City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening and welcome to the City Council meeting. Before Mayor Parker calls a meeting to order, we ask that you please be seated and silence all electronic devices. City council meetings are conducted for the official business of the city council and to receive input from residents. Members of the public attending meetings shall observe rules of decorum and shall not engage in conduct that interferes with the ability of those present to observe or to participate in the meeting without disruption or fear of intimidation, threats or hostility. An individual engaging in disruptive conduct may be removed from the chamber and could be arrested for disruption of a meeting. Speakers who engage in disruptive conduct could have their mic muted and may be removed from the chamber and arrested for disruption of the meeting. Disruptive conduct includes yelling, screaming, clapping, or other noise making acts. For those of you who are requested to speak, when your name is called, please come forward to the center podium. The countdown clock is displayed on the left monitor and will indicate how much time is remaining. A bell will sound when you have 30 seconds remaining. Before you begin your comments, please state your name and city of residence. Thank you.

Thank you, Jeanette, and good evening, and welcome to your Fort Worth City Council meeting. I will call us to order. Before I turn it back over to Jeanette, I just thought I'd look out in the audience. I see so many students and kiddos here tonight. If you're one of those, will you please stand and wave at all of us, please? I think some of you might be here against your will, but that's okay. We'll attempt to keep things moving, and we really do love having students in the audience, so thank you very much for coming with your parents and caregivers. With that, Jeanette, we can keep rolling.

Tonight's invocation will be provided by Councilmember Chris Nettles. Please rise for the invocation and remain standing for the Pledges of Allegiance.

Let us pray. Gracious and eternal God, we come before you today with grateful hearts. Thank you for the great city of Fort Worth and every person who calls this place home. Lord, we ask for your blessing upon our entire city. From every neighborhood, community, from the north to the south, east to the west, may Fort Worth continue to be a place where families can thrive, business can prosper, children can dream, and every resident can feel valued, respected, and heard. We pray for the health and wellness of our city. Strengthen those who are sick, comfort those who are hurting, encourage those who are facing mental and emotional struggles, and give hope to families experiencing difficult seasons. Bless our healthcare professionals, caregivers, and all that work to improve the quality of lives for others. God, we pray for our public safety throughout Fort Worth, our Fort Worth Police Department, our firefighters. Protect our communities and our neighborhoods, schools and businesses, roads and public spaces. Lord, please bless every city of Fort Worth employees, from those working inside our neighborhoods, streets, those serving behind desks, and those answering emergency calls. Remind them that their work makes a different place for all of our residents. We pray for our communities. Where there is division, bring unity. Where there is violence, bring peace. Where there is hopelessness, bring hope. Where there is poverty, create opportunity. Father God, bless the mayor and city council as we conduct the people's business. Give us wisdom beyond our own understanding. Help us listen before we speak. Seek understanding before judgment, and always remember the people who were entrusted to serve. Bless our city today. Protect our people. Strengthen our communities. Watch over our police officers, firefighters, first responders, and city employees, families, seniors, children, and all who call Fort Worth home. May we pray that we continue to be one Fort Worth, one community, and one city. Bless us all. In the matchless name of Jesus the Christ, we pray. Amen. to the flag of the United States of America, to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Honor the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to thee, one state, under God, one and indivisible.

Council, our first items will be special presentations, with the first presentation being a presentation of a recognition for Hispanic Heritage Month.

Mayor Pro Tem Flores and Council Member Jeanette Martinez will be presenting this important recognition.

I see the mic is being put into my face. Thank you, Jeanette. Mayor and Council, it's my pleasure to stand here for you with my colleague on Council, Jeanette Martinez, to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. It's more than just a noteworthy month. It does represent traditions, people, cultures that continue to enrich our great nation. And I think that we would be remiss if we don't take some time and acknowledge just how special You know, this nation is just how great Fort Worth is to live and to raise a family. So on this occasion, Jeanette Martinez and I worked on a special recognition to acknowledge those contributions of Hispanic Heritage Month. And so I'll prevail on my council colleague, Jeanette. Would you mind saying some words and starting to read it?

Thank you, Carlos. And I just want to say thank you to our council colleagues and leadership for being a part of our Hispanic heritage kickoff today. In the lobby, we had a wonderful celebration with various groups from across the city. You know, this is Hispanic Heritage Month, and we not only celebrate, of course, our Mexican culture, but we know we are a melting pot of other Latino cultures from El Salvador, Honduras, and so forth. And so we are celebrating in unity. And so today I am very privileged to read this special recognition. Whereas Fort Worth is a diverse and thriving city where Hispanic and Latin American cultures are an essential part of the character, history, traditions, neighborhoods, businesses, and daily life for our community. And whereas Hispanic Heritage Month provides an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the generations of Hispanic and Latin American residents whose accomplishments, traditions, leadership, and service have helped shape Fort Worth into the vibrant community it is today. And whereas Fort Worth's local government, local leaders, community organizations, schools, businesses, cultural institutions, and nonprofit organizations play an important role in supporting and celebrating the rich heritage, accomplishments, and contributions of Hispanic and Latin American residents throughout our city. And whereas local leaders such as myself and Mayor Pro Tem Carlos Flores actively engage with Fort Worth's diverse communities, foster meaningful connections between residents and local government, and champion an inclusive city where every resident has the opportunity to participate, contribute, and thrive, and now therefore we, Mayor Pro Tem Carlos Flores and myself proudly proclaim September 15th through October 15th, 2026 as Hispanic Heritage Month and encourage all residents to join in honoring and celebrate the heritage achievements, contributions and cultural traditions of our Hispanic and Latin American communities presented on this 15th day of September 2026. And so now we'd like to invite all the groups who are here today. If we could take a group picture, please.

We've asked the Consul for a few words.

Thank you very much for this recognition. I can speak for the Mexican community that is in this city. siempre que platicamos con ellos los invitamos a hacer una parte positiva una parte activa una parte que le dé más brillo a forward del que el que tiene entonces que la comunidad mexicana sea motivo de orgullo para todos los que viven en forward muchísimas gracias

Estela, can you help speak to the various groups? I know we had Federacion Zacatecana, Nuestras Raices, La Gran Plaza.

Yes, today we have an array of different organizations and businesses that came today to showcase how Forward is full of Hispanic businesses contributing every day with culture, with their business, to the economy of this great city. So we have from Nuestras Raices, Alejandra, we have from the bank, Frost Bank, that support us. We have Claudia with the Federacion. We have Rosa Maria Verdeja with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, obviously our guest from the consulate. Mr. Espinosa, that it's businessmen supporting the north side. The Grand Plaza at Fort Worth that today are celebrating the pink line that we're extremely excited today. Miguel Calera and Anael Luevanos representing also a group of Zacatecanos. But as you saw in the lobby, all the kids that are there happy and, you know, to be American, but cherish their heritage. So thank you for having us today.

Mayor Parker, we want to give you the opportunity to say some words. I know that you were busy at a board meeting and couldn't attend our celebration out in the lobby.

I did get to see some kids dancing, which is really my favorite part anyway. And by the way, we were outside in 100 degree heat. Many of you were there this morning for the Lina Rosa opening for Trinity Metro. But no one was more beautiful in the heat than those ballet folklorico dancers. They were so impressive this morning. I had the honor this morning to welcome the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to our city here in Fort Worth. By the way, they know how to have fun. They'd been at Billy Bob's last night, of course. And we're already raving about how welcoming our community is and how proud they were to be here. And importantly, our own Hispanic Chamber leadership, back to Rosa Navajar, of course now to Erica Garza and so many others, made that possible for our city, working on that for over a decade. But one thing I learned in researching for my remarks this morning, I think this is incredibly important, that the US Latino businesses in the United States today represent $4 trillion of economic impact in America. And if you compare that to other economies, they would be the fourth largest economy in the entire world, right? And I think that is so important to remember. As we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month in September, that the bedrock of Fort Worth's success are small businesses, and that includes our Latino businesses. So for that, we're incredibly thankful. Welcome, and we're so glad we could give this recognition to you today, of course.

Let's take a photograph.

Thank you.

Council and members of our community, I'd like to be joined now by Council Member Peeples, anybody else that wants to appropriately recognize and honor the life of an incredible man, Mr. Vernell Stearns. Mr. Stearns is also, his family is all here today. Just stand for a moment as I start this recognition process, if you're able, please. Give them a round of applause. And Commissioner Roderick Miles, please be seated if you'd like to, and then we can join for a picture in a moment. Thank you, Commissioner, for being here as well. It's an honor for me personally, and I know those of us on council, to take an opportunity to recognize a man that was bigger than life for our city. So many amazing moments in his career that are here reflected in this important recognition. And while it's not always necessary to do that, I do think today he is more than worthy of every single whereas clause, so I'm going to do that if you don't mind. This is in the name of the authority of the mayor of Fort Worth for Vernel Stearns. Whereas Vernel Stearns was a pioneering public servant, civic leader, mentor, husband, father, uncle, grandfather, and great-grandfather, whose life was defined by leadership, perseverance, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to serving others. And whereas a proud graduate of Prairie View A&M University and a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Vernell began a distinguished career in public service during a period of profound social change, serving in municipal government and police community relations before earning a master's degree in public administration from the University of Kansas. Whereas Vernell Stearns dedicated years of exemplary service to the city of Fort Worth, rising to the position of assistant city manager, and in 1984, becoming acting city manager. His leadership represented a historic achievement at a time when African Americans remained significantly underrepresented in executive leadership of major American cities. And his accomplishments helped open doors for generations to follow. And whereas in 1991, Vernell was appointed Executive Director of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, placing him at the helm of one of the world's most significant aviation facilities during a transformative period of growth. His leadership at DFW Airport contributed to the continued development of North Texas as a global center for transportation, commerce, and economic opportunity. And whereas Vernel's commitment to Fort Worth and North Texas extended far beyond his professional career, through his service to higher education, healthcare, business, economic development, and numerous civic and nonprofit organizations, including the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, North Texas Commission, North Texas Community Foundation, and so many others, he invested his time, wisdom, and leadership in strengthening institutions and communities that he loved. He also helped co-found organizations including the Fort Worth Metro Black Chamber of Commerce, the North Texas chapter of the National Forum of Black Public Administrators, and Southeast Fort Worth Inc., creating opportunities and advancing economic development for diverse communities. And whereas Vernell Stern's greatest legacy is not found only in these institutions he helped lead or the barriers he helped remove, but in the people he mentored and the family he cherished. He encouraged generations of public servants and civic leaders to learn, persevere, and lead with character. While remaining a devoted family man, he made it a priority to show up for his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and all of his loved ones. His life left an enduring mark on Fort Worth and North Texas, and serves as an example of what can be accomplished through courage, service, and commitment. It is my honor as Mayor of Fort Worth to present this to the family. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention, if you look at this amazing picture of Vernell here, he was also quite dapper. And personally, when I became mayor, and even before that, when I was chief of staff, Vernell was one of those people that took the time to call you and thoughtfully walk through the problems you were facing. He did that many times over. Even when he was ailing and sick, he knew exactly what was going on in Fort Worth. And he would often say, we've seen this before, dot, dot, dot. And he would give you an example of how he'd seen the city of Fort Worth handle it, and then give you grace to try to lead through a different time. I am always going to be infinitely grateful for getting to know Vernel, for sure. It's ironic I got to know Robert well before I knew his amazing father, and I think he's proud of you, Robert, and your entire family. His legacy absolutely lives on. At this time, I'll turn the microphone over to my council colleagues and, of course, our commissioner, but truly to the Stearns family. We love you, and our thoughts and prayers are with you in this time. Thank you.

Thank you Mayor Parker and city council representatives. I have the privilege and honor of recognizing and honoring a man who did great things for this city and for this county and for this state. One of the things that I will remember most about Mr. Stearns is that he had a deep well of wisdom that he freely gave to every person who sought leadership and who sought to serve the public. He led and served with distinction, with honor, and impeccable character. And he was always available to share his wisdom and insight with those who would ask him. It is indeed an honor to be able to stand in this place and acknowledge that we have lost a great and mighty oak in our community and a source of wisdom. But we cherish in the fact that the wisdom that he shared, we get to draw from every day as we deal with the complex challenges and issues that face our county and our city. And at this time, I will read this memorial resolution honoring the life and legacy of Mr. Vernell D. Stearns. Whereas Mr. Vernell Stearns was a pioneering public servant born on November 11, 1939, into a family with deep roots in Rusk County in East Texas, and called home to eternal rest on the 23rd day of August, 2026. And whereas Mr. Stearns attended Prairie View A&M University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Arts, served his nation with distinction in the United States Air Force, and earned a Master of Public Administration from the University of Kansas Graduate School of Business. And whereas Mr. Stearns began his public service career in Wichita, Kansas during the 1960s, working in the municipal government and police community relations, establishing early in his career the commitment to bridging institutions with the communities they serve that would define his life's work. And whereas, upon returning to Texas, Mr. Stearns joined the city of Fort Worth where he made history as the first black assistant city manager and in 1984 was appointed acting city manager, serving from December of 84 through March of 1985, demonstrating that excellence in public administration knows no barrier. And whereas Mr. Stearns was subsequently named executive director of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in 1991, where his leadership restored institutional confidence during a critical period and laid the foundation for the world-class airport DFW is today. And whereas, Mr. Stern's civic and professional service extended broadly, including as a board member for Harris Methodist Health Plan and the Moncrief Radiation Center, as trustee emeritus of Texas Christian University, where he served as the first black member of the board of trustees, as a member of the Board of Trustees of Jarvis Christian University, and on the boards of visitors of Texas Wesleyan University and the University of North Texas. And whereas, Mr. Stearns co-founded three institutions that continue to strengthen North Texas today. The Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce, the North Texas chapter of the National Forum for Black Public Administrators, and Southeast Fort Worth Incorporated. And whereas Mr. Stearns leaves a legacy carried forward by his devoted family, including his beloved wife, Deborah Brown Stearns, his children, Michael Stearns, Paula Stearns, Robert Stearns, Chris, and a host of other relatives and many friends. And whereas the passing of Mr. Stearns marks the departure of a Fort Worth institution builder whose imprint remains visible in the airport terminals, boardrooms, and civic institutions that serve residents of Tarrant County every day. Now, Therefore, be it resolved that we, the Commissioner's Court of Tarrant County, do hereby honor and celebrate the enduring legacy of Mr. Vernell Stearns, a pioneering public servant and trusted mentor whose leadership helped build the Fort Worth and North Texas we know today, and whose example will continue to guide generations of public administrators yet to come. and witness whereof we have here unto, set our hands and cause the seal of Tarrant County to be affixed this first day of September, 2026. Thank you.

And if you knew Vernell Stearns, you knew he loved his family. And so we're going to, as City Council, we're gonna step back and invite members of his family to come up and make some remarks.

