Abercia resigns, replacement named

Jack Abercia

As we know, longtime Precinct 1 Constable Jack Abercia announced that he would not be running for re-election. On Monday, he announced that he would resign, effective January 31. On Tuesday, Commissioners Court named a replacement for him to fill out his term.

Harris County Commissioners Court on Tuesday appointed Ken Berry, a retired major who served 35 years with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, to fill the seat of Precinct 1 Constable Jack Abercia, who has announced he will resign at the end of the month.

Commissioner El Franco Lee, whose Precinct 1 largely overlaps with Abercia’s, said he recommended Berry, 63, for the role because of his reputation and management experience at the Sheriff’s Office.

“It’s not often that you have to suddenly make an interim change like this,” Lee said. “Under the circumstances, you try to get the strongest, most mature person you can find who can jump in and run it and anchor it down and carry on business as normal as possible.”

[…]

Berry, who retired in 2008, said he will serve as a caretaker and has “no interest at all” in running for the seat in this year’s elections.

Of his appointment, Berry said, “Obviously I’m excited about it, but I haven’t really had time to give it any thought.”

There are currently four candidates for Constable in Precinct 1 – you can see them all on my 2012 Primary Election – Harris County page – all of whom as far as I know filed before Constable Abercia announced that he was withdrawing from the race. Given that there will be a second filing period later this month, Interim Constable Berry or anyone else could then decide to jump in. However, I take Berry at his word that he will not. Congrats to new Constable Berry on the appointment, and best of luck to him in the job and to outgoing Constable Abercia in his retirement.

Related Posts:

• New Constable Berry sworn in
• Searching for a successor to Victor Trevino
• 30 Day finance reports, Harris County candidates