Travis County names tax building after Nelda Wells Spears

Travis County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to name the county tax office at 5501 Airport Blvd. after the late Nelda Wells Spears, who led the office for 20 years and was the first African-American in Texas to hold such a position. Two dozen people showed up to show their support for honoring Spears, who died in March at age 71. Those included a crowd of red-clad women from Delta Sigma Theta, a national public service sorority that Spears was an active member of, and Pastor Gaylon Clark of the Greater Mount Zion Baptist Church, which Spears was also an active member of and which her grandmother helped to found in 1930. Former Tax Assessor-Collector Cecilia Burke said of Spears: “She and I both loved the tax office and believed that taking care of your employees and taking care of your constituents was the cornerstone of a good office.”