Thank you, Council Member Peebles, Mayor Parker, Commissioner Miles, the rest of the City Council. It's been a hot minute since I've been up at this mic. So it's good to be here. I want to thank you all for the resolutions that you provided, the service, the recognition tonight, the reception that was held earlier today for my father, and for the calls, the thank you, the condolences, and just the support over these past few weeks. It has been a tough time for our family. The mayor mentioned that my dad was not short of opinions. Some of you may miss his call. Some of you may not. Telling you how to do your jobs. But he was the kind of person that was not afraid to let you know what he was thinking and how we can move things forward. And that is something that he instilled in all of us. There is not a place that I can go in this city, and I'm sure my cousins and nieces and nephews can attest to this, that you will not get asked, are you related to those Sternses? And then usually it will drill down to, are you related to my father? Are you related to one of my uncles? I found that that commitment and that influence expands beyond the city. I have gone to places across this country and I get asked that question. Are you related to Vernell Stearns? He had just such a significant impact on the city and the places where he worked. And I think the mayor really hit it on the head when she talked about the fact that regardless of all of his accomplishments, my father poured into people. He poured into people here and in the community. There are so many people that have reached out, people he mentored, people that he supported, people that he gave guidance to, that I'm not amazed, I'm not surprised. It's just confirmation of the type of man that he was. And so I stand here, Representative the families to say thank you all for everything that you've given to us for the past few weeks We will continue to try to build on his legacy. They are very very large shoes to fill But we're gonna do our best and so thank you all for all the recognition that you've given us tonight

Madam Mayor and City Councilperson, thank you very much for this special recognition of my brother. Vern L. Stern was a special, special person. I was with him through all the most important periods of times in both his life and my life. Whenever I had any kind of situation that I needed counseling, I needed assistance, my brother was there. He was there to encourage me, to show me the way, and he was there just like a rock. But I want you all to know that he loved this city tremendously. He worked tirelessly to make Fort Worth a better place. He did it because Fort Worth had been good to him. It has been good to our family. and we will continue to do just as he tried to do throughout his life, to live lives that will reflect positively upon our city and positively upon our family. Thank you very much. Thank you, Maureen.

And that was Judge Louis Stearns.

We have nothing else this evening? Sure have a lot of Stearns in the house. Good evening. My name is Deborah Brown Stearns, and I would like to say to Fort Worth City Council, to Mayor Parker, to Ms. Deborah Peoples, and to Mr. Chris Nettles, and to Mr. Roderick Miles. who have all shown personal interest and personal feelings toward my husband, Vernel Stearns. But most of all, I would like to say to the whole city of Fort Worth and beyond, For all those people who have sent in all of their proclamations, cards, flowers, gifts, it has just been an overflow. Trust me, it has been an overflow. But we do appreciate all of it and we love all of it. And right now, what I wanna say to the city of Fort Worth and to the city council, Thank you all so much for recognizing Vernell. And thank you all so much for being there for him and embracing him. Because as you know, he was not short on his opinions. He was not short on being verbal about anything to anyone. Except me, of course. But what I really, really do want to say, we appreciate you as a family, all of us who are here this evening, and the ones that could not make it this evening. City of Fort Worth, the City Council, and all of you all. Thank you so much, and we do appreciate you.

And now if you all will join us, I don't know if you need to drive up here.

Okay.

I don't need to talk. He keeps trying to run over me. But if you all would join us up here, we would love to take a picture with the family and with the other council members. Come down.

Our next presentation will be a presentation of a recognition to Yolanda Battles on the 10th Annual Pink in the Park Breast Cancer Awareness Event by Councilmember Nettles.

All right, City of Fort Worth and Council Chambers, today we have a beautiful young lady with us today, and it's an honor to celebrate her today. And I will tell you that when you talk about cancer, sometimes it affects all of us, some indirectly or directly when it comes to breast cancer. the same thing my aunt passed about 20 years from breast cancer and so it's always been something special to my heart special to my life and so since i've been elected miss yolanda has been doing well she's been doing it way before i got elected but since i've been elected i participated in this beautiful occasion and so i think it's befitting today that we honor miss yolanda her group and she has some of her neighborhood friends here as well, and we'll ask them to come up in just a moment. But I want to read this special recognition, the City of Fort Worth special recognition presented to Ms. Yolanda Battle, 10th year of Pink in the Park Breast Cancer Awareness Parade and Event. Whereas in 2016, Fort Worth community advocate Yolanda Battle founded Pink. Parading in neighborhood kindness as a grassroot initiative in the Highland Hills community to promote breast cancer awareness, educate, prevention, and early detection, and access to valuable health resources. And whereas over the past 10 years, Pink has grown into a cherished Fort Worth tradition. bringing together breast cancer survivors, families, residents, elected officials, community leaders, healthcare organizations, youth groups, businesses, volunteers, and community partners in a united demonstration of hope, compassion, and support. And whereas the annual Breast Council Awareness Parade brings life-saving breast health information directly into the community, followed by the Pink in the Park Parade, a family, a free and friendly event offering education, resources, survivor recognitions, activities, music, fun, and opportunities for meaningful community engagement. And whereas the 10th annual Pink in the Park Breast Council Awareness Parade and Event theme, Educate, Celebrate, Commemorate, marks a decade of grassroots advocacy, educating the community about breast health and early detection, celebrating the strength and resilience of survivors, and commemorating those whose lives have been lost and to breast cancer. Whereas throughout the continued leadership of Ms. Yolanda Battle and the Fountain of Care Inc., Pink remains committed to strengthening Fort Worth communities through our education, awareness, advocacy, compassion, and connection to resources that can help save lives. And whereas we commend the decade of service to dedication, to the Pink, its founders, survivors, volunteers, sponsors, partners, and to the Holland Hills community in advancing breast cancer awareness and community well-being. Now, therefore, it be resolved that the City of Fort Worth recognize and celebrate the 10th annual of Pink Parading in Neighborhood, Kindness and Pink in the Park. Honors, Ms. Yolanda Battle. and the Fountain of Care, Inc., for 10 years of dedicated service, advocacy, commitment to breast cancer awareness in Fort Worth, presented on this 15th day of September 2026. And I know in just a minute, she'll tell about the event that's coming up in October. But I want to articulate, it's not just a Holland Hills thing. It's a city of Fort Worth thing. It's just housed in the wonderful community of Holland Hills. And so we want all of you to come out and be a part of it if you can. Ms. Yolanda.

Thank you. You're welcome.

Thank you so much, Chris. Thank you. I'm short, so that's okay. I am deeply... honored, and grateful to receive this recognition. Thank you, thank you, thank you. First, I want to give honor to God who has purposed me to do this work. He has given me the strength to remain steadfast, the strength to do this work and keep it going. To Jesus, I simply say, thank you. It's not easy. It may look easy, but it's not easy. Greetings to Mayor Mattie Parker and each member of Fort Worth City Council that's present here tonight. 10 years ago, Pink began with a vision. A vision to bring breast cancer awareness, education, prevention, and the importance of early detection directly into Highland Hills, our community. For 10 years, we have celebrated survivors, commemorated loved ones, connected families to resources, and most importantly, brought people together around the cause that touches so many lives. This proclamation represents every survivor, volunteer, every sponsor, partner, community leader, every neighbor, every family member, and supporter who has helped Pink continue year after year. To my District 8 Councilmember, Chris Nettles, thank you. Thank you for seeing me. Thank you for seeing the work that I have done in the community. Thank you for recognizing the impact being made in Highland Hills. You have made yourself present and I appreciate that. You participated in the parades. You've come to the to the park you've been there. So I appreciate that. You've recognized the 10 years of the milestone and the power and the impact that grassroots community service brings. I thank you. To Chelsea Anthony, our district aid manager, who represents us so well and answers when we need you. Thank you, Chelsea. Thank you. To my praying mother who's here, I appreciate your prayers, Mom. Thank you. To my awesome, smart, beautiful, spirit-filled young ladies, Ciara and Monet, thank you. If you want to see more of me, that's C and Mo, Ciara and Monet, Thank you. They've grounded me. They've encouraged me. It's because of them that I'm here. They've definitely made me and they've helped me make Pink 10, Pink 10. My Highland Hills family, y'all know what time it is. Y'all been there. When I first started, I was bold. What we do is we highlight Highland Hills. We pink out breast cancer. I've walked up and down Highland Hills, decorated the trees in Highland Hills, educate, put information in the community. So drive through Highland Hills. You'll become educated. You'll be amazed at what Highland Hills, how we transform our community to educate and raise awareness to prevent and teach you about early detection. Come through Highland Hills. To my neighborhood president, we all know Mr. Jerome Carlos Johnson. Thank you. He's also a husband of a breast cancer survivor. I thank you, Mr. Jerome Carlos Johnson.

To my neighbors, Mr. Eric Alexander.

He's the sharpest gentleman in here. You know him. You can tell who he is. Thank you, Mr. Eric. The other neighbors, we have representatives here from our senior group. Thank you. My neighbors, Mr. Joe Polk, His wife, Ms. Valencia, Ms. Phyllis Horton, I thank you for representing here tonight. Along this journey, I've met so many incredible people. I did know so many people were affected by breast cancer. But as I've gone through the journey, even in my community, as I've decorated porches and bold enough to go and take people's porch light bulb out and replace it with a pink bulb just to light up Highland Hills. I've met different people who've been affected. So I educate them, bring them out, give them resources even. Along the journey, I've met Ms. Lisa Moore, She's in the audience. Lisa actually met us just by asking my mom one day if she had her mammogram this year.

Lisa Moore is a four-time breast cancer survivor.

Miss Lisa Moore, thank you for coming. Thank you for being my friend. I have another friend I met, Miss Janice Gray. She's not here tonight. She's a 17-year survivor. She's been here since day one. So it's just that type of pink. You meet people just by doing grassroots work. And I'm grateful for what I've been doing. I'm grateful for the people that I've met. So to everyone that's going through this fight, this is for you. To everyone who has fought their way through, this is for you. For those who may one day face the fight, this is for you. God bless us all. Make certain to schedule your mammogram. Know your body. Listen to your body. Early detection matters. Prevention is the key. Keep in mind, 10, 10, 10, 10, the way you'll remember our 10th annual Breast Cancer Awareness Event. This is our 10th year, it's the 10th month, the 10th day at 10 o'clock. You'll never forget it, literally and figuratively. We hope to see you there. Saturday, October 10th at 10 o'clock. Thank you. God bless you.

Thank you.

Our next presentation is recognition for library card sign-up month, and that's Councilmember Beck. Thank you, Elizabeth.

I can have my library folks make their way to the podium.

No one gets more excited about libraries than Midori Clark. So we have the right person on the job without question. So come on up. Come on. I only bite a little bit, you're fine. All right, so for those of y'all that don't know, September is library card sign-up month. The Fort Worth Library has been keeping us educated and well-read in the city for 125 years, so let's give them a big round of applause for 125 years. That is no small feat. Our libraries provide welcoming spaces where individuals from all backgrounds can learn and conduct while bridging cultural, ethnic, generational, and economic divides that strengthen the social fabric of their communities. And the Fort Worth Public Library offers more than 10,000 programs annually that enhance the quality of life and boost the local economy by providing critical access to technology and training for job seekers, entrepreneurs, and students. Our library has welcomed more than 1.2 million visitors through our doors in the last years. Yes, that's a round of applause. That's a lot of really hard work. That is a lot of really hard work. And of those 102 million visits, they had 4.3, 4.3 individual, 4.3 million individual checkouts. So, and this is the first year that digital has surpassed Well, okay. But people are still using our libraries and that is a testament to the amazing work that our library staffs do every day. So if, who here doesn't have a library card? Raise your hand, it's okay. Everybody? Okay, we've got a couple. We've got some here, so I'll just read real quick the last piece of our resolution. Now, therefore, be it resolved that everyone is encouraged to sign up for a library card this month in September in Fort Worth, and it be affirmed that September is library card sign-up month.

All right, Midori, would you like to say a few words? Okay. I will keep it very brief because most of you all have heard this, but I never refuse an opportunity to talk about our Fort Worth Public Library. So thank you for just a minute of your time. As Councilwoman Beck mentioned, we checked out 4.3 million items last year. That is an all-time high record in the history of Fort Worth Public Library. So that is made possible by these little pieces of plastic right here and we've got our team. Tabitha and Amanda are gonna head outside and they can do your library card sign up today if you would like to get one. We had 41,000 new accounts created last year. So yes, it is awesome and amazing, and we would love to blow that number out of the water this year. So please help us. Councilwoman Beck, Mayor, and Councilmembers, thank you so much for this recognition, and we look forward to helping you and all of the folks in your districts sign up for library cards.

Our final presentation will be a presentation of a recognition for the 25th anniversary of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation by Councilmember Crane.

Thank you, Mayor and Council. I'm joined up here by Winky Hicks and Matt McClellan, both retired now, police officers, as part of that. Last Friday, we recognized September 11th, the 25th anniversary. We weren't in session last week, but I thought it important for us to recognize that time that called a lot of us to service in a lot of different ways. And I know some people up here on the dais as part of that. Out of that, the aftermath, so many stories came together. One of the most amazing stories was a guy by the name of Steven Siller, who was off duty. saw the towers being hit, grabbed his gear, ran through the tunnels to get to the towers, and he ultimately did not survive as part of that. But he answered the call to duty. I think he was on his way to play golf, his brother said, when he was here as part of it. I'll read this because it'll tell you a lot about the organization and then give you all a chance to speak about what it does now for survivors and first responders. It says, having just finished his shift, strapped on his gear and ran through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnels of the World Trade Center to help save others, ultimately giving his life in service to his fellow citizens. And whereas in the years that followed, Stephen's siblings founded the Tunnel to Towers Foundation to honor his sacrifice and the sacrifice of all who perished that day. And whereas for 25 years, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation has provided mortgage-free homes to the families of fallen first responders and service members and to veterans and first responders who have been catastrophically injured in the line of duty. And whereas the foundation has extended its mission to combat veteran and first responders homelessness, built smart homes for the most severely wounded and paid tribute each year through its signature tower climb and 5K run and walk held in communities across our nation. And whereas the people of this city have joined in these efforts, participating in local tribute climbs and runs, and carrying forward the simple, powerful message that no one should have to walk alone through the tunnel of grief. And whereas the work of the Tunnels and Towers Foundation stands as a living testament to the belief that one person's willingness to run towards danger for the sake of others can inspire a quarter century and counting of service to military families, veterans, and first responders. Now, therefore, do we hereby recognize and commend the Tunnel to Towers Foundation on the occasion of its 25th anniversary and extend our deepest gratitude for its unwavering commitment to honoring our nation's fallen heroes and supporting the families of our veterans and first responders.

Thank you. Winky, do you want to say?

Yeah, of course, congratulations. Do you want to say a few words?

