New Tarrant County Judge and County Commissioners Hold First Meeting of 2023

On Tuesday, the Tarrant County Court of Commissioners held its first meeting of 2023 with a newly elected district judge and two new members.

Three new faces entered the court in the midterms, including Tim O’Hara, who held his first session as a district judge on Tuesday. O’Hare handled the case of former Tarrant County Judge Glen Wheatley, who had served 26 years in the Court of Commissioners.

O’Hara was sworn in on 1 January.

“I think Tarrant County can be a role model for other counties, municipalities and school districts. You can absolutely tighten your belts. You will definitely be able to spend less money if you bring in a strong business mindset, innovation, new ideas, ways of thinking. I hope this is what I present in court,” O’Hara said in an interview with NBC 5 on Tuesday.

O’Hare said every meeting he’s had so far with a county officer or commissioner since the November election has considered the need to lower property tax rates. Among his top priorities, O’Hara said he’s focused on how to spend taxpayer money more efficiently.

“I think you should be following every dollar of taxes like a hawk. Sometimes I think there are too many people in the government who don’t really understand whose money it is,” he said. “You can have pretty free expenses. Particularly in Tarrant County over the past 4-6 years they have been spending money on the county government like wildfire. We want to introduce some financial restrictions.”

The two new commissioners on the court are Alice Simmons, representing Precinct 2, and Manny Ramirez, representing Precinct 4. Ramirez, who served as president of the Fort Worth Police Officers Association, said one of the issues he would like to address immediately is how to be an american. Salvation plan dollars spent. His ideas include projects to support public safety and society in general.

“We need to be focused on making sure all this money is spent responsibly. We need to be focused on making sure we can lower these tax rates and provide efficient service,” Ramirez said.

Simmons will represent southeast Tarrant County as precinct 2 commissioner, her first elected position. She told NBC 5 that her priorities include affordable housing, mental health services and the Tarrant County Jail.

“We don’t have enough staff there. We have deaths in this prison that need to be dealt with. So right away I’m interested to see what we can do,” she said.

According to O’Hare, the composition of the new commissioners on the site is diverse. This may be their strength during their joint service.

“You have a mix of young and old and probably in between. People from all over the area. People with different backgrounds, ideas, life experiences and business backgrounds,” he said. “I think they are a strong group. People with strong ideas, strong opinions, but I think people with good healthy debates and discussions are good for any government agency.”

1st Precinct Commissioner Roy Brooks served 19 years and said he was confident in the court’s ability to work together.

“County government is working,” Brooks said. “But it works because of the relationship we have for each other.”

Content Source

Dallas Press News – Latest News:
Dallas Local News || Fort Worth Local News | Texas State News || Crime and Safety News || National news || Business News || Health News

Related Articles

Back to top button