not here with quite as large a group but I'm here specifically to thank the city our home has been the Fort Worth community art center literally the Scott theater for 35 years and you can't leave a city by just saying and see you later so we were delighted when you let us come a bit early and to say thank you in the way that we absolutely say thank you and for our kids as we performed around the world there were places we would land of visibility I mean being in Time Square performing as pretty cool always places that matter Cook Children's Hospital or a boys and girls club in Chicago all over the world always performing in a places that place that mattered and places where real true art is measured so the Myerson Symphony Hall and Italy in the center of the city and their beautiful beautiful theater the piece that we're here for is we always take our kids to places of power so the perception is when they look at you that they could be you and when you look at them for sure sure we know that they will become activists and philanthropists and people whose design with our art is to change the world so what better way to put a button from 1989 to this July than to come with our kids to gift you a message because we believe in you and your jobs are a lot harder than ours we sing and dance and change the world that way you're sitting in these places really daily changing and making decisions that are not easy and so we really appreciate you the best way to say thank you thank you is to show up with some kids and so this is be the change from the show that we just finished touring for nine months called All In which is really it I mean jump in so thank you to Sydney for all of her incredible leadership and now to the kids awesome thank you Deborah you know every summer my best friend does this thing we Sumer with the pool having a great time and suddenly they just run and jump in with all their clothes on they like a cannonball of pure enthusiasm making a giant Splash and laughing like there's no tomorrow and there I am standing on the edge dipping my toe in like it's some sort of sacred ritual then backing away what's my deal right then it hit me one day my activism is kind of like my awkward poolside dance if I dip a toe test the waters sometimes the chaos around me is just overwhelming the crowd the noise the opinions it makes me hesitate unsure if I can handle it too hot too cold too weird what would other people think what if my best friend doesn't jump in this time but you know what I discovered I realized that some causes are just too important to merely dip a toe in some things we want to change demand more require more so we take a deep breath ignore the chaos and jump right into the deep end and it feels amazing I mean don't get me wrong it's scary and exhilarating all at once but once you get over that initial terrifying leap once you are all in wow like a m drawn to the light powerless to resist a voice Whispers from his heart follow your dreams follow the Stars hey when they make you sad choose to smile and when you make you cry choose to laugh and when it's time to speak for what is Right use your voice to be alive just live love choose [Music] to choose to give don't let your differences get in the way got to make it right make things right Still Got The Power Within your hands to be the change be the change up against the wall up against the wall have fath have faith be strong be strong make the world make the world a better place a better place take a stand take take [Music] oh don't let your differences get in the way got to make it right make things right you got the power within your hands to be the change be the change feel the your heart beat in your feet your heart's on fire you got the hunger you got the give up some soul to you don't know give up your heart your heart give your heart you got the power within your hands the music is calling get up and dance dance dance dance dance he he [Music] he [Music] he you hear the whisper the whis de inside de inside he song deep inside de inside let your come alive alive let your choices let your choices be your godo to live choose to love choose to choose to give choose to live choose to love choose to choose to give [Music] don't let your differences get in the way got to make it eyes make right you got the power within your hands to be the ch be the change don't let your differences get in the way got make your [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] so just keep doing what you're doing uh kids GE is not going away we're going to the next chapter so we can take all of this around the world so we're not going away we're representing fo worth forever and never out there so we love what you're doing and dreaming in the cultural District we're right there with you we're right there with you thank you for letting us sneak in before you get to you know the busy stuff of the day and for our kids to be in this room and know that it matters when you've got a great mayor and a great city council thank you yes yes soqu on end yeah that would be [Music] you keep rolling okay everybody at ready one two three got [Music] it yes especially you can everybody picture [Music] [Applause] okay I think we we'll share we can share photos good job y good [Music] okay hey Deborah while you're walking out here I just want to say uh thank you and thank you Sydney you were there too when the crane family about 10 years ago moved back and I'm not even sure it was a real position but you gave Micha and McKenzie in Snoopy yes one was Woodstock and one Woodstock Woodstock friends but we were trying to figure out and we sought out uh your program and made sure that we um we' been recommended to to seek seek it out and it was great for them as they transition back to Fort wor so thank you all very much for that thank you Janette go ahead please thank you good evening and welcome to the city council public comment meeting before mayor Parker calls the meeting to order we ask that you please silence all electronic devices for those of you who have requested to speak there are two podiums in the chamber the podium in the back is for individuals with Mobility concerns we ask all others to step forward to the front Podium each Podium has a countdown clock located to the speaker's right that will indicate how much time is remaining when you have 30 seconds left a bell will sound when your time has ended the Bell will sound again and you should conclude your comments before you begin your comments please state your name thank you thank you Janette and welcome to your Fort Worth City Council public comment session I will call us to order and then open it up for invocation Janette tonight's invocation will be by Pastor Damon Holliday from Keystone fellowship please rise for the invocation and remain standing for the pledges of Allegiance father Lord we just uh come to you on today Lord lifting up the city of Fort Worth we love our city Lord and we ask that you'll bless our city Lord uh we thank you for and ask that you'll bless our mayor uh we thank you for our city council and all of our leaders we ask that you'll bless them Lord uh bless our citizens Lord and Lord we ask that you will bless all of our leaders in response to their willingness to serve this city and to serve you Lord bless their families most importantly Lord bless their faith you said that we should lean not to our own understanding but in all things that we should acknowledge you and you would direct our path and Lord we need your direction we need your blessing for all of the things that are on the dock it on tonight Lord we just ask that decisions will be made that will improve our city but most importantly Lord will bring Glory To You Lord we ask that you do all of this we ask you do it in Jesus name amen un States mayor our first item of business will be the approval of the minutes from the May 21st June 4th June 11th June 18th and June 25th Council meetings got a motion a second Council please vote council member Blac okay I think it's Jared yeah he's absent thank you motion carries mayor that concludes all of the