A young Chandler Merritt used to sit in the audience of Azle City Council meetings.

Government meetings, with their long agendas and topics that might cause eyes to glaze over, aren’t usually the place you find kids.

But when your dad’s a city council member, it brings you there by proxy.

And Merritt paid attention. He watched his dad on the dais as he talked about where sewer lines might go or how permitting processes might change.

“Even at that young age, I realized, huh, this is this is actually really meaningful stuff that actually affects people’s lives,” Merritt said.

Years later at 41, Merritt will soon step into the highest and most powerful position in county government.

Merritt will take the reins as Tarrant County’s next administrator Oct. 1. He will be only the second person in the county’s history to hold the position, following G.K. Maenius, who was hired in 1988 and is the state’s longest serving administrator.

It leaves Merritt with big shoes to fill.

As the new administrator, Merritt will be in charge of 4,844 employees, work with 69 elected officials and oversee a $896.6 million budget in a rapidly changing political climate.

The county, its functions and its direction will soon be in his hands.

A journey to the seat

Merritt has lived in Tarrant County his whole life.

He was born and raised in Azle. He left to pursue his degree at the University of Texas and returned to Tarrant County in 2005 to work in community relations for the Texas Rangers, and then stepped into several positions for the Dallas Stars, where he culminated his time as the marketing operations director.

Merritt’s time in the sports world didn’t last long. That can be attributed to his then-girlfriend, and now wife.

If they were ever going to get married, she told him, the lifestyle wasn’t going to work.

For Merritt, the warning was an easy push to quit, and a redirection into something he had always been passionate about — municipal government.

Merritt worked for H-E-B Center at Cedar Park as its assistant vice president for business operations where he worked closely with the city. It rekindled his love for government.

He then moved to Irving to be the city’s business operations manager for two years before going to McKinney, where he started in public works before moving up to be the city’s director of strategic services.

Merritt’s top accomplishment in Irving was helping streamline processes in the city’s information technology department. In McKinney, it was working on the city’s 2015 bond package for road, parking and flood prevention improvements.

And in 2017, Merritt made his way back over to the other side of the Metroplex to be closer to family.

Time in Tarrant

Merritt’s first Tarrant County job was serving as former County Judge Glen Whitley’s chief of staff. It was a masterclass for Merritt on how county government works after years of working for cities.

At McKinney, Merritt juggled seven elected officials. In Tarrant County, he had to work with nearly 70.

Merritt wanted to be on the path to work in administration, and Whitley knew it too.

As soon as the former county judge knew he wasn’t going to be running for reelection, Whitley said he encouraged Merritt to talk to Maenius about joining the administrator’s team.

”I think he’s a listener,” Whitley said. “I think he will delegate and, you know, maybe give more responsibility to the department heads and assistant county administrators and really build a team around him from that standpoint. And G.K.’s done a good job of setting up and having some great people on staff.”

In 2021, an assistant administrator position opened up. Merritt got the job.

“I learned a long time ago I don’t like to decide where the trains go,” Merritt said. “I like to make sure they run on time.”

As Merritt was introduced as the newest county administrator at a Tuesday commissioners’ meeting, elected officials said over and over that Merritt had a mentor in Maenius.

But Merritt said there wasn’t necessarily any grooming or preparing him for the position, though his responsibilities increased during his time as an assistant administrator.

Maenius got to know Merritt as he worked for Whitley, and said he has always been impressed with Merritt. It’s why Merritt was eventually hired in the administrator’s office.

“He’s a very skilled young man, and I know that he will be just great in this position,” Maenius said.

Maenius said Merritt is thorough, has a good rapport with elected officials, understands management and is a people person — an asset Maenius thinks is critical to being county administrator.

A changing political climate

It isn’t a stretch to say Tarrant County government is night and day from last year.

With the exit of Whitley and commissioners J.D. Johnson and Devan Allen in January, Tarrant County lost nearly 70 years of county government experience on the commissioners court. November’s elections brought in three new faces: County Judge Tim O’Hare and commissioners Alisa Simmons and Manny Ramirez.

Tarrant County’s uniqueness comes with its politics. As other urban areas in Texas turn more blue, under O’Hare, Tarrant County has taken a sharper turn right than it has in years past.

Whitley ran his seat from a middle right approach and even endorsed a Democrat for lieutenant governor as he finished his tenure as county judge. The county judge before him, Tom Vandergriff, was a Democrat in Congress but switched to be a Republican for the county race.

And Merritt’s job, in addition to acting on and establishing policies passed by the commissioners, is handling all the personalities.

How will he do it?

Merritt says it’s all just a part of the job.

“Our job is to be apolitical, to be nonpartisan, to seek direction from the court on how they want to proceed on policies or projects or procedures, and just implement their will, whatever that may be,” Merritt said.

Transitioning in

Merritt has been around the block when it comes to county government in his two years as an assistant county administrator. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a transition to be had.

In his old job Merritt was placed in charge of the medical examiner’s office, emergency management, information technology and facilities, so he’ll have to at least familiarize himself with the rest of the county’s functions as he gets ready to step into the position full time.

Of course, Merritt acknowledges there’s some pressure entering into the role as Maenius heads out the door. He’s confident, though, that he can build upon the work started by Maenius. Maenius’ advice to Merritt? Maintain your relationships, and don’t surprise the court with anything.

It’s a full circle moment for the man who was once a kid sitting in the Azle council chambers fascinated by the work happening in front of him.

What would that young kid think of the man he became?

It’s something Merritt hasn’t quite thought about yet. After all, he found out he got the job only days ago.

Then it hits him — “Look how far you’ve come,” he said.