Friend,
 
It's hard to believe it's almost been an entire year since being sworn in as YOUR County Commissioner here in Precinct 3. A lot has happened in the last twelve months, and I wanted to give you a recap of that first year. Hope you enjoy the summary!

As a body, the Commissioner’s Court has acted on several notable items this year. Our precinct itself took on a different geographic shape with the redistricting effort that came through the Court in June. It was the first time in fifteen years that the court redrew its district lines, and considering how much our area of the county has grown in that span of time, it was a long overdue effort. While we will miss the City of Haslet and Haltom City, both of which are now located in Precinct 4, we gained territory in Arlington, and Precinct 3 now includes Globe Life Field, the AT&T Stadium, and the brand-new National Medal of Honor Museum. I am thrilled to represent parts of Arlington again, as I did for many years when I served in the Texas House of Representatives.

Policy-wise, we continued the popular trend of cutting the property taxes of Tarrant County residents. We passed a budget that came out under the “no new revenue rate,” which means that the county is collecting less taxes from residents than last year. This type of rate cut is rare for a growing county like ours, but we balanced the cuts by implementing further efficiencies in county government by consolidating the county Human Services Department with our Health Department, which has resulted in saving costs and streamlining bureaucracy. We also had the opportunity to appoint several of our community members to various boards and commissions, ranging from the Trinity Metro Board of Directors to the JPS Hospital District Board of Managers. I was also appointed by Judge O’Hare as Judge Pro-Tem of the Commissioner’s Court—an honor and duty I take seriously, and one that I will exercise with prudence if the situation presents itself.

During this year’s meetings of the Commissioner’s Court, we also had the opportunity to recognize several members of our community in their notable achievements. We recognized the Grapevine High School baseball team on their second consecutive win as the UIL 5A Division 2 state champions, where they beat Humble Kingwood Park High School 9-5. Also in the sports realm, we joined County Judge Tim O’Hare in recognizing the Carroll ISD Lady Dragons for win as the UIL 6A Division 2 volleyball state champions. It’s clear that Precinct 3 is home to many talented young athletes so stay tuned for more wins in 2026!

We also recognized The Gatehouse, a local nonprofit organization in our community, on their tenth anniversary of helping women and children in need and for the transformative impact they’ve had in our community. And lastly, it was with a heavy heart that we recognized the Grapevine Police Department and Texas Game Warden Tristan Pokorney for their exemplary service in tracking down and apprehending the suspect of a tragic hit-and-run collision that resulted in the death of 18-year-old Ava Moore, who was just weeks away from heading to basic training to serve our country in the armed forces.

I’m also pleased to say that the Commissioner’s Court assisted with the difficulties brought upon many Tarrant County residents by the federal government’s record-long shutdown last month. Tarrant County Commissioners voted unanimously in November to allocate $100,000.00 in interest from the Tarrant County Housing Finance Corporation to the Tarrant Area Food Bank, and we were able to distribute another $20,000 between our very own Community Enrichment Center, the Grapevine Relief & Community Exchange (GRACE), and 6Stones, to help further relieve needy families in our community. These are wonderful organizations that do the Lord’s work in helping others in need, and we were proud to support them in their respective missions.

Sadly, we lost a giant of a public servant when former Commissioner Gary Fickes passed away this year. I had the opportunity to get to know Commissioner Fickes over my time in the State Legislature and was able to spend more time learning from him after I joined the Commissioner’s Court. I learned much from him during the short time he mentored me as a newly elected Commissioner, but I do wish I had more time to learn from his decades of wisdom regarding our community. Our team has pledged to continue his legacy in the Transportation Summit he pioneered early in his career as a county commissioner, as well as the Empowering Seniors expo he also established. We also continued his legacy of supporting several local senior-oriented transportation services, and we seek to continue to do so in 2026.

Without question, the item I’m most proud to have sponsored this past year—and an issue that is deeply close to my heart and to our community—was a resolution allowing Tarrant County to place a monument of the Ten Commandments on our courthouse lawn. We’ll be one of the first counties in the nation to have such a monument, and we’re thrilled to be following in the footsteps of our founding fathers in recognizing the profound effect the Ten Commandments has had on our culture and government over the last 250 years. We would love for you to join us at our dedication ceremony at the 1895 Courthouse in downtown Fort Worth on January 16th, 2026, at 2:00 PM.

As a road and bridge commissioner, I also learned much from our Precinct 3 maintenance crew and what it takes to ensure our roads in northeast Tarrant County are safe to drive on and well-maintained. We have a wonderful road crew that we’ve had the opportunity to get to know over this past year, and we will continue to think of creative ways to make sure you can get from point A to point B without stressing too much about how you’ll get there. You’ll see more on the successes of our road crew later in this newsletter, but I want to emphasize what a pleasure it is working alongside these men and women that wake up every morning to serve Tarrant County residents, come rain or shine.

Lastly, Precinct 3 is blessed with an exceptional staff. The office’s many successes this year would not have been possible without this team guiding all these projects and efforts.

Maria Hogue, our Office Administrator, stayed on after Commissioner Fickes’ retirement, and we are so glad she did. If you have called into or visited our office, you have probably been met with her voice on the phone or greeting you at the front desk. She does an amazing job of keeping everything organized and on track in the office and I am so grateful she was willing to stay on and help us out.

Ariana Raines also served with Commissioner Fickes and was gracious enough to stay on staff during the transition. Ariana serves as the Assistant Precinct Administrator, but really is the glue that holds the office together. She expertly guided the office as all of us who were new to county government got acclimated. There is not a task she cannot handle and it is always done with excellence. We are so blessed to have her in the office!

Ron Ford, our Director of Strategic Initiatives, is the face of the office to the community. He joined us early this year after years and years of experience in the non-profit world. He has been a perfect fit to be our office’s eyes and ears in the community. His humor and incredibly hard work ethic have been a real asset to the office. He did amazing work with both the Transportation Summit and Empowering Seniors. We’re so glad Ron is on the team!

Finally, Mike Garcia came on board as the Precinct Administrator. I had the privilege of working with Mike in numerous capacities down in the legislature in Austin. I was thrilled he was willing to move his ever-growing family to Fort Worth for the position. It is no surprise he has excelled even my high expectations for him in this new role. You can be assured that the Precinct 3 office is being run with integrity and being a good steward of taxpayer resources with Mike at the helm. I know he will continue to do a fantastic job in this role for years to come!

All in all, it has been a tremendous year representing you on the Tarrant County Commissioner’s Court. I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year as we close out 2025 and look to the bright future ahead of us. Thank you for helping make Tarrant County Precinct 3 the best place to live in the best state in the best country on this earth!

If you are appreciative of all these efforts and would like to support my efforts on the Commissioners Court, I would be honored to have you donate to the campaign at the link below.

Sincerely,

Commissioner Matt Krause
Tarrant County Precinct 3