Recent grad finds niche in small-town politics

By: Melissa Crowe

Posted: 2/12/09

J.D. Clark hasn't had a break since he graduated high school.

When he wasn't working on his English degree from NT, he reported for the Chico Texan and the Bridgeport Index, and at 20, he became the youngest member of the Chico, Texas, city council.

"I'm young, but I'm pretty level-headed," he said.

Now 23, he hopes to run unopposed for mayor of the town, which is about an hour west of Denton, and move up from the mayor pro tem title in May.

Former bosses, coworkers and family members all attest his strong work ethic.

"J.D. is extremely sharp - you tell him one time, and you know it's going to get done," said Keith Bridwell, Clark's former boss and publisher of the Bridgeport Index and Chico Texan.

Clark said he always kept the idea of joining city politics in the back of his mind. When a city council seat opened up in 2006, he jumped at the opportunity to take it. Tallying more votes than both incumbents, he said he was shocked at his victory.

"It wasn't just a squeaker," he said.

Clark stepped up when Larry Whitaker left his pro tem position in spring 2008 and recommended that Clark take over. That year, Chico Mayor James Robinson announced he had cancer and later resigned in December.

"[Robinson] turned to me and said, 'We're going to have to put a lot more responsibility on you,'" Clark said.

After the mayor's death in late December, Clark was once again called upon to step up to the challenge.

Though the circumstances of Robinson's death were sad, Clark said, "at the same time, I felt ready, I felt prepared."

He said he never saw himself as 23 and a mayor. In some ways, he said he feels this leadership position just happened, it is being in the right place at the right time.

"Luck is preparation met with opportunity," he said. Robinson prepared him for the position, and Clark said he is lucky to have the opportunity to better Chico.

Clark's roots in Chico grow deep. A self-proclaimed "hometown boy," Clark wants to give back to his community.

"It's home and I want to take care of it," he said. "Chico's been good to me; I want to be good to Chico."

Both his parents graduated from Chico High School, as did he and his brother.

"J.D. is extremely zealous of his hometown," Bridwell said.

His childhood dream was to become an archaeologist, said his mother, Lori Clark, an eighth-grade English teacher at Chico Middle School.

She said she later found out the main reason was that he "wanted to be a hero like Harrison Ford."

In some lights, Clark might be a hero. He said teaching is his "day job" and being mayor is his "evening" job. Both jobs are a lot alike, he said. He is never off-duty of either one.

"I'm not only trying to be a role model for my kids, but also representing my city at the highest level that I can," he said.

The mayor position weighs on his personal choices, he said. He said he can't do many things other 23-year-olds do.

"Sometimes it'd be nice to not have to think about being on that level," he said.

Public service is self-sacrifice, he said.

"There are not too many people his age, male or female, who are as mature and willing to learn in order to do what he does," said Anita DeLong, city secretary of Chico.

One of those sacrifices was his interest in music. However, he found a way to incorporate songs as poetry in his junior high classroom. His favorite, he said, is Bob Dylan's "Tangled up in Blue."

Since becoming acting mayor, he launched a mayor pro tem blog, is working towards a city literacy program with a hand-selected reading list and has come up with several options for city improvements, including future uses for past school buildings.

"I want to build on the things I love and are good and right in that town," he said. "It's going to stay a small town, but I want it to be an awesome town."