e e council member Martinez can we do a video member crane can we do a sound check yes ma'am oh do me Janet e not received it but I will good evening and welcome to the city council public comment meeting before uh the meeting is called 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 before you begin your comments please state your name thank you and for tonight I will con the meeting at 6:03 p.m. and tonight our invocation is going to be by Reverend Tim Clifford from the Arlington Heights uni United Methodist Church please rise for the invocation and remain standing for the pledges of Allegiance let us pray Spirit of Love We Know You by many names you are the one who created us set us in motion plac within us a flame that burns with your love and compassion each of us has our own name for you our own knowledge of you our own Transcendent connection to your love illuminate that connection in us that we would be inspired by it to work toward a world that is free and just for each and every part of this beautiful creation we come to this place today grateful for the opportunity to engage in meaningful work for the people of Fort Worth we acknowledge that there are many places around the world where such work on behalf of all is difficult or impossible where voices are silenced thoughts are shut down down in ideas offering help for the many die on account of the leadership of the few we are grateful that this is not one of those places guide us to engage openly and authentically with one another that the diversity of opinion and thought would not only be heard but welcomed and understood as we strive toward a better city guer of our hearts we are grateful this evening for those who have dedicated themselves to service on this Council and in this city of Staff give them wisdom that they would discern a path that leads to a Freer and fair place to live shape their work with your love that all would find Fort Worth a place of wholeness and welcome form their hearts with your compassion that they would meet the challenges of this work with care and kindness and finally oh builder of bridges and forger of connections help us help us to be a people who are connected and not divided who are centered on love and not mired and hate who are shaped by the desire that all who want to would find a home here open our eyes that we would see the be Beauty and strengthen our differences direct us toward the creation of the free and just world that you imagine for all people these things we pray in the many names by which we know you our creator lover and guide amen good evening everyone Welcome to our city council public comment meeting uh for Tuesday October 8th um Council our first action will be to select a presiding officer for tonight's meeting do we have a motion move for Carlos Flores to preside Council if you would vote ready to vote okay everyone ready to vote let's call for a vote please everyone remotely is voting yes motion passes get M congratulations that was a little premature I didn't get my button until wait we assumed you voted for yourself Carlos I tried Michael you cannot leave now the motion has formally passed all right thank you J okay um our first our next item will be consideration of the minutes from the September 10th Council work uh work session and public comment meeting move to approve thank you second who was the second Elizabeth thank you okay everyone vote please all right passes unanimously Janette Council that takes care of all of our action items we are to public comments all right now the public comment portion of our meeting and I believe our first speaker is Bob Willoughby one the next two Council Mee we're going to have this come back on again since 21 a lot of people might think I'm exaggerating when I say they're taking away free speech I'm not taking away this takes away free speech from us and anybody don't think so shame on you 100% these people up here they pass this it should be on the last council meeting of the month that'll be a year but they may have it on the next one who knows we have to watch the schedule to see which one is on and this is the most dirtiest thing and people that don't speak out against it that's just terribly terribly wrong not to speak out against this this really screws up our city a lot it takes away free speech I'm just going to read it hell okay this is what I'm putting out everywhere it says I do not know what it will take for people to comprehend the importance of demanding Fort Worth Marat Parker and the City Council vote no on the new schedule by voting no we'll return to four Council meetings a month not two this is a big city four Council meetings a month by voting no we return to 700 p.m. so you don't have to get there in the 5:00 traffic with everybody else to get here every time I come down here I got to get in there so that they can have it at their hours six and 10 for them not the people and above all by voting no if these people vote no this month on this deal we will return free speech to the citizen of Fort Worth the Public Presentation Mr Crane has sit up here and made cracks about me constantly he's joked about me speaking but when I ask Mr Crane