action items thank you Janette our first Speaker this evening is Chris Wood followed by Bob Willoughby my name is Chris Wood on June 12th of this year I left a message for detective Preston of the Fort Worth Police Department I asked him to call me regarding a police report number I had filed 24001 15160 it was regarding my stalker detective Preston returned my phone call he told me my bond officer was investigating my stalker any investigation he did would be a duplication of effort so he was doing nothing with my police report at my next Bond me meeting officer Majors told me she's a bond officer she doesn't even do investigations on July 8th I left a message for detective Preston call me please and tell me what is going on with my police report on the 17th of July I still had not heard back from detective Preston I left him a message for his boss Sergeant gueras badge 3130 please I just want an update about about my police report on July 24th I had not heard back from Sergeant gueras or detective Preston so I drove down to Bob Bolan Public Safety complex at 5505 West Felix excuse my emotions right now there was another woman there in a similar situation as me her stalker had keyed her car keyed her boyfriend's car broken into her apartment left her many harassing phone calls all she wanted was an update from her detective so the police officer behind the reception desk gave gave her the detective's address you can go ask him yourself ma'am so she's like okay I will I walked up and explained my situation he said yours is just like her you can go ask the detective yourself here I'll write down the address for you Northwest CIU 2500 North Houston Street forwart Texas 7106 76106 and he wrote down to checked to Preston's phone number like it's a different one or something I don't even know so I'm said great I get in my car I drive about 15 minutes away I drive up to this location the parking lot is fenced in can't get in the only entrance to the detective's office was going through the parking lot and there's a huge sign authorized personnel only why do I keep getting the run around it's a simple question I want an update on my case regarding my stalker and they just set me on a wild goose chase three different times one detective and two police officers the police officers are supposed to Serve and Protect not send terrified victims on a wild goose chase how do I get a straight answer about what is going on with my police report against my stalker thank you our next speaker is Bob Willoughby followed by Reed bills go ahead play the video turn the sound [Music] up police brutality will end when we elect a mayor a mayor who cares about people more than fulfilling her self-interest if mayor mdy Parker does not instruct the city manager to fire bad employees but are not doing their job explains why we have a city that is out of control yes Mr no can I ask you a question no sir thank you you won't take a he's got all time he's not going to take a minute out you realize that you're responsible for what happened to her because you don't hold officers responsible you don't you see how you run Mr that's the problem I really wish Chief P J could get back here to help this city cuz we're in trouble police chief Joel Fitzgerald fired for being a whistleblower mayor Parker you supported 2 million of our tax dollars to outside lawyers to keep a good police chief out and on the other hand mayor Parker you say nothing about the present police chief Neil NOS not doing his job okay that first ccpd funds when we ask why the coming up agency receives 1,391 747 more than allowed we get no reply okay the first part maybe you can understand because it's so low and everything the good police chief we had here was fired three years ago for whistleblowing that's what happens when you expose things you get T retaliated by these people up here okay they don't get investigated you get tapped I've been attacked plenty of times um the other thing is the chief so is going to win his lwuit we spent $2 million of tax money to keep him out of here two million they did of our tax money to keep him out and he's going to get back paid too when he wins okay now these CCP funds here this is another thing is corrupt I've been down here a lot of times talk about this maybe you can understand it it says here clearly and and Carlos when you ran away and you got to the door and you turned around and talked to me your two answers were false you looked mad you looked upset and you look like a a guilty person that's all the signs of a guilty person okay you want to come down and answer some questions tonight decently and like a human being are you going to away it's up to you okay we the the uh the da is going to have to look into this we need people to call the da here in Fort Worth to tell him they look in these funds we can't we need an audit on them we need to know why some are getting millions of dollars than they're supposed to and no one will answer qu and mdy Parker you sit on that board you're more responsible anybody because you set on the board and you don't say a thing and uh that so this is what we need to check out more thank you our next speaker is Reed bills followed by Charles bills my name is Reed bills I live in district 6 I spoke before this Council on August 10th 2023 urging you to request and accept advice from your advisory boards groups of knowledgeable citizens who have been appointed by you to serve this very purpose at that time I highlighted highlighted the library board which had not been consulted before the downtown library was closed and sold apparently the board has not been consulted regarding the pending purchase of an historic building as a replacement on June 24th of this year I spoke to you again about the contract entered into with a hate group allowing them to use a city-owned building to spread their venom in this case you did not seek advice from the human relations commission a group appointed to assist the city in protecting residents from harmful discrimination in my opinion the lack of input from your appointed volunteers led to your making poor decisions the contract with the hate group was not cancelled and a month later another hate group was allowed to use the his City own Botanic Gardens you have also announced that you are rewriting your rules for use of city property but have not sought recommendations from the human relations commission and now you are considering the purchase of a building that may not be adequate to meet residents needs for a downtown library I recognize that the board and commission involved failed to offer their advice and therefore must share the blame before coming to you to complain of your inaction I spoke to the library board and human relations commission to ask them to fulfill their commitment to provide you with input I hope in the future you will ask these groups for advice on pertinent issues and that you will listen to what they say and act accordingly our next speaker is Charles bills followed by Rita Ramone I'm here to talk about the library I'm glad they're reopening the downtown library but your job is not done there is still the library uh that's uh right off I35 or Seminary South or whatever it's called now that was closed and they put a kiosk in basically at in the that mall and they it's very inadequate they can if hopefully the whatever is they're using the old library for can go into the downtown library now and they can reopen that branch and I urge you to do that thank you our next speaker is Rita Ramone followed by Thomas Hamilton is Rita here next speaker is Thomas Hamilton is Thomas here next speaker is Jim Delong followed by George Charles good evening my name is Jim dong I miss seeing your faces last month but I Rejoice that you were able to get some time off and I hope you had some great uh peaceful time off today is the start of the eth year that I've been coming to the City Council meetings and uh it's been a joy and a pleasure and it's been an honor uh I came in the beginning of August of 2017 or yeah it's 2017 and in November I spoke for the first time back then