Tom Warren II -- Candidate for Amarillo ISD Board of Trustees

Name: Tom Warren II (Businessman and Nonprofit President)

Office Sought: Amarillo ISD Board of Trustees

What is your age? 51

What is your educational background? Please list any degrees or certificates earned and any institutions attended.

Tascosa High School, Amarillo College, WTAMU

What is your occupation?

Local Business Owner

Please list any civic boards or commissions (non-profit, government, union, political, etc.) on which you have served as a board member or equivalent.

Current
Amarillo Center City TIRZ Board of Directors
Potter County Appraisal District Board of Directors
Potter County Republican Party Executive Committee
Amarillo Historical Museum Board of Directors

Former
Republican Party of Texas State Platform Committee
Republican Party of Texas Business, Commerce, and Transportation Committee Chair
Maverick Boys and Girls Club Board of Directors
Brumley Foundation Board of Directors
City of Amarillo Pet Registration Subcommittee

Have you previously held or do you currently hold any elected office? If so, what office(s)?

Republican Precinct Chairman

If your campaign has any online campaign resources where voters can learn more about you, such as social media accounts or a website, please list them below.

votetomwarren.com

Why did you decide to run for this office in 2025?

I am running for the Amarillo ISD Board of Trustees to take my decades of business and non-profit leadership experience to work for the taxpayers. I know how to build a budget, stick to it, and leverage every dollar to make our organizations' resources go further. As your trustee, I will work diligently to run AISD more like a business, avoiding debt when possible, and ensuring that every dollar that comes through the district is used wisely.

If elected, what will be your top three priorities in office?

- Fiscal Responsibility
- Career Readiness
- Supporting AISD Educators

What is an issue you believe has gone overlooked in your race and how will you address it if elected?

Without a doubt, the issue of AISD's debt has been the issue most overlooked. AISD seems to have an addiction to debt. Our trustees have been unable to properly manage the district's budget without asking for a bond election every 5-10 years. We have to get better about managing our financial resources without always turning to the taxpayers with our hands out. I plan to work with the other trustees and our district's key stakeholders to plan for the future without constantly turning to debt to solve our problems.

What is your position on the issue of taxpayer-funded lobbying? Please explain.

I am strongly opposed to taxpayer-funded lobbying. While serving on the Republican Party of Texas Platform Committee in 2024, I voted to strengthen our party's plank opposing this practice. With taxpayer-funded lobbying, taxpayers' own dollars are often weaponized against them by local governments who lobby to oppose real property tax reform. I know how important property tax reform is to hardworking Texans, and we should not be using a single penny of our tax dollars to lobby against the taxpayers -- especially when every dollar we get should be going toward paying down our debt, raising salaries for educators, and addressing key infrastructure issues.

Why are you the best candidate for voters to support for this position?

Amarillo ISD is an incredibly important pillar of our community. My mother was an AISD educator for nearly 40 years at Bivins Elementary and Hamlet Elementary. My wife was an AISD educator at San Jacinto Elementary. I know how hard our educators work and the sacrifices they make because I have seen them first hand. I pledge to always support our educators and ensure that they are rewarded for the work they put into lifting our students up.

I am a small business owner with customers in more than 20 countries and in all 50 states. I've been involved continuously in the auto restoration and parts manufacturing business since 1993. For my work, I've been recognized by my colleagues as an industry leader, having been elected to the boards of the American Truck Historical Society and the Historical Vintage Truck Association. From my business experience, I know what it means to make a budget and stick to it. I pledge to run AISD more like a business and ensure that every tax dollar that comes through the district is used wisely.

I'm incredibly proud of my record of community involvement through various nonprofit organizations. Having served on the boards of organizations like the Brumley Foundation, the Maverick Boys and Girls Club, and the Amarillo Historical Museum, I know what it means to work with key stakeholders and build a vision for the future. I believe strongly that Amarillo ISD must have a bold vision for the future with a focus on providing a world class education to our students without mortgaging the futures of those same students on an unsustainable addiction to debt. I will work with our community's stakeholders to ensure that AISD is prepared to face whatever challenges come our way.

My focus is on serving AISD families and ensuring that we deal with our debt problems. I hope you will join me on this campaign and that I will earn your vote on May 3rd.