please explain the Public Presentation how would you explain that you remove it he won't say a speaking right now Bob that's how I'm I'm explaining it what's going on what keep going keep going stay on point please sir stay on point this is a comment meeting there's not a point there's not agenda item this is a comment meeting talking Bob right now fre who's talking up there thank you crane going oh it's crane again Bob you're talking about the council's schedule stay on point look crane taxs me up here and I can't say anything about it this is my time to speak back you hear him again he can't say what the Public Presentation is can you say what it is Carlos can you tell me what the Public Presentation is without calling it free speech can you do that it used to be on the council agenda it's not no more because y'all removed it anymore look at him well you he ought to be ashamed of hisself that's supposed oh oh Mr Carlos 30 seconds don't let this go to your head like it has Gina bibon you're only appointed there by sority people think you're pointed there because you're somebody Gina went around taking credit for it there you get there by senority you got to have a protemp mayor someone has to be it the best way to do it is by senority it's no so don't go around bigheaded like Gina okay play it like it is you just there but also well we'll see you are your time up Mr Willoughby next speaker please bye Bob thank you have a good night see you next week our next speak our next speaker is Jake Wilson thanks Bob I love it good evening Council Jake Wilson Fort Worth District 4 I'm speaking in my personal capacity only to recognize 20 years of the 40 Days for Life movement which began in Brian Texas with volunteers peacefully praying outside of the local abortion clinic the clinic director in Brian at that time Abby Johnson has since crossed over and become a pro-life Advocate today after witnessing an ultrasound guided abortion where a live baby fought for and lost his life you can hear aby's Story by watching the film unplanned in the last 20 years 40 Days for life has grown from a local effort in Brian Texas to a worldwide movement of prayer vigils in over a thousand cities in 63 countries the 40 Days for life fall campaign is happening now through November 3rd in Fort Worth and in many other cities all volunteers are required to sign the statement of Peace found at 40days forlife.com which includes a promise to pursue only peaceful prayerful and lawful Solutions and to show compassion and Christ's love to everyone involved interestingly our state of Texas where the 40 Days for Life movement began was the first state where a heartbeat law went into effect saving thousands of unborn lives now you may hear misinformation about Texas's pro-life laws that I would like to address last year the Texas legislature passed House Bill 3058 which further clarifies what the law already granted that Texas abortion restrictions do not apply in the cases of ectopic or pprom pregnancies because a woman's life is endangered but House Bill 3058 overwhelmingly bipartisan passage to clarify these cases is something you may not hear about in most coverage of Texas's pro-life laws if Med if many media outlets and political campaigns will not take it on themselves to refute rampant misinformation about pro-life laws then mayor and counsel it may be time for ordinary pro-life Americans to speak in their City Halls and we will address the misinformation and also tell about how pro-life organizations stand ready to help women for any Mothers facing an unplanned pregnancy who may be unsure of their next steps there is a vast network of pro-life organizations and medical professionals ready to provide help often for free or at a reduced cost there's now a website called her plan.org where people can find a nationwide directory of thousands of organizations that are committed to life and provide resources which may include financial assistance employment health care services and pregnancy support and More in fact 428 of these organizations in the her plan.org directory or within 100 mile radius of this city hall please go check out her plan.org thank you very much thank you Mr Wilson can I call the next speaker please sure our next speaker is Payton Jackson is pton here okay let's go to the next speaker uh Donell Ballard is remote Donell Donell can you hear me Donell okay we'll come back the next one our next speaker is George Childs my name is George R Charles I for worth the Forest City Charter reads in pertinent part quote the person elected as council person place number one shall be the presiding officer who shall be known as the mayor of the city of Fort Worth unquote I believe that this makes it clear that the word Mayor is just a more generally recognized word for presiding officer and that the latter is an operational definition of the primary duty of the mayor I'm here because I believe that it is passed time for the presiding officer to start presiding to immediately Quail any disorder from any Source while a person is attempting to use three minutes to exercise a constitutionally protected right as I am doing this is clearly not the case now the mayor