El Paso has experienced a renaissance in transportation since
Ted Houghton became the first El Pasoan to serve on the Texas
Transportation Commission in 2003 and was named chair in
October. 

Houghton, 60, brought his love for El Paso to Austin, and its
hard to overstate or measure the dramatic change in El Pasos
transportation fortunes since, with new infrastructure to support
El Pasos unprecedented economic growth.

He has been our only political appointee to the Texas
Department of Transportation in our history, and that in itself is
historical, local businessman Woody Hunt says. Its one of those
agencies that has a reputation for being extremely demanding.

Youll never hear it from Houghton, but friends and colleagues
say his behind the scenes work was crucial in securing approval for
Spur 601 several years ago – a $360-million project that helped
pave the way for the staggering $5-billion expansion of Fort
Bliss.

That has been absolutely critical, says state Rep. Dee Margo.
His work at TxDOT has been phenomenal.

Houghtons work was also crucial in securing almost $80 million
to widen Transmountain Road in West El Paso, part of an overall
plan to complete El Pasos outer loop.

Ted has been the driving force in El Paso receiving hundreds of
millions of dollars in funding for new highway construction and
improvements, says fellow businessman J. Robert Brown, who was one
of many who nominated Houghton for El Pasoan of the Year.

The Far Eastside spaghetti bowl interchange is rising at the
intersection of Interstate 10 and Loop 375, a new entrance to UTEP
is under construction, and new lanes are being added to the Border
Highway.

But those are not the only reasons why Houghton has been
selected as El Paso Inc.s El Pasoan of the Year for 2011.

Although heading one of the states largest agencies and running
his own business, Houghton Financial Partners, is demanding enough,
Houghtons being recognized for what he has done above and beyond
his role in transportation and business.

Getting things done

Friends and colleagues talk about Houghton like hes an iceberg
- most of what he does happens below the surface. Hes the man
working behind the scenes who just gets things done, and
transportation projects are the tip of the iceberg.

One phone call and things happened; it was amazing. His
importance cannot be overstated, says Rick Francis, chairman of
local Bank of the West. Francis serves on the Texas Tech Board of
Regents and played a key role in Techs establishment of medical
and nursing schools in El Paso.

He says Houghton also played a critical role in that effort to
establish the med school.

We believe the economic opportunity for this generation and the
next generation, permanent jobs in this community, will be around
the Texas Tech medical school and now the nursing school and now,
hopefully, the dental school, Houghton says.

Houghton is quick to credit others, like the city and El Pasos
state delegation, but his friends and colleagues say El Pasos
growing influence in Austin has a lot to do with his
involvement.

If there is anything I have learned from serving is that people
dont know about El Paso and its needs, and it takes somebody
credible to articulate it, says state Rep. Margo.

The effort to improve El Pasos influence at the state level
began quite deliberately about a decade ago, when a group of
influential El Paso business people decided to change a long-time
El Paso reality, insiders say. At the time, many felt that El Paso
was not getting its fair share of state dollars.

How communities get more dollars is they coalesce together,
Houghton says, they have a plan and they stick to the plan and
they advocate for that plan.

Since that group of influential El Pasoans decided to change El
Pasos fortunes, El Paso has become known as a state leader in
transportation and several El Pasoans have been appointed to key
boards and commissions.

Houghton was the first major appointment, and its no
coincidence that many more key appointments have followed, insiders
say.

The list is long. Paul Foster is a UT System regent, Rick
Francis is a Texas Tech regent, Harold Hahn is on the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board, Robert Brown has been on the Texas
Parks and Wildlife Commission, Larry Patton and Cindy Lyons are on
the Finance Commission of Texas, and Patrick Gordon is on the Rio
Grande Compact Commission, which administers the Rio Grande Compact
to ensure that Texas receives its equitable share of quality
water.

When you look at Dallas, Houston and Austin, they are closer
together, so they have a better understanding of what is going on
in each of the communities. But we are so far out there that we
dont see that, Houghton says, You get people on these boards and
commissions and it makes a real difference.

Houghtons ability to get things done, friends and colleagues
say, has a lot to do with his gift of bridging borders, whether
its giving a largely Democratic county a voice in a largely
Republican state, or straddling the business and political worlds
and making it look easy.

As a native El Pasoan, Ted has seen the growth of our city and
when given the opportunity has worked diligently to not only
acquire the funding but to see the construction get underway,
Brown says.

City Rep. Steve Ortega, who works with Houghton as a member of
the Transportation Policy Board, says Houghton is somebody who gets
things done.

Ted Houghton has been a huge asset to our region. At the end of
the day, its not about titles, its not about promises, its not
about visions, its about delivering, he says.

Even democrats such as Ortega and El Paso County Judge Veronica
Escobar, who come from a different political persuasion than
Houghton, say he has the ability to work with people no matter
their party affiliation.

Indeed, Escobar says Houghton meets regularly with a diverse
group of El Paso movers and shakers.

And it was at one of those meetings, insiders say, that Houghton
fielded the idea of using the franchise funds paid to the city
every year to support the Medical Center of the Americas
Foundation.

The idea caught on, and City Council voted in June to do just
that, allocating 75 percent of the franchise funds to the MCA
Foundation for the next 20 years. The first allocation is expected
to total about $3.3 million.

City Council saw the incredible opportunity in that idea, and
that money will help be an economic development catalyst, Escobar
says. She works with Houghton as a member of the local Metropolitan
Planning Organization.

Ted is a great El Pasoan, Escobar says. He is someone who is
always thinking about our future, about how to make us competitive,
about our assets and how to take full advantage of them, and, more
importantly, about the families and people in the community. His
work has been transformational. And despite the very high profile
leadership position he has been given, he has always been El
Paso-centric and humble – has always wanted to just ensure that El
Paso gets the best it possibly can.

Family man

There another side of Houghton that is less known – that of a
committed family man.

Houghton and his wife Hettie have five children. Three live in
Houston, one in Dallas and one in College Station.

Maybe I can get one or two of them back here. I would like to,
Houghton says.

Pictures of his wife and sons cover the shelves in Houghtons
office, along with a photo of Houghton running the Marine Corps
Marathon with friend Rick Francis.

He is a servant leader. He doesnt have a big ego, and he
inspires us, Francis says. You cannot overestimate the impact he
has had on me.

Houghton is a fourth generation El Pasoan. His father – a
mentor of mine, Houghton says – was executive vice president of
the original State National Bank and, before that, was president of
Prices Creameries.

Houghton is not a big talker, although he doesnt shy away from
telling it like he sees it. What he says is direct.

He spent high-school summers working on the family farm 90 miles
north of Amarillo, and graduated from Coronado High School in 1970.
He went on to earn a business degree from the University of Texas
at El Paso.

About 15 years ago, Houghton started his business, Houghton
Financial Partners, and got involved in politics as the campaign
manager for Rick Franciss father Larry Francis, who served as El
Paso mayor from 1993 to 1997.

Houghton served for eight years on the El Paso Water Utilities
Public Service Board and on El Pasos Rapid Transit Board. He has
served on the School Land Board, El Paso Electrics board of
directors, as a past president of the Sun Bowl Association, and was
even a member of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Committee.

He has a vast understanding of the politics of our region and
how the state machinery works, Francis says.

He adds, Infrastructure is what were all starving for to
advance our communities.

Houghtons term on the transportation commission ends in
February 2015, although he can be reappointed at the pleasure of
the governor.

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