you could sign up to speak at that desk right out outside and so I signed up and I put my subject situational ethics Michelle gut looked at me like what and that's what I want to talk about again tonight back then I I brought up the remembrance of the Las Vegas shooting um a gentleman by the name of Steven Paddock on October 1 first fired more than 1,000 rounds he killed six people and wounding at least 413 and so what does this have to do with situational ethics remember when I had my ball and I said about red and green ball and all of that this gentleman saw the red ball Green in his mind he had every right to kill and murder and wound those people he was in his mind absolutely right to do that and you all sit as leadership of our great City you hear a lot of voices you hear a lot of opinions you hear Happy People content people you hear angry people strifeful people you hear people that want for Unity you hear people that are out for division and so my heart and my prayer why come is that you all will sit back and be able to step back from people and and situations and instead of looking at it from a situational ethic standpoint try to see truth and right and sometimes that's extremely extremely hard to discern and just one last thing these kids singing this song of Hope of change for Hope in good we need more of that in America thank you for having them be able to perform before us our next speaker is George Charles followed by Homer blocker III what reason is there for a person paid to protect and serve the public to render unconscious someone armed only with a First Amendment tool and having no violent intent my premise tonight is that those threats to Public Safety from public safety personnel are at least in part the near inevitable result of a culture established by police labor unions assorted sagas has sat down through the centuries that unpleasant things often described in more pungent terms roll downhill and at the top of the hill are elected and appointed City officials and at the bottom is the public so what does the POA think about those at the top that will roll down the short answer is found in the words Police Association power politics and confrontation this is the title of a book intended for police union leaders it definitely sums up a set of means so to what end are they to be directed from the original edition of the book quote the fact is that police associations should exist for one and only one purpose the accumulation and use of power unquote again that word power and what does police Union culture say of those at the top of the hill that are perceived to stand in the way of that accumulation in use one picture being worth a thousand words I turned to a slideshow held for Union leadership by Ronald E delord excuse me Ronald G delord the person of the POA has consistently chosen to represent it at meet and confer sessions about police labor contracts including those currently taking place the message there was based on a photograph of the body of a wilderbeast designated as an elected official being consumed by cheetah designated as a police Union while being watched by another wilderbeast the message is knock one over and the rest will do what the union wants pull up Ron to Lord attorney at law go to the end the go to end the news scroll down to wilderbeast in red and see for yourself what is the result when the POA view that the spirit if not the letter of the law of the Jungle should apply when it feels its power is doubted comes down the hill to fall upon the public what is that result you're looking at it our next speaker is Homer blocker followed by Rosemary Galindo it's Homer here Rosemary Rosemary will be followed by Jean bdy by phone good evening uh my name is Rosemary galdiano I reside in District 9 and spent my formative years in worth Heights District 11 it has been one year since I last came before you regarding the closure of our Seminary South Branch Library the Seminary South Branch library was visited by 880,000 people annually when it was closed in December of 2021 in its place the the L Grand PL the grand bibla was opened inside the Grand Plaza mall with a goal of increasing annual visits to 160,000 in 2023 La Grand bibla had 3952 visits clearly it is not meeting the goal or the needs of the surrounding neighborhoods including worth Heights a contributing factor is the fact that the mall is just not safe since April 30% of all criminal activity in worth Heights occurs at this mall customers have been robbed at gunpoint guns were pulled in were pulled in a fight between two groups inside the mall stolen vehicles shoplifting and public intoxication are common my statement last year was validated by the fact that the worth Heights and Seminary neighborhoods were selected for neighborhood Improvement funding this year based on solid data our Branch library was closed in preparation for the closure of the Central Library it was closed at a significant cost to the community we are being left behind worth height scored 30 of 30 points for lack of opportunity to find as the percent of adults who have a bachelor's degree or more indeed it was reported just yesterday that reading scores show Fort Worth ISD years behind in national average the mall library does not have the capacity to take full advantage of all of the wonderful programs that the library system offers we deserve Equitable access to the physical facilities digital presence collections programs and services currently the near Southside lacks a single Full Service Branch library inside the loop the north side has two west side has one Southwest has two Northeast has one east side has five the data and plain Common Sense dictates that you move the history and genealogy materials to the downtown building that you were about to buy where they belong reopen the full service Seminary Branch library to the community let's do the right thing thank [Applause] you our next speaker is Jean baddy by phone followed by Jane Hull Miss bdy uh my name is yes my name is Jean baddy and I I actually only asked to be put on um the list today and I have to tell you um how pleased I am by um the number of phone calls I got from city employees um basically trying to resolve my problem so I'm grateful for that um essentially what I was asking for is that the uh crosswalks uh TCU um actually are accessible by the time classes start on August 19th and I'm pretty confident having spoken with your Ada coordinator so thank you for that the second thing I wanted to mention was um the fact that the buoy Hotel uh basically destroyed a sidewalk during the um construction of their hotel and I also reported that to the city because I think the city should require the hotel to fix the sidewalk and it shouldn't come out of the taxpayers pockets and finally I've been listening with some intent to uh the reports on the new library you're planning in a historic building I sincerely hope that this new library will meet um the Americans with Disabilities Act as far as access is concerned thank you so much I really appreciate all you do our next speaker is Jane Hull followed by Bishop Kirkland hello my name Miss Jane several years ago I I'm sorry I was hoping to get the mayor's attention several years ago I was pretty distressed wondering why there was so much conflict in this country why red was hating blue and why white was mad with left and a friend of mine suggested that I go on to YouTube and view some what they called First Amendment Audits and or I more see these people as citizen journalist and it wasn't very long before I could see what was happening they were saying that you're going to see some individualized uh interactions between government officials and the people that they're supposed to serve and they these Auditors also taught me my rights and T me about our constitutional amendments and I was pretty impressed so I did a little digging around and said I really want to see what's going on more local in in Fort Worth in my area so I started looking for some Auditors and I found Manuel mat and Carolina in Fort Worth and uh Harvey Freebird and um Texas