Public commenter urges no on appraisal-district nominees; board votes to cast district ballots for incumbents

During the public-comment period, resident Ginger Moore urged the San Angelo ISD Board of Trustees to oppose two nominees for the Tom Green County Appraisal District, saying reappointing them would continue practices that raise property appraisals and that the appraisal district lacks accessible meeting minutes.

Moore urged trustees to "vote no for Luis Gomez and Bob Reeves for the appraisal board," alleging limited transparency and oversight in how the appraisal district operates and presented FOIA/records concerns.

Later in the agenda, staff presented the two nominees (the only applicants for the available four-year terms) and explained the nomination process for taxing entities. District staff recommended allocating the board’s district 604 votes and the board moved to adopt the authorizing resolution. The board’s motion to cast its votes for Luis Gomez and Bob Reeves passed with a 6–0 tally and one abstention (Ms. Cardenas), and trustees recorded the formal resolution to submit the votes to the appraisal district.

Presenter Dr. Merle Brandon explained nominations are solicited from taxing entities and said the district works with outside counsel (Linebarger) to contest appraisal values on behalf of the district to try to limit the state-assigned valuation base. The agenda also referenced Texas Tax Code Section 34.05 in a later property-sale item, reminding the board of statutory procedures affecting taxing entities.

The public comment and vote together show community concern over appraisal outcomes and the board’s choice to cast votes for incumbents despite those concerns.

Next steps: the appraisal district will consider votes and the board will receive no further action items related to those nominees in this meeting.