One of these partisan warriors will be Tarrant County judge. Here’s our recommendation
The candidates for Tarrant County judge, Republican Tim O’Hare and Democrat Deborah Peoples, have more in common than their sharp campaign exchanges would indicate.
Both came to politics after success in business. Each chaired their county political party — their tenures even overlapped — so each represents where the party base stands.
County government needs a moderate approach that focuses on solving problems rather than political showmanship, especially on cultural issues. The judge, despite the title, is an executive position. He or she, along with county commissioners, must govern a purple county, one with a Democratic core and Republican strength in the suburbs.
Peoples, 70, of Fort Worth shows more potential for filling that role. She brings leadership skills that will help county government attack longstanding concerns, adapt to the area’s unrelenting growth and prepare for future challenges in public health and the economy.
There are two issues that the next county judge needs to tackle immediately.
First is the Tarrant County Jail. Inmate deaths are unacceptably high. Staffing is alarmingly low. The Commissioners Court must dig in to help Sheriff Bill Waybourn and his leadership team with recruiting, budgeting and process issues to end horrors and mistakes such as those uncovered in recent Star-Telegram investigative reporting.
Second — and related — is the county healthcare system and mental health services. The long-term way to improve the jail’s performance is to reverse the sad reality that, as in other major American cities, the jail is the chief provider of crisis mental-health care. The county, under retiring Judge Glen Whitley, has started to address that, but the work must continue.
Meanwhile, the John Peter Smith Hospital system needs a kick in the pants over the long delays in using bond money approved in 2018 to expand healthcare access. And public-health mistakes during the pandemic must be addressed to prepare better for future crises.
To lead on these issues, Peoples will need to lean on her corporate experience as an AT&T manager more than her time as a partisan warrior. In campaigns for mayor and now county judge, she has shown a willingness to build consensus and focus on economic development and health and education access.
Peoples has a history of tough criticism of law enforcement. The Commissioners Court doesn’t deal a lot with crime, but the county judge needs to support police while still demanding appropriate levels of accountability.
Peoples also must recognize the building crisis in property taxes. In our interview with the candidates, she seemed dismissive of the need for budget cuts, falling back on the argument that school districts are the culprits for high tax bills.
Yes, school taxes are by far the largest ones a homeowner pays. But county government has been on a spending spree recently, some of it fueled by federal COVID money, but much of it from homeowners walloped by huge appraisal increases. Budget cuts are in order, and a wobbly economy might demand significant ones.
O’Hare, though, has talked about cutting 20% of county taxes without taking a penny away from the sheriff or district attorney operations. That’s ambitious to the point of being unrealistic.
The 53-year-old Southlake lawyer beat longtime former Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price handily in the Republican primary by campaigning on robust, confrontational conservatism. But he has dug into the particulars of the county judge job. O’Hare went out of his way in our interview to describe how he has studied up on the jail and to say that JPS is an important asset that needs good leadership.
But his history of partisan extremism on issues such as immigration, abortion and gender identity leave us with concerns about whether he would stick to the job or bog the court down in fights over schools and other issues the county need not deal with. O’Hare’s tenure as a Farmers Branch City Council member and mayor was marked by divisive attempts to keep illegal immigrants out of the Dallas County town.
Peoples is the better choice to stay focused on the county’s biggest needs.
The county judge is elected to a four-year term. Early voting starts Monday and ends Nov. 4. Election Day is the following Tuesday, Nov. 8.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREHey, who is behind these endorsements?
Members of the Editorial Board, which serves as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s institutional voice, decide candidates and positions to recommend to voters. The members of the board are: Cynthia M. Allen, columnist; Steve Coffman, editor and president; Bud Kennedy, columnist; Ryan J. Rusak, opinion editor; and Nicole Russell, opinion writer.
Members of our Community Advisory Board may also participate in candidate interviews and offer their views, but they do not vote on which candidate to recommend.
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How does the process work?
The Editorial Board interviews candidates, asking about positions on issues, experience and qualifications, and how they would approach holding the office for which they are running. Board members do additional research on candidates’ backgrounds and the issues at hand. After that, members discuss the candidates and generally aim to arrive at a consensus, though not necessarily unanimity. All members contribute observations and ideas, so the resulting editorials represent the board’s view, not a particular writer.
How do partisanship and ideology factor in?
We’re not tied to one party or the other, and our positions on issues range across the ideological spectrum. We tend to prefer candidates who align with our previously stated positions, but qualifications, temperament and experience are important, too.