TCC board isn’t place for partisan politics, trustee and former Fort Worth mayor says
The race for the District 7 Tarrant County College board position is pitting a far right candidate against two contenders who don’t want partisan politics to interfere with educating students.
Veronica Chavez Law, Hunter Crow and Cary Cheshire are vying for the District 7 seat after Kenneth Barr chose not to seek reelection.
Cheshire did not respond to messages from the Star-Telegram requesting an interview, and he did not complete the Star-Telegram’s voters guide questionnaire.
Election Day is Saturday with polls open from 7 am. to 7 p.m.
Kenneth Barr, a former mayor of Fort Worth who has served on the TCC board since 2019, is not seeking reelection, saying it is time for someone younger to take on the challenges of overseeing one of the largest higher education institutions in the U.S.
Founded in 1965, Tarrant County College offers five types of degrees and an array of technical programs across its six campuses. The college estimates about 1 in 22 Tarrant County residents take a class at TCC every year. TCC is one of the country’s 20 largest institutions of higher education.
Barr isn’t shy about expressing his views about his concerns that partisan politics will affect trustees’ decisions about what is best for the students who are seeking degrees and finding career paths, stating that he supports Chavez Law to succeed him.
“This is a nonpartisan election for a nonpartisan board,” Barr said. “We need someone who’s committed to education, not politics.”
Chavez Law, 55, an attorney who has served on numerous nonprofit boards, said if elected, she will work to help provide and support career paths for students and help with overseeing the Tarrant County College five year plan. None of that has anything to do with politics, whether Republican or Democrat,” Law said.
Law said she was exploring opportunities to continue her community involvement when Barr reached out to her about the open District 7 seat.
Law said that if she is elected, she wants to help the college form more partnerships with businesses to continue providing career paths for students.
She pointed to TCC partnerships such as working with the Fort Worth Autobahn dealership, working with “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan to train students who want to work in the film industry, and the New Heights Adult High School for adults who did not get their diplomas and did not want to get a GED.
Cheshire, who has garnered support from Tarrant County GOP chair Bo French and county judge Tim O’Hare, has accused Chavez Law of being on the left although she describes herself as conservative.
Cheshire’s campaign mailers describe him as the only conservative who can provide leadership and has fought for fiscal responsibility and conservative values.
The mailers also state that Tarrant County College is no place for “radical campus activists.”
Crow, 30, an undergraduate library research assistant who attended Tarrant County College before getting his degree from the University of Texas at Arlington, said attending TCC helped him move forward with his higher education degree. He also served in student government, which gives him additional experience to serve on the board, he said in an email to the Star-Telegram.
Crow said that his priorities include creating safer spaces for teachers and staff by eliminating corruption and discrimination and examining what district initiatives have been completed and whether students are benefiting from them.
Crow also said there is no place for politics in the District 7 race.
“Unfortunately, this has been a very common dynamic in many local races and Cary Cheshire isn’t the only one doing it this cycle. Absolutely it concerns me and it’s disturbing, Crow said.