Sure, very quickly. I'd like to thank the city, especially Councilman Crane, who's always been a champion for our run. And when I look around the room, I see several of our city council, our mayor, who take part in our run every year, our chief of police, assistant chief in the back of the room also support us. And to just jump forward from this past Friday as we recognized the 25th anniversary of 9-11, the reason we're here is yesterday was the eighth anniversary of the death of Fort Worth police officer Garrett Hall. He was killed in the line of duty. He was one of my teammates. And soon after he was killed, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation got in touch with several officers here in Fort Worth. And six weeks after his death, Garrett left behind his wife and two daughters and a mortgage. They had bought their home about nine months before he died, and the foundation paid off the mortgage to his home. So in an effort for us to pay forward the generosity of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, I retired in 2019 and we started the 5K run here in Fort Worth with the support of the city council, Councilman Crane, our police department, and the citizens of Fort Worth, which we are very grateful for. We're going into our seventh year as a run and during that time, We've raised about half a million dollars to pay forward what the Tunnel to Towers Foundation has done for our families here in Fort Worth. They have paid off homes across the state of Texas for 101 families in Texas alone. So we'd like to welcome everybody or invite everybody to come. October 10th also is our run. We're going to be before Pink in the Park, so you can come run that morning with us and make it over to Pink in the Park by 10 o'clock and do both those celebrations. But it's a 5K run at the Shops at Clear Fork on October 10th, and we're going to start at 8 a.m. And I've got handouts if anybody in the crowd would like to join us. I'll pass one of our flyers off on the way. But thank you, City Council, Mayor, Councilman Crane, for the generous support that you've given us for seven years. We are truly grateful.

Thank you. Matt, do you want to?

No? Okay. We'll take a picture. If anybody wants to join down here, please do to help honor. We'll take a picture really quickly.

Thank you.

Mayor and Council, there are no items to be continued or withdrawn. So Mayor, that gets us to the consent agenda speakers, and we have four.

Thanks, Jeanette. Our first speaker is Kit DeCardenas, followed by Conley Brewer. Conley Brewer will be followed by Stephen Sanchez.

Mayor and council members, good evening. My name is Connolly Brewer, and I'm a proud resident of District 6. Now, for months, Fort Worth residents have been told that we're facing a difficult budget, and we've watched the projected budget gap grow. We're now looking at higher property tax revenue, new fees, and higher utility-related charges. And on this same agenda, the city is recognizing more than $22.1 million in unrestricted and unpledged surplus interest and investment income. The city's own documents say that these dollars can be used for one-time initiatives, capital projects, and even accumulated to pay off debt early and achieve debt service savings. So my question is very simple. Before asking Fort Worth families for more money, have we made the best possible use of the money we already have? Of that 22.1 million, 16.6 million is going to the group health insurance fund, and I understand that the city says that that is part of the plan to restore reserve compliance. More than two million is going toward the Jefferson settlement, but another two million is being directed toward the community arts building, and 1.5 million is being used for forgivable loan for the Evans-Rosedale project. Now those may be worthwhile projects, but this is a question of timing and priorities. The community arts building already has $9 million available, and this proposal adds another $2 million from the interest earnings. At the same time, residents are being asked to absorb new payment fee, additional stormwater revenue, and a property tax revenue increase. And if representatives cannot accurately account for simple enrollment figures in a private contract, Taxpayers have every right to be highly skeptical of how they oversee a multi-billion dollar city project and budget. When does City Hall tighten its belt? When do projects get delayed? When do discretionary expenses get cut? And when do we say we cannot afford everything right now? And frankly, in my career, if I had flown airplanes, managed flight crews, and overseen flight operations the way this budget is being managed, The FAA would have grounded me years ago, and not because mistakes are never made, but because I would no longer be trusted to operate in that capacity. And that is the issue here. This is not about perfection. It is about judgment. It's about discipline and trust. Fort Worth families are expected to live within their means, and city government should be expected to do the exact same. Before you raise taxes, before you create another fee, before you increase another monthly charge, show taxpayers that every reasonable cut has been made, every project has been prioritized, and every unrestricted dollar has been used wisely. Higher taxes should never be the first answer. Fiscal discipline should be. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Kent DeCardenas, I believe he came in to the chamber. And then followed by Steven Sanchez.

Good afternoon. My name is Kent DeCardenas. I'm from District 11. I urge you to amend the minutes to the last council meeting to show zoning case 26-041 as unresolved. If there's any doubt whether the rules of procedure have been followed on this vote, then you should take the time to vote again. Failure to eliminate doubts means Black Mountain could seek to follow the original zoning regulations by taking the city to court and prove the city did not follow its own procedures. But before I get into the details of parliamentary procedure, let me bring to light some other facts regarding the vote. Here's a map of Black Mountain site on Lon Stevenson, and that pin shows where Helen and Robert Epps reported they lived. Before I go to the next slide, I would like to congratulate the Eppses on selling their property before the value of their home crashed with a data center moving in across the street. I just wish they had shared that piece of information while praising Black Mountain. Perhaps the city could have asked if the developer would be willing to facilitate similar deals for other affected homeowners. This is the general warranty deed filed with the county clerk of Tarrant County on June 30th of this year. When I zoom in, you can see the EPSA's transferred ownership to the K. Berry Family Investment LLC. Here's the formation document for that LLC showing the owners are Lauren and Kyle Berry. with Kyle Berry being a six and a half year employee of Black Mountain Exploration. I'll leave it to your staff to show that the Berries are not avid real estate speculators, and in fact, their LLC only owns this one property in Tarrant County. Many of the other pro-Black Mountain speakers said they were there to support the EPSAs or mentioned they were friends. Let's see how many actually lived close to the development. This circle shows a two-mile radius around Black Mountain. 18 to 20,000 people live inside that circle. The red pins show the people who spoke for Black Mountain. The blue pins are the ones who spoke against. There are three, besides the EPSAs, there are three other people that live within that radius. That cluster of blue pins to the east of Black Mountain is actually three pins, plus one more that actually makes four. So we can actually see that more people who live close to Black Mountain were against this vote than were actually for it. And just for completion's sake, there's everybody who spoke. This last slide is a transcript of the actual vote. As you can see, Council Member Crane actually never did move the motion to approve. And by regulations, the city cannot vote on an amendment and a main motion at the same time. On the left, you actually see how a motion is approved, which was the other zoning issue at that meeting. I would say consult with your lawyer or parliamentarian.

Our next speaker is Stephen Sanchez, followed by Adrian Smith.

the most important part is to provide for the protections or the site plan that is least intrusive, I guess, on the people that it's going to be the most proximate to. So I definitely want to continue on the moratorium process. But unfortunately, this was a case that was already in the pipeline and it's toothpaste out of the tube. And at this point, I want to do what's best for the residents, that it's greatly impacts. That's all I have.

Council Member Crane.

Yeah, following on that, then, Chris, I don't know if you're planning to do this, but since we've already talked about increasing the setback on paper, I'd like to offer that amendment, which also puts that on paper, a further setback than the 150 required, so at least the community has that assurance. I don't know the process there, but I need to say something more than that to amend the site plan for 300 feet?

I believe the site plan already reflects that, and so if you wanted to just reflect in the motion, it would just be... That's exactly what I want to do. To amend the setback and increase it to 300 feet.

Yes. Okay, done.

So are you making a motion, Council Member Crane? Okay, double checking, thank you.

Okay, thank you. Any other questions or comments from Council on this item? No? Again, I really do appreciate everyone that's been here today and spent their time. I hope that you felt like you were heard. I know that there's quite a bit of angst around this issue, not just in Fort Worth, but all over the country. I've said this so many times, whether it was in private meetings or public meetings, we've got to find a better way to communicate. I know I may not always agree with Mr. Carrion or other speakers here today. I can certainly tell there's plenty of hatred towards me personally. I've felt that many times. But the point is this, that leadership is difficult, and this is one of those moments. I think this is a really important option for residents. And I cannot thank you enough to those that live in proximity to this particular data center for spending so much time literally in the weeds to understand what was best for your community. As did Dr. Hall, I listened to every single word you said and understood what you were asking for for your community and for your neighborhood. And that is why I will be supporting the current alternative motion on the floor. Let me say this, we're gonna keep talking about data centers. The data center infrastructure commission will be in place very soon and come forward with regulations. A lot of discussion about 60 day timeline. Why do we put 60 days in place? Because I want our city to have some type of great regulatory framework before we enter legislative session so that we can be a good example because we will lose control at that point. We do not know what the state plans on doing and I think we can be a good example. I really do appreciate. I'm sorry I don't always say it right. You don't love that I'm your mayor and I'm your leader, right? But for such a time as this, this is why I'm here. I respect every colleague on this dais. They work incredibly hard to be here. They don't deserve personal attacks or vendettas. I'm really proud to serve with each and every one of you. So at this time, I've got a motion on the floor. Do I have a second? Motion and a second. Council, please vote. Motion carries.

Mayor, that concludes all of our action items, so that gets us to public comment.

Thank you. Let's take a five-minute recess and come back to full public comments when we can use the restroom. Thank you.

All right, so... Crane was actually motioning for an amendment, and then y'all voted on the amendment. In fact, the ones that voted no in solidarity actually voted against the people. You guys realize that, right? The ones that voted no voted against the people. You have some options here. You can vote again. You can go in an executive session, talk about it. or you can do a motion and put it as unfinished business. Please, Carlos. You're my councilman, this is your job, man. Next speaker is Adrian Smith.

Adrian Smith, District 9, I am one with the people. Ooh, this mic is hot. So I'm up to speak on Mayor and Council Communication 26-0946, page 5 of 29. It is dealing with the interest earnings and appropriation. One of the previous speakers already took us into it, so I'll bring my perspective. Show of hands, those who like interest earned on personal income.

All right.

I think this will be anyone given interest allows us to avoid use of personal income depending on how much is acquired. Fast forward to the current unrestricted interest income in the general fund operated by our city that is due to be voted on and distributed as need is determined. We've got 22 million plus for immediate as potential future appropriations. Now my questions and concerns. Regarding the two plus million for the Jefferson Lawson settlement, which is stated as partial, we have 49 million plus in the risk financing fund, prior to the most recent settlement on 8-25-2026. Why are we using the unrestricted interest outlined in this agenda item when we could fully pay out the settlement in entirety, while directing the two million plus in interest earned elsewhere? Please make it make sense. Regarding the $2 million to the community arts building, I'm 100% in support of. Let's be clear. My concerns are how we are going to about finalizing, creating something lasting for the arts community. Now, you closed the Central Library because of so-called operational costs, and we took in $18 million. You purchased the Center for Transforming Lives building for $6.4 to $6.5 million for the new Central Library consideration. However, it was determined that the building will require $30 million in costly renovations, and it's not consistent with an ideal library layout. Now that this building is being designated as the new community arts center, the repair costs are the same as the former community arts center that was located on 1300 Jandy Street. The one someone thought was too costly to make the necessary reinvestments in. Make it make sense. Instead of a task force being established, which was nothing more than smoke and mirrors, we should have done what was necessary to bring the original center into modernization. Lastly, the one, the 15, the one point, the one and a half million going toward the forgivable loan toward the Evans and Rosedale affordable housing project, I thought this was already fully funded. Why are we using our interest towards that?

That's the conclusion of our speakers on the Consent Agenda Council. I can entertain a motion. A motion and a second. Council, please vote. Motion carries.

Mayor and Council, that gets us to upcoming and recent events by Council.

Council Member Flores.

Thank you, Mayor.

All right, let's get the first slide up. All right, on the first slide, I spent some time supporting the Northside Steers football team for Northside High School, and in turn, the Northside High Legacy Foundation, which raises funds to give a lot of support to the school and the athletics program, as well as the PTA side of things, Northside High School Steers. So we're supporting them for media day. You know, the team is going through some rebuilding, but their spirit is high. Second slide. Right. I joined the Fort Worth Public Library at Diamond Hill for our guest speaker reading program. And that was a blast. The kids were very enthusiastic, read to them in English and Spanish, a couple of books there for the time allotted. But I really want to thank our library staff for being so diligent and dedicated to those kids and also to the library advisory members. Next slide. As they say, partnerships make progress. And child care is a necessity for those seeking their GED, seeking a higher degree. When life intervenes and you have a lot on your hands in the form of kids. At TCC Northwest Campus, the mayor, myself, and others joined child care associates, Tarrant County representatives, SG-10 Senator Taylor Remmitt's office, and TCC administrators and trustees to welcome the new child care studio. So that was a lot of fun and a great facility. And last slide. Expanded Heritage Month kicked off in the Fort Worth Stockyards in grand fashion with our annual event. September 16 parade and it keeps breaking records of attendance and also the number of. floats and other sponsors that are there, I was there, along with Councilwoman Martinez. Councilmember Crane joined us as well and several others. So we had a wonderful time there and then that was followed up at the Grand Plaza in D11 with the annual grito by the Consulado General de Mexico. So our council general who was here just earlier and that's all I have.

Thank you, Carlos. I think Councilmember Nettles is up next.

Yes, I'll try to make this quick. All right, the first slide is a Goodwill job fair. We had about 113 attendees, 54 enrolled in the Goodwill for services. Next slide. Had the opportunity to visit Fred Rouse Memorial Tour. They're working on getting that memorial up and running. They have a Fred Rouse campaign going on, so if you want to participate, feel free to look on their website. Next slide. had the opportunity to participate in the Fort Worth Black Chamber Path Forward program as a guest speaker on their government panel, joined by Councilwoman Deborah Peoples, also Assistant Manager Valerie Washington. Next slide. We broke ground on Smalley Park groundbreaking the other week. It was also formerly known as, I believe, the Pickle Park, but known as the Smalley Park next to the Pickle Factory. We're excited about this investment that's coming to District 8, more opportunities for our children to play in a safe environment. Next slide. Had opportunity to do a proclamation recognizes Miss Young on her 100th birthday. It was a great event. She reminded us of what life is all about. And so I had an opportunity to do that. Next slide, please. Did a tour with the directors and leadership of Spinks Airport. Was able to see planes come in and go out. Talked about the development that we're doing in the far south of Fort Worth. Next slide, please. participated in the Center of Transforming Lives laptop giveaway, was joined there by Mayor Parker, gave awesome words of encouragement to students or attendees or individual parents that receive laptops where they can do work, jobs, all from the comfort of their own home. And the interim president, AT&T president Lisa was there and others. A great event from the Center of Transforming Lives in district number eight. Next slide. All right, we got the Harambee Festival coming up. Seafood and chicken and blues is going to be Friday, October the 7th, from October the 2nd, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., and then followed by on Saturday morning, 9 a.m. for the parade, and then festivities all day long. You don't want to miss out. Bring your lawn chairs and your blankets. Well, maybe not blankets. I don't know why I say blankets. It's going to be hot outside. Just come out. Bring your water bottles. Next slide. And final slide. Event in District 8, Mental Health Awareness Event hosted by Hope for Kids Foundation. Location, Texas Wesleyan. It's going to be October the 10th as well from 10 a.m. to 2.30. Please come out and get some information as well needed. Those are my slides. Thank you.

Thank you. And Council Member Beck.

