Two ousted from Tarrant Appraisal District board. Here are the newly appointed members
The chair of the Tarrant Appraisal District Board of Directors has lost his seat alongside a fellow member after the county’s taxing entities cast their votes for appointed directors.
The county, cities and school districts have voted to appoint five of 14 candidates for the Tarrant Appraisal District’s Board of Directors. They had cast 4,987 of 4,998 total votes by Wednesday afternoon, locking in wins for the top five. They had until Dec. 18 to submit their votes.
Chairman Vince Puente and Director Gary Losada lost their bids for reelection.
Three familiar faces will return to the TAD board. Current appointed members Gloria Peña and Alan Blaylock will be back next year, as will Wendy Burgess, who currently serves on the board in her capacity as county tax assessor-collector.
Peña was the top vote-getter with 831 in her corner. She was followed by Blaylock with 813. Burgess came in fifth with 701 votes.
Blaylock said in an emailed statement he is honored to continue his work on the board and “to ensure that TAD fulfills its mission with fairness and integrity for both taxpayers and taxing entities.”
“I take great pride in the strides we have made to strengthen the security of taxpayer information entrusted to TAD and in the significant progress achieved in modernizing and enhancing the customer experience, both online and in person,” he said.
Peña did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Burgess told the Star-Telegram she looks forward to working collaboratively with the other board members. Her goals include making sure the board complies with all laws and monitoring the recovery efforts from the cyberattack on TAD in March.
“I look forward to using my knowledge as a subject matter expert to guide the board through any decisions related to any future reappraisal efforts,” she said.
Burgess lost her Republican primary bid for reelection to that office to incoming tax assessor-collector Rick Barnes, a former chair of the Tarrant County GOP. Barnes will also serve on the board in his new role.
He said in a text message that he too looks forward to working with his fellow board members in the coming year.
“Voters entrusted me to serve as the new tax assessor-collector because they wanted a taxpayer advocate both at the tax office and on the appraisal district board,” he said, adding that he will aim to “ensure we remain accountable and answer to the taxpayers of Tarrant County.”
The other newcomers are Michael Alfred and Fred Campos.
Alfred, who received 734 votes, is a fifth-generation Texan who has lived in Tarrant County since 2004, having called Fort Worth, Arlington and Colleyville home in that time, according to a biography posted to the TAD website.
A graduate of UT Austin and SMU’s law school, Alfred has practiced law for over two decades, focusing on “large, complex business, construction, and healthcare matters,” the bio states. He has also coached youth baseball and football and has served on a leadership committee for the Grapevine-Colleyville school district.
The Star-Telegram was not able to reach Alfred for comment.
Campos, who received 793 votes, is a lifelong Fort Worth resident who studied computer science at UNT, according to his bio on the TAD website. He has owned and managed successful software and website development businesses in the area and has served as a trustee on the Hurst-Euless-Bedford school board since 2015.
“I am truly honored and excited to serve our taxpayers, entities, and especially the dedicated staff of TAD,” he said in an emailed statement. “I am committed to collaborating with my fellow Board members to make Tarrant County better in every possible way.”
Burgess, Alfred and Campos will replace Puente, Losada and Rich DeOtte. DeOtte did not run for reelection.
Losada and Puente did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
The new board members will join the three members elected by popular vote earlier this year. One of the first tasks the board will have to deal with is finalizing or reversing changes to the county’s property reappraisal plan that were approved in July.
A Star-Telegram investigation found in August that County Judge Tim O’Hare had “scripted” the agenda items that resulted in the changes, an act that property tax lawyers said likely constituted a violation of the tax code and possibly a misdemeanor crime.
This story was originally published December 18, 2024 at 5:00 PM.