Texas gal audit and what I saw just totally just horrified me the way that these citizen journalists are treated by the people that are supposed to be serving us and I don't blame just the police because I see it here in this city council I see it with the mayor when last meeting she told kick people out of this room who were were filming for their channels because she said that they were not journalists and I see it with I'm sorry if I butcher your name Charlie uh luffer storf because you posted on the police Facebook yesterday that a woman that was not happy with Fort Worth and the way the police were acting had options and she could find a realtor that's a horrible disgusting way to serve the people that you are supposed to be taken care of shame on all of you well I think that there's one uh Mr Nettles thank you very much our next speaker is Bishop Kirkland followed by Julie Griffin well I guess our anus is over what happened to Miss Rodriguez is wrong it is appalling I understand that the officer's actions can be justified but why would we thank God for women like har Tubman and so Jour thank God for strong women those women were out on that scene doing what it seems like May Parker only women can do and that's to do a good job job and not be distracted everything would have gone fine except here come wants to be Mr Officer of the year he beats this woman like they beat my people in the 50s in the 60s he said he hit her so hard until on the video you could hear this woman snoring why does this city always have to take someone else's Bad Apple this guy had a record where he came from sent him the hell back where he came from they threw him away we went out on the street and picked up someone's else's damn garbage this offic officer used excessive force it does not make sense to me is not right I understand as civil servant he can't be fired but I'm a old Marine send him to me I'll give him some Duty in such a way so he doesn't want he doesn't have to be fired he'll want to quit we must do something we cannot allow things like Miss Rodriguez to take place because of some lunatic we have been spend years some of you Carlos you've been Mr Flores you've been here for years with me coming down here before you elected we made substantial gain in this city with police and citizens uh working and trying to do things together he blew it up overnight and we had a convenient break right after he acted a fool so we had a convenient break now this is the time I normally like to be in my garden I'm an old man now I like to be in my garden this time and I don't want to be a city hall there are some young folk need to be here but until that bastard is fired I'm going to be here every time you meet until he is gone speaker our next speaker is Julie Griffin followed by Rick herring hello my name is Julie Griffin and I live in District 9 I'm here to talk about an urgent matter relating to the budget which you will be deciding on soon I am understanding that funding budgeting uh for the Fort Worth Police Department's Mental Health crisis intervention team or CIT is threatened I understand that CIT is either in the chopping block in some way or has been recently and that its resources are stretched so thin as to be ineffective in its mission is this all rumor do we in fact have a healthy functional well staffed CIT unit or units with properly trained mental health professionals on board I do hope I have been misinformed but but if I have not please consider the following and hear this plea in any event to beef up this essential part of our City's safety Care Net one I am a regular advocate for the rights and care of incarcerated persons and speak frequently at the County Commissioner's Court in that regard one Salient issue in that work has been the discovery of the vast numbers of persons with mental illness or disability that are being incarcerated at the jail due to their illness the behaviors that stem from mental illness we know that around 50% of the jail bookings are persons with ccq matches that is they have been seen or examined or connected in some way with a State Mental Health Care Agency such as MHMR um number two we know the crisis based stories persons who should never have been placed in the jail but placed in a mental health care facility for crisis Mental Health Systems before being either found on the street welding a knife or a gun um time and again the family member calls for help when a loved one is in crisis and asks for transportation for the loved one to JPS but the police on the scene take them to jail this is exactly the situations that desperately need a well-running CIT three likely the only Avenue we have in this local community at all other than the Taran County Mental Health jail diversion Center where eligibility is severely limited for such families is the CIT by the Numbers we should be increasing resources for CIT and have many more mobile units excuse me thank you you have 30 seconds go ahead Julie thank you properly staffed availing themselves across the city decreasing a crisis intervention unit only makes our community and families less safe and subjects our citizens and mentally dis disability to jail and possible death there wherefore I beseech you do not end funding for any portion of CIT instead increase its funding and resources thank you Julie I do think there is some misinformation that we'd love to clear up and chief noes and chief Alders are here maybe they can grab you before you leave tonight thank you very much um I'm G to go back to Homer blocker who I think was outside Homer you want to come down Homer will be followed by Rick Herring okay now Homer blocker y'all noce that's my name okay check this out real fast real quick because I'm trying to hold it together Lord okay almost definitely go talk to you Chief before I leave oh n I love my town okay I'm here to help I said that last time I'm here to help trust me somebody need to get with me Gina she had a stroke or whatever can't remember nothing or whatever it don't matter I don't care I need to be at the top of the list I got things done after that police officer got shot I got things done on Miller and I'mma keep getting things done now let me tell you something man you know how y'all got at the school gun free zone I done talk to a lot of people I know a lot of people like I said I grew up around a bunch of hardheads y'all remember Billy Ray Maddox God Rest the sun this town buil me I'm sing the city of Dallas too right now they didn't like the way I move and groove at work okay now Offa 30 in Beach I'm trying to help some people from out of town this was simp Central I was on the east side east side should have stopped okay Central law put his hands on me five times if I didn't respect the law it would have been ugly that day I don't know if I would have been dead but it would have been ugly that day okay so let me tell everybody the game if anybody have a problem with any police officer just call I Bab baby call Eternal Affairs trust me they got our backs somebody is watching somebody that's watching somebody trust me trust me so again I say Ma I love my town I really hate to sue y'all I really hate to S sue the city of Dallas City of for I really hate to sue anybody but they keep putting their hands on me and I don't like that I don't put my hands on nobody unless it's meant to be I got 30 seconds now trust me we need to do something about these guns too I've been shot at six different times by Crips and bloods right here in the funk okay coming up in the 90s I'm tired I walk around see guns here guns there guns every [ __ ] where man come on man on thing like the schools you know what I'm saying gunfree Zone just get with people that own property that own something or whatever they think they own put up signs say gunfree that way the laws can come in you know what I'm saying do their thing our next speaker is Rick herring followed by Adrien Smith good evening mayor and Council Rick Herring 1801 Bolton Street in Riverside uh hope you all had a nice break and got to go somewhere cool or at least somewhere where it wasn't 100 degrees