A candidate for the Tarrant Appraisal District board alleges County Judge Tim O鈥橦are tried to pressure him into dropping out of the race.
Colleyville City Council member Chuck Kelley, who is running for Place 3, said O鈥橦are first counseled him to not run against Callie Rigney, another Colleyville council member running for Place 2. O鈥橦are, who has since endorsed Rigney, did not respond to questions about Kelley鈥檚 allegations but offered a statement about his involvement in the race generally.
Kelley said O鈥橦are told him having two Colleyville residents running might draw too much attention to the race and result in more candidate filings.
鈥淭hat seems counterintuitive to the idea of free and fair elections,鈥� Kelley said.
Ultimately, Kelley opted to run in Place 3. After filing with O鈥橦are鈥檚 office, he said he received two phone calls from the county judge 鈥� one immediately after filing, and another several days later. Phone records reviewed by the Fort Worth Report show two calls from O鈥橦are鈥檚 cell phone, on Feb. 1 and Feb. 5, to Kelley鈥檚 phone.
Kelley alleged O鈥橦are suggested he run for another place or drop out and that, if he didn鈥檛, it could get ugly.
鈥淚 went home and I thought about it some more and said, 鈥榊ou know what? I don鈥檛 like it when people put their thumb on the scale,鈥欌�� Kelley said.
Thanks to during the 2023 session, this is the first time in state history that voters can elect people to the appraisal board. Traditionally, board members have been elected by the taxing entities such as Tarrant County or Fort Worth ISD.
Reforming the Tarrant Appraisal District following a series of scandals, including a ransomware attack and inflammatory comments from the district鈥檚 IT executive, has become a rallying cry for Republican elected officials and candidates alike.
Though the appraisal board positions are nonpartisan, seven of the eight candidates who have filed to run identify as Republicans. The legislation enabling the elections specified county judges such as O鈥橦are, who run on political platforms, are responsible for receiving and filing candidate applications.
Brandon Rottinghaus, a University of Houston political science professor, said placing that responsibility in the hands of a county judge is an unusual structure, and there鈥檚 nothing similar in Texas government. City election filings are generally accepted by city secretaries or clerks.
鈥淚t has the potential to return to the old party boss system in the counties, where every county had the political, important player that was the person who ran the county,鈥� Rottinghaus said. 鈥淪o that bossism is a throwback to Texas politics of old, and this role potentially has a conflict here.鈥�
Kelley is the only candidate who said he has been contacted directly by O鈥橦are and asked to bow out. But several others interviewed by the Fort Worth Report took issue with the county judge鈥檚 decision to endorse in the appraisal district races. O鈥橦are endorsed Eric Morris for Place 1, Rigney for Place 2, and Matt Bryant for Place 3.
Eric Crile, who is running for Place 2, said he was disappointed that O鈥橦are endorsed his opponent without speaking to him to learn about his ideas for the position.
鈥淚 honestly don鈥檛 understand the politics that are coming in from that level of the county,鈥� Crile said. 鈥淔or what essentially is a position to appoint appraisal review board members, set a budget, and make sure that the district is operating according to the laws prescribed by the legislature and the Texas comptroller.鈥�
Morris, the O鈥橦are-endorsed candidate for Place 1, said candidates who are criticizing O鈥橦are鈥檚 endorsements are only doing so because they need a way to discredit them. O鈥橦are is among several elected officials pushing for appraisal district reforms, Morris said, and his endorsement is a sign O鈥橦are trusts him to handle those issues. Morris has also netted endorsements from the Keller and Southlake mayors.
鈥淚 believe it is political rhetoric, there is no merit to that complaint,鈥� he said of concerns about the endorsements.
It would be different, Morris said, if O鈥橦are was both accepting campaign filings and administering the election. The Tarrant County Elections Administration, not the county judge鈥檚 office, has been contracted to administer the election for the appraisal district.
O鈥橦are said in a written statement that it is common practice for elected officials to endorse candidates within their own political subdivisions. The appraisal district is independent, and not managed by his office.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 lose your 1st Amendment rights when your office is the filing authority for 30 days,鈥� O鈥橦are wrote. 鈥淲e鈥檝e never seen our local media question endorsements for candidates from persons holding office within the same political subdivision. This isn鈥檛 even a subdivision the County Judge oversees. County Judges all over the state of Texas endorse in races each election cycle, and I will continue to.鈥�
Trae Fowler, who is running for Place 1 on the board, said he disagrees with O鈥橦are鈥檚 decision to endorse in the race because he鈥檚 not into kingmaking, and believes endorsements don't make sense in this kind of nonpartisan race.
鈥淭his is not about endorsements, this is about fixing problems,鈥� Fowler said.
Lowering property taxes has become a hot-button political issue in Texas over the last several years. The legislation that enabled the new positions is just one example of how lawmakers are working to fix the issue 鈥� and local politicians are also working to put their stamp on it.
Rottinghaus said given the political responsibilities of county judges, there is a clear incentive for them to try and control appraisal boards as much as possible. Whether the legislature intended this when they authorized the positions, he said, is unclear.
鈥淏ut given that they imbued so much power in the county judge in this process, it鈥檚 unavoidable,鈥� Rottinghaus said.
Emily Wolf is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at emily.wolf@fortworthreport.org or via .
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