Tommy Ray Calvert, Jr.
Tommy Ray Calvert, Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Add a Photo | |
| Born | September 23, 1980 |
| Nationality | African-American |
| Citizenship | United States of America |
Tommy Ray Calvert, Jr. (September 24, 1980 - ) is the first African-American dean of the Bexar County Commissioner's Court; Calvert was first elected to Texas' Bexar County Commissioner's Court in 2014, and has since served the more than 500,000 residents of Precinct 4.[1] At the time of that election, he was the county's youngest and first African-American commissioner.[1] Bexar County encompasses a metropolitan area of San Antonio, Texas--the seventh largest U.S. city per capital;[2] the county is the sixteenth largest in the U.S.[3]
Calvert is a graduate of Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts where he studied International Relations[4]. After graduating from Tufts, Calvert served as chief of external operations of of the Boston-based American Anti-Slavery Group.[5] Calvert traveled to the war zone in South Sudan to free thousands of slaves.[6] During his tenure with the American Anti-Slavery Group, abolitionist leader Dr. Charles Jacobs and former slave Francis Bok, helped pass the Sudan Peace Act with President George Bush.[7]
Calvert chaired the Randolph Joint Land Use Study committee in July 2015,[8] the effort resulted in the purchase of acreage around the runways a around Randolph Air Force Base to prevent future encroachment and saved Randolph Air Force Base from placement on the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) list and the closure of Randolph Air Force Base.[9]
Calvert, in his role approving the budget and tax rate of the University Health System, also known as the Bexar County Hospital District, helped approve a new $500 million dollar hospital in Selma, Texas,[10] another $500 million dollar hospital at Texas A&M,[10] and the University Health System joint ventured in partnership with P.A.M. Speciality Hospitals to build a new hospital in his precinct on Randolph Blvd.[11]
In addition to serving as County Commissioner, Tommy Ray Calvert, Jr. founded and currently serves as General Manager of KROV-FM, a community radio station that plays R&B music whose call letters were an acronym for "Restore Our Voice."[12]
Calvert received two National Achievement Awards from The National Association of Counties (NACO) in 2022.[13] One recognized his creation of a neighborhood trash program for the high crime Camelot neighborhood through legislation addressing solid waste resulting in a 74% decreases in illegal dumping, 53% reduction in crime, and a 75% decrease in animal protection calls.[14] The second recognition Calvert received from the National Association of Counties celebrated food security measures Calvert put into place during the COVID-19 pandemic; Calvert's leadership led to $2 million in federal funding and 25,000 pounds of super greens and fruits for consumption by his constituency through the creation of the ten acre Greenies Urban Farm where an eyesore called "The Goonies" once was. The farm, known as "The Greenies," is a community collaboration between the Bexar County Agricultural Extension Service and the community to provide with fresh produce grown in partnership with the San Antonio Master Gardeners. The site will also have a an event center accommodating three hundred people providing revenue for other Bexar County initiatives.[15]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Huddleston, Scott (2014-11-05). "Bexar County gets its first black commissioner". mySA. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
- ↑ "The 200 Largest Cities in the United States by Population 2023". worldpopulationreview.com. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
- ↑ "Largest Counties in the US 2023". worldpopulationreview.com. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
- ↑ Hosley, Richard (April 1964). "Shakespearian Stage Curtains: Then and Now". College English. 25 (7): 488. doi:10.2307/373233. ISSN 0010-0994.
- ↑ "Calvert was an abolitionist in college, now he's returning to a bigger stage". mySA. 2013-11-25. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
- ↑ "Calvert was an abolitionist in college, now he's returning to a bigger stage". mySA. 2013-11-25. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
- ↑ "Sudan Peace Act". U.S. Department of State Archive. October 21, 2002. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
- ↑ "2019 40 Under 40: Tommy Calvert Jr". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
- ↑ "Bexar County buys 75 acres near Randolph Air Force Base". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Jul 12, 2022 Commissioners Court - Bexar County, TX, Item 3b". bexarcountytx.new.swagit.com. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
- ↑ Garcia, Laura (2022-03-01). "University Health buys stake in three rehab hospitals". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
- ↑ "KROV-FM San Antonio Hip Hop and R&B Community Radio Station". KROV-FM. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
- ↑ "Achievement Awards Program Search". NACo. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
- ↑ "PHR Calls on Full Senate to Pass Burma Human Rights and Freedom Act". Human Rights Documents Online, Item 51. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
- ↑ "Oct 26, 2021 Commissioners Court - Bexar County, TX, Item 46". bexarcountytx.new.swagit.com. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
External links
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