In an effort to give voters more insight into their property valuation process — and by default, how their property taxes are configured — voters will have the chance to elect three members to the Bexar County Appraisal Board (BCAD) in the upcoming May 4 election.
The at-large elected positions are new this year, created by the state during the last legislative session. They’ll join a board of five other members who are selected by the county’s various taxing entities.
Among the nine candidates running for the new seats are a retired CIA officer, the founder of an advocacy group for small landlords, former Texas Speaker Joe Straus’ longtime district director, the founder of the Boerne Stage Airfield and several real estate professionals.
“In the last week and a half we’ve gotten an influx of calls looking for background information on the candidates for appraisal board,” said Jimmy Saiz, executive assistant to Bexar County’s chief appraiser.
His office is not alone. For what’s expected to be an incredibly low-turnout election, some candidates for the appraisal board have been invited to dozens of forums, hosted by everyone from the Northeast Neighborhood Alliance to the Bexar County Young Democrats.
That’s despite the fact that the roles are so new, even the candidates aren’t entirely clear what power they’ll have if elected.
“We’re not sure yet how or what we’re really going to be able to do,” Mel Bayne, a retired U.S. Air Force pilot running for Place 3, told the San Antonio Report. “We still have to work with the unelected board members.”
BCAD’s new role
Historically, the appraisal board’s role has been administrative: Hiring the chief appraiser and approving the department’s budget. But as part of a major property tax overhaul that voters approved in the November constitutional amendments, the board picked up a new responsibility: Selecting who serves on the 50-member Appraisal Review Board, which hears challenges to people’s property valuations.
The appraisal district assigns property valuations based on sales prices of similar properties in the area. Protesting the valuation — as roughly 179,000 Bexar County property owners did last year — allows people the opportunity to show why they believe their valuation should be lower, and get that number adjusted.
In the past, Appraisal Review Board members applied for the position and were selected by the local administrative law judge. Review boards have been a source of much criticism across the state, as property owners complain their members sleep through their hearings or pepper them with aggressive questions.
Asked how many audience members had experienced the appraisal review board process, dozens of hands shot up Monday evening at a Northeast Neighborhood Alliance forum with prospective candidates.
“My platform is very, very simple: I’m going to initiate report cards every time you go before [the review board],” G.L. “Larry” Lamborn, the retired CIA officer who is also running for Place 3, told that gathering. “They are going to have to answer to you, [and] to be polite.”
Bexar County Appraisal District Communications Director Jennifer Rodriguez said her office hadn’t yet determined how the board will go about overseeing the Appraisal Review Board members. Last year, 16 candidates applied for seven openings.
“It was a quick turnaround,” Rodriguez said of the changes created by Senate Bill 2. “We’re doing a lot of learning on our feet.”
Before retiring last year, outgoing Bexar County Chief Appraiser Michael Amezquita complained that the state-issued changes would insert politics into an apolitical process. In Tarrant County, Republican County Judge Tim O’Hare has taken heat for his involvement in their appraisal board races.
BCAD’s current board of directors is made up of Chair Dave Gannon, Vice Chair Jon Fisher, Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia (D4), who serves as secretary, Reverend Ralph E. Barksdale, Rebecca Ruiz and Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector Albert Uresti, who serves as an ex officio director.
The May 4 election, which will be held on a Saturday, should not be confused with the runoff election from the Republican and Democratic primaries, which will be on May 28.
In order to have the positions filled in time for this year’s appraisals, the move triggered an unusual county-wide municipal election, Bexar County Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen said. For many voters whose municipal elections are typically in odd-numbered years, these races will be the only ones on their ballots.
Early voting for the May 4 municipal election begins Monday, April 22 and ends Tuesday April 30.
After this first year, the elected positions will be chosen in regular November elections. They’ll serve staggered four-year terms, and the newly elected members will draw lots to determine which one of them is up for reelection in 2026, and which two are up in 2028.
Here’s a look at who is running.
Place No. 1
Naomi Elizabeth Miller is the executive director of the American Council of Engineering Companies. She served as Straus’ district director for roughly a decade, and worked as director of governmental relations for Northside ISD.
Miller considers herself a “fiscal conservative” and a voice for renters in the appraisal process. Former Bexar County Judge Cyndi Taylor Krier serves as her campaign treasurer. She lives in the Oak Park – Northwood Neighborhood.
Website: https://www.miller4bcad.com/
Anna Campos is a business consultant who serves on Commissioner Tommy Calvert’s (Pct. 4) Bexar County Citizens Advisory Board. She ran unsuccessfully for Texas House District 119 as a Republican in 2012.
Website: https://camposanna.com/about-anna
Place No. 2
Erika Hizel started her career as a first-time home buyer counselor. She now owns her own real estate company, Kimeaux Investments, and runs an advocacy group for small landlords, the San Antonio Property Owners Alliance, that helps them navigate the valuation appeals process.
Hizel, who lives in the Woodlands of Camino Real Neighborhood, told the Northeast Neighborhood Alliance, “I have been a homeowner advocate my whole life.”
Website: http://www.erikahizel.com
Stephen Spears is a realtor at Stonepoint Properties, Inc. who lives in the El Sendero Neighborhood in Northwest San Antonio.
He grew up on San Antonio’s East Side and told the Northeast Neighborhood Alliance his primary concern was making sure every property owner is treated fairly when they go before the appraisal review board, even if they’re still learning about the appraisal protest process.
Yen Yan is a commercial real estate broker and investor, who said she believes her industry experience sets her apart from the field. She has a master’s degree in Land Development from Texas A&M University and is the president of the San Antonio chapter of the Asian Real Estate Association of America.
Yan serves on San Antonio’s Small Business Advisory Commission, and was endorsed by the conservative group True Texas Project. She lives in the Northwood Neighborhood.
Website: https://vote4yenyan.com/
Place 3
G.L. “Larry” Lamborn is a retired CIA and Army Reserve officer who serves as president of the North Central Thousand Oaks Neighborhood Association on San Antonio’s North Side. He represented District 9 on San Antonio’s redistricting commission.
Lamborn says he’s running because many homeowners in his neighborhood have complained about the appraisal review process, and he hopes to improve those interactions.
Bradley Frerich is a landscape architect who previously served as vice president of the San Antonio Irrigation Association. He’s currently a director for the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, he told the League of Women Voters.
Frerich lives in Steubing Ranch on San Antonio’s Northeast Side.
Robert Bruce is the founder, designer and builder of the Boerne Stage Airfield. His campaign literature says he’s been lobbying for years to make the chief appraiser an elected role, and wants the board to set goals of reducing the number of protests and lawsuits filed over property valuations.
Bruce has been closely involved with a number of conservative organizations, including the Conservative Partnership Institute, the Club for Growth, the Heritage Foundation and the Texas Public Policy Foundation, according to a campaign flyer.
Website: roberthbruce.com
Mel Bayne is a retired U.S. Air Force pilot and physician who ran military hospitals. He told the Northeast Neighborhood Alliance he has a “wealth of experience dealing with numbers and people and what makes things work.”
Bayne has the support of the conservative group True Texas Project. He told the League of Women Voters he wants to see “more intense vetting of candidates for the position of chief appraiser.” He lives in the Inwood Neighborhood in far north-central San Antonio.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the last name of the Bexar County Appraisal District’s communications director.
