Former Sugar Land city manager Allen Bogard files for Precinct 3 commissioner

Former Sugar Land City Manager Allen Bogard has filed for the Democratic nomination for Fort Bend Precinct 3 Commissioner. 
Courtesy Allen Bogard campaign

The Fort Bend Star
By Ken Fountain, KFountain@fortbendstar.com
December 11, 2023

The increasingly crowded field in next year's race for Fort Bend Precinct 3 Commissioner this week gained a prominent name - Allen Bogard, who served as Sugar Land city manager for nearly two decades.

Late last week, Bogard announced that he was filing for the March 5 Democratic Party primary for the seat, which has been held for nearly 30 years by Republican Andy Meyers. Bogard joins at least two other people running in the Democratic primary - Taral Patel, formerly chief of staff to County Judge KP George, and educator Kiran Rao.

Meyers, who months ago announced his intention to run again for the seat he's held since the early 1990s, is being challenged in the Republican primary by Sugar Land businessman Mike Khan.

The competition for the race reflects the changes in the precinct's boundaries after a highly contentious 2021 redistricting vote following the 2020 Census, pushed through by a new Democratic majority on Commissioners Court. Meyers is one of two Republicans left on the court, which had been held by the GOP for decades. The redistricting shifted the boundaries of Precinct 3, which had been centered in the Katy area, toward the Sugar Land, Stafford, Missouri City and Meadows Place area.

In an interview with the Fort Bend Star, Bogard, who served as Sugar Land city manager from 2001 to 2020, said his decades of experience in the area of the new boundaries, dealing with infrastructure and other challenges, make him the most qualified candidate for the post.

Bogard served as assistant manager before the Sugar Land city council tapped him for the top job upon the departure of previous City Manager David Neeley. Before that, he had held various positions in municipal government in the Texas cities of Dallas, Plano, Keller and Winsboro.

Bogard, who was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas, said he grew up in a "transitory family" that moved between Fort Smith and Los Angeles. His father died when he was 7 and his mother later remarried. He describes his family has economically challenged.

But, Bogard said, his mother instilled in him an ethic of public service to help people who were in similar circumstances. After graduating from high school in Fort Smith, Bogard went to the University of Texas at Austin, where he received a bachelor's degree in political science in 1976. After graduation, he went to work for the city of Dallas in the public works department while pursuing a master's degree in public administration, which he earned in 1981.

Bogard took the job of Sugar Land assistant city manager in 1995. During his tenure in that role and as city manager, the city has grown tremendously and taken on a much denser and economically diverse character. Bogard attributes that to forward-looking members of City Council and staff who over the years focused heavily on economic development.

Some of the accomplishments he touts during his time with the city are the development of the Sugar Land Regional Airport into what he said is one of the premiere executive airports in the country, the development of Sugar Land Town Square, which combines the city's city hall with a mixed-use residential and commercial center, and the Smart Financial Center entertainment venue.

Bogard retired from Sugar Land in 2020, just as the pandemic was hitting. Since then, he has been pursuing his interests of history and genealogy, while also serving on the board of the Gulf Coast Water Authority and the board of the TIRZ (tax increment reinvestment zone) for Sugar Land Town Square. He said he has been looking for new challenges and new ways to serve the public.

Bogard said he considers himself a "moderate Democrat" whose values reflect a wide cross-section of the residents of the new Precinct 3.

Bogard said that with his knowledge base of all of the changes in the area in recent years, many of which he presided over during his time in local government, he is best positioned to represent the new Precinct 3. In particular, he said, he believes that he would bring a stronger focus on issues confronting residents of the county's suburban cities, which make up a heavy concentration of the new district. He believes the county government has focused on the unincorporated areas to the detriment of residents of the cities.

Bogard, who has what he called a "blended family," has six children and six grandchildren in total with his wife, Claire, a municipal financial consultant.

Editor's note: Look for a round-up of filings in Fort Bend County races in the March primary at FortBendStar.com and next week's edition.