By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Kerr Wardlaw is seeking the Democratic Party nomination for the office of Val Verde County Commissioner Pct. 1.
Wardlaw is one of seven candidates who will be on the ballot for the office in the March 5 Democratic Party Primary Election.
Wardlaw was born in Piedras Negras, Coah., Mexico, and was raised in Del Rio. He attended Sacred Heart Academy through eighth grade and graduated from Del Rio High School in 1995.
Wardlaw earned an associate’s degree in arts from the New Mexico Military Institute, as well as earning the rank of lieutenant in the Corps of Cadets and Captain of Saunders Cavalry. He also made the Commandant’s List and served on the Honor Board.
Wardlaw then earned a bachelor of arts degree from Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas. Wardlaw majored in history with a triple minor in business, marketing and management.
Wardlaw’s family has ranched in Val Verde County and the surrounding region for more than a century, and Wardlaw said when he was a boy, he always told his father that he wanted to be a rancher and a county commissioner.
“I’ve been block walking with my dad for his campaigns since I was five years old in the 1982 election and again in the 1986 election. I also helped him in 1990 when he ran for judge and in 1996 when he ran for Precinct 1,” Wardlaw recalled.
Wardlaw has been working on the family ranch since he was a child.
“My family has been ranching here in the area since 1884. I’m a sixth-generation rancher,” he said.
Wardlaw officially went into the cattle business with his brother in 1992.
“And we’ve done that continuously ever since. We had our 30-year anniversary last year,” he said.
Wardlaw ran his father’s ranch, the Martin Wardlaw White Ranch, for two years after he graduated from college.
Wardlaw said one day while working at the ranch, he suffered an injury that would require him to do less physical work for some time, forcing him to do less physical work for some time, so he moved to Del Rio to teach.
Wardlaw began substitute teaching at the Sacred Heart Academy and taught third, fourth and fifth grade history after they offered him a teaching position. He worked there from 2003 until 2007.
After teaching, Wardlaw returned to the family ranch until he heard of a job opening for a state park police officer at the Devils River State Natural Area.
He graduated from the Del Rio Police Academy, then graduated from the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department’s State Park Police Academy.
While working at the Devils River State Natural Area, Wardlaw caught the only two suspects ever caught digging on a state archeological site.
He left the state park police in 2011 and went to work for the Del Rio Police Department as a patrol officer. He was at DRPD for five years.
After the DRPD, Wardlaw took over as general manager of Val Verde Wool & Mohair, a position he currently holds. The business is Del Rio’s oldest, having been in operation for more than 100 years, as Del Rio Wool and Mohair, then Producers Wool and Mohair, which was built by Wardlaw’s great-grandfather, Dutch Wardlaw, and then the two businesses merged to form Val Verde Wool and Mohair.
“I feel like running for county commissioner, county government, is a calling, and I want to make sure the job gets done right,” Wardlaw said when asked why he decided to run for the county commissioner seat.
He said he has a set of priorities he wants to concentrate on.
“I want to continue the good works that my father has been doing. He inherited that water situation at Escondido, and that project needs to be continued and finished, but it is a slow process, and we are going through it step-by-step to make sure everything is done correctly.
“We’ve got more cleanups to do in the precinct. Yes, there is additional cleanup needed in San Felipe, but there are other areas in the precinct where there are eyesores, places that need to be cleaned up or torn down,” Wardlaw said.
“There is still a large illegal dumping problem in the precinct that I want to address as well. The county has done a lot to address problems with stray animals and loose livestock, but the public needs to be educated on it and the problem needs to continue to be addressed,” Wardlaw said.
“I’ve had a lot of experience in my life working with crews and roads and maintenance of places, and in all of those jobs I’ve had, it’s been dealing with people, so I think I’ll be able to do a good job leading the county crew and working with the voters to improve the precinct,” he said.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com .
