In case you're wondering, we are waiting for a quorum. One more person. Yeah, we counted her. We need eight. Jelly Roll is in town. Carlos didn't even know who that was. You are not cool. Hey, Council Member Lowdorf, can we do a quick mic check? Yes, ma'am. Can you hear me? Yes, we can. Thank you. And with that, we are calling the city council public comment meeting to order. I will ask you all to stand first for the invocation, followed by the pledges of allegiance. Council member Flores, would you do the honor of providing the invocation to assemble as residents and representatives of our great city. In your presence, we ask that you bless these proceedings as we listen to our community voices. In your name we pray. Amen. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty, and justice for all. Honor the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible. And now for consideration of the minutes from meetings April 8th, April 15th, April 15th, April 22nd, and April 29th. One motion will do. Move for approve. Second. I heard a motion. Several seconds. All in favor? Any opposed? I don't know how to work this thing. So, okay, there you go. Thank you. And with that, those minutes are approved. Next will be our speakers. And just as a note for our speakers, um we are expecting to lose quorum. So we are going to reduce the time to two minutes so that we can get hopefully everybody through. Our first speaker will be Chris Wood. Is Chris here? Okay. Bob Willoughby, center. Where do we go? Right. Right there. Oh, very good. Very good. Okay. Two minutes is all we got, huh? Yep. Yes, sir. All right. You took away a whole council meeting we used to have tonight and then you even cut us down to two minutes. You should give us four minutes. Now you got 100 one minute and 48 seconds. I know. Oh, you know what? I got to thank you, Gina. How many votes? Best thing you ever done for me. How many votes did you get? You know what you did for me is when you stood at the John T. White Neighborhood Association um forum and you said you weren't going to endorse anybody and you turn around endorse Michael Moore and you didn't do them. Oh, I think David was crying. He had tears in his eye, man. You stabbed him right in the back. You know, I told James, I said, "James, you play with a snake, you get bit." A minute. That's the way it is up here. You people own the neighborhood association to show how you bite them. So, I appreciate that. 15 seconds and you get seven votes, 57 people. Time for dinner now. Not even all your relatives, Bob. Thank you. Call the next speaker. Our next speaker will be Heather Tolkorf. And please, I'm sorry if I misspelled or mispronounced that. A-rated Deavala Elementary, one of only four A-rated elementary schools in our district out of 80 total elementary schools. You may have already heard about our school of uncommon achievement earning an A rating for the third consecutive year on par with affluent elementary schools like Tanglewood, Overton Park, and West Park, but serving a student population more reflective of the diversity of our great city. Desavala stands tall as a stool as a school that demonstrates the promise of the American dream, changing the lives of students to put them on a different trajectory than most other schools in our district would afford. Council members, as leaders committed to the future of Fort Worth, I am here today with a plea for your support in urging Fort Worth ISD to take action that supports access to highquality education in our great city. to help us ensure that A-rated Day Desavala Elementary remains open. This is not just a district issue. It's a community issue, a growth issue, an issue that will guide our future. Families that value diversity and excellence come from across Fort Worth to attend Desavala. Therefore, it this is an issue to be addressed by every council member representing the families of Fort Worth. The decision ahead will beckon the trajectory of our city's future. I urge for your your support. Thank you, Heather. Our next speaker is Annie Taylor Curtis. You have two minutes. Is she here? No, I told her not to come. Oh, okay. Um, our next speaker is Patrick O'Neal. Council members, thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today. Uh I'm a 10year resident of Fairmont. I have four granddaughters that go to Desavala Elementary, um ages 4 to 11. It's the privilege of my life to be able to walk them to school every day. Um and when I get there, I get to talk to students and teachers, faculty members, other parents. uh all the while as these children file into a school that's been open for a hundred years. I'm not here to be nostalgic, however. I'm here to talk about Desavala's future uh and its present. Um Heather just spoke very eloquently about the success that Desavala has and yet we're facing closure. Um rather than face closure, we should be the shining example of what Fort Worth ISD can actually be. We should be the example not only of what Tarant County and Fort Worth is, but we should be the face of public education in Texas. Um, instead of glowing, instead of closing Desavala, we should focus on a campaign of how to make other schools within this district more like Desavala. That is community-based children centered education and not funneling them into a large school where they lose track of our kids because one thing that Deavala does not do is lose track of its students. and that's demonstrated by the consecutive years of A-rated success. Um, Mayor Parker put forth some issu some things she wanted to see change in August and one of them was develop clear and ambitious goals focused on student achievement and to implement highquality instruction across every classroom. Well, we've ran we've answered that uh in a dramatic yes. We've done those things. we can do those things and again we should be the example um not facing closure we should not be a mathematical casualty. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Gerald Bank, Seniors. We will, Mr. Banks. We will. Gerald Banks, Senior, the city of Fort Worth has to make some very necessary changes and it starts right here with you, Mayor Parker, and the city council persons. The ad admiration towards one another and the city of Fort should be a amplable, but it's not, and it shows. Instead, you have animosity and vengeance that needs to be reconciled in the order that this city and truly comes to come together. The song by the undisputed truth smiling faces. Everyone should take time out and listen to listen to it and learn to be better toward one another. It takes all of us to modify while being aware that respect is highly due no matter what the situation is at hand. The United States is already in chaos. But why does a city a great city like forward and its citizens has to follow it? We are rear. We are rear and extremely better than that that that while the rest of of the world is watching us example of how it is how it's done. This is for each candidate and every citizen to put to pull together and make amends. If you can accomplish that, we can all win. Once again to all candidates, take a take take every promise that was projected from your speech to the citizens and makes good of them because that's what we are expecting of you. Once again, don't backpedal now that you have the ability to make of your word. Thank you, Mr. Banks. I'll complete it the next time around. Thank you. Our next speaker is Annette Kella or I'm going to mess up your name, so please just state your name to begin. Hi, my name is Annette Cricolaro. Um, okay. Before I begin, I would like to take time to congratulate the elected and reelected officials. Uh, I am a Fort Worth ISD parent, PTA member at Desavala, and licensed social worker. Um this week news surfaced that TEA has warned that Fort Worth ISD is at risk of state takeover due to failing ratings for five consecutive or for five consecutive years at schools. Also currently Fort Worth ISD facilities master plan proposed their great city become known for closing high performing schools such as Desavala. Um let's see. Desavala Elementary has been A-rated consistently for three years and is one of four A-rated elementary schools in Fort Worth out of 83. I'm going to repeat that. One of only four A-rated elementary schools in Fort Worth ISD out of 83. And in honor of teacher appreciation week, thank you Desabala teachers and faculty for your unmet dedication. Overall, the district is 86% ethnic minority and 85% economically disadvantaged mirroring desal stats. According to the data analysis of Texas academic performance records, only 27.9% of Texas schools have received A- ratings. The average title one population of these schools, 43%. Desabala serves almost double that. Oh, thank you. Oh, continue. You have 30 seconds remaining. Okay. Now 25. Okay. Desol is a school with excellent results. In order for our city to flourish, we need our school and neighborhoods to continue to reflect the greatness. Our city cannot lose an A-rated school and dismantle our neighborhood. I urge you to consider the undeniable facts and profound impact that it's having on our community. And breaking this up. Thank you. Adrien Smith. I don't I don't see him. I don't see him. Our next speaker will be Willie Merkel. Good evening everyone. Good evening. Hi, my name is Willie Merkardov. I'm a resident of District 8. I am a door guard at DFW airport. My job duties includes stopping people from entering a secure area from unsecured area. At times there are people who will get confrontational with me because I will not let them go back through the door that they read that they had left out of. And this is to keep people from entering a secure area with unproted items. At DFW airport, we are overworked, underpaid. My salary doesn't even cover my rent or my electricity bill. let alone groceries, gas, or car insurance. Last year, American Airlines paid their CEOs $30 million from the profits they made off cities like ours. That's around $15,000 per hour. That's only going to increase as our airport expands and new terminals and breaking passenger records. But people from Fort Worth doing the hard work to make possible don't see any of the profits. DFW airport is supposed to serve the people of the DFW air. So the airlines and their contracts should pay us enough to live in our own cities. We can do this without costing taxpayers a dime. You could ensure that that thousands of people in DFA area would keep the lights on, roof over their heads and foods on their table by asking the DFW board to raise the minimum wage at the airports. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Payton Abrams. Hi, I'm Payton Abrams. I'm speaking to you on behalf of the thousands of airport service workers at DFW airport. I am an unaccompanied minor escort and I speak for the unaccompanied minor escorts who help our most precious passengers, our children make it to their loved ones. The wheelchair agents who make sure everyone can access the airplane. cabin cleaners who keep the aircraft sanitary and more. From curb to cabin, we make air travel possible and we're proud of it. Some of us are getting paid as little as $10 an hour. You can't raise a family on that. Some of them are finding that it's impossible to stay in the job that doesn't pay enough for your basic necessities. No benefits, i.e. sick days. Poverty, wages, and poor conditions don't just hurt us. They put everybody at risk. High worker turnover means fewer experienced workers who know critical safety procedures and how to assist during emergencies. I'm glad that the Fort Worth City Council has acknowledged that it's becoming more and more expensive to survive by raising the minimum wage for city workers. I am here today to let you know we also need a raise at the airport. I am asking you today, please stand with workers like me. We need you to call on the DFW airport board to raise wages for contracted airport service workers. We deserve a wage that we can live on. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Lawrence Walker. Our next speaker will be Esther Alver and she has a translator. May prom. Okay. Good evening, Mayor Parker and council members. My name is Esther Aar. I'm a baggage service agent at DFW and I live right here in district 5. I love my job. I enjoy helping passengers. Whether it's finding their lost bags or guiding them through the airport, the truth is I don't earn enough to live with dignity. I've gone without medicine because I can't afford the copay. I've lost sleep from the stress of wondering how it will cover rent, groceries, and bills. All while working fulltime at one of the biggest airports in the country. in American Airlines. I wear a uniform that makes it look like I work for American Airlines. But as a contracted worker, I don't get paid sick leave. I don't get benefits. I don't get paid enough to survive. We find pride in saying that DFW airport is one of the best airports in the country, but other airports are doing more to address the needs of their workers. In New York, San Francisco, and even right here in Austin, contracted airport workers make 20, 22, and even $25 an hour. At DFW, some of my co-workers earn just as little as $10 an hour. Why are the airport service workers who do essential jobs at a city-owned airport are still being left behind? Excuse me. I'm asking you today, please stand with workers like me. We need you to call on the DFW airport board to raise wages for contracted airport service workers. We deserve a wage we can live on. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker will be James Smith. Good afternoon council. My name is James Smith. I live in district 8. Today I bring to you or bring with me the spirit of Thomas Tolenasi and Iana Jefferson. It's been six years since a Tatiana lost her life in the city of Fort Worth and I'm perplexed about the amount of time that's taken to rectify the accountability of the city of Fort Worth. I'm kind of taken a back because I have to readjust my mind about what I was going to say in the two minutes with the three minutes that I had programmed. So, I uh forgive me for that. You purchased this building in what 2022? You finished this building in 2025. You finished it because it was a priority of yours. A talker's family is hurting. As I've stated before, we want to move on, but we can't move on because the business of accountability hasn't been performed. I don't know if you speak to your attorneys or your attorneys speak to you, but your negotiations are flawed. And I say that respectively. They're flawed. You ask a family to negotiate and they don't know what they're they don't know what they're negotiating to. I find that disheartening. I find that disrespectful. Accountability is what they're asking. Accountability is what they deserve. Accountability is what's needed. in this last 24 22 minutes or whatever because I'm seconds dis disen disoculated. I'm 67 years old. I live in the 76104. The average life expectancy where I live is 67 years old. So I'm blessed to be here accountability for Jefferson and I'll be back. Last speaker please. Our next speaker is David Martinez. good evening. Um, uh, congratulations to everybody. Glad it's y'all back. Um, I'm here to talk about Carter Park Elementary School. Uh, school's closing down over there in Forest Oak School being closing. It will have ripple effects to Carter Park Elementary School and also with Clifford Davis and OD Wyatt. These schools are in the pyramid of my area of my neighborhood in district 8, 9 and 11. Um the residents there, we have been working hard with the PTAs and trying to get things done. And then um with this uncertainty of the state taking over, we are going to need help. Um I'm asking the city to help us out. Uh, I'm here if if y'all need me to show up, I'll show up and I'm gonna bring uh my neighborhood with me. If I um I'm going to be working as a pre um run for president. So hopefully I get it back together where we have the numbers that we started with. Um be expecting us to have 70 to 100 of us. So I appreciate everything that's being done. Also, I know it's not it's the fourth ISD thing, but um I'm asking for help, you know, uh just like all the other parents. My kids are already good. they're they're in college and all that stuff. So, I'm here for the kids that are still here and stuff like that that um not not so lucky to have a father that in the PTA and everything. So, or coaching their teams and things like that. I'm here for those kids. Um so, also I want to bring up I appreciate uh Chief Nos uh what he said today. I appreciate that with the test kits. Uh I uh it's sad that some of the victims are in Carter Park. So I appreciate everything that's been done with the city. Uh thank you. God bless y'all. Mr. Martinez, I caught that little campaigning you did there. You look sharp. So we'll let it go. Meetings adjourned. Everybody have a wonderful evening.