Commissioner Precinct 4

Richmond-residents-protest-Fort-Bend-County-plans-to-take-private-land-for-parking-lot-400.jpg

Image

KHOU

Author: Lauren Talarico

RICHMOND, Texas — Richmond residents are not the only ones infuriated with Fort Bend County's plan to take private land using eminent domain. The idea is not sitting well with Richmond city officials either.

Richmond Commissioner Alex BeMent said he too doesn’t want to see the historic homes on the S. 5th Street block and old oaks knocked down for a possible parking lot.

Click here to view the full story.

KHOU 11

Author: Lauren Talarico

RICHMOND, Texas — Some property owners in Richmond, Texas are preparing to fight after they say Fort Bend County has threatened to take their land for public use. The land is in Historic Downtown Richmond.

It’s called eminent domain - the right of the government to take private property for public use with fair payment. However, the owners of one of the properties under consideration say there’s nothing fair about it and aren’t interested in selling.   

Click here to view the full story.

Fort Bend Herald

Fort Bend County Commissioner, Precinct 4 Dexter L. McCoy is collaborating local non-profit Solar United Neighbors (SUN), to announce the launch of the newly created Richmond Solar Co-op serving central Fort Bend County. The group is forming to help residents in central Fort Bend County learn about solar and leverage the power of group buying.

“I am committed to combating the climate crisis and believe that the Richmond Solar Co-op will help expand clean energy in Fort Bend County. The electricity rates in Texas are among the highest in the US, and solar panels can reduce monthly costs,” said Fort Bend County Commissioner, Precinct 4 Dexter L. McCoy. “I am willing to do my part to help make energy more sustainable for our families and businesses while lowering carbon emissions and ensuring reliability and affordability.”

Click here to read the full story.

Fort-Bend-County-to-invest-in-new-African-American-memorial-park-to-honor-one-of-first-freedmen’s-towns-in-Texas-400.jpg

Image

Fort Bend Star

By Ken Fountain

After recent approval by Fort Bend commissioners, work will soon begin on the $4 million development of an expanded Bates M. Allen Park which will include a memorial to honor the contributions of African-Americans to the county in Kendleton, a historically Black community.

Kendleton was founded shortly after the end of the Civil War by formerly enslaved people and quickly became one of the most prominent African-American communities in Southeast Texas, according to Fort Bend Precinct 4 Commissioner Dexter McCoy.

Click here to read the full story.

Community Impact

By Asia Armour

Fort Bend County Commissioner amended its schedule between April 2023 to September 2023 and will now meet two times a month instead of three. The change to assembly every second and fourth Tuesday of each month will occur after the court’s March 28 meeting.

County Judge KP George said this change was more cost-effective to taxpayers.

Click here to read the full story.

The Katy News

On February 27, 1886, Fort Bend County’s trailblazing Benjamin Franklin Williams – a former slave-turned State Representative, the very first Black legislator in Texas history, one of 10 Black constitutional delegates during Reconstruction, and one of the forefathers of Kendleton – passed away. On this same day 136 years later, Fort Bend County’s Commissioner Dexter L. McCoy took to the stage, steps away from Williams’s resting place, and announced a landmark $4 million investment into the very same community Williams helped establish.

Kendleton, one of the very first freedmen’s communities established after Emancipation, is home to a breadth of important, yet underrecognized Texas history. Williams aside, the town’s descendants also include Barbara Jordan, the legendary Houston Congresswoman whose father preached to the community, as well as Walter Moses Burton, the first African-American Sheriff in Fort Bend County history. “This memorial will commemorate the Black experience, not only in Fort Bend County, but in Texas, and really be reflective of the stories from Kendleton all the way to Congress and beyond.”

Commissioner McCoy was joined by a bipartisan medley of local officials, reflecting the apolitical, unifying nature of this solemn project. He was joined on-stage by Former Congressman Pete Olson, Architect Gregory Hines, and Kendleton Mayor Darryl K. Humphrey, Sr. Other elected officials in attendance included Sheriff Eric Fagan, Treasurer Bill Rickert, District Attorney Brian Middleton, County Attorney Bridgette Smith-Lawson, and Constable Mike Beard, among others. Also present were representatives of Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher, County Judge K.P. George, and Commissioners Andy Meyers and Grady Prestage.

