LITTLE ROCK — Gov. Mike Beebe appointed 35-year-old Ty Patterson of Texarkana to the Game and Fish Commission on Friday to fill out the unexpired term of Little Rock’s Rick Watkins.
Watkins resigned from the commission Jan. 31 after being charged with public intoxication and disorderly conduct in Lonoke County.
Patterson’s term will expire June 30, 2014. A 2000 graduate of the University of Arkansas, Patterson is the youngest of the eight members of the commission.
A partner in six car dealerships in Texas and Louisiana, Patterson acknowledged that his business interests are largely out of state, but said his outdoors interests are entirely in Arkansas.
He grew up hunting ducks on Lake Millwood and hunting turkeys along the Cossatot River and Hurricane Creek, he said, and he is a member of Ducks Unlimited and the National Wild Turkey Federation.
“I’ve been hunting since I could shoot a shotgun,” Patterson said. “It is my No. 1 outdoors passion. Second to that is spring turkey season. There’s nothing like in the morning hearing one of those gobblers on the roost.”
Patterson is the first commissioner from Texarkana since Henry Moore III, who served from 1975-82. Dr. Lester Sitzes III of Hope, who served from 1997-2004, was the last member from southwest Arkansas.
Beebe acknowledged that Patterson’s appointment filled a void in representation of southwest Arkansas, but added that all commissioners represent the entire state.
“My friend Freddy Brown pointed out to me when I was running for governor of Arkansas that what’s good for Fayetteville is good for the rest of the state,” Beebe said. “What’s good for Corning is good for the rest of the state. What’s good for El Dorado is good for the rest of the state. So Freddy says while his heart is in Clay County, he represents the whole state. So guess what? You represent the whole state.”
Beebe appointed Brown to the commission in 2010.
With a term that will last only 16 months, Patterson will have a short time to make a significant impact on the commission’s decisions and activities.
“It is no less an opportunity to leave your mark in conservation, to help hunting and fishing, to help young people in education, to help across the board in this natural treasure we call Arkansas,” Beebe said.
Former and current commissioners say it takes a full year to learn the inner workings of the agency and to learn the intricacies of the commission and its interpersonal relationships. Patterson said he will get up to speed as quickly as possible.
“I wouldn’t say I’m hamstrung,” Patterson said. “It is a short term, and I have thought about that, but I’m just fortunate to have the opportunity. I’m a rookie on the commission. I know some of the issues going on. When I get involved, I will know the issues frontwards and backwards and make the best decisions I can for the state.”
Patterson will spend Tuesday in Little Rock at an all-day orientation session. There, the commission’s division chiefs and administrative staff will brief him on their operations, budgets and current projects. He will spend Wednesday at the commission’s monthly work meeting in Little Rock and will serve as a full voting member at the commission’s formal meeting Thursday.
When his term ends in 2014, Patterson said he hopes he will be remembered not for the length of his service, but for the quality of his service.
“I just want to be remembered for giving it my all, and that I looked at every issue from every side from every angle, and voted the way that was best for the state of Arkansas,” Patterson said.
Patterson, who is divorced, has three children.
His father is Cary Patterson of Texarkana, a well-known lawyer with the Texas-based Nix Patterson and Roach firm and a contributor to Beebe’s campaign. Beebe’s campaign received $1,000 from the elder Patterson in 2005 and $2,000 in 2010, according to followthemoney.org, which tracks political contributions in state elections.
Ty Patterson has not contributed to any political campaigns in Arkansas since 2005, according to followthemoney.org.
The younger Patterson said he discovered he wasn’t interested in practicing law after a semester at the Baylor University law school. He entered the car business after Jeff Hunter, a family friend who owns a dealership in Waco, Texas, offered him a job and immersed him in all facets of the car business, he said.
That experience will help him be an effective commissioner, he said.
“In the car business, every day you come to work is a different day,” Patterson said. “You interact with different people, from parts to selling cars to handling customers’ complaints. It comes with a variety of interests.”
Front Section, Pages 1 on 02/16/2013