Great. I'm going to get through some of these slides real quick. So next slide. Next slide. Okay. Really important day for the south side of Fort Worth. The ribbon cutting of the Marin Grove affordable housing development on the site of the old OLV convent. It is going to provide much needed affordable housing in very close proximity to our major job centers. So I want to thank city staff who was instrumental in helping getting that project across the finish line. Next slide. Congratulations to Medical City, 50 years strong here, making sure that Fort Worth remains a healthy place to live. Next slide. All right. Had the opportunity to read to preschoolers at the Wedgwood Public Library. It was really great to be in our libraries and see the amazing work that they do for all ages. Next slide. Again, thanks to city staff for putting together the Veterans and Defense Small Business Summit. It was our first annual. It was a great success. I anticipate it coming back year after year, so thank you to Joaquin for getting that and the economic development staff for getting that across the finish line. Next slide. I had my biannual MPO breakfast. It's always great to sit down and talk with them about what's going on in and around our neighborhoods. Next slide. I had the opportunity to visit Councilman Nettles District, District 8, for the Remembering September 11th with the Mother Goose Foundation, which is an organization that provides community support for veterans and their families. Next slide. Kicked off Hispanic Heritage Month with my colleague, Jeanette Martinez, as we got a little dressed up for the HEJO in Fort Worth Gala. Next slide. Main table was this weekend a huge fundraiser for For Downtown Fort Worth Inc., I also want to thank, and there's a picture with me and one of my MPOs, but I want to thank all the members of Fort Worth PD who worked that event. It was really hot, and they kept us safe, so thank you. All right, next slide. Now we have future events. This Thursday, third Thursday on South Main, don't miss it. Local art, music, in the near south side, you can go to their Facebook page to get a list of all of the participating vendors. Next slide. September 18th, this Friday, 7.30 movie night in Burnett Park. It is Zootopia II, don't miss it. Take your blanket for that one. Maybe you can sit on it, you know, but we're not covering up. It's still hot. All right, next slide. And then Saturday, September 19th, from noon to 8 p.m. in Sundance Squares, we will have Cars and Culture, Low Riders, an art show, and music. And then finally, last but not least, Sunday, September 20th. It's a busy, busy weekend in District 9. But September 20th, we say goodbye to our convention center. So I hope you will join us all from noon to 4 p.m. for the It's Going Down Arena Farewell Party with live music, free admission, free parking on the street, and the huge... Free parking on the street in Houston Street Garage and Commerce Street Garage for those that want to attend and say goodbye to our iconic spaceship. And that's all I've got.

Thank you, Elizabeth. I think that's the conclusion of those.

Mayor, Council Member Crane may have, no? Oh, he declined, okay. That gets us to the non-consent speakers.

Okay, before we do that, I'm gonna go ahead and do board appointments. There's the cutest little baby that I think wants to go home. Where'd she go? She's here for her dad. Is she in the back? Okay, we're just gonna roll through these. Let's go to 26-6110, board appointment for District 2. Motion will be by Mayor Pro Tem Carlos Flores.

All right, thank you, Mayor. All right, I have a few here. So, Mayor and Council request your consideration to reappoint the following individuals to the respective boards below with the terms effective as I will read. Maximilian Nielsen, first term beginning September 15, 2026 and ending October 1, 2028 on the Aviation Advisory Board. Sergio Garza, first term beginning September 15, 2026 and ending October 1, 2028 for the Board of Adjustment. Janet Lane, first term, beginning September 15, 2026 and ending September 30, 2028, Building Standards Commission. Andrew Bearden, first term, beginning September 15, 2026 and ending October 1, 2028, City Planning Commission. Jacqueline Auger, first term, beginning September 15, 2026 and ending October 1, 2028, Community Development Council. Kelly Traeger, second term, beginning September 15, 2026 and ending October 1, 2028, Historical and Cultural Landmarks Commission. Donnie Campbell, first term beginning September 15, 2026 and ending October 1, 2028 on Library Advisory Board. Jackie Tomlinson, first term beginning September 15, 2026 and ending October 1, 2028, Park and Recreation Advisory Board. Cheryl West, second term beginning September 15, 2026 and ending October 1, 2028, Urban Design Commission. And finally, Brian Trujillo, second term beginning September 15, 2026 and ending October 1, 2028 on Zoning Commission, Alliance Airport Zoning Commission.

Motion and a second. Council, please vote.

Yeah, the middle part, right?

Motion carries.

Next will be 26-6111, Board Appointments from District 4.

Council Member Larsdorf. Thank you, Mayor. Mayor and Council, request your consideration to repoint the following individuals to the boards listed below with terms effective September 15th, 2026 and ending October 1st, 2028. After Lee Ortiz, third term, Aviation Advisory Board. Bob Briley, first term, Board of Adjustments. Ty Lambreth, first term, City Planning Commission. Tyson Thomas, first term, Park and Recreation Advisory Board. Matt McCoy, second term, Zoning Commission and Alliance Airport Zoning Commission.

Second. Motion and a second. Council, please vote. Motion carries.

Next is 26-6112, board appointments from District 5.

Council Member Pupils.

Mayor and Council, I request your consideration to appoint the following individual to the board below with a partial term effective September 15, 2026 and ending October 1, 2027. And that individual is an amazing servant leader, Raphael McDonald, to the Board of Adjustment.

Motion and a second. Council, please vote. Motion carries.

Next is 26-6113, Board Appointments from District 6.

Council Member Hall.

Mayor and Council, I request your consideration to appoint Aaron Capone to the Aviation Advisory Board with a term effective September 15, 2026 and ending October 1, 2028. Mayor, I'm going to mention it in a second. Thank you. Please vote.

Motion carries.

Next is 26-6114, Board Appointments and Reappointments from District 10. Council Member Jamieson.

That's me.

Sorry about that. Just a second.

Request your consideration to reappoint the following individuals to boards below, terms as listed beginning September 15th, 2026, and ending October 1st, 2028. Richard Vaccaro, second term, Aviation Advisory Board. Jenna Herrera, first term, Board of Adjustment. Alessandro Alou, Second term, Building Standards Commission. Laura Kelly, first term, City Planning Commission. Brian Ketchum, second term, Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission. Jenna Dorn, second term, Library Advisory Board. Felix Garcia, first term, Park and Recreation Advisory Board. Ronnie Ramsey, second term, Urban Design Commission. Jacob Wurman, second term, Zoning Commission, Alliance Airport Zoning Commission, and request your consideration to reappoint the following individual to board below with a term beginning September 15th, 2026, and ending September 30th, 2028, Jeffrey Davis for the first term, Community Development Council.

Motion to second. Council, please vote. Motion carries.

Next is 26-6115, Board of Reappointments for the Capital Improvements Plan Advisory Committee.

Thank you, Council. I request your consideration and approval for the following individuals to the Capital Improvements Plan Advisory Committee. Joseph Snyder, position two, John Stevenson, position four, and Caroline Kranz, position six. Motion and a second, please vote. Motion carries.

Next is 26-6117, board appointment for the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission.

Thank you, Jeanette. Council, request your consideration and approval of Shanna Steele to the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission, alternate position 15. Motion. And a second, please vote. Motion carries.

Next is 26-6116, board appointments for Urban Design Commission.

Council, I request the following individual, Sarah Hamzay, to the Urban Design Commission, alternate two. Motion and a second, please vote. Motion carries.

Council, that gets us back to the non-consent speakers.

Thank you, our first speaker is Conley Brewer, followed by Christina Banta.

Mayor and Council Members, once again, good evening. Connolly Brewer, District 6. And I want to begin by saying something very clearly. Fort Worth needs good streets. No one is arguing otherwise. The City's own agenda says Fort Worth maintains approximately 8,600 lane miles of roadway and that years of underfunded maintenance has contributed to deteriorating pavement conditions. But that raises an important question. If street maintenance is one of the most basic core responsibilities of city government, how did we get to the point where residents now need a separate monthly fee to pay for it? The proposal would charge single family households $3 per month through their water bills. Other properties would pay varying amounts based on a vehicle miles traveled formula. The city estimates the new fee will generate approximately 27.4 million every year, beginning in fiscal year of 2028. $3 may not sound like much, but this is how this burden grows. $3 here or stormwater increase there, higher property taxes, higher water fees, higher trash fees, another fee next year. Every individual increase is described as manageable, but families do not pay these bills individually. They pay all of them from the same household budget. And there's something else the city's own explanation that concerns me. The agenda specifically says that years of underfunded maintenance helped create this problem. If that is true, then before creating a new fee, taxpayers deserve to know where did that money that should have been used maintaining our streets go? What priorities came ahead of basic infrastructure? And what changes have been made so that five or ten years from now we're not standing here creating yet another fee because another core responsibility was underfunded? The proposed fee may generate $27.4 million annually, And the City says it could help avoid much larger reconstruction costs in the future. And I do understand that argument. Preventative maintenance certainly makes sense. But what I question is the funding method. Street maintenance should not become another add-on charge to the Water Bill simply because previous budgets failed to adequately prioritize it. Good streets are not an optional service. They are one of the reasons we pay City taxes in the first place. Before Fort Worth creates another permanent revenue stream, I believe the council should show residents that existing revenue has been fully prioritized toward core services. Because once government creates a new fee, it will never disappear. The answer to years of underfunding should be better budgeting and not another bill. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Christina Banta followed by Bob Willoughby.

Madam Mayor and to all of the honorable city council members, good evening. My name is Christina Banta. I serve as the president of the Historic Southside Neighborhood Association. So I come this evening to present a letter of support for the Evans-Rosedale Urban Village. Dear Mayor and members of the City Council, the Historic Southside Neighborhood Association is proud to offer its strong support for the Evans-Rosedale Urban Village, a vision of more than 25 years in the making. The Historic Southside is one of the oldest African American neighborhoods in the city, located just southeast of downtown Fort Worth. Historic Southside represents a time when affluent African American families thrived and showcased their rich culture. The love for the historic Southside runs deep, and our revitalization makes historic Southside a wonderful place to live. For decades, residents, community leaders, and advocates have worked toward the revitalization of the historic Southside. Many of those who first envisioned this transformation have since gone to their heavenly reward, the late Mr. Johnny Lewis. is one of the many. Today, we honor their legacy by continuing the work and bringing their vision closer to reality. The historic Southside is deeply rooted in the African American history of the Fort Worth. Our community represents generations of perseverance, culture, leadership, entrepreneurship, and resilience. As we welcome new development and investment, we remain committed to ensuring that progress builds upon our history rather than replacing it. We are grateful for the collaboration and dedication of District 8, Councilman Chris Nettles, city staff, Royal Capital, and the many community partners who have worked together throughout this lengthy process. Their partnership with the historic Southside community has helped bring this long-awaited project to the threshold of construction. The HSNA fully supports the 1.5 million in interest earnings identified by city staff, along with the one million Royal Capital has pledged to achieve through cost savings. We respectfully ask the Fort Worth City Council for a unanimous vote of approval so this important development can move forward. The historic Southside is a neighborhood of the future because we honor our past. We envision a community where people from across Fort Worth and the nation can come to experience and celebrate rich history. Long live the historic Southside. We are on our way back. Thank you so much.

Our next speaker is Bob Willoughby, followed by Michael Howell.

How do you like that? You know, before Mayor Parker, they used to put it up here. Every single item is so people know what we're talking about. Don't do it no more. And the sad part is Mayor Parker knows this. The longer they change things and leave it, the harder to get it changed back because people don't know what it was. And that's sad. Anyway, that's what I'm talking about. I can't read it there. But anyway, it's Deborah Peoples is being imported to a board. Now, this is the first thing I would do if I was a council member of District 5, is not prompt myself to these boards. I'd go out and meet with the public and ask what they want. Deborah Peoples can't do that. I offered Deborah Peoples $100 to answer five questions. She wouldn't do it. I offered Deborah Peoples, I offered another $100 to St. Jude's Children's Hospital if Deborah Peoples would answer five questions. If she's not capable of answering five questions, how can she be capable of being on a board? She's not even capable of being there. So this is why I was in Austin last week. And we're working at the school board, our schools. They get voter education into elementary schools. So the next generation will grow up, will be smarter than the generation I'm living in now. Because it is dumb to allow these people that never even done their civic duty to sit up here and be put into boards. That's the first thing they do. Just like District 10, Chris. They put him on six boards as soon as he gets in. And then they say they're overworked and they need more money. This is stupid. People at Fort Worth need to wake up. These people don't need to be on boards. They need to select people that can do the board, and they need to come out in the public and meet and take questions and ask what people want in there. That's why I ran five times. There's so much stuff that needs to be done in our district, but people don't know what it is. She's never done her civet duties. She was at a budget meeting the other day. That's the first time she's ever been to one of those. She has not a clue. How can she be a leader when she doesn't know what in the world is going on down here? You know? So that's what kills me. So I'm hoping that in time comes we can get another generation of kids that will be more smart and know that people that don't answer questions do not need to be sitting up there. That's the first thing. I don't need to know anymore. I don't need to know 20 things about Maddie Parker, how she lies. I don't need to know that. She don't answer questions. That's all I need. I don't need anymore. And that's what I want to teach kids growing up. The first candidate don't answer a question, run their butt out of here. Because that's the premise of the job. And they don't do it. Half of them, I noticed when Conley was speaking, half of them didn't even look up. They had their head down. They had no respect for this city, and they don't need to be on these boards. She's not qualified. You're not qualified. You're a disgrace, Debra people. Point of order. There it is. I knew I'd get an adventure. But Chris, you're in enough trouble already. What are you doing calling point of order? You're already wanted by the state. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Michael Howell, followed by Kent DeCardenas. Mr. Howell, you can use that microphone if that's closest for you. That would be just fine. Yes, sir.

Am I talking about the budget or the fees? What are we talking about?

This is for both, yes, sir. Both? Okay.

Let me get my brain straight. Okay. Michael Howell, Port Worth, excuse me, Captain Michael Howell, retired Air Force officer. I live in Paschal neighborhood, Councilman Beck, and I've lived there since 2003. I fled Dallas, great Dallas, Texas. And guess what I found? I found heaven on earth. Fort Worth, Texas is a wonderful community. It's built for families, and that's what we need to build on. So I've been listening. I can't see now, but I've been listening to the budget, and I have some recommendations for Fort Worth Lab. I think that's what they're called. Anyway, there's a thing called a zero-based budgeting model. That's where every dollar has a job. You don't just pad the year before. I think I understood at the last budget hearing, District 9 downtown, that they increased the budget, I think it's .25 cents, and they say they're reducing the budget by a quarter. Well, that doesn't make any sense. Why don't you just start at zero, go back and roll back, let's say pre-pandemic. What is it, 2019? Roll it back, zero base budget every year. Don't just add and pad. That's all we're doing. And the supporting documentation, Changes every year because your projects change every year. I'm talking about the operating I'm not talking about the debt service. That's another issue But you can take the operating budget go back to zero square one and Start with your documentation on your current projects because if you don't you have projects which are what from 2010 2001 And it just adds up, and it's called inflation. It's called budgetary inflation. That's what it's called because it's not real dollars. Okay. That's my first three minutes. Am I done? Okay. I have a second three minutes, darling.

It's all one. Oh, really? Yeah, sorry.

I know, but I signed up.

Adrienne, if we could just refrain from commentary from the audience. Thank you very much. That's fine. If you want to leave, you can, but I'd really love for you to stay for the rest of the hearing. You can choose. Okay, you can go. Can I get a marshal to escort him out? That'd be great. Thank you so much. Our next speaker is Kent Dark-Cardenas, followed by Mr. Stephen Sanchez. Thank you. Kent, you can proceed. Can't you can proceed?