Click here to read the full story.

Fort-Bend-announces-$4M-freedmen’s-cemetery-investment-with-African-American-memorial-400.jpg

Image

Houston Chronicle

Claire Goodman | Staff writer

Fort Bend County’s first African American memorial will be erected in Kendleton’s historic Black cemetery after officials announced a $4 million initial investment to revitalize the park that is home to the burial grounds.

Dexter McCoy, newly elected commissioner for Fort Bend County Precinct 4, on Monday detailed the plans to clean up the cemetery in Bates Allen Park. The cemetery is the final resting place for many formerly enslaved people, including Benjamin Franklin Williams, the first Black member of the Texas House of Representatives.

Click here to read the full story.

Fort-Bend-County-to-invest-in-new-African-American-memorial-park-to-honor-one-of-first-freedmen’s-towns-in-Texas-400.jpg

Image

Houston Pubic Media | Ashley Brown

Fort Bend County announced on Monday a $4 million investment for the creation of a new African-American Memorial at a park in Kendleton, southwest of Rosenberg. The community was one the first freedmen's towns in Texas – founded by freed slaves in the 1860s.
Part of Bates Allen Park will be redeveloped, including the preservation of two historic black cemeteries and a memorial to honor Fort Bend County's sometimes-forgotten African-American History.

Fort Bend County is one of three counties in Texas with official accounts of lynching and African-American history that range from accounts of lynching, slavery, convict-leasing and the establishment of Freedmen's Town and the first-ever Black elected officials.

Click here to read the full story.

Resurrecting-a-most-sacred-place-325.png

Image

Fort Bend Herald

When former Congressman Pete Olson showed Dexter McCoy the deplorable state of the historic grave sites and cemetery at Bates Allen Park last Juneteenth, the young man vowed if he were elected to county government he would find the funding to restore the sites and keep them maintained for future generations.

McCoy was elected Precinct 4 county commissioner five months later and 60 days after taking office had secured $4 million in grant money for the redevelopment and preservation of the grave sites and historic Oak Hill cemetery.
The funding will also be used to amplify the area with an educational center, reflection pool, pathways and more. Once completed, the site will be called the “African American Memorial Park.”

Click here to read the full story.

Dexter-McCoy---Headshot1-1.png

Image

Dexter L. McCoy

Commissioner Dexter L. McCoy is a proud product of Fort Bend County, serving Precinct 4 residents on Commissioners Court since January 2023. The son of a teenage mother and a biological father who was incarcerated for much of his childhood, Commissioner McCoy was raised by his parents in Mission Bend. From an early age he learned the value of hard work and was motivated by service.

Commissioner McCoy began his public service career as an appointee in the Obama Administration, where he focused on college access issues and implementing the administration's agenda addressing harassment in our nation's schools.

Following his time in Washington, D.C., Commissioner McCoy returned home committed to bringing his experiences back to better serve the people of Fort Bend County. Commissioner McCoy was a district leader in Fort Bend ISD, where he delivered students and families the tools they needed to build stronger, more connected communities. He also served as a board member on the Gulf Coast Workforce Development Board, overseeing a budget of nearly $400 million in regional workforce development funds to uplift and empower the regional workforce.

When he started his work in local government, Commissioner McCoy successfully fought for a non-profit grant program and created an $11 million public-private partnership to expand internet access and address other key priorities.

A product of Fort Bend County public schools, Commissioner McCoy earned his Bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism and Political Science from Boston University, where he served as Student Body President, expanded student services and successfully assisted the University in its first comprehensive $1 billion capital campaign to increase financial aid and academic resources.

Commissioner McCoy and his wife Chelsea live in Richmond with their daughters Piper and Porter, along with Fitz the Goldendoodle.

[ Click here for Commissioner McCoy's downloadable bio  for speaking engagements and programs.]

Contact us if you need assistance or have any questions.