@ the link, truly one man, one vote. Not bad for a framing contractor who’s only lived here a few months; “here” being a mobile home (a nice mobile home, but a mobile home) at the end of a short gravel road (a nice gravel road, but a gravel road) leading from County Road 266. Bechtol’s power derives from the sainted seat of power in America: the ballot box. More specifically, it derives from the fact that Bechtol was the only voter who showed up at the ballot box when the tax rate and bond issues were approved. But when Bechtol voted early for the Nov. 8 election, turnout hit 100 percent.
Gary Bechtol is a powerful man in these parts; these parts being the Williamson-Liberty Hill Municipal Utility District. Just recently, he single-handedly approved the local property tax rate and the issuance of $84.7 million in bonds.