When Cary Moon announced his candidacy for Texas House Seat 93 — a bid he lost — state law required that he resign as city councilmember. Fort Worth voters will elect his replacement tomorrow as part of a special election that includes several propositions and a proposed change to the city’s charter.
Business owner Moon has represented District 4 since 2015. The Northside region is one of the fastest-growing areas of Fort Worth. Alliance Airport, Texas Motor Speedway, and Amazon’s Regional Air Hub are well-known District 4 businesses.
Tara Wilson, who failed to unseat Moon last year, is running again as one of four candidates. The mother, nurse, and lifelong Texan has more than a decade of experience as a frontline worker. She has served low-income communities through emergency medicine and behavioral health work. Based on her website, Wilson’s priorities include investing in the community, addressing road and highway congestion, supporting small businesses, and being open and transparent to her constituents.
Businessman Alan Blaylock is a self-described “family man and fiscally responsible community leader.” He volunteers at his local PTA, homeowner association, and youth swim league meetings and events. Blaylock’s priorities include low taxes, safe neighborhoods, improved roads, and public safety.
“Blaylock will use his business experience to cut wasteful spending and find efficiencies to save taxpayer money without reducing city services,” his website reads.
James McBride works for Texas Wesleyan University as the campus’ sports information director. McBride is a self-described “free thinker” who solves problems outside of the two-party mindset. In public interviews, McBride described access to affordable housing and high property taxes as two leading problems in District 4. His priorities include making sure that city boards are filled with qualified community members and ensuring that Fort Worth’s police monitors are working to address systemic issues related to policing.
Teresa Ramirez is a self-described conservative Christian candidate with 30 years of volunteer experience. She currently volunteers with the local neighborhood crime watch and serves as an outreach coordinator for her church. Properly funding Fort Worth police department, cutting wasteful government spending, and supporting public schools are top priorities for Ramirez.
“The City of Fort Worth is in dire need of leaders who simultaneously look ahead while addressing immediate issues facing their constituents,” she wrote on her website.
Several bond proposals are also part of the special elections. Propositions A through E will allocate up to $560 million for “capital investments in Fort Worth neighborhoods, business districts, and infrastructure,” according to the city’s website. “Issuance of the bonds to fund these proposed improvements is not expected to raise taxes.”
Proposition F would boost pay for Fort Worth’s mayor and city councilmembers, who respectively currently earn $29,000 and $25,000 annually. Prop F would boost the mayor’s pay to $100,000 and councilmember pay to $76,000. Dallas’ mayor and councilmembers respectively earn $80,000 and $60,000 a year. Supporters of pay raises for elected officials note that higher salaries allow lower- and middle-class candidates to feasibly run for local offices.
Voting information for the special election can be found at Access.TarrantCounty.com/en/Elections.html.