allows council member to mock those standing here reserving her cautionary measures for the victims of the supercilious comedy when they respond to it I suggested to some of those victims that upon the next outbreak of this that they say seven words the presiding officer these are quote I request that the mayor restore order unquote I hope this will not be NE necessary but if it is I also hope that the city council Comedy Club will not be allowed to chip away at the 180 seconds that the city of Fort Worth assures every speaker is Theirs to use to use regard excuse me regardless of the message once again it is pass time for the presiding officer to start presiding thank you Mr tones Jette call the next speaker hello can you hear me yes go ahead Miss Ballard hey how you doing this is uh Darnell Balor I am calling in because we have been uh very my my group United my Justice have been very concerned about William Martin being on the forward police department and we're very concerned about that and I do want to say a big shout out to Chris Netta who been doing a great job and and working with the CZ and and making sure that some of these officers are doing what they supposed to be doing now William Martin have been on the police department for a long time and he needs to be out the police department he needs to be out because I'm I'm very concerned that somebody is going to get killed especially since he been doing that shootout so I I'm I'm just asking if you guys can uh talk to the chief of police and and see if something can be done about this man being on the police Bo because I can already see another lawsuit come in if if y'all don't count this and we got too many lawsuits coming in now and this is causing the taxpayer a lots of lots of money so y'all need to take a consider in into that but also consider what he not only what he did to De Craig but also what he did to uh uh Mr Bank J than so y y'all need to y'all need to really consider that and that's the only thing that I need to say thank y'all so much for letting me call me a com thank you Mr Balor Janette call the next speaker please our next speaker is Irma Holt is Irma here our next speaker is Bishop Kirkland I don't see him uh Torchy White for good evening my name is torchi white and I am an eastsider we have had many successes and many thank yous to extend this evening our amazing Eastside citizens came together approximately two years ago to find solutions to illegal fireworks and illegal street racing our mayor protim Gina Bivens is the brainchild behind this citizen group and regarding fireworks these Fort Worth accomplishments include but are not limited to less days of fireworks and much shorter nights of deafening noise with threats of Lawns and roof fires less visible hazy air pollution that threatens our Watershed Les Street take over debris that is cleared up by ing citizens the next day and regarding street racing we are privileged to have a team member who is a Guiding Light this officer encouraged and crafted stronger street racing language that led to a stronger street racing ordinance due to this effort two house bills resulted in tougher enforcement tools and were signed into law by Governor Abbott respectfully right here in Fort Worth now our own streets throughout Texas are safer in Texas it looks as if we have done our part so going forward if these House Bill efforts also result in lower car insurance rates it should should be attributed to our Fort Worth mayor and mayor protim supportive council members our governor our Code Enforcement Officers fire department and our proactive Police Department Intel we eiders thank you and each backing department for all of your ongoing support thank you than you thank you Miss White our next speaker is Judy Taylor I'm Judy Taylor of Hanley in East Fort Worth districts 5 and 11 thank you leaders of Fort Worth for supporting our fireworks or illegal campaign East Fort Worth experienced far less danger and disturbance during the last two holidays because of this campaign many have commented on the Comfort they experienced with quieter and less fearful of fires that they experience because the irresponsible illegal behavior of others my desire and prayer is that Fort Worth and the water district will move into a safer and more legal Spectrum on now and the future with drones people people are mystified by their options of drones what could be happening we could be announcing uh Missing Persons we could be talking about future storms we could be talking about a a danger of Escape criminals who knows how many things Fort Worth could decide and use these wonderful projects thank you thank you m Molen next speaker please next speaker is Dave fulam Dave folson um representing the John T white neighborhood association uh been a while since I've been up here had a been a busy year and part of it was a tough little fist fight with cancer but thanks to the good Lord and a good surgeon we got through that we're cancer free and so look forward to being back here more but I want to mirror the remarks made by the speakers before me and saying thank you to the mayor par mayor Parker our D5 councilwoman Gina Bivens the Fort Worