When he was 27 years old, Grady Prestage decided to run for Fort Bend County Commissioner. He lost his first bid in 1986 by less than 100 votes, but four years later he ran again and became the county commissioner for Precinct 2. He has served the county in that capacity for more than 20 years, and he is running unopposed for 2014.

Prestage began his career in politics early, beginning in high school when he was elected to student council on through college at his alma mater—Southwestern University in Baton Rouge—where he ran for the student government association. His mother studied political science and has worked as an educator for various institutions. Prestage said this kept him heavily involved in the political community.

In 1980, Prestage took an entry-level position as a civil engineer in Missouri City. He decided to pursue a position in public service, and after several years of research, Prestage decided to make his bid as county commissioner. As he prepares to enter into his seventh four-year term as Precinct 2 Commissioner, Prestage said he hopes to help Fort Bend County prepare for continued growth while identifying and exceeding the needs of the community.

How has the county changed since you first became commissioner?

When I came in, [Fort Bend] was a rural county. Now it is more a suburban, urban county. Parks and libraries and things like that were not as important to a rural county as they are to an urban county. There was a time where typically the west side of the county had second and third generation residents living there, so the culture was a little different—folks lived there who grew up there and who's parents and grandparents grew up there. The east side of the county was mostly new residents who came from all parts of the country and throughout Houston. So it had a little different character—a character that was always under construction. It was always changing and evolving. As new people come in, you change the recipe. It was an interesting situation where you have all this evolution on one side of the county and the other side was pretty stable. Those lines are blurred now as it has evened out.

The east side of the county was always evolving as new people came in and others left. The west side of the county was pretty stable—a more multi-generational community. Now, those lines are blurred. The west side of the county is experiencing the same kind of growth from urban sprawl as the east side did. It is all melding together into one community.

What challenges face Precinct 2?

We have challenges to make sure everybody prospers, but any problem we have I have seen a willingness from everyone to work within the [Fort Bend] family to try and make things better. Precinct 2 is pretty much built-out, but there are some opportunities for in-field development—tracts of land that have been skipped over here and there for various reasons. That is not a problem, but more of an opportunity. When you have new housing activity and new businesses popping up, it makes people feel better about their community. We are in a situation where some suburbs are experiencing growth, and what is left behind is decaying. So, what we have to do is try to redevelop some of our communities and find opportunities for in-field development. The challenge for Precinct 2 is to have development continue and to identify opportunities for the marketplace.

How do you think Fort Bend will develop in the near future?

I would like to see [the county] find ways to bridge the county—literally and figuratively—by building bridges across the Brazos River. The county is bisected by the river, and in some areas there is a lot of development on one side, and on the other side—maybe less than 1,000 feet—there is nothing.