Our October 2nd speaker is Gerald Daugherty, who retired in 2020 after serving 14 years as a Republican Travis County Commissioner advocating for transit solutions.

Gerald Daugherty grew up in the Houston area and was drafted out of high school by the Boston Red Sox baseball organization. He soon realized that an education was more attainable than making it to the big leagues, returned to Austin, and graduated from the University of Texas in 1975. For the past 35 years Gerald has been a successful Austin businessman, owning and operating successful ventures including the Pleasant Valley Sportsplex. In 2009 he assembled a team of talented individuals and opened the highly successful Jack Allen's Kitchen Restaurants (5 locations plus the 6th one to open in Hutto at the end of this year) plus their seafood concept called Salt Trader's Coastal cooking.

Gerald has crusaded for effective mobility and transportation solutions for over two decades. In 2002 he was elected to the Travis County Commissioners Court bringing his passion for transportation advocacy and his belief that government can positively influence people's lives. Gerald has fought for honest, cost-effective transportation solutions, for a comprehensive road system, and for a fiscally conservative county government.

Gerald remains engaged in Austin/Travis County affairs and recently wrote an opinion piece in the Austin Statesman --> You can be for public transportation and against Austin's Project Connect