Plano voters will notice something missing when they step into the voting both next year – the McCall name.

Collin County has been represented in Austin by Brian McCall for nearly two decades, but the veteran House member has announced that his current term will be his last.

The McCall name has commanded respect in Plano as well as through the state Capitol. His community can take pride in the person it has sent to Austin since 1991, both for what he accomplished and the way he did it with integrity.

Before this year's legislative session neared, McCall was part of a small group of Republican lawmakers who sought change in the House's authoritarian, partisan leadership.

Joining with Democrats in deposing Speaker Tom Craddick, they rallied around Joe Straus of San Antonio and pledged more evenhanded guidance. They promised that all lawmakers would have a shot at getting their bills to the House for a vote – not just those whose ideas fit the leadership agenda.

McCall became one of the Straus lieutenants and controlled the flow of legislation through his chairmanship of the Calendars Committee.

Members credited him with making good the promise of fairness for members regardless of party, and the statistics backed up the praise.

Going back to his early terms in the House, McCall made a difference. He passed legislation in 1995 to create the state's DNA registry, which has evolved into an invaluable tool for freeing innocent people and convicting the right ones, and also passed the state's first anti-stalking bill. In 1999, he authored a tax-cut bill credited with saving taxpayers more than $3 billion.

His tenure in the House been notable, too, for the principled way he conducted himself. That is exemplified by his decision to return the $150,000 in political contributions that he collected since the end of the 2009 session, his last.

In searching for a replacement, the Plano community should ask prospective candidates if they will sign onto what we can term the McCall doctrine. Here are four main points, taken from McCall's retirement announcement from last week:

•Show up for work every day of every session and keep my head in the game.

•Be a gentleman, even in a rough-and-tumble political environment

•Always have respect for, and a willingness to defend, the process.

•Think for myself instead of being hypnotized by the various scorecards of the special-interest policy groups du jour.

•Remember that the job is temporary.

DMN Suburban Editorial Board