Denton CAD’s chief appraiser to address ‘bad publicity’ at Thursday meeting

At Thursday’s Board of Directors meeting, Hope McClure, chief appraiser at the Denton Central Appraisal District, will lead a discussion titled “What You Need to Know About Denton CAD” to address recent news reports about a toxic workplace culture and her leadership struggles.

The presentation will take place at 3 p.m. McClure intends to explain her position and provide insight into where she’s leading the district, she wrote in a Friday email to the Denton Record-Chronicle and other North Texas media outlets.

“Denton CAD has received a lot of bad publicity lately, and we want the opportunity to calm your concerns,” McClure wrote in her June 17 email.

The bad publicity McClure mentioned relates, in part, to an early June article from The Dallas Morning News’ Watchdog columnist, Dave Lieber, about a recent study by Richard Petree from Western Valuation and Consultation to the appraisal district’s board. In the report, Petree, an expert on county appraisal districts, pointed out that McClure had an “adversarial relationship” with the media and claimed DCAD was suffering from a “toxic work environment.” He offered several suggestions on how to rebuild trust but reminded, “It will not be a quick fix because it did not develop into a distrusting environment overnight.”

Petree will be presenting his full study with more than a dozen recommendations at Thursday’s Board of Directors meeting, said Emer Sanabria, DCAD spokesperson.

“I believe the district is on the road to success, but it will not be an easy road for the next two years,” Petree wrote in his report to board members about the study.

Petree’s study was first leaked to Lieber. The study, as Lieber reported in early June, offers insight into “one of Texas’ most troubled appraisal districts” and why, since McClure took over, the district has made mistakes and “performed poorly in a ‘value audit’ of school districts it serves.’”

In his June 5 report, Lieber questioned why the release of Petree’s study was removed from a recent agenda for the monthly board meeting.

“Could it be because the report is hypercritical of Denton County Chief Appraiser Hope McClure’s leadership?” he asked.

Lieber claimed that the appraisal district leaders had said they wanted “to review and correct any inaccuracies or misconceptions before the report is shared with staff and public.” McClure said there was an agreement between Petree and the appraisal district that would give her an opportunity to address his report before it was released.

Sanabria, who recently started as the spokesperson for the appraisal district, reaffirmed what McClure had told the Watchdog in his June 5 report: that DCAD had an agreement with Petree that they would be given the opportunity to review it before he released it to the Board of Directors.

Reached Monday evening, Petree said in a phone interview that one of the board members had requested the full report, and that he wasn’t sure how it got leaked from there.

He confirmed, as McClure had said, that he had an agreement with the board to allow them to review the report before it was released to the public. Petree said the district is doing well under McClure’s leadership; it’s just the toxic environment with employees and the community that needs to be addressed, he said.

“You can say it is about the leadership and maybe not all about the leadership,” he said. “There is a lot of criticism, and I gave some ideas in the report on how to calm all that down some.”

He called himself “a person who spent all my career [helping] people fix issues that were wrong or face difficulties.”

Lieber mentioned some of what Petree had found during his study of the DCAD office in the June 5 Watchdog report. He discussed the toxic environment, numerous retirements and dismissals that “have stoked the fire of discontent,” according to Petree’s study.

Petree claimed that the internal strife began two years ago when McClure was promoted from office manager to chief appraiser and continues today as people still “struggle with Hope’s leadership,” he wrote. “It will take significant focus and a positive and open attitude to turn around the environment.”

In Petree’s study, he offered 16 recommendations for McClure and the DCAD office to implement to address the toxic environment and move forward in an efficient manner.

Some of those recommendations include: add additional appraisal review board members to handle the growing number of protests, consider a public spokesperson to improve relationships with the media and implement several steps from The Speed of Trust by Stephen M.R. Covey for district leadership to reestablish trust:

• Talk straight and direct, in person.
• Demonstrate respect for everyone on the team.
• Create transparency.
• Right wrongs — apologize.
• Show loyalty — don’t talk about others behind their back.
• Deliver results — be a servant leader.
• Get better in your job.
• Confront reality.
• Clarify expectations in writing.
• Practice accountability — when someone is not producing, hold them accountable.
• Listen first — seek first to understand others, then to be understood.
• Keep commitments — make a promise, keep a promise.
• Extend trust to others.

The Record-Chronicle contacted McClure, but DCAD’s spokesperson, Sanabria, said she wasn’t available for an interview.

“Right now, her focus is on the protest and addressing it as promptly as she can,” he said. “No one should have to wait.”

Sanabria pointed out that along with hiring him, McClure had recently established a quality control and data integrity team. Their focus, he said, is “serving taxing jurisdictions and cleaning up the toxic culture.”

“To get the Denton CAD running smoothly, it doesn’t happen overnight,” Sanabria said. “It takes time and vision. [McClure] is implementing the team to make those initiatives and make those corrections and engage in the return.”

Sanabria said McClure will present more information about her plans at Thursday’s meeting.