As county judge, Tim O’Hare would endanger Tarrant’s prosperity, public schools
Tarrant County businesses and working families expect our elected leaders to promote smart policies that help our economy, especially as we head toward what many experts predict will be a substantial recession.
A strong economy that extends provision for the greatest number of people is God’s will. Helping ease the impact of an impending economic downturn requires a county judge and Commissioners Court who ignore partisan rubbish from the extreme wings of both parties and focus on attracting new jobs, enticing corporate relocation and incentivizing small businesses to grow.
To do so necessitates infrastructure improvements with better roads, job training for higher wages, timely emergency management, partnerships with school districts and stronger law enforcement — all vital responsibilities of the Commissioners Court.
Unfortunately, the Republican nominee for county judge, Southlake lawyer Tim O’Hare, has made it clear these issues are unimportant to him. His rhetoric shows he is more interested in using the role of county judge to target public schools — definitely not in the job description — instead of working on the issues of county government.
His angry, anti-public-school agenda is of great concern to me as a pastor who has spent decades helping students and teachers and to the families of my congregation and the congregations I serve. Continuing his false claims about public school curricula and promising to use the bully pulpit of county government to make changes in school districts — clearly not the role of the county judge — will only make a tough job even more difficult for teachers and superintendents.
O’Hare has promised a short-sighted county budget that would force a dramatic reduction in funding for law enforcement, leaving them without the support needed to reduce the surge of violent crime in our neighborhoods. That’s a surefire way to give corporate executives pause when considering expansion into our county.
The candidate has said he would exempt law enforcement from budget cuts. But retiring County Judge Glen Whitley recently warned Tarrant County mayors in a letter: “The reality is with such substantial budget cuts, several recently created special units within the Criminal District Attorney’s office might have to be eliminated.” He cited units working on domestic violence, sexual assault, elder fraud, reviewing possibly wrongful convictions and human trafficking.
O’Hare’s budget would also substantially cut back on vital road and traffic improvement projects, especially in fast-growing communities and low-income areas. Lacking infrastructure is another red flag for businesses considering investing in our neighborhoods.
With O’Hare’s spending plan, the county would have to reduce efforts to promote job training and partnerships with public schools on college and career preparation programs. Imagine, too, increased wait times for all county services, from public-safety responses to longer lines at the courthouse to register your vehicle or pay your taxes.
Despite O’Hare’s pandering rhetoric, Tarrant County is one of Texas’ most efficient counties. We have the lowest number of employees per capita of the top five Texas urban counties, and we are the only county rated five stars in transparency by the state comptroller.
As a pastor, I also have concerns about O’Hare’s disregard for honesty. While he has lambasted local governments for using lobbyists to promote property tax relief in the Texas Legislature, as a mayor in Dallas County, he voted repeatedly to hire lobbyists. And despite his low tax rate rhetoric, he voted to raise property tax rates to build a water park.
Republicans, working families and businessmen and businesswomen should look at other options on the ballot. Deborah Peoples of Fort Worth, the Democratic nominee, has offered up a mature agenda that places the needs of our county above political gamesmanship.
We should be America’s most prosperous county. But that will not happen with Tim O’Hare as our county judge. His agenda is tired, angry and dangerous to business owners, working families, parents, students and teachers.
The damage he would cause for our economy and our schools could take a decade or more to recover.