I'm a voter and I'm speaking in favor of raising the tax rate. In fact, I would urge the council to raise it higher and focus on saving even more services from the city. I attended one of the district budget presentations and the staff did a great job explaining that even with the tax rate increase. Most homeowners would pay less in tax this year. Do not create extra fees for basic services. As other speakers have said, flat fees tend to be regressive in nature and the TAD appraisal system is already making our city taxes regressive enough as it is. I speak from experience when I say the city staff do amazing work, but are spread too thin. A growing city needs more services, not less. I urge you to reconsider adding money to the police budget anytime the city is facing a revenue shortfall with no economic change in sight. Adding money to a line item that cannot be taken away in the future is a grave mistake. I also urge a vote to approve a resolution condemning the Tarrant Appraisal District and their approach to property appraisals, the lack of equity in their process, and the financial bind that it has placed on every taxing district in the county. A growing city should not see less economic value year after year. And lastly, vote Grissom, Sharma, and Adams in November.

Our next speaker is Steven Sanchez, followed by Christopher Johnson.

So I went to a budget meeting in my district. Carlos, you made some points that I would like to repeat about how the council makes conscientious decisions while they're up here. So I see conscientious decisions to tax us heavily and even give us more fees, credit card fees, water, street maintenance fees. Some of it great, some of it bad. I think that you have a plethora of options and reducing services isn't really one of them, in my opinion. We're growing. I think we should be growing up, not out. Before you, I have a map of short-term rentals in the stockyards. Your fees, your ordinance that you've passed in 2023, not all of you are up here. I don't think Jeanette was here. Some other people weren't here. I think Charlie wasn't here either. But y'all passed an ordinance in 2023 banning short-term rentals in residential properties. It's $500 a day for... a $500 fine a day as they continue to operate. So you're passing on these fees to us, but yet the enforcement level on these short-term rentals is very low. Now, I talked to, or Chapa had pointed out that there's actually a service that y'all do, or y'all have, that gathers these short-term rentals or investigates them. I'm not sure if that's true or not. If you guys pay for that, that's probably not something you should be paying for because the citizens can do this themselves. Code compliance can do this. The police can do it, too. But I'm not really sure how all of that enforcement works, but that's more than enough money right there just to pay for probably a bunch of the budget that we're missing. Unfortunately, we as a city voted for Proposition 9, and that eliminated a lot of our budget for people's commercial business, personal business property taxes. And so for me, as a small business owner, I am now exempt, and so now I pay no taxes. I used to pay like, I don't know, like 90 bucks to the general fund, but now I don't. That's a bunch of us. It's like a tenth of your deficit. It's like $8 million. And it was quoted at like four or six back in like May or something at a budget meeting or at a budget work session. And it just exponentially climbed when July came out. So there's other things you can do and giving us fees isn't one of them.

Our next speaker is Christopher Johnson. Mr. Johnson will be followed by Gage Young.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council. My name is Christopher Johnson. I'm a lifelong Fort Worth community advocate, vice president of neighborhood, Poly Heights Neighborhood Association, and also own a nonprofit. I also bring 30 years of experience as a business owner and working professional. That experience has taught me something important. A budget isn't just about how much money we spend, it's about what we accomplish with the money we have. Now I want to move the conversation from spending to results. Fort Worth proposed operating budget of 3.32 billion. The general fund is approximately 1.16 billion with about 658 million devoted to public safety, plus approximately 145 million in CCP funding. I have three questions. First, with this level of public safety investment, What three to five measurable results should taxpayers expect by the end of the fiscal year 2027 and where can voters easily track those results? Second, I was told budget is done citywide, but citywide numbers don't always tell us what's happening neighborhood by neighborhood. How will council determine whether historically underserved neighborhoods are receiving equitable services, infrastructure investment, public safety resources, and measurable results? Third, the city has identified approximately 50.9 million in spending reductions. Before taxpayers are asked to absorb additional taxes or fees, what additional efficiencies, reallocations, outstanding funding, or lower priority spending will be examined first? When we talk about the three point, 32 billion budget, I want voters to remember three things. Money, results, fairness. Where is our money going? What results are we receiving? And are those results reaching our neighborhoods fairly? A good steward doesn't simply tell taxpayers how much government spent. A good steward can show taxpayers what their money accomplished. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Gage Young, followed by Aaron James.

Mayor, council members, good evening. My name is Gage Young, and I'm here to talk about the 70.20 cent rate that's here on y'all's agenda, and I want to be useful about it. So I'll tell you exactly what I do instead. First, the thing that isn't debatable, your own truth in taxation filing pits the no new revenue rate at 67.04 cents. You're voting on 70.20. That is 4.7% above, and under Texas law, it is a property tax increase. It collects about $18 million more from the same properties. I've heard the average bill goes down $21. That average fell because $2 billion of below average new construction joined the roll. not because anyone cut a check to existing homeowners. My house wasn't reappraised. The appraisal district went to a two-year cycle, same value, higher rate, higher bill. And the tax line isn't the whole bill. Fees rise an average of 6.6%. Charges for services are now the biggest revenue stream in this city, growing 10% a year, nearly five times faster than the property tax levy. There's a new street maintenance fee teed up for next year. A tax rate gets a notice, a benchmark, and this hearing. A fee gets none of that. So here's my ask, and I've tried to make it something you can actually vote on, and every single council member and Madam Mayor, you have received this document. One, adopt the no new revenue rate tonight. You need about $18 million to get there. In June, your own staff forecast a $49 million gap. Tonight, it's 94. 46 million of that difference is spending added after the forecast. The $18 million is in there. Two, if you can't find it in the next hour, adopt the no new revenue rate anyway and amend the appropriation before October 1st. The rate is the hard deadline. The spending plan is not. Don't lock in a permanent rate because you ran out of time on a spending decision. Three, whatever rate you adopt, close the fee loophole. Give fee increases the same treatment a tax rate gets. a published notice, a household impact estimate, and a standalone vote. And published one consolidated all funds number that includes the TRZ and PID funds your own tables leave out. You are asking residents for more money in a year when their homes weren't reappraised. Their fees went up and the county right here cut its rate for the fourth straight time while still funding public safety and raising employee pay. It can be done. Please do not tell taxpayers it can't be done. Adopt the no new revenue rate. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Aaron James, followed by Eric Creel. Mr. James, Eric Creel. That's a conclusion of our speakers on the non-consent agenda. Council?

Council, that gets us to MNC 26-0688, which is a public hearing. Council, before you take any action or the speaker, I do want to announce that council action will be on the item with the revised attachments that were distributed earlier.

Thank you, Jeanette. And just for a point of clarification, MNC 26-0688 is for the CCPD fiscal year 2027 budget. Correct. Keith Morris is available at this time. Should there be any questions from council? If you have questions, please let me know. Council Member Flores.

No questions, ma'am. Just ready to go.

Thank you. Mayor, we do have one speaker. He's no longer here. Oh, that's right. Thank you. I can entertain a motion at this time, council.

Move to approve.

Got a motion and a second on the floor. Council, any other discussion? Please vote, thank you. Motion carries.

That gets us to MNC 26-0740, which is the item, adopt the proposed FY26 stormwater utility fee increase.

Thank you, Jeanette. And we do have one speaker on this item, Ambika Sharma. Is Ms. Sharma available? No, at this time then we have Jennifer Dyke available for questions on this item. Are there any questions from council? If not, at this time I can entertain a motion. This is 26-0740, stormwater utility fee increases. Thank you. I've got a motion and a second. Any other discussion, council? Please vote. Motion carries.

Next is 26-6087, which is the FY2027 fee change ordinance. And there are a couple of corrections, Mayor and Council, that I will read into the record. On page 67, under Environmental Protection Fund, the FY26 commercial multi-unit rate should be 33%. dollars and 30 cents rather than 33 even and on page 71 under the aviation section of municipal airport fund in two weight based aircraft parking rates the bracket is between 12,501 and 18,000 rather than 18,500 council member beck

Thank you, Mayor. I move to approve this item with the following amendment. In the general fund portion of Exhibit B, under the park and recreation fees, add a $0 fee to allow for free admissions to the Nature Center for U.S. military veterans with valid identification.

Council, I have a motion with an amendment on the floor. Do I have a second? Thank you. A motion and a second. Please vote. Motion carries.

Next is 26-6106, which is the budget ordinance.

Council, I can entertain a motion on 26-6106. Council Member Hill?

Sure. Thank you, Mayor, Council. Before addressing my vote tonight, I wanted to express my sincere appreciation to our city staff. Y'all have worked diligently under the directive of our city manager's office to assemble this budget, and their hard work on behalf of the city deserves our recognition, so thank you. Tonight, I am voting yes on the city budget and a no on the proposed tax rate increase. As a law and order council member, my top priority has always been public safety. I ran on supporting our police, fire, and first responders, and I will not compromise on that commitment. There is no more vital service that the council provides. Voting for the budget ensures that we do not disrupt critical funding, essential safety operations for the men and women who protect our neighborhoods every single day. However, supporting public safety does not require raising taxes. I acknowledge that the city faces a budget shortfall, but that deficit should not be solved on the backs of our hardworking taxpayers. My vote against the tax rate increase comes down to four core principles. I believe that fiscal responsibility starts at the top. We did not do enough to cut wasteful spending, including travel and discretionary expenses for staff and city council members, before asking residents for more money. If we ask Fort Worth families to tighten their belts, City Hall must lead by example. We must respect family budgets. Fort Worth residents are already struggling with the rising cost of living, housing, groceries, and utilities, and government should not add to the financial pressure unless every single option has been exhausted. Raising taxes sets a dangerous precedent. We should not follow Austin or Houston down a path where tax hikes become the norm. Growth should make Fort Worth stronger and not simply make local government bigger. I believe that a budget deficit does not automatically justify tax increases, and until we directly confront and fix our city's underlying structural budget challenges, I cannot, in good conscience, vote for a city tax rate hike. Fort Worth can live within its means. We can protect core services, support public safety, and invest in our neighborhoods without making higher taxes the default answer. Thank you, Mayor.

Got a motion on the floor. Council, any other discussion or comments at this time? Can entertain a second? Go ahead, Council Member Nettles, please. Sorry.

The tax rate vote is gonna be a separate vote from next vote?

That's correct, yes, it'll be next vote.

Okay.

I have a motion by Council Member Beck. Do I have a second on the budget? Thank you. Got a motion and a second on the floor. Council, please vote. Motion carries.

Next is 26-6096, which is the FY2027 ad valorem rate.

Mayor, there are- Thank you, Jeanette. We do have two speakers, Alan Polovic, followed by Ambika Sharma. Is Alan available? No. Ambika Sharma? No. Those are our two speakers on this item, council. At this time, I can entertain a motion. Any other comments? Council Member Flores?

Thank you, Mayor. On this item, I move to close the public hearing and move that the property tax rate be increased by adoption of a tax rate of 0.70565, which is effectively a 5.26% increase in the tax rate.

Thank you, Carlos. I have a motion on the floor. Council, do I have a second? Second. Got a motion and a second. Council Member Hall. Try it again, I'll do it one more time. There you go, of course.

So I just wanted to clarify and make sure that I understood or that others understood. So when we see a vote unanimously to approve the budget, I don't know, it makes me want to anticipate that there would be a unanimous vote to approve the tax rate that supports the budget. But in the case that that were not the case and that there was not a majority to raise the tax rate, how will we then enact the budget?

Council Member Ortega, you can answer or I can. I have to click your button, there you go.

So in essence, we'd have to come back with a reduced budget to cut out the difference of the dollars that wouldn't be included. If we went to the revenue rate, it would be a reduction of approximately $34 million, more or less.

On top of the original 80 plus million.

Of the current off the current budget so the increase creates about 34 35 million dollars in funds above the no new revenue rate That's currently part of the budget To make sure that I understand so if we don't adopt the tax rate that we just unanimously voted to support the budget and

then we would have to change the budget. So any support for a budget would imply that you support the tax rate that funds that budget. Logically. Okay, I just wanted to make sure that I understood.

Any other questions or comments from council at this time?

I just wanted to add one thing. Go ahead, Carlos. Just for the sake of clarification. Again, a tax rate increase does not automatically mean that taxpayers will pay more. It's really involved in how properties are appraised nowadays and the property values have been appraised lower. And again, I think this council is unanimous in its concern about how we spend our public dollars.

Thank you, Carlos. Council Member Larsdorf?

I just want to make a comment on that, though. Just because there's a tax rate increase, it may not by default increase taxpayers' tax bill. For some, it certainly could, though. So I don't think we can ride on the backs of taxpayers and say, oh, your taxes are actually going to be lower because their property values went down. We had nothing to do with the property values going down. And I certainly understand what my colleague, Dr. Hall said. is the point that she's trying to make. However, I disagree that one can't support this budget for the very reasons that Councilwoman Hill stated in supporting all the basic city services that do need to be done. I think if we were to go to the no new revenue rate, as City Manager Chapa just mentioned, we're not talking about the original $90 million. We're talking about the original $30 million. And what I've seen our incredible staff do time and time again is find the right answers. Never the easy answer, but the right answers.

So that's my thought.

Council Member Beck?

Sure, thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Hall, for bringing up what seems to be a very apparent inconsistency. I would venture to say that I would use the term virtue signaling if you were to vote on the budget but not vote on the tax rate. Jay Chapa, can you tell me how many budget meetings we had? How many briefings? Briefings, us, for us on council.

We started in April, so probably 10 or 12.

10 or 12. And so in those 10 or 12 meetings that we all sat through, what I didn't hear was any meaningful discussion from anyone on this dais on how we get to the public safety levels that we want to have, both in police and fire, how we get to the level of TPW service we want to have, our libraries, or our parks. In fact, what we sat around this table and did was talked about what we didn't want to cut. And what I heard from everyone was the projects that they didn't want to cut and the services that they wanted to keep available to the residents. So I'm with Councilmember Hall on this one. If you didn't vote, if we voted unanimously for the budget, it's disingenuous to then turn around and vote against the tax rate when the tax rate is married to this budget, when legally we have to have a balanced budget. You can't have one without the other. And there was no willingness to have serious discussions about major service decreases on this dais. And so I will be supporting this tax rate.

Because I don't like to virtue signal councilmember Nettles Yeah, and I'll just add there is another word other than virtual signal it's called gas lighting as well and that is when You allow the public to believe one thing while you do something different it is very prevalent that We have to have a balanced budget and support this tax rate. I have sat on this council for the last five plus years and I talked about each year how we lower our tax rate and there's going to come a time when we're going to have to raise that tax rate in order to provide these services. Just about two weeks ago, I was on Everman Parkway on a road construction project that we're expanding the road that costs several millions of dollars, uh, so that our neighborhoods can get from one place to the next. That goes into this type of budget. And so, I'm gonna also want to relate to our community. Because one thing you need to know what's actually happening, there's so many dis-, communication that's happening around this budget uh you have heard that the tax rate is going to be raised but majority of the the residents is not going to see an increase on their tax bill and that is the truth and so i want people to know the information that is on the record that if you support the budget if you just supported the cp ccpd budget you should also be supporting this tax rate so that we can continue to do the business of the city of fort worth and continue to grow Those are my comments.

