cagle abided by Emmett’s request to keep the news under wrap. He told his wife, Janet. He did not tell his three children or his parents, although they all knew he was a contender. They gathered, vaguely, that Monday was going to be a big day for “Cactus Jack” Cagle.

Becoming a commissioner provided Cagle with obscure skills he never imagined he’d have.

He’s now a mosquito expert, for example. He knows what to do when there’s a shortage of fly ash, the chemical that makes concrete roads strong. And he knows how to build a modern sewer system.

It helps to have a sense of wonder: “My wife teases me because every day I get up excited like a kid going to a candy store,” he said, “because there’s going to be some new problem or a way to serve somebody or something new I’m going to be able to do for the public good.”