The mayors of 10 Tarrant County cities have sent an open letter to Judge Tim O’Hare voicing staunch opposition to the county’s ongoing efforts to draw a new political map.
The group – including Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, Arlington Mayor Jim Ross and Grand Prairie Mayor Ron Jensen – alleges the five proposed redistricting maps may not meet state legal standards, and says the process should wait until the next census in 2030.
“We urge you to strongly consider delaying any redistricting process until the County has more accurate, up-to-date demographic information to form the basis for its new map,” the letter reads.
A spokesperson for O'Hare did not immediately respond to a request for interview or comment Friday afternoon.
The redistricting attempt has drawn rebuke from residents and Democratic county commissioners.
Republicans on the Tarrant County Commissioners Court pushed for the mid-census redistricting despite pushback from Democrats Alisa Simmons and Roderick Miles, the commissioners for precincts 2 and 1, respectively.
Simmons, Miles and dozens of Tarrant County residents who have spoken at commissioners court meetings have decried the move as gerrymandering intended to block Simmons from reelection.
Simmons has said the push for redistricting is an intentional effort to remove her from office and further stack the court with Republican commissioners. Republicans have said previously it’s time to redistrict and they have the legal right to do so, but Krause openly said at a public hearing in Hurst Wednesday that he wants to redistrict as a way to increase Republican power in the court.
The county hired the Public Interest Legal Foundation, a right-wing advocacy firm associated with other controversial redistricting and attempts to access voter information through the courts, to provide five potential maps.
The letter from the mayors comes after Arlington Mayor Jim Ross said at a city council meeting he was directing city staff to investigate the ethics and legality of the redistricting. Ross said if it turned out there were legal or ethical problems, he would ask the council to pass a resolution in opposition to the efforts.
He told KERA News Friday that the resolution will be on the council's agenda Tuesday night. The letter and resolution aren't intended to be confrontational, he said. Instead, he hopes they prompt county elected officials to slow the pace and bring city governments into the discussion.
Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker voted along party lines against a similar resolution this week condemning the redistricting efforts. The city council approved the resolution 6-4.
Parker said in a statement Friday she isn't opposed to redistricting itself.
"My real concern is with ensuring that the current County process is compliant with the law and that’s why I joined several other area mayors in sending today’s letter," Parker said.
She said the letter was written after Arlington's legal analysis, in which Fort Worth participated, and that it is the most sound legal tactic available to Tarrant County municipalities.
"It is of utmost importance to me that our local government continues to have respectful debate and discourse on the issues that matter most in our community," Parker said.
The letter itself does not make mention of accusations of gerrymandering and racism, instead focusing on legal issues the county might face if it moves forward. The group said the effort could limit the voices of minorities packed into districts.
“There is significant concern that the five proposed maps are not only contrary to provisions in state law but could be subject to a legal challenge in the form of a lawsuit brought under the non-discrimination standard of Section 2 of the U.S. Voting Rights Act,” the letter reads.
The mayors also questioned the wisdom of redistricting based on 5-year-old census data, especially with the significant growth the county has seen since 2020.
Fort Worth now tops 1 million residents, and the U.S. Census Bureau estimated in a population report from March that Tarrant County is the 10th fastest growing county in the nation.
Census Bureau estimates, which are not as accurate as the decennial census, found that Tarrant County grew by nearly 33,000 people since 2020.
The letter also questions the legality of the redistricting based on laws about voting precincts. State law requires no voting precinct contain territory from more than one commissioner precinct. The letter alleges that isn’t possible with the five proposed maps.
The 10 mayors said they have concerns that districts for other elected offices, like judicial precincts, would have the same problem. They wrote Tarrant County is currently not legally allowed to redraw voting precincts.
The county could face costly legal challenges, the mayors warned.
“The instability created by such a challenge is not only detrimental for Tarrant County but for all cities of Tarrant County,” the letter reads.
Ross said he's concerned about a lack of transparency to the public, especially residents in Arlington.
"Redistricting is part of a political process. I get that, I understand that," Ross told KERA News in an interview Friday. "My concern is that if you’re going to redistrict, if you deem it’s necessary to redistrict, the citizenry, the constituents of my community deserve transparency and they deserve you adhering to the laws of the state of Texas and the U.S. government."
The commissioners court has held four public forums in the last month, one in each district.
The letter comes 11 days before the court’s Republican-imposed June 3 deadline to select a new map. The swiftness of the vote — scheduled just a month after the five proposed maps were presented to the court for the first time on May 6 — drew critiques that the timeline doesn’t allow time for public input, legal reviews and thorough discussion.
Ross he plans to attend the June 3 meeting to share his concerns directly with commissioners, but he hopes the open letter prompts county officials to take a breath and slow down.
"My hope is that the commissioners court takes another in-depth look at what’s going on, that they consult with the group out of Virginia they hired to do this redistricting, that they address our concerns," he said, "maybe even have their lawyers sit down with our lawyers and say, 'Here’s where one is right and one is wrong,' and see what we can come up with in a collaborative fashion."
The Fort Worth Report's Cecilia Lenzen contributed reporting.
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