Daugherty has served western Travis County for the last 14 years, with terms from 2002-08 and 2013 to the present. He is also the chairman of the Capital Area Council of Governments, the regional planning organization that includes 10 Central Texas counties, according to the release.
“It has been a privilege and honor to serve my neighbors as their commissioner,” Daugherty said in the release. “I’ve done my very best to deliver on the promises that I’ve made over time. I’ve fought for honest, cost-effective transportation solutions, for a comprehensive road system, and for a fiscally conservative county government. While no one in public office ever achieves all of their objectives, I’ve always thought that serving my constituents was my primary job, and I’m proud of the things we have been able to achieve together.”
Daugherty’s signature issue while in office has been transportation, and the release states his primary achievement for the area he covered was the completion of SH 45, which connected MoPac to FM 1626.
Another key transportation project for Daugherty in recent months has been the upgrade of Hamilton Pool Road from Hwy. 71 to RM 12. Since early 2019, the commissioner has been working to solidify funding for the project that has now surpassed a $16 million budget.
By April, when that project was still only projected to cost around $12 million, Daugherty told Community Impact Newspaper he was searching for myriad ways to secure funding for the county's portion of the bill. The remainder is to be covered by the Texas Department of Transportation.
“What I have wanted to do is get the residents [in neighborhoods adjacent to Hamilton Pool Road within the scope of the project] to bring some money to the table, and for me to try to find perhaps a million dollars out of the county fund to put into that $12.2 million figure,” Daugherty said in April. “If I could get some money cobbled together, TxDOT has told me they have a better shot at finding the $12.2 million if they have participation.”
Another project that has since been scrapped but for which Daugherty was a key player involved a proposed bridge for a low-water crossing along Great Divide Drive in the south Bee Cave area.
Largely due to Daugherty’s proposed bridge and subsequent resident outcry over its size, Bee Cave has recently voted to annex the land encompassed by the low-water crossing.
But, back in January, when Travis County still owned the land, Daugherty led an effort to seek input on a potential large bridge on the low-water crossing that would become much more vulnerable to dangerous flooding according to rainfall projections from a study called Atlas-14.
Daugherty has also focused on parks and recreation, and as one example has been a proponent of the $23 million upcoming Bee Creek Sports Complex. As part of his information campaign for that project, Daugherty spoke to constituents at Jules Design Bar in Bee Cave’s Hill Country Galleria in May to explain the various amenities and properties of the project.
The release also states Daugherty has worked to keep Travis County’s tax rate and budget at the minimum necessary to deliver core services to its citizens.
“When it comes to traffic, affordability, and other issues in this community, too many of the stakeholders are still yelling at each other from across the room instead of coming together to do what is best for the people of Travis County,” Daugherty said in the release. “I do not know what the future has in store for me, but as long as I am able, I plan to continue being engaged in this community, working to find positive solutions to the challenges we face.”