Council Member Peoples? One more time, Deborah. I'm sorry. There we go. I turned it on. Let me try one more.

There we go. So I am on, but Mayor, I want to be very clear that I am going to support this tax rate increase because I serve the citizens in not only District 5, but in the entire city of Fort Worth. And when we had budget meetings and when we had the budget hearing, I wanna thank the city staff for being there to lead that discussion on the budget. But the residents of District 5 who sat in that meeting were concerned about cutting city services. They were very clear that they did not want us to cut city services, and several of them said, then we need to pay more taxes. But I believe that the city has done a good job, and I'm gonna thank Jay Chopper and staff, for coming back and being very deliberate about being very mindful of how we looked at the tax rate and how we raised it. And so if I had to sit here and tell you that my job is to represent the residents of District Five, they want the services that we put back in the budget. They don't want to cut parks and recreation. They don't want to cut library services. They don't want to cut repairs and mowing and alleyways. And so they're asking us to be good stewards of what happens in this city. And I am going to represent them by listening to them and voting yes on this increase. Councilor Larsdorf.

Thank you, Mayor. To my colleague, Councilman Peebles, absolutely, you can represent District 5, but don't for once think that you represent District 4 in any way. I'm just going to throw that out there. Secondly, our budget meetings, I was elected to represent the people of District 4. And at our budget meetings and talking to people in person, social media, you name it, we've got some District 4 residents here right now. Not a single one of them supported that tax rate increase. Therefore, I was elected to represent them. And that's exactly what I'm going to do. To Councilwoman Beck's point, you're right. Some maybe did not bring up things that they would want to see gone. However, I was pretty vocal about certain things where I think we could see some cost savings, such as moving public art to another year where we actually have the money. six-figure contracts that I think are questionable, some for leadership training, which I think we have a roomful of amazing leaders right here right now that could get that training for free, even small amounts like Movies That Matter that could probably go away. There's still more that we can be done. I even talked about advocating for our own health, our own city employees on things like the GLPs where we're spending a lot of money and we need to rein that in. So I was vocal about that, and yes, Councilman Nettles, you're right. You have been an avid supporter of raising residence taxes as long as I've been here, and you can keep doing that for your district. I'll keep doing what I feel is right for my district, and that is not voting for a tax rate increase. So thank you.

Council Member Beck. I just want to clarify something. If we're going to make recommendations for how to reduce the budget, we should do so in meaningful ways, ways that actually reduce the budget, not things that are associated with the bond. Thanks, Charlie.

Any other comments from council? I'm going to try to change the tone for a minute, ladies and gentlemen. in our audience are not just members of our community, but we also have amazing city staff that have worked tirelessly on this budget for months. And I want us all to give them a round of applause sincerely for how hard they have worked on this budget. I know that these discussions can be emotional. I have had the opportunity to walk through a budget process at the City of Fort Worth since 2012. I have been here in good times and bad. I have seen it when our dais falls apart and loses quorum, and I've been here at times when we were all there together in lockstep. I've also seen us lower the tax rate or leave it stabilized since 1998. Year over year, this city management team, this budget office, this city has led with distinction, and we are the 10th largest city in the country. People are moving here in droves, and don't make a mistake, it is because of great governance. We are incredibly fiscally responsible, and I could not be prouder of the city staff. There are people all over this city I am marveled at, and I'll just name a few employees. I'm not playing favorites. These are just people I've gotten to work with over the years. People like Terrence in maintenance, even though I don't get to see him all the time, he used to be at Old City Hall, one of my very favorite people to run across. Patricia in CMO. This place would not run without Patricia Garcia. And by the way, she has 45 years of service or something wild, and still comes up every single day. People like Lauren Prier, who don't have to be in the position that she's in, that probably gets recruited across the city, across the country daily for her job, but she shows up usually in a themed outfit like this morning. Thank you, Lauren. People like Scott Keenum in PD that show up and show up every single day and do really hard things for our police department. People like Lieutenant Reinhart, shout out to Jeremy, he had a birthday yesterday in the Fort Worth Police Department. People like Joel McElhaney in the Parks Department. That's who makes up this city, that's who makes up this budget. I'm not done yet. Fort Worth is different than other large cities. We have worked extraordinarily hard. I have spent hours and hours away from my family and anything fun to make sure this budget is exactly where it needs to be. No one on this dais wants to raise one penny additional in taxes because it's a difficult story to tell. It's incredibly complicated and nuanced to explain why TAD only appraises every three years, why appraisals are actually going down and stagnant, how a tax rate increase actually for most homeowners will still mean your tax bill goes down because of appraisals being stagnant. And importantly, across the city of Fort Worth, we've seen major changes because of what's happening in Texas. We've had significant legislative changes that rather than whine about it, we've had to send poor DJ down to Austin over and over and over again to testify while he's also having to be the development services director. Thank you to people like DJ. And oh, by the way, we're still doing that. We're a triple A bond rating for water and sewer and a double A plus as the city of Fort Worth. There is not another large city in the country that can say that. It's because we are incredibly fiscally responsible. The last thing I'll say is this. Affordability in this country is the topic of conversation around every kitchen table, around every city, and it should be. Inflation, cost of living, your salaries are stagnant, all of those things we have to take into consideration, but we still have to be a top 10 city. We still have to provide police and fire services, build sidewalks and streetlights, keep you safe, have awesome code compliance directors. You have to have a parks department that works for everyone across every neighborhood in this city. The last thing I'll say is I do represent the entire city. every single corner of 350 square miles. Be proud of this budget, be proud of the tax rate that we're taking. I know this is difficult, these conversations are. Despite some of the fighting you see sometimes up here, these people usually do love each other. These are tough decisions. But as your mayor of this city, in 2026, we're gonna be okay. Roll up your sleeves, let's keep getting to work, and thank you to Jay Chapa and the entire city staff for getting us here. At this time, please vote. Motion carries. But we're not done yet. We gotta go to 26-6089, which is our tax revenue increase, fiscal year 2027. At this time, I can entertain a motion. Got a motion? And a second? Council, please vote. Motion carries.

Next is MNC 26-0838, which is the establishment of the pavement management fee.

Thank you. I can entertain a motion. Council? Thank you. Council Member Crane?

Thanks, Mayor. I want to reflect a letter that we all received from the Real Estate Council last week outlining some things. Jay, I think you had a chance to look at this letter. I just want to make sure. And they brought up four points in this letter that would, and I think, what do you feel, are you okay with that? I don't want to lead you.

Sorry, Jay.

Yes, they're all items we would do anyway, so we're fine with that.

Great. So as part of this motion, I want to make a friendly amendment to what we're going to see here. Let me just read this really quickly. It says, and these, if anybody wants to see this, these are the four points that the Real Estate Council brought to us. It says, sorry guys, find my notes here. I move to amend the ordinance to require semiannual public reporting on transportation impact fees and the pavement management fee, a 12-month implementation review in a public workshop with an invitation to the Real Estate Council leadership, and language ensuring that pavement management fee revenues, other than reasonable and separately reported direct administrative costs, are used exclusively for pavement management, preservation, and maintenance. We're asking people to, we're upping fees for roads and streets. We need to make sure it stays that way. So that's my motion.

A motion and a second. And I might just add, and Lauren or anyone from your team, if you wanna speak to this, you can. We're establishing a process. This fee actually doesn't go into effect immediately. We still have a tremendous amount of education needed across the city of Fort Worth for commercial, for school districts, for residential development. So I just wanna make that clear. For a variety of reasons, most importantly, because of a new water payment system, we're starting this process now so it can be ready for the next fiscal year. So thank you for your hard work. Please vote. Motion carries.

Next is MNC 26-0660.

Thank you, Jeanette. And on this one, we actually have a few recusals. I'm requesting to recuse my own vote because of my husband's place on the Board of Trustees for Texas Wesleyan University. And I believe that Council Member Nettles and Council Member Martinez also both serve on the Board of Trustees and need to recuse. Am I correct, Council Member Nettles?

Yes, I'm requesting to recuse myself from this vote due to my position on the Texas Wesleyan Board of Directors.

Thank you. And Jeanette? I also will need to recuse myself due to my role on the Texas Wesleyan Board of Trustees.

Thank you. Can I obtain a motion on this item, counsel? Motion and a second. Please vote. Motion carries.

Next is MNC 26- What's wrong?

Oh, you approved. I think I did too. I'm sorry. Okay, what do you need us to do? I do apologize. A reconsideration of item MNC 26-0660. I've only had half of Dr. Pepper, that's my problem. Okay, I've got a motion by Council Member Beck and a second. Thank you, Council Member Damerson. Please vote. There we go. Okay, there we go. Thank you very much for pointing that out.

Next will be MNC 26-0935. Motion and a second. Please vote.

Thank you. Motion carries. Now our brass can breathe a sigh of relief. Thank you, gentlemen.

Next will be MNC 26-0562.

Can I entertain a motion, Councilman Martinez?

I make a motion to approve, but I also want to bring up Dave. Is he anybody from Parks and Rec?

Here he comes.

I'm really excited about this. It will be a mini pitch, which is essentially a really small soccer field, which is not really a field because it's on a tennis court. But I wanted Dave to explain what this is going to look like and just really excited for the Riverside neighborhood.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Yeah, this is another really great result from the FIFA World Cup being here. This is in partnership with the North Texas FIFA Operating Committee. They've done these mini pitches all over DFW and having this great improvement to Sylvania will create a great space that is underutilized now into a great space for the community.

Awesome, thank you. Look forward to bragging about this. Motion and a second.

Please vote.

I made my first soccer goal on our other short pitch with Chris. I think I was blindfolded. Okay, yeah, good. Motion carries.

But he did well too, he kicked well. Next is MNC 26-1079. Council Member Hill.

I move that the Fort Worth City Council adopt the resolution authorizing use of the power of eminent domain to acquire a permanent water facility easement of approximately 17,814 square feet from property owned by Stephen M. Tidwell and Gwyneth Tidwell, located at 12259 Business Highway 287 North, being tracked 1C out of the W. M. Durnham Survey, abstract number 1787, City of Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas. The land rights and the subject property are needed for public use for the north side for 24-inch water transmission main phase 1C project to construct the proposed permanent water facility improvements as needed to enhance water service capability, improve reliability, and support continued growth in water demand. The property interests to be acquired are described by meets and bounds and depicted by the survey exhibits attached as mayor and council communication. Second. Could I motion and a second? Council, please vote.

Motion carries.

Next is MNC 26-1036. Got a motion and a second.

Council, please vote.

Motion carries.

Thank you, sorry.

That's okay. Next is 26-6075.

Council Member Jamison, you want to cheer about this one? Okay.

Motion and a second, please vote.

Motion carries.

Next is 26-6092.

Motion and a second, please vote. Oh, Chris, try one more time.

Thank you.

Motion carries.

Next is 26-6091.

Motion and a second. Council, please vote. Motion carries.

Next is 26-6097.

Motion and a second. Please vote. And many thanks to Chris McLaughlin and the DFW Airport for putting this together.

Motion carries.

Next is 26-6100.

Motion and a second. Council, please vote. Motion carries.

Next is 26-6101.

Motion and a second. Please vote. I'm sorry. Go ahead.

There you go. All right.

Okay, I have some language here that I need to read in for this.

Move to approve with the clarification that council is endorsing council member Peoples to serve on the advocacy committee of the NLC board.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. Motion and a second. Please vote. Oh, I'm sorry, Council Member Nettles.

I just wanted to say congratulations, Councilman Devil-Preebles. You deserve to be here because you won your election and you deserve to represent on the NLC. Thank you so much for your hard dedication work.

Motion and a second, please vote. I'm sorry, okay. Motion carries.

Next is 26-6103.

Council Member Nettles?

Move to approve. Second.

Motion to second. Please vote. Is she still here or did she sneak out? Please vote.

Next is 26-6065.

Motion and a second.

Council, please vote.

Motion carries.

Next is 26-6094. Motion and a second. Please vote. Motion carries. Next will be the following PID items, which can be taken together with one vote. Staff is available if there are questions. We have no speakers on these PID items, and that is MNC 260911. 260915, 260918, 260919, 260921, 260929, 260930, 260931, 260938, 260939, and 260940. Got a motion and a second. Council, any discussion on these items? Yes, Council Mayor Flores, you have a motion.

Okay, well, I was going to go ahead and do that, but if it's already done, let's just move on.

Okay, got a motion. Is that a second? Yep. Great. Motion and a second. Thank you, Lacey and staff. Please vote. Motion carries.

Council, that gets us to... Zoning. Now, one more PID. Oh, sorry. MNC 260841, which is the Rio Claro.

Council Member Hill has a motion. I do. I move to continue the public hearing at the regular council meeting scheduled to begin at 1 o'clock p.m. on Tuesday, September the 29th, and to take action on the petition and ordinance to create the district at that time.

Next is 26-0943. There are no speakers on this item. Council Member Jamison.

Motion to close public hearing and move to approve.

Second.

Motion and a second. Please vote. Motion carries.

Next will be ZC-26-082.

Thank you. And we do have a few speakers on this item. Our first is Moji Haddad, followed by Leslie Ford.

I think it's only if there's opposition, Mayor. I'm not sure.

That's great. I can't see on this note, but I believe you. And Levi Hermes, just making sure no one wants to speak. We're all good? Okay. Council Member Flores.

Thank you for the invitation here for the sake of our council members. I am not supporting zoning commission recommendation for denial. Instead, I am going to change the zoning from G to I. So that allows a use by right. And what is that use? Warehouse and office use. This follows a lot of discussion with the development staff. I appreciate you, DJ, and your staff members and the developer about estimated traffic counts for uses such as multifamily, mixed use, and warehouse uses, which clearly show that lower counts for this use, for the warehouse use. This is supported by the residence HOA and nearby church. This will not adversely affect the old Denton Road or load onto Western Center Boulevard in an adverse way. It's going to stay on the frontage road, which is right next to I-35. TxDOT has already approved the ingress and egress on that frontage road. So with that, move for approving The zoning change from G to I for warehouse use.

Got a motion and a second. Council, please vote. Motion carries.

Next is ZC-26-070.

Council Member Flores, we have one speaker, but I think only if there's opposition.

All right.

Move for approval.

Motion and a second. Please vote. Motion carries.

Next is ZC-26. Yes.

My screen's still kind of locked.

Dr. Hall, can you try voting again?

Me too, actually. I apologize. Motion carries. There we go.

Next is ZC-26-085.

Thank you. Council Member Beck, I've got a motion. Do I have a second? Thank you. I do have a speaker, but I think it's only if there's opposition. Justin Wells? Okay, perfect. Council Member Hill?

My position on the Board of Trustees at TCU, I'll be refusing from this vote. Got a motion and a second on the floor. Council, please vote.

Motion carries.

Next is ZC-26-089. Council Member Jamison.

With support from Sandera Ranch HOA and the North Fort Worth Alliance, I move to approve.

