FORT WORTH, Texas — Civil rights groups are weighing in on the heated rhetoric between Tarrant County Judge Tim O'Hare and Commissioner Alisa Simmons during a Tarrant County Commissioners Court meeting earlier this week over the contract of a political consultant.
O'Hare and Simmons' exchange during the April 16, 2024, commissioners' court meeting came before the commissioners ultimately approved the contract with political consultant Noah Betz for a period of five months. The vote on whether O'Hare could hire Betz passed by a 3-2 measure, with Simmons and Roy Brooks voting against the contract.
Betz works as the principal of Bluestone Creatives, a consulting firm that produces marketing materials to “secure victories for candidates, political action committees, non-profits, public figures and businesses,” according to his LinkedIn profile. He is also executive director of the Huffines Liberty Foundation, a think tank founded by former Republican state Sen. Don Huffines.
During the meeting, Commissioner Simmons, who represents southeast Tarrant County, criticized O’Hare for seeking to hire Betz and accused O'Hare of exploiting a loophole by seeking to hire a partisan consultant. Contractors are not subject to the same legal requirements as full-time county employees, who aren't allowed to work on partisan campaigns while working for the county during work hours.
O’Hare countered, accusing Simmons of using county staff to post political content to her account on X, formerly known as Twitter. Simmons then interjected to accuse O’Hare of also posting political commentary.
"I am the one talking now, so you will sit there and be quiet and listen while I talk and then you can talk later," O'Hare said at one point during the exchange.
O'Hare's words came under fire.
"It was demeaning, disrespectful, professionally inappropriate. And it was conduct unbecoming of a fellow colleague and a fellow elected colleague," said Simmons.
Simmons told us she doesn't want an apology.
"Who he does need to apologize to is the constituents for this level of behavior," Simmons said.
It's behavior Simmons says should not happen among people elected to serve.
Arlington NAACP President Rev. Kennedy Jones defended Simmons during public comments at a commissioner's court meeting. Jones lives in Precinct 2 of Tarrant County which Simmons represents for Tarrant County.
"It is demeaning and offensive to the people precinct 2," Jones said.
The NAACP accused O'Hare of "misogynistic and racialistic" behavior toward Simmons.
Now other local civic groups have weighed in. They joined members of the NAACP branches from both Fort Worth and Arlington for a news conference outside O'Hare's downtown Fort Worth office. One group called O'Hare's comments toward Simmons racially motivated.
"That kind of attitude that demeans women, that takes them back to the time when they could not vote and was the property of their husbands," Jones said.
WFAA reached out to Judge O'Hare repeatedly for an interview about his comments to Simmons. His administration assistant explained that his schedule was booked up for the day. Eventually, O'Hare responded with a written statement about Simmons with heated rhetoric.
"The Commissioner of Precinct 2 has a history of alleging unfounded racism," O'Hare said in his statement. "This is a sideshow."
Simmons called O'Hare's statement following their exchange, "yet another attempt to divert the public's focus from his bullying behavior and away from the substantive issue that initiated this episode."