like it was in our wonderful Hometown but I wanted to come talk to you about your as you begin your considerations for for the 2026 Bond program and those projects and how much you're going to allocate for those projects and that you uh seriously consider and thoughtfully consider the amount you're going to allocate for Gateway Park uh Fort Worth's largest park as you know an only Metropolitan Park and a park that many even mayor Parker is now calling for wor Central Park um Parks director Richard javala said it best on May 7th when he presented master plan for Gateway Park to you uh before you formally adopted it and he talked about the big four of the Fort Worth Park system and those are his words the big four he talked about the Fort Worth Zoo the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens the Fort Worth Nature Center and now Gateway Park the big four he also talked about some very important large transformative projects that Fort Worth has undertaken in the past 100 years uh beginning with Lake worth in the early 1900s then during the Depression the Will Rogers concept uh complex which led to the creation of the Cultural District eventually uh Fort Worth purchased tant field in West Fort Worth which morphed into carsville and is now the joint reserve base those military installations gave rise or gave the opportunity for the bomber plant to be located there in World War II which gave us today's lock heat the convention center in the 60s started by the county but then Fort Worth took it over and made it bigger and better and it's become one of our biggest tourism drivers and uh economic engines for the city these were all very transformative expensive and long-term projects the same is true of the Gateway Park project it will be transformative for the city it will be expensive uh it's got $140 million price tag on it in today's dollars and but I believe that in future Decor decades people will be looking back citizens of Fort Worth and just as they talked about Lake Worth and Will Rogers and the convention center and uh lock heat and all these other things they'll talk about Gateway Park and what a difference it's made in Fort Worth so as you consider again uh Bond projects and the amount you're going to fund we would ask that you consider allocating at least $50 million to the Gateway Park master plan so that that plan can be be implemented within maybe 10 or 15 years rather than 30 to 40 to 50 years so thank you for your time and your attention and please remember Gateway Park thanks our next speaker is Adrien Smith Follow by Manuel mat Adrian Smith I am one with the people I will begin tonight with a quote from the city council meeting June 25th 2024 the 2 hour and 28 minute Mark in on Adrien you cannot be rude you have no ability at any point you have no deor every time you come here it's some nonsensical argument that no one can follow that's a quote that's you Maddie now IAL having no meaning making no sense that's you Maddie well tonight I'm going to make sure everything I say say has meaning and it makes sense you have something to sleep on have you ever heard of the term egg on your face I know we all have heard of the term egg on your face there's actually a definition for it to feel embarrassed or ashamed because of something you have done or said mayor Maddie Parker Maddie everything begins and ends with you everything begins and ends with you as being the main figurehead of our city the fraudulent continuation of taxpayer money being utilized for outside legal council purposes against former forward police chief Joel F jur should make those who are concerned with the continued direction of our city question your mental stability as mayor one would think having a law degree would have made you consider the WR writing on the wall but I guess your self-importance and desire to finish what your predecessor started will be one of your greatest achievements whistleblower a person who informs on a person or organization engaged in an illicit activity Chief Joel F Fisher whistleblower for where police Department organized organization engaged in an illicit activity cost $2 million in legal Consulting fees to the city of Fort Worth taxpayers in closing people of Fort Worth know that your presence as well as your as well as collective voices are necessary if we're to hold those we've elected accountable for their decision making no longer can you just vote someone into a given position without reminding them who truly holds the power we hold the power it's something for you to ponder on tonight May When You Close Your Eyes thank you our next speaker is Manuel ma followed by James Smith my name is Manuel Mata I live in District n and uh I want to talk about two things one Carlos you need to get uh a officer Simmons off of North Side uh Main Street because he's targeting low riders and Hispanics and he's not even in that District he's making the Northwest officers look bad right he's in central hey you know that way it can help you easier and get a hold of those car club guys thank you and the second part is what she brought up earlier detectives not wanting to do their jobs when they're women being uh victims of domestic violence and that is something I don't I'm not going to stand for because I I'm here to talk for five women I don't know her that are having the same problem with these detectives now if these detectives are annoyed right or don't have time they need to be fired and replaced with a woman that's going to understand what these victims are going through right because remember what happened last time y'all didn't pay attention to this type of escalation in these men y'all let them bond out he buried her under his house I'm tired of detectives saying they don't have time make time because these women are asking for help from police officers that have on their cars to Serve and Protect who who I am not going to sit back and keep getting Messengers emails from women about detectives in the Fort Worth police departments not arresting them not taking uh uh a reports and telling them to go somewhere else where where do they go where do they stop being victims in this city and y'all have a plaque at the at Bob Bowling Center that says Taran County does not tolerate domestic violence how is that an example the F Worth Police Department the detectives come on man stop playing stop playing these women don't need to be in any type of news articles news breaking because that's what what happened last time y'all know who I'm talking about he buried her under his house come on man if no one's going to speak up for these victims I promise you I will come here and load this place up with victims stop playing with me I don't come here and ask none of y'all for anything I stay out of Y way I stop filming loser cops that don't understand their job it's time for someone to do something [Applause] James Smith followed by Wesley Kirk by phone good afternoon counselor my name is James Smith I live in District 8 a couple of weeks ago a young lady by the name of Sonia Massie was killed by a policeman in her town I don't know if you saw that video of that incident but I did and as that officer said drop the pot drop the pot drop the pot I heard show me your hand show me your hands show me your hands it's been almost 5 years now that this incident occurred in the city of Fort Worth and I and the family haven't got closure I understand that it's a legal issue I don't know what you pay your attorneys but accountability for something that has been proven to be truthful should be taken to account as far the as far as the expediency of this matter the family is tired I'm TI tired and I'm traumatized daily just by being at home seriously Sonia Mani didn't have to die shouldn't have died Tatiana Jefferson shouldn't have died my friend Carolina was was was was brutalized by a former police department well not the department but a member of the department and what brings to my mind is the 97 page report that showed you that there was a problem in your Police Department I'm not Einstein but I can tell that some of those problems