It’s tempting to call MAGA Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare’s most recent meltdown just another childish temper tantrum and leave it at that. But while they are plenty childish, O’Hare’s tantrums take more than a nap and a fresh diaper to get over. He throws a fit and then takes over-the-top, truly damaging actions that deny Tarrant County citizens the basic services needed from their county.
This time, O’Hare flipped out when Commissioners Court Democrats, Alisa Simmons and Roderick Miles, were absent, which temporarily denied him the 4/5ths quorum needed to amend the county budget in a way he knew they opposed. Instead of taking a beat and finding out why Simmons and Miles were away, O’Hare went off, taking their absences as a personal affront to his perceived authority. It turns out that both Commissioners were ill and unable to attend.
Even if the Democrats’ move had been calculated, it was not nearly as dramatic as the recent State House quorum break that shut down the Legislature for a month. They didn’t prevent work getting done at the Court. O’Hare could still handle all the many other matters where a simple majority is sufficient. And it’s not unusual either. Just a few years ago, the Republicans on the Harris County Commissioners Court repeatedly, and successfully, used the tactic to leverage some of their priorities even though they were in the minority.
But O’Hare flew off the handle and lashed out anyway by attacking the office resources of ONLY the two Democrats on the Court. Simmons and Miles represent half of Tarrant County, over 1.1 million people. O’Hare cut their county staff to just one person each and then drastically slashed the budgets for services important to the construction, maintenance, and security of county roads.
O’Hare’s move was punitive and stupid. Instead of finding common ground and room for compromise, he lashed out to punish duly elected Commissioners but missed the mark. Neither Simmons nor Miles are personally harmed by O’Hare’s actions. The victims are county public servants, local neighborhoods, and innocent citizens whose services and safety were compromised by an insecure and mean-spirited County Judge.
The real problem for Tarrant County citizens, civic leaders, business owners, and homeowners is that O’Hare’s most recent meltdown is not the exception, it’s the rule. His entire tenure as Tarrant County Judge has been a series of kicking and screaming terrible two-like meltdowns followed by malicious actions. Here’s just a partial list:
· Arbitrary cuts to successful grant programs like Girls, Inc.
· Insulting and forcing the resignation of arguably the best elections administrators in the nation
· Punishing voters by cutting campus polling locations
· Plotting to divide and weaken public school districts
· Attacking minority voters who dare to oppose him by racially gerrymandering their districts
And O’Hare throws his biggest fits when citizens call him out for his destructive actions. After running a campaign where he bragged about doing things worthy of being called a racist, O’Hare blew every fuse lashing out when ordinary citizens took him up on it. A Lone Star Project video of O’Hare insulting and attacking citizens during public comments at the Commissioners Court has gone viral.
So now after O’Hare’s nearly three years in office, Tarrant citizens pretty much know what they’ve got – a petty, ultra-partisan County Judge incapable of navigating reasonable differences of opinion or taking fair criticism without dissolving into a 50-something year-old toddler.
The remaining question is will voters continue to indulge and spoil Tim O’Hare or give him the time-out he deserves.
