In the news
Ambika, impacting local community
Before running for Tarrant Appraisal District, Ambika was already showing up. She has spent the past several months at podiums across Tarrant County (Tarrant County Commissioners Court - Fort Worth City Council - Fort Worth Zoning Commission - Tarrant County College - Tarrant Regional Water District), pushing local government to be more transparent, more accountable, and more fair. Here’s what she’s been saying, in her own words.
On Government Accountability
“We elected you, and we pay for you... We are your employers. You are our employee.”
Ambika told the Tarrant County Commissioners Court this directly, pushing back against a decision to keep the county’s governing body meeting just once a month, the only one of Texas’s five largest counties to do so.
Fort Worth Report / KERA News, July 15, 2026
On Responsible Data Center Development
“Where I take offense is we are treating all data centers equally.”
When Fort Worth’s Zoning Commission considered rules for the region’s growing data center industry, Ambika pushed for real, substantive regulation, including a full 1-mile buffer between data centers and homes or hospitals, not an arbitrary number of feet.
Ambika has also urged the City to pause new data center approvals until stronger protections are in place, arguing Fort Worth needs to be more thoughtful about which projects it welcomes.
When the City Council moved to begin the moratorium process, Ambika pushed for urgency, not delay: “I urge that a special meeting be called immediately and that we don’t wait until August 11 to vote on starting the process for the data center moratorium officially. We are wasting valuable time.”
Fort Worth Report / KERA News, July 8, 2026 · The Cool Down, July 14, 2026 · Fort Worth Report, July 9, 2026 · Fort Worth Star-Telegram, July 13, 2026
On Fiscal Responsibility, Even When It’s Not Convenient
“The only lever left, unfortunately, that you have is the property tax rate.”
When Tarrant County College considered a tax rate increase, Ambika pushed trustees to protect the residents who’d be hit hardest (lower-income families and seniors) through stronger exemptions.
And when critics alleged TCC had mismanaged its funds, Ambika didn’t just repeat the accusation, she looked into it herself, attended the budget workshop, and said plainly that she found no evidence of mismanagement. That’s the standard she’ll bring to TAD: follow the facts, not the narrative.
Fort Worth Report, August 18, 2026 · August 23, 2026
This is what accountability looks like in practice, and it’s exactly what Tarrant Appraisal District needs on its board.
Press coverage
Reporting on Ambika and the causes she champions. Newest first.
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Majority of Fort Worth council members call for data center moratorium →
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BIG STORY: Mayor Mattie Parker's Ties to the Data Center Industry →
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For the campaign’s source vault, see the Take Action page.