Got a motion and a second. Council, please vote. Motion carries.

Next is ZC-26-092.

Council Member Jamison, we have two speakers, but only if there's opposition.

Move to approve.

Motion and a second, please vote. Try again, Chris, there we go, thank you. Motion carries.

Next is ZC-26-093. Got a motion and a second, please vote.

Motion carries.

Next is ZC-26-094.

You have no speakers on this item, Council Member Nuttles?

Yes, with the support of the new Mitchell Boulevard, I move for approval.

Motion in a second, please vote. Motion carries.

Next is ZC-26-095.

Council Member Beck? Motion to deny. Got a motion to deny. Do I have a second?

Second.

Motion and a second. Please vote.

Motion carries.

Motion carries.

Next is ZC-26-098. That's for peoples. Move to approve.

Motion and a second. Council, please vote. Motion carries.

Mayor and council, that concludes all our action items and gets us to public comment.

Thank you. Our first speaker is Conley Brewer, followed by Ernest Gomez.

Mayor and council members, once again, good evening. My name is Conley Brewer. and I'm a resident of District 6. Over the past several months, I've spoken here about transparency, accessibility, and the importance of meaningful citizen engagement. Tonight, I'm here to discuss something closely related, and that is responsiveness. In recent months, I've been contacted by residents of multiple districts across Fort Worth. There are people that I did not know previously, and many have shared very similar concerns. They tell me that they have emailed They have called or attempted to contact their elected representative and either received no response at all or waited an extended period of time without one. Now, out of respect for this chamber and each one of you, I will not identify the districts involved as I do not believe it would be fair to publicly criticize a council member who does not have the opportunity to respond or defend themselves in this format tonight. That is not my purpose. My purpose is to speak about the pattern. When residents feel unheard, they begin looking elsewhere for answers. Increasingly, some of those residents have been reaching out to me. I find myself helping them locate departments, navigate city processes, and connect with available resources, and I'm happy to help where I can, but I am simply a private citizen. What concerns me is that the residents feel that they must turn to a private citizen in the first place. And I say this respectively. This council recently approved a 100% increase in council compensation. With that increase comes an expectation from many residents that accessibility and responsiveness will remain a top priority. This is not a political issue and it's not a partisan issue. It's just a service issue. Every resident deserves confidence that when they contact their elected representatives, they will receive a timely acknowledgement and a reasonable response. I would encourage the Council to explore ways to improve communications with residents, whether that means publishing response time goals or expanding office hours, improving constituent tracking patterns, or increasing visibility of available resources. There are constructive solutions worth discussing. The residents of Fort Worth should never feel ignored by their government. When people across the city begin looking outside their elected representation for help, it is a signal that something may need improvement. I hope this council will take that consideration seriously. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Ernest Gomez, followed by Charles Harrell.

Hello, Mayor Parker and Distinguished Council. I wanted to speak to you today. Well, I'll give you my name. Let me start this over. My name is Ernie Gomez. I'm a Fort Worth native in District 9. I love where I live. I love the city, and I heard Mayor Parker talking a little bit earlier about how much work goes into everything that you guys do, and I'm so proud to be a Fort Worthian, and I always have been, and I appreciate each and every one of you. I wanted to tell you, Carlos, thank you for the shout-out for Northside High School. Go Northside Steers, and for the Legacy Foundation as well, so thank you. We do. We honor the brave men and women who gave their lives for our freedom, including those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. We owe it to them to protect the Constitution and the freedoms that they fought to preserve. My concern today is about transparency, religious organizations, public funding, and the protection of constitutional government. I have questions about the growth of mosques and Islamic centers in Texas, especially in North Texas. I want to know what the facts are, where the funding comes from, what programs these organizations operate under, and whether any public funds have been provided to them. I also have concerns about claims that certain political or religious organizations seek to change our laws or institutions. I'm asking that this council help separate fact from rumor. Specifically, I respectfully ask, what public funds have been provided to religious organizations, including mosques? Who approved those funds and for what purposes? What are the applicable laws and standards for religious organizations seeking development, approvals, grants, or other public resources? What is the legal status of Sharia law in Texas? Is Texas law already established that the Constitution and Texas law govern our courts and government? Can the council provide clear information about these protections? Let me be clear, America protects freedoms of religion. Totally understand and believe that. I believe every person has the right to worship as they choose. But religious freedom does not mean that any private religious tribunal can replace the Constitution or exempt anyone from law. Our laws must apply equally to everyone. I'm not asking Fort Worth to restrict anyone's faith. I'm asking Fort Worth to protect the Constitution, to uphold the law, and ensure that every resident is treated equally. We must protect women and children, the right of every American to vote, and the constitutional principles that protect our families and our communities. My request is simple. Transparency, accountability, constitutional protections, and a commitment to rule of law. I believe Ford can lead by example, city of faith, freedom and justice, where every resident is treated. Our next speaker is Charles Harrell.

Charles Harrell? George Charles? Mr. Charles will be followed by Letitia Wilburn.

My name is George Vernon Childs. I live in Fort Worth. Who is Rhett Bennett, CEO of Black Mountain? In an email in regard to an article in the Star-Telegram about his donations to council members, Mr. Bennett stated, quote, the donations you cite are a fraction of my annual political activity currently and certainly do not even come close to an emphasis of mine, unquote. I was unable to positively determine whether said donation is totaled $36,000 or $46,000, depending on whether Councilmember Nettles receives $10,000 or $20,000. Before we would place him second to our $12,000 mayor, the latter would put him $8,000 ahead. Either way, I think that the first Black Mountain facility, or excuse me, campus, will be in District 8, played a part in that choice. A grand total of $36,000 will buy a new Mini Hardtop. A grand total of $46,000 will buy a new 2006 Toyota Camry. Mr. Bennett further stated, quote, good governance starts with smart elected officials. It will keep us from going the way of some states that run off economic opportunity, unquote. Now is that in contrast to dumb elected officials who think protecting the health and safety of those they represent to be their most important duty? In Fort Worth's report for April 30, 2026, Mr. Bennett was quoted as saying he didn't believe that there would be any health risks and that data centers would likely limit their water consumption through use of a closed-loop system that recycles some water. I ask, what percentage of lack of probability does Mr. Bennett's lack of belief reflect? What degree of probability does likely indicate? And how many gallons is some water? These statements clearly show a preference for vague, shadowy words. That's rich irony indeed when this rhetorical sloppiness is used by someone who definitely wants solid information when it is needed to make him money. When Mr. Bennett was considering investing in nickel sulfides, he implored Ashley Zumwalt to go to five countries to determine which of them would be the best source. Only scientifically sound facts warranted, and there's definitely money in nickel sulfides. Just pull up the accounts of Ashley Zumwalt's wedding and see for yourself. It was something that will never be seen in Echo Heights unless someone wins the lottery. In the interview that provided much of what I've said, Mr. Bennett stated, quote, not that you ever want to compare yourself to the cigarette guys, unquote, and then proceeded to do exactly that. More about this in the next public comment.

Our next speaker is Letitia Wilburn followed by Michael Howell.

Good afternoon. I want to start by playing some sounds. Anyway, there's a third one, but I'm not gonna take the time to look for it. But anyway, that's the noise coming from the trucking company behind the homes on Tahoe Drive. The trucking company is located at 4812 Parker Henderson Road. Those sounds were taken Saturday morning at 10 something in the morning. This trucking company has a history with the citizens of Echo Heights. They've called the citizens crackheads, Section 8 thieves. Now here's the problem that we're having. This is a residential community. This noise went on for hours and it goes on all the time. They were actually repairing a truck behind homes. Behind the homes, we have several residents who have very serious life-threatening illnesses. We also have several homes that have children and pets that utilize their backyards. Now keep in mind this trucking company bags up to our backyards. And if you all can, okay, and then also here's a, this actually is in my backyard. That is how hot it actually gets in our backyard with the trucking company behind our homes. Now, here's the problem that I'm having. Y'all's comprehensive plan does not include the word truck. environmental. If y'all cannot control the noise and the sounds and the heat from a trucking company, how are y'all going to control anything from a data center? Y'all said that there's no regulations on noise in industrial areas. Okay, Echo Heights is an industrial growth center. So people beware, what happened to Echo Heights can happen to your community. There's no regulations to any of these companies.

Our next speaker is Michael Howell, followed by Bob Willoughby.

I guess it is. Okay. Governmental Accounting Standards Board has rule number 34, which allows for capitalization of asphalt, repairs, pavement. Within the P&D planning and development, there are, under the design, build regulations with the city, there is a no-bid provision for capital improvements. I'm asking the city of Fort Worth to adopt some type of procedure for all capital structure improvements, planning and design. Design build. I have done these in the past and I've had to bid on them. I think everybody should be able to face the same scrutiny that I did. In my neighborhood, Pasco neighborhood, $600,000 from the 2018 budget bond was finally finished in 2025. I thought that was kind of strange. Well, if you take the number, they only replaced five poles. All the rest of them were changed out. The heads were changed out. As my wife says, blue lights, whatever that means, LED. And all they did was change out the heads. $600,000, no bid, contract. There's no way the project manager knew what was going on. He probably thought that they were going to change out all light poles, 40 light poles. They didn't. I think they changed it out maybe eight or nine. I started marking them, then I stopped. But $600,000, 25% went to pre-construction soft cost, which is 100 and, what is that? 25% is 150,000. That led 450,000 for labor and materials. Someone needs to look at it. and move a lot of your infrastructure, asphalt, to capital improvements. That's all. Please, what is it, Fort Worth Lab, look at this. Y'all have asphalt in your budget, operating budget, and you can move it to, and you take your pay go, whatever that is, and move that to your infrastructure budget. It frees up your operating money to close your budget. That's it. Thank you very much.

Our next speaker is Bob Willoughby, followed by Jake Wilson.

Tell you what, if these people ever get smart in Fort Worth and know to move this comment meeting to the top of the agenda, like other cities, you people wouldn't have your heads down and you'd be in trouble. But they're not smart enough to make you move the comment meeting to the top. That's dumb to leave us on the bottom because we're just talking to you crooks. Go ahead and play the video. I guess now. There's 10 more seconds off. Well, we're waiting for the video to play.

Councilor, I mean.

I think you ought to freeze it.

Mr. Wilby, I don't think your video is able to be played. I believe Ms. Guzman had sent you an email earlier this afternoon explaining why that was.

You've had this video for a month.

I'm just telling you.

That's okay. Don't play it. That's okay. You don't play it. You know why you're not going to play it? Because it exposes things. That's why. That's the truth. And how people come to here and think they can deal with you and negotiate with you. When you're a liar, Mayor Parker, you can't negotiate with a liar. You lied about me. You said I cursed at kids. That didn't happen. That's a lie. Okay. Chris Nettles. Hey, Chris. your problem with the courts there that got against you, I don't know, you might go, that'd be nice if you go to jail for a little while. Anybody call themselves a pastor and do what you do, you need to go to jail for a little while. I'll tell you. I've got a minute here to waste because they don't play my video. They did it on purpose so I can't prepare for something else. But I can emphasize, with that Black Mountain thing, people came to hear and yelled about that issue in Groves. But not one person said, hey, Maddie, move this comment to the top of the agenda so that everybody hears it. Why is it so important? She knows why it's important to be on bottom, but we don't. We're ignorant. But she knows. She's smart enough to know this. If we're on top, everybody hears you. And she don't want people to hear you. People are zooming in for zoning cases that don't know anything about our city are zooming in because they've got a car wash they don't want in their area. They hear you. Down here, nobody hears you. Move your council comment celebrity hour to the bottom of the agenda, okay? Move your comments to the bottom. Put the people on top. And then at the end of the night, nobody here to see you. You go home early. This is a win-win. And while I've got this time and this money, I can't tell you how bad, no matter what you say, Chris, the other peoples cannot answer questions, and neither can you. So your support of these people is no good either, because you can't answer questions either. You're very incompetent people. You don't know how to answer questions, okay? You just can't do it. You're not educated, but you're a crook. The other people, you're nothing but a crook to sit there and take advantage of the people's money. You are a disgrace. You're almost as bad as Maddie Parker. You're working at it.

Sorry, Debra.

Y'all have a good night.

Yeah. Our next speaker is Jake Wilson. Mr. Wilson is followed by Thomas Hamilton.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. I live in Fort Worth District 4 and I'm speaking in support of a historical marker and or memorial for Pastor Anthony Bewley, a Methodist circuit rider pastor who in 1860 was brutally murdered by a mob here in Fort Worth for his abolitionist beliefs. This Sunday, September 13th, was the anniversary of Anthony Bewley's death. The Texas State Historical Commission writes that by 1858, Bewley had moved his family to Johnson County, Texas, and established a mission 16 miles south of Fort Worth. His anti-slavery views were threatening to Southerners. Recognizing the danger, Bewley left in mid-July with part of his family. On September 3, 1860, a Texas posse caught up with him in Missouri. His captors returned him to Fort Worth on September 13th. Late that night, vigilantes seized Bewley and delivered him into the hands of a waiting lynch mob. His body was allowed to hang until the next day when he was buried in a shallow grave. Three weeks later, his bones were unearthed, stripped of their remaining flesh, and placed on top of Ephraim Daggett's storehouse where children made a habit of playing with them. It may surprise people that today there is a historical marker in Fort Worth commemorating this same Ephraim Daggett, who it seems was involved in Anthony Buley's murder. However, there is apparently not a historical marker for Anthony Buley in Fort Worth. A memorial to Anthony Bewley in Tennessee reads, Methodist minister dedicated to working for the Lord, missionary to Texas, and there martyred for his belief in freedom for all men. I am confident that a memorial and or historical marker for Anthony Bewley could get widespread support from across our Fort Worth community. I also think it would be great if the city had a memorial to the Union Army veterans whom the 1890 census shows, living in Fort Worth in 1890. Anthony Bewley's story is a reminder of how blessed we all are that the United States won the Civil War, and that Texas is far different today than it was in 1860. For example, Texas Today is working in a variety of ways, which I support, to expand opportunities for Bible education to all Texas school students. But the Confederacy, I will note, took a very different path than the one Texas takes today. Some Confederate states made it a crime just to teach those under the bondage of slavery to even read the Bible for themselves. I would say that this put the Confederacy in this regard more in line with Communist China's actions these days against house churches than with the Texas of today. Thank you very much.

Our next speaker is Thomas Hamilton, followed by Michael Rolson.

Thomas Hamilton, District 11. I came to you guys once before telling you about a problem I was having in my neighborhood. And I asked Councilwoman Jeanette Martinez to fix it. She did just that with the help of Commander Williams. Thank you, ma'am. Also, she closed off Ben Avenue. I don't know if y'all know where that is. But it stopped the street racing and the burnouts, which is really close to Safe Haven. And it just got the bad guys out of there. And thank you for that. Also, I wanted to recognize the best NPO I guess I've ever had, Travis Vidari. In the last month, with his help, they've taken down two drug houses in my neighborhood. The last one, about a week ago, netted three arrests and over 700 grams of fentanyl. So that's a good thing. And I just wanted to come and give some public praise. I don't want to come here and complain all the time. Uh, there is one little thing. Panhandlers have started using children in the intersections and in the medians. Y'all need to look at that. There's no sense for y'all to put, for them to put those children in, in harm's way. And that's all I got. I just wanted to say thank you to Jeanette and to NPO Vidari. And I hope the brass is still here. That man needs some recognition because he goes over and above.

