Tarrant water district board needs these 2 candidates to keep improving transparency | Opinion
After years of secrecy and questionable dealings, the Tarrant Regional Water District board has improved its governance and transparency. Work remains to be done, but it’s important that the momentum continues in the right direction.
Of the four candidates for the two board seats on the May 6 ballot, Paxton Motheral and Charles “C.B.” Team are the best options to ensure that it does. Both have the knowledge and judgment needed to further settle the board and the district’s overall business.
Team a 40-year-old Fort Worth commercial real estate broker, has observed the board’s operation and run for seats for years. Just a few months ago, he joined it as an appointee, filling the seat of director Jim Lane, who died in November. Motheral, a 39-year-old Fort Worth real estate developer, has been chairman of Streams and Valleys Inc., the nonprofit group that seeks to protect and develop the Trinity River.
Both understand that after years of talk about recreation and development, the district needs to reinforce its core missions: long-term water supply and flood control. Team and Motheral can bring their real-estate background into oversight of complex land transactions that the district staff must execute as the development of Panther Island shifts into a new phase.
In our interview with the candidates, most seemed pleased with the performance of general manager Dan Buhman, who oversees the district’s entire operation and reports directly to the board. Like any elected board, it’s important that members find the balance of not meddling in the district’s work while ensuring strong oversight of budgets, planning and focus.
Our unceasing population growth creates a constant challenge for long-term planners. A consistent, affordable water supply is vital not just to residents but also as a recruiting tool for business. No company wants to move substantial operations here if essentials such as power and water don’t seem assured. And yet, water planning requires thinking over a span of decades and trying to factor in changing variables.
Panther Island, the ambitious project to reroute the Trinity with a bypass channel and create a high-value district north of downtown, is finally moving forward with federal funding. The water district board’s role will be to ensure contracting is transparent and frugal and to keep the focus on flood control. Development of the island, as the candidates notes, properly falls to the city.
Joe Ashton, the outgoing mayor of River Oaks, says he wants to join board member Margaret Kelleher as a disruptor. Ashton’s critiques include contracting issues and the construction of board committees — if they’re small enough, he laments, they can meet outside the public view. The 40-year-old, who works as city manager of Pantego, would bring good oversight skills but can’t match Motheral and Team in overall knowledge.
A fourth candidate, locomotive engineer Chad Moore, was unable to attend our candidate interview.
Voters in certain parts of Tarrant County cities that are stakeholders in the district can choose two candidates. Those cities include significant portions of Fort Worth, Azle, Edgecliff Village, River Oaks, Sansom Park, Westover Hills and Westworth Village, as well as smaller parts of several others. Some unincorporated areas near Eagle Mountain Lake are also included.
The district provides an online lookup tool, or eligible homeowners will find the code “223 Tarrant Regional Water District” on their property tax statements. The district levies taxes for flood control, not water supply.
Early voting begins April 24 and ends May 2. Election Day is May 6.