still exist and they shouldn't no citizen in the city of Fort Worth should have endured what what Carolina endured especially with the crime they want to to charge you with you guys run the city of forward and the citizens look to you when they come before you to handle the problems or the complaints that they bring you I'm not going to say do your job because you're doing an excellent job the tourism $3 billion a year for tourism you're doing an excellent job do the same excellent job for the everyday average citizen that pays your salary Justice for Tatiana Jefferson accountability for the city of forward thank you we have Wesley Kirk by phone followed by Carolina Rodriguez Wesley hi can you hear me yes go ahead please uh hi I'm Wesley Kirk with the Arts advocacy organization support Fort Worth Art and today I want to urge you to take action to preserve the future of the Arts in Fort Worth I'm sure you're all aware by now that Arts Fort Worth can no longer continue to afford to manage the Fort Worth community art center in its current state with the small amount of money they receive from the city I don't believe this was done intentionally by anyone on the council but I do believe it is the inevitable result of the contract that the city offered them 22 years ago battling them with almost all of the cost of Maintenance and repairs for a city owned building the community art center has long acted as the foundation of the Arts community in Fort Worth and arts Fort Worth has long worked to make it into a space that this city deserves but when this city council thought to redevelop 1300 gendi throwing the entire future of the building into question it caused the domino effect that ultimately compounded the financial struggle art Arts Fort Worth faced with the community art center leading to longterm donors backing out and the end of kids who care uh their 35 years of art education now that Fort Worth will go from having one of the largest Arts community art spaces in the state to essentially having zero community art spaces the future of the art in Fort Worth is more uncertain than it's ever been all of our remaining artace are soon to be overwhelmed trying to make up for the loss as artists scramble to find space and seek opportunities we risk a downward spiral losing more artists and art organizations and art institutions as they either move to other cities or cease to exist altogether despite being the 12th largest city in the country and despite the Arts contributing at least half a billion dollars to our local economy we still have a huge lack of art spaces especially a lack of support from the city I know the process of redeveloping 1300 gendi will likely start soon but we cannot wait until the new building get ready we have to act now we need to create city-owned community art spaces throughout the city I urge you to invest in Arts Fort Worth secure and increase their funding which would allow them to create new community art spaces even if they are temporary that will help sustain the Arts in Fort Worth it'll also provide access opportunities and joy to your districts your actions can ensure the future of Fort Worth as a vibrant city with a thriving Arts ecosystem so that we can all reap the benefits of a worldclass city through the Arts we just need you to speak up on behalf of the Arts thank you our next speaker is Carolina Rodriguez followed by Nan Terry okay I'm Carolina and um Elizabeth is my councilwoman but there seems to be a big problem with that the citizens we must trust the police and we come up here and we talk to y'all and nothing seems to ever get done and I think that's because you know um we already know how you're going to vote before you vote most of you because your campaigns to get elected were all financed by police groups so who are you going to vote for for who are you going to vote with if you're if you're if you're being if you're being elected because the police groups are getting you elected you're going to vote with the police so um sometimes you guys will speak out sometimes a big issue make you come out come out and say oh wow it's just it's just a few bad apples here and there but it's not a few bad apples it's all of them it's actually all of them and what you guys aren't seeing is with the everyday encounters that people have with the police I I've seen them I'm out there filming them and I've seen of the small things that are going to cause the mistrust to stay solidied I mean a lot of time somebody will call 911 and they're the ones that get um get arrested because the police officers are allowed to escalate things and let them get out of control I've seen them be um use profanity of rudess on homeless people um but and there there's a lot of things we don't know too like the there was some cocaine found in the the the um locker room at the South Division we don't know who's cocaine that was and it was a police officers who's whose cocaine was that we don't know who the guy was that killed the Brandon Zapata at the mall uh last summer Brandon Zapata was having he was a teenager he was having an asthma attack and one of the Fort Worth Police Department uh officers actually knelt on his back and neck because he thought that he was having some sort of mental crisis but instead that officer killed that boy because um he suffocated him so we we paid over a million dollars for an expert review board to come out and tell us what was wrong with the police department and how to fix it but that million dollars is what was it why why did you spend it if you're not going to take their advice I mean we haven't taken any other advice these officers are allowed to escalate instead of deescalate because what they're allowed to do is first they ask somebody to do something then they command them and then they make them do their command so all these things need to be changed but it's going to be hard to change when the councils are all most of them not all of y'all most of you guys are elected because of police funding that's why it's going to be hard to change because we need to change the council members our next speaker is Nan Terry followed by Bill Bergen good evening my name is Nan Terry and I live in district 7 thank you for funding the pilot project project for the homeless housing last March the issues of homelessness and mental illness and affordable housing go hand inand the for worth report article mentions staff would be hired May 1st the pilot project was timeline was 18 months and I'm just wondering how I can get an update on how it's going um and thank you for showing leadership and funding this project it's outside the box it's Innovative I appreciate it the mental health Diversion Center is geared to divert nonviolent individuals away from incarceration and toward social service programs to solve their immediate problem I urge you to do what is necessary to increase the use of this valuable Center most persons who are in the midst of a mental health crisis do not need to be incarcerated taking them to jail is not the answer I I spoke with the chief outside and he assured me that he was uh encourages his officers and then uh for the increased use of the mental health Diversion Center I first heard about the Crisis Intervention team at movies that matter I saw the movie Ernie and Joe crisis cops and afterwards there was a panel discussion with members of the Fort Worth CIT and MHMR after the presentation my friends and I talked about how proud We were to live in a city that had a CIT and were doing something other than the run-of-the-mill law enforcement associated with mental illness I urge you to maintain the funding and grow the CIT program um thank you thank you Nan and Nan we'll have a Tara Perez reach out to you to give you an update on our pilot program with MHMR our next speaker is Bill Bergen and then follow by Gerald Miller I always think I'm getting set up mayor council David Cook 10 years congratulations these people up here probably feel like Channel 5 did when they had to replace harl T they got a big job in front of them you know I came down here tonight I was as always