Danny Booth, 42, of 2346 Hubbard St., filed Friday as a candidate for the District 5 position on the Paris City Council.
Danny Booth
The Paris native filed for the seat now held by Matt Frierson, 31, of 325 Church St., whose two-year term is up in May.Frierson was elected to the council in 2011 along with Dr. Richard Grossnickle for District 4 and Dr. AJ Hashmi for District 7.
All three incumbents filed for re-election in late January in the first two days that declaring for election was permitted. But Grossnickle and Hashmi drew no opponents.
Two years ago, it was Frierson who was the only candidate with an uncontested race.
District 5 includes Paris’ Historical District south of downtown between Southwest First Street and Southeast 12th Street, and its southern boundary is Neagle Street and Jefferson Road. District 5 also contains an area east of Southeast 12th Street to Southeast 24th Street between Price Street and Polk Street.
Attempts over the weekend by eParisExtra.com to contact Booth were unsuccessful, but considerable information about him is available on the Internet.
He is the son of William and Betty Booth, who live at 1414 Margaret St.
The Paris native is a graduate of Paris High School. For 14 years, he owned and operated Technique Automotive, an auto repair facility. For five years, he owned and operated a steel custom fabrication company. He is part-owner of Tanglz Salon and Boutique, a beauty salon at 3310 Park Place in Paris.
Booth is also an avid race car driver. He raced all around the state of Texas at dirt tracks in a “best of the best” tour. He has won regularly at Paris Motor Speedway.
Booth suffered broken ribs, broken shoulder and other injuries when his car flipped on April 26, 2003, at Paris Motor Speedway.
In 2005, he relocated to Baghdad to work for the U.S. government as a military contractor.
Booth, known as “Maverick” to his friends, said in a 2010 interview upon his return to the United States, that he lived mostly in isolation while working in Iraq.
“It’s amazing what you miss after spending time over there. I’ve waited for home-cooked food, paved roads, and normal television for a long time. I want to get back into the mainstream and see some green grass again,” he said.
Immediately upon his return, he began his own company. He has been both owner and driver for Danny Booth Motorsports Marketing.
He said he witnessed how much Americans sacrifice leaving their homes to serve their country and he wanted to use his racing as a support structure for troops.
“Spending five years in Iraq, I saw first-hand what those soldiers go through. There are so many giving their lives up and changing their lives for our country, and it really inspired me. “
His race car, hauler and his team’s shirts all bore messages such as “Support the Troops.”
Charles Richards Charles Richards moved to Paris in 2004 after retiring from a 40-year career in journalism – the last 26 years as a news writer and sports writer with The Associated Press in Dallas and Washington, D.C. In mid-2004, The Paris News coaxed him out of retirement, and he began covering the police, court and regional beat for The Paris News. Then in early 2005, he was switched to coverage of a sharply divided Paris City Council. He was appointed by the City Council in 2006 to the 12-member City Charter Review Commission, which extensively rewrote the outmoded document. His writing awards include two first-place awards in statewide competition for feature writing. The most recent was his 2005 story on a Paris doctor’s startling use of leeches in a successful attempt to re-attach a man’s severed ear. Over his career, Richards’ interview subjects include Alabama Gov. George Wallace, President Bill Clinton, President George W. Bush, David Koresh, Arnold Palmer, Muhammad Ali and numerous other political and sports figures. He is an alumnus of Texas Tech, where he was editor of the school newspaper. He lives in Paris with his wife, Barbara, who is retired after 30 years as a teacher and high school counselor.
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