More Than a Position: A Conversation with Tom Green County Commissioner Shawn Nanny

In public debates, particularly contentious ones, it is easy for people to become reduced to a position.

For many people in San Angelo and Tom Green County, Commissioner Shawn Nanny has recently become closely associated with one issue: the proposed data-center development and his opposition to it.

But a position—whether we agree with it or not—is not the entirety of a person.

That was one reason I wanted to sit down with Shawn for a longer conversation. I am personally supportive of responsible data-center development, and Shawn knew that before we began. He and I do not approach every part of this issue from the same perspective.

That did not prevent us from having an open, respectful conversation. In fact, it made the conversation more important.

Long before Shawn Nanny became a county commissioner, he was traveling across Tom Green County and the Concho Valley shoeing horses.

He worked as a farrier for 27 years. It was physically demanding work, but it also gave him something that would later shape his approach to public service: time with people.

A visit could last several hours. While Shawn worked, people talked. He listened.

“Everybody has some wise points to make,” he told me.

His roots are firmly planted in the livestock and horse community. Shawn attended Angelo State University and graduated in 1996 with a degree in animal science. He speaks proudly of putting himself through college and of the grandfather who made his expectations unmistakably clear: Shawn was going to attend college, and he was going to graduate.

Public service did not begin for him at the county courthouse.

Shawn served 12 years on the Christoval Independent School District Board of Trustees, including two years as board president. After three terms, he felt that particular chapter had run its course, but the desire to serve had not disappeared.

He eventually ran for county commissioner.

At the time of our conversation, Shawn had served a little more than three and a half years and was preparing to begin a second four-year term. He was unopposed for reelection.

One project he identified as a priority from the beginning was an all-weather bridge serving the Mineral Wells community. During flooding, residents can lose access through the existing low-water crossing. Shawn described working persistently on a proposed high bridge estimated to cost between $3 million and $4 million.

The county secured a $1 million community-project award through Congressman August Pfluger’s office, with TxDOT involved as a construction partner.

It is the type of county-government work that rarely generates the attention of a major controversy—but can make an enormous difference to the people directly affected by it.

Shawn has also worked to build relationships beyond Tom Green County. He has served with the Far West Texas County Judges and Commissioners Association and the West Texas County Judges and Commissioners Association. He has also participated in the National Association of Counties’ Agricultural and Rural Affairs Legislative Steering Committee, along with state-level work involving county judges and commissioners.

To him, those relationships help ensure that decision-makers in places such as Austin and Washington know Tom Green County and understand the concerns of rural West Texas.

Then came the data-center proposal.

“When I took office, I didn’t know what a data center was,” Shawn said during our conversation.

He added, with a little humor, “I picked a hell of a time to get into office.”

Shawn described early conversations in which developers discussed water use, power generation and the possibility of harvesting water from the air. He also recalled being told that the developers wanted to give back to the community and that he should not be afraid to ask for significant investments.

So he asked.

His list included helping retire the Christoval school bond, seal-coating county roads and supporting volunteer fire departments. By his estimate, the requests could have totaled $500 million to $600 million.

Those conversations later became the subject of suspicion and rumor. Shawn said some people accused him of brokering the underlying land transaction for personal profit. He also described how members of his family—including his son—were pulled into the speculation.

That part of the conversation revealed something often lost in public political disputes: criticism of an elected official can quickly extend beyond the official and reach people who never chose to hold public office.

As community concern intensified, Shawn said he pushed for a public meeting. He also remained in regular contact with residents organizing against the project.

His opposition is rooted in what he sees as unanswered questions about water, power generation, emissions, public health and the suitability of the proposed location. When health and safety questions remain unresolved, he said, he believes an elected official must “err on the side of caution.”

People can examine the available information and reach a different conclusion. I have.

But disagreement should not require us to assume dishonesty, corruption or bad intent.

One of the most revealing moments in our conversation had little to do with infrastructure, tax abatements or development agreements. Shawn recalled an elderly friend telling him that perhaps he had been placed in office at this particular moment by a higher power.

“Man, that grabbed my heart,” he said.

Whether someone shares that belief or not, it helps explain how Shawn understands the responsibility he has accepted.

He does not describe himself as someone standing above the public. He describes himself as part of it.

“I’m just one of y’all,” he said. “I’m proud that y’all elected me to represent you.”

He also believes representation requires more listening than talking.

“If I’m going to represent you accurately,” he said, “I need to be doing a whole lot of listening and very little talking.”

My purpose in interviewing Shawn was not to endorse every position he holds, nor was it to stage a confrontation between opposing sides. It was to better understand the person serving in the office—and to give him room to explain, in his own words, how his experiences shaped his decisions.

We need more opportunities to do that.

A community should be capable of vigorously debating growth, water, power, taxes and the future of our region without losing its curiosity about the people on the other side of the argument.

Shawn Nanny and I do not agree on every aspect of the data-center issue.

But we were able to sit across from one another, talk openly and listen.

That may not resolve the larger debate. It is, however, a good place to begin.

The full conversation with Tom Green County Commissioner Shawn Nanny will be released soon.