Michael Rawlson, followed by Christopher Johnson.

Okay, last city council meeting, our city council attempted to increase the zoning height for Black Mountain data center to 70 feet in height. And I say attempted because you all didn't actually approve the zoning changes. You all just approved the amendment to the zoning change. So there was a little bit of an error on that part, but I guess y'all aren't aware of that, which could make you all open to lawsuit in the future, but I'm not the elected official. Rep Bennett is attempting to buy Fort Worth's election by donating nearly $50,000 to our city council members right now. That includes $12,000 to Mighty Parker. $4,500 to Carlos Flores, $2,000 to Michael Crane, $2,000 to Macy Hill, $2,000 to Elizabeth Beck, $2,000 to Alan Blaylock, and $2,000 to Jeanette Martinez. But beyond that, Brett Bennett has also donated $500,000 to PAC supporting Greg Abbott. So with all the people on this stage right now that are taking money from this man, just know that he's also donating to the same people that are currently destroying Fort Worth ISD. So you're finding yourself in common cause with those types of people, including you, Chris Nettles, $20,000, like I said earlier. And I know Elizabeth Beck mentioned earlier that it was virtue signaling for many of the city council members to vote in favor of the budget, but also vote against approving the tax rate increase. And I just want to say, how can you mention the budget shortfall without continuously mentioning how y'all continue to vote for tax cuts every single time for these large corporations? Y'all approve tens of millions of dollars every single year in Chapter 380 agreements and tax abatements for these corporations. and yet you complain about a budget shortfall. It's clear you just want the working class people of this city to pay much more in taxes than these massive corporations. Thank you.

Christopher Johnson, followed by Kent de Cardenas. Kent, here, no? Oh, sorry, Kent, I couldn't see you over the microphone. And then Shara Bratcher is next.

We have got to find a better way to communicate. Absolutely agree with that sentiment. How about a phone number that doesn't go to a general city operator? How about an email address instead of a comment form that limits you to 70 to 80 words? How about a response or a confirmation from a live person? When we do use that submission form, my council member with much smaller staff can manage that. How about honoring the rules as explained by your city secretary and allowing people to make presentations when your own city staff failed to provide adequate information on subjects before the council? Do you and I agree on everything? Most definitely not. But I am willing to bet that we could find common ground if you actually kept the channels of dialogue open. Thanks.

Our next speaker is Shara Bratcher, followed by Stephen Sanchez. Okay, if someone will grab her and we'll move to Stephen Sanchez. And then after Stephen will be Sheriff Bratcher.

So after the zoning commission, scrambling the City assistant manager office office Asked the gas well engineer I think his name is Brandon Skaggs to do a sound monitoring report for the data centers here in Fort Worth So this is what it is here. This is what this is what he did. I don't know if you guys have seen this It should have been shown to you at some point, but it hasn't at least I don't think it has so basically These places are loud. They also have them, these little red lines here. Can you scroll down or can I scroll with this? Can I scroll with this? Yeah, so some of these red lines here are just like the scale of the map of where he was at. So like he kind of like went past to the areas where he needed to go, but the city managed office wanted him to measure at 250 feet, which is what I did as well. And so the conclusion is, I don't know why he did this too. He averaged all of them together for some reason and gave it a number. I don't know why he would do that. But he did go to Enon Drive, so, you know, Lon Stevenson, Black Mountain site, and he came to the same conclusion I did. Everything is below 50 decibels. So, quiet neighborhood. And he even says in this email... He even says that DBA is misleading. He says that we need to do 1 3rd band octave analysis. It doesn't say whether or not he did C or Z weighting on that, but whatever. It's still showing that it's still pretty loud, even on the octave band analysis side. I want to move over to water. So between the assistant city manager, Dana, and Christopher Harder, he basically just confirmed that these water tables are, these are the ones, so this one's from Meta, this is from Facebook. Facebook actually does the biggest, they're the biggest water consumer out of all the data centers here. So if you're looking at this, they use about, let's see, Well, it says it here. It says they use... So if you average this out, if you smooth this all out for Facebook in total, they're using around 210,000 gallons per day. So average Texas household, around 255 gallons per day, which is kind of crazy, because I don't do that much water. I must be conserving water for data centers. So... My request is for the DCIC and council to amend the noise ordinance due to your own studies.

Next speaker is Shara Bratcher followed by Stephanie McCartney. Shara here? No? Stephanie McCartney? Ms. McCartney will be followed by Sabrina Ball.

Good evening, Council. My name is Stephanie McCartney. I live in the Burton Hill area of Fort Worth. I'm a Fort Worth ISD graduate myself, before No Child Left Behind sank its teeth into Texas, the nation, long before the hostile state takeover. When I had children, I enrolled them in Fort Worth ISD. To be transparent, my time as a parent in Fort Worth ISD has been turbulent, but I never doubted my general education student was receiving a rigorous education. That's no longer the case. Our highly educated teachers are being forced to teach a curriculum with known errors like slides depicting hands with six fingers. They are not allowed to deviate from the script. They're not allowed to sit down. They may not get bathroom breaks. Let's call this what it is. Our educators are being forced to educate our students in a hostile work environment. look at special education in Fort Worth ISD. In April of this year, an incredibly concerned community showed up at the BOM meeting, and we collectively begged the board not to cut SPED services like PT, OT, speech, and bilingual support, among many other essential positions. Nonetheless, the board of managers voted to cut the staff. We were already short staffed in these areas before the takeover, so much so that my student didn't receive adequate speech services last year. With staff reduced and those positions not filled, how will our students receive the services that they must get in order for the district to be in compliance with federal law? The greater question is, where have you all been? When have you shown up to the board of managers meetings and spoken up for the students, for the teachers? Ms. Parker, when you campaigned, you said that education was incredibly important to you. But how have you not been coming to these meetings and standing shoulder to shoulder with your students, with your teachers and your parents, your constituents? We see y'all's inaction, and we will remember this when it comes time for reelection. Community, check your voter registration status today. If you are not registered, do it before October 5th to make sure your voice will be heard November 3rd. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Sabrina Ball followed by Nicholas Haynes.

Are y'all paying attention to Fort Worth kids? Mayor Parker, you invited a takeover to Fort Worth ISD saying something had to change and you are not wrong. But this change is destroying education in Fort Worth. You all seem more concerned with the fate of Farrington Field than the education of our kids. We have a hand-picked takeover board of managers who live in an alternate reality, including a board president with clear conflicts of interest, an ill-tempered, unqualified superintendent, highly paid administrators that terrorize teachers so much that they're risking their careers to leave. The takeover board is barreling through taxpayer dollars to serve their vendor buddies, signing us up for costs long past their time here. They're discussing selling properties that are not theirs to sell. Are any of you listening to the board meetings? Are you attending listening sessions? Parents are being told that advocating for their own kids is unacceptable and they're being thrown out. Their kids are being denied federally mandated services. The state turned the classroom into TikToks. Scripted lessons can't deviate from that script. Doesn't matter what questions the kids ask, doesn't matter if they're crying, the kids have to prove they learned from this crap 30 second demonstrations of learning if they can't they're divided in the same classroom dummies over here and smart kids over there kids are being taught to count with six fingers on each hand ai generated images that identify florida as one of the 13 colonies graphics that teach incorrect information not just in elevate campuses but at advanced courses if your kid has special needs and can't respond to those dols there are inexperienced teachers turning them in for behavior problems sped kids are getting in school suspension because the takeover administration doesn't follow the law If the kid doesn't speak English, teachers are forced to ignore them because they're not given the tools to help them. Dr. Licata is lying about supports for language learners. This is a violation of TEA regulations. I beg you, please go talk to your immigrant parents in the districts about what's happening, they cannot come here and advocate. They can't go to listening sessions. There is an ICE surge. Why would they risk detainment and deportation for a school system that ignores them? And when a parent tries to advocate, they're dismissed and ignored. You are our closest elected officials. Carlos, in your district, the little boy that was found wandering in the neighborhood at Ruffino Elementary, his family was offered a transfer that still hasn't happened. He has not been back to school since August 31st. Today, the family was told it would be resolved within 20 days. 20 more days. He's already missed two weeks of school, and his mother has nowhere left to go. Are you going to do anything for that family? The Takeover Board of Managers does not serve us. They serve Marath and Abbott. When you signed up to serve the city of Fort Worth, you signed up to serve everyone, including our kids. That's your job.

Our next speaker is Nicholas Haynes, followed by David Martinez.

Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Nicholas Haynes, and I serve in District 9. And I'm actually here for a very simple reason. I work with Block by Block, which actually serves in Fort Worth through downtown ambassadors and the West Seventh ambassadors. And I'm really just simply here to say thank you for the opportunity to serve. And I just wanted to share our appreciation. We've served nearly 10 years in downtown, including the last three with the West 17 and just really appreciate the partnership with Fort Worth Police. Councilmember Beck and your team, we really appreciate that opportunity to serve. And with that, I'm here just recognizing my team. Our local manager, Justice Silver, is here as well. And I really just appreciate the opportunity that this city provided us to participate in providing a safer West Seventh and continuing to serve with DFWI downtown. So with that, I say thank you very much. We really appreciate to serve in such a great and safe city and love serving with Fort Worth PD and really appreciate their partnership. Thank you very much.

David Martinez, followed by Ambika Sharma.

Good evening. I'd like to start off with saying thank you, Mayor. When I spoke to you last time at the morning, you brought attention to I really was not feeling well, and I didn't realize it until you walked off, and I just noticed my shirt was getting soaking wet. I had sugar low, and then my blood pressure dropped, and thanks to the fire department that was there, they were able to help me. I also want to start off with saying I want to remember Officer Garrett Hull. Yesterday marked the anniversary of his end of watch, September 14, 2018. If we could get this done, I'd like to the city to recognize his service and make that his day. He is a hero for Southside. During that time in 2018, Officer Hull was undercover and there was a gang that was going after and targeting Mexican immigrants that were at check cashing places and at the stores and the food trucks. One of the food trucks was the one I owned and thanks to his service, he was able to stop them and it cost him his life. So I'd like to have something done in his name for the people in Southside that he protected. I also wanna bring up also now about the fourth ISD. The fourth ISD, I've been going to the listening sessions, and one of the things that we found out was that the fourth ISD, they took out some of the positions that were helping the high school students do adult credit, and so without that, this last summer, they weren't able to sign up in time, and the ones that did, they lost their courses because there was not enough attendance, so therefore, we had a fall in dual credit. So the kids weren't going to TCC and getting dual credit in high school. So I talked to Dr. Licata, and he spoke to two of the TCC board members that were there. And they said they were going to work on it. And then this next semester, we're going to push. But we need the council members in your districts. We need you to push that for your PTAs and also for your neighborhood associations. Also, we need to stop making City of Fort Worth, the City Hall, a food desert. I'm hoping to count on Councilman Flores and Councilman Martinez to bring some tamales and tacos. Sal Espino and Jim Lane used to bring tamales, and now I'm looking out for y'all to bring that to us. Thank you, and also, I dedicate the last part of my time to Officer Hall. God bless his family.

Our next speaker is Ambika Sharma, followed by Basil Migo.

Good evening. I have a presentation, but I'll first comment on Beau French, who is a resident of Westover Hills and is the former head of the Tarrant County Republican Party. Over the weekend, he made racist remarks. Besides Charlie, I haven't seen any of y'all condemn his statements. I'm waiting for when will you condemn or make any statement. So I'll just read what Senator John Cornyn said in his post. He said, this is the Republican nominee for statewide office. Are other Republican elected officials going to condemn the intolerance and racism or look the other way while it becomes normalized? This is how great parties self-destruct. Sad. I stand by his statement. It is sad. So last, when we met last time, three, I think four of y'all left for public comments. So I'm gonna repeat the same thing because Macy Hill, Maddie, Charlie, y'all left. So first page, thank you for putting this up. So I have been to lots of the budget session. Tad was vehemently bashed. And Maddie, I read your article and you talked about the protest. And protest is just one part of the story. The other part of the story is the freeze that the Tim O'Hare group instilled. So what you see here, but before I go into this table, TAD has one constitutional mandate, which is equal and uniform appraisals. They are required to do this by law. What that means is you cannot appraise a richer home differently than a poorer home. That's just not allowed by law. I solicited this table from the Chief Appraisers August 2026 report. This is not my data, this is TAD's data, and they're showing you appraisal values here. I highlighted two rows. The first row there is homes that are up to $200,000. They were appraised at 106%. What that means is they are over appraised and therefore overburdened on their property taxes. Then if you go to the homes on the upper end, which are a million dollar homes, such as Beau French's in West River Hills, those homes are appraised at only 71%. So they're getting an indirect benefit on their property taxes. And by publishing this report, the chief appraiser is admitting that they are in constitutional violation. So Mr. Chapa, yes, protest is one of it, but also the residential freeze. TAD met on September 8th, and they voted to continue with appraisals in 2027, but they're going to freeze again in 2028. I was hoping, Mr. Chapa, you or your team members would be there, but you were so missed. So we have now a $94 million shortfall. How are we going to fill that gap if we're not going to make statements to TAD asking them to stop the freeze process? So this is not just about protests. It's also about the freeze that the GOP has been advocating.

Our last speaker is Basil Migo. Is Mr. Migo here?

January, 2026, cancel. February, 2026, cancel. March, 2026, cancel.

August, 2026, cancel.

My name is Bass Mego. I'm an educator and advocate at the REACH Disability Center, downtown Fort Worth. Advocate for our clients there? These meetings, the past nine, the Mayor's Committee on Persons with Disability, last nine meetings, only five took place. These members, who supposedly are supposed to hold these chairs, don't care. These are paper chairs. All they care about is they have their name on a paper. Their resume looks good. They don't know how to relate to disabled people. They're scared of these disabled people. They told me, in June, if I sign up for one of these chairs, we will have these meetings. Instead of me waiting until 10 when these meetings are supposed to start at 10 a.m., And then at 1015, they tell us there's no meeting. And the folks that have to help get up there, they have to get childcare, physical therapy, special transportation with the wheelchairs. Then they tell us we have to go.

And this keeps happening.

So they tell me in June, if I sign up for one of these seats, this will stop happening. I sign up in June. August comes around, and there's three vacant chairs still sitting there. Then in September, I take a look at all the members of this committee. Now there's five open chairs. But they tell me that I'm not selected. So, now the committee with these five open seats, I'm gonna have to go and reapply and go through the whole process to try to get on this committee again. Even though they told me there's no room for me. Well, two more seats just opened up. I also asked this committee the Mayor's Committee for Persons with Disabilities, and we need to have microphones here, portable ones, and as you can see.

Council, that's the conclusion of our speakers this evening. We are officially adjourned at 9.23 p.m.