I like to thank you guys I like to thank you for what you've done for what you have to put up with week after week after week rarely does anybody ever come down here and thank you for what you do I am going to scold you a little bit tonight I want to encourage you and talk to you a little bit about Unity uh I plan to come down here and talk about a library and uh I saw these young people come in here tonight and sing and it just reminded me how important our youth are and how important our libraries are and also tonight listening to people come down here and speak I know how important education is and I know how important knowledge is which reminds me how important libraries are chief thank you for what you do I heard a really good report on the radio the other day for the positive things that the city of for wor and the police department are doing they do a great job when I was a little kid my grandmother said something to me I'll never will forget she said you know what nothing good happens at 2 o'clock in the morning and that's true 2 o'clock in the morning can anybody tell me something good that's happened to you at 2:00 in the morning I can also tell you that anytime someone has had a negative experience with a police officer it's because they are probably committing a crime is why they're interacting with the police officer to start with so if you're not going to commit a crime you're probably not going to get involved with the police does that make sense excuse me this is my time all I lost my we need a library thank you'all very [Music] much no no no no no quiet from the audience please I don't want to remove anybody we're we're on a roll here we can move do you want to be do you want to leave or you want to St it's up to you wonderful let's just be quiet let's let our next speaker great Gerald Miller is our next speaker followed by Carla pomez and Carla has a group so we'll do six minutes fair enough bill you have not Mr Miller the floor is yours we're all going to listen thank you to the mayor to the city council and to you others who are sitting here uh I I've noted I noticed something while I was sitting here uh I guess I'm old school I want to know first why in the world the city council has not made a rule or whatever about gentlemen taking off their hats in this edifice I can't understand that I just noticed it no I don't mean to offend anybody but I'm from old school when you walk in the church you take off your hat and I think that this is not a church but it's pretty I I have in my hand uh you all and I did not make copies of but I have in my hand a letter from the Municipal Court uh I had a ticket I was found guilty I filed an appeal that appeal is supposed to be filed in the County Criminal Courts I filed my notice of appeal as indicated with the Municipal Court Clerk and I received a letter a couple of days ago where they're telling me that the judge at the county level denied it well when I went to search and looking for an uh a a case number for the county I have been on the phone for two days talking to the county about my case number if a judge makes a decision and and Miss Gman you are an attorney are you Miss Gman you are an attorney you know when you file an appeal when you filed anything in court when I went to court I had a ticket number or a case number when you file something in court you are supposed to get a case number from the clerk no case number has been generated that's ridiculous but I tell you I'm not going to give up my fifth amendment rights because the city of Fort Worth wants to eliminate them this case will be going to the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals and to the US Supreme Court because they said I had the right to appeal and this city wants to cut that out thank you thank you Mr Miller you might check with him if you don't mind Mr Miller Mr rumley's gonna check with you on the way up you're go up the stairs that gentleman right there is going to take a look Carla Pome I think you have a group Carla so she'll have six minutes you don't have to call it names just if you stand up if you're part of the group that'd be helpful thank you very much that's good Carla the floor is yours followed by Liz badley hello Council I'm coming before you today as a resident of District 11 and as a community member to voice my support for the city of Fort Worth to raise its minimum wage from 1545 an hour to $20 an hour for the fiscal year 20125 Budget on June 18th special work session regarding the budget the human resources department director Diana Giordano shared details on the pay and benefits packages for employees and presented their work analysis and essential essentially their justification for not increasing the minimum wage to $20 an hour and instead settling for the near 50 cent raise pushed by David Cook who happens to make 400k a year himself complaints of compression which we know is a natural occurrence and isn't going to break an organization or the budget and devaluing jobs and positions based on duties or responsibilities age demographics length of the opportunity and the pushing of a narrative that many of the low paying jobs are hard to fill and keep filled was appalling I also found it shameful that the data on the city's Workforce and the negative impacts on morale was presented in a way that makes it seem like providing an adequate livable wage is a burden on other city employees who are making more than $20 an hour pitting workers against workers is disgraceful especially when we as a city have the resources to invest in every employee equitably something else I wanted to point out per the Public Notices posted on the meet and confer agreements between the city and the Fort Worth Police Officers Association is that the city has prioritized and met to discuss and explore the benefits pay and other items that impact the employees of for wor PD on nine occasions this year alone the human resources department was very proud to share the impact of boosting wages for fire and police and how that improved employee wellness and turnover and was the right investment so they do believe in increasing wages but not for everyone well also according to the human resource resources department and their data the annual estimated onboarding cost for the current 773 positions that are paid under $20 an hour is between 24.8 and 30.5 million that is based on the onboarding cost that they estimated which is anywhere from 50 to 100% of the annual salary of the position that far outweighs the total expected cost of P 5.3 million to raise the wages for those current 773 employees and if we think about how many potential employees could leave a job because they can't make it on the wages being earned we can expect that the inflated fear of compression costs uh would be outweighed and in turn the city would save money in the longer term by thinking forward instead of settling for playing catchup also the presentation that Illustrated the turnover rate of the city of Fort Worth having dropped overall from 20% to 6% was disingenuous especially while the human resources department explained that there were many low paying hard-to-fill positions that had been vacant for long periods of time to me this says if we aren't trying to fill the difficult positions we don't have to report bad numbers the they really told on themselves there that they know an increase in wages would solve that problem and if we connected the dots that lower PID jobs were not desirable then what's the natural solution to make them desirable to applicants and employees that will be able to afford their rent or mortgage their Healthcare Child Care contributing to a retirement supporting their children and families and lift people up instead of condemning them to poverty and debt and forcing them to find else jobs elsewhere in cities that do pay living wages like our neighbors in Dallas and Denton I do want to say thank you to Jared Chris Gina uh Elizabeth and Janette who have so far voiced their support for an increase of $220 an hour and for their efforts to have honest conversations about the reality of workers livelihoods I hope that each of you will continue to be a champion for livable wages for employees and families of Fort Worth to Carlos Michael Macy Maddie and Charles I challenge each of you to join your colleagues in doing better for the people that make their lives easier every day and the lives of nearly 1 million people who live in this city the workers with the lowest paying jobs and on our front lines are holding up our libraries our community centers our parks and public spaces maintaining our pools our co-compliance our maintenance workers our janitors our customer service workers technicians mechanics Municipal Court workers our traffic services and water services and so on and so on I ask that every council member do the right thing and approve a fiscal year 2025 budget that includes an investment in all city employees by increasing the minimum wage to $20 an hour thank you our next speaker is Liz Badgley followed by Joe n or Jay n good evening Council my name is Liz Badgley and I live in District 5 I stand before you tonight to address the matter of great concern the pervasive feeling of insecurity within our community it is more than disheartening to hear that some of my fellow for worthan are advised to leave our city if they feel unsafe rather than receiving a commitment from this Council to address the root of these issues our city faces a disturbing reality where individuals with different skin colors are losing their lives in our jail system many of whom are struggling with mental health challenges this is a dire situation that demands immediate attention and system atic reform we are living in a community where our Sheriff the less than honorable Bill kilborne and County Judge Tim O'Hare openly meet and accept funds from White supremacists who are actively working to elect other fascists and neo-nazis into Taran County Office the citizen the city openly hosts white supremacist conventions at our botanical gardens which is supposed to represent diversity under the guise of protecting the freedom of speech of a recognized hate group known as true Texas true Texas is for everybody meanwhile we have witnessed disturbing incidents where citizen journalists who are essential in holding our police officers accountable are being violently assaulted on our streets this not only jeopardizes their safety but also undermines our fundamental right to free speech and press our police officers who are entrusted with the duty to protect and serve must be held accountable to the highest standards of conduct recent reports of excessive force more Jael deaths and police brutality are deeply troubled Ling and betray the trust between law enforcement and our community Additionally the spread of white supremacist ideology in our city is an abhorent affront to the values of equality and justice that Fort Worth should stand for however it seems like the real Fortworth way is nothing but a rhetoric of hate the proliferation of such hateful rhetoric is corrosive and must be actively countered the safety of all Taran County residents as it State and it is clear that not everyone feels secure in our community it is imperative that we address these issues comprehensively and urgently I urge this Council to take meaningful actions to ensure that our city is a safe and inclusive place for everyone regardless of the color of their skin in white supremacy in Taran County thank [Applause] you our next speaker is Jay n followed by David Martinez hi my name is Jay and I'm a public school teacher and a proud Union member of American Federation of teachers I'm here in solidary to voice my support for the city of Fort Worth to raise its minimum wage from 1545 an hour to $20 an hour I believe that everyone deserves to be able to pay their rent or mortgage put food on the table for their families to Pur pursue higher education to afford health care and child care to be able to save money for retirement and live a dignified life no matter what their job or career path looks like a dignified and livable wage for anyone living in the city of Fort Worth is $221 an hour to cover their basic necessities this breaks down to 46 about 20 about $446,000 per year the current wage rate for the city of Fort Worth is 1545 an hour and about $32,000 annually and this does not meet working fam's needs to meet the median rate rent rate of $1,300 or Healthcare cost at an average average rate of $49 per month families are actively going to into poverty and is it is shameful to know that almost 25% of City of Fort Worth workers are falling into that category I ask that every city council member do the right thing and approve a fiscal year 2025 budget that includes an investment in all city employees by increasing the minimum wage to $20 an hour thank you our next speaker is David Martinez I thought I saw David maybe I was wrong is David here make sure before we close the meeting out is I thought so thank you good evening sorry I took y too too much time anyways um I'm sorry I know y'all missed me I'm glad to see y'all back and um well I got I'm going to start off with a complaint the complaint I had was with the homeless being Unleashed on the uh community centers in Southside W TI Community Center and the uh Victory Forest Community Center and they got taken care of though uh they lock them up and then because the kids were the homeless were giving loud uh coing stations at the community centers and then the kids were there and so they were there for the summer camp and so I didn't want them to be around the kids because like y'all know like if you want to be running kids you got to get a background check and everything like that and these were people that were homeless we don't know where they were coming from and so they were just walking right in and going to the restrooms with the kids and we I couldn't have that there so but it got taken care of so and then they have to ring the doorbell and they get buzzed in to come into the building um but in case y'all ever think about warming stations y'all can use the fire stations just a suggestion it's right down the street from Victory Forest uh they can go over there or there there could be other Solutions besides putting them with the after school programs at the at the community centers okay and then now I want to bring up uh the good news uh thank you for PD for what y'all did at car park uh y'all ran off the uh prostitutes and the uh uh gang members that were fighting over there and and shooting up the neighborhood uh thank you very much uh some of the drive-bys didn't get reported but y'all still had uh took care of it and uh thank you very much for that forward pting um okay so I also want to bring up that the uh tuske Airman Texas State uh Veterans Home proud that it's in Carter park over there uh by the uh TC Community Center uh it had uh they they put the uh Mustang replica aircraft at the um s the new T State Texas State uh Veterans Home in Fort Worth this new long-term uh Care Facility will serve veterans spouses and ghard parents it it is an honor to have the home named after the distinguished World War II Pilots nicknam the red tails for the iconic red markings on their aircraft thank you and um next I also want to bring up sorry internet doesn't work in here um uh we also had a back to school event over there at uh the ground Plaza that was very successful uh we were able to uh pass out B bicycles and uh give out B uh and give out backpacks and uh stuff for the kids also we had we had another one coming up that uh Nettles has over here here this weekend Saturday when to bring it up uh that's going to be at the YMCA uh we also have another one back to school one at the uh George the classic uh uh at the barber shop that's going to be on uh 8th Avenue and then we have one over there at um sorry we have another one going at worth Heights that's on the 17th so you're welcome uh bring your kids we're going to have uh haircuts we're going to have uh giving out bicycles all kinds of stuff so please come out to those thank you very much that's the conclusion of our speaker's meeting is adjourned off