Growing up, Jack Cagle's grandfather often reminded him he came from a family of judges. Cagle's grandfather even nicknamed his grandson "Cactus Jack" after Jack Garner, the former vice president who served in all three branches of government.

Cagle's desire to serve drove him to become a judge, and he was elected Harris County court at law judge No. 1 in 2000, a position he held for more than 11 years. In October 2011, Precinct 4 Commissioner Jerry Eversole resigned. County Judge Ed Emmett appointed Cagle, who was later elected to replace Eversole's unexpired term.

Dealing with issues as small as a pothole to those as big as the Astrodome, Cagle said he enjoys the diversity of the position, which allows him to serve in various capacities.

"It's a very hands-on, engaging process," he said. "Every day is a new day with new opportunities to serve folks."

What is it like being commissioner of a precinct that is so large and diverse?

It is a challenge to both be very approachable and connected to the people we serve, and yet at the same time to realize that this population of 1.2 million—and that is rapidly growing—how do you both manage the issues that number of people need as well as stay connected to them and be accessible? We want to be approachable and accessible.

What other challenges does that growth create for you as commissioner?

The largest challenge that I think we face is mobility. And in this era we have a dime's worth of budget, but we've got $10 worth of projects. So we are constantly struggling with, 'How do we balance limited budget availability with vast amounts of mobility needs?' We find our partnerships are very helpful. When it comes to [the Texas Department of Transportation], we're having [Hwy.] 290 built now instead of 20 years from now because Harris County is coming in and contributing $400 million. One of the things that TxDOT has been doing that accommodates us is since we're contributing local funds, they're using local talent to help complete the project. It's good for us and good for our local economy. We endeavor to work with municipalities and MUD districts and other groups whenever we can to allow those limited financial resources to be stretched and multiplied by putting extra hands to the wheel.

What kind of effect will Grand Parkway have on the Spring/Klein area?

It's going to have a great impact. And part of that is it's going to allow people to come around into that region. It's going to impact the shops, the stores. ExxonMobil of course is going to impact that area, which is why we're expanding the lanes on the Hardy Toll Road. So that's going to move from two lanes to three lanes on each side on the toll road to take some of the pressure off I-45. I call them 'rims and spokes.' Grand Parkway being a rim coming into the region is going to bring a lot of traffic. It will also reduce time [driving] greatly.

What other transportation concerns are there in Spring/Klein?

Being at the epicenter of two of our major companies that are coming into the region, we are expanding Spring Stuebner, we are expanding Louetta, we are expanding Holzwarth and we're expanding Gosling. We're taking very proactive action to try to keep up with, and where we can, get a little bit ahead of the oncoming flood of bodies.

What do you do as commissioner to encourage economic development?

First of all, you have to partner. I can't do the economic development by myself, and we don't want to. We partner with the local chambers to help them, encourage them, to equip them with tools. We partner with Lone Star College, specifically with Ray Laughter, who is with their economic development department, who is a great gift to our region and has been exponentially helpful to this precinct in terms of helping us land companies and businesses. We have been very helpful in allowing Old Town Spring to get [bathrooms]. With our assistance, they've been able to join the modern era with a pressurized sewer system. That area will have a renewed opportunity to grow and to be an attractive location for folks to come and shop and enjoy themselves.

What challenges do you foresee in the Spring/Klein area?

How do you take a beautiful and quaint community and suddenly infuse them with rapid population growth and maintain the essence of what that community was through the growth? I commend that community because I think they're doing an excellent job of retaining those things that have made that an attractive place for folks to go and live while embracing all of those people who want to get a part of that action and want to join in that team. That's a huge challenge for a community. How do you keep your core set of characters and your core identity and embrace growth at the same time? That is both their greatest challenge, and I think it is one of their greatest successes [because] they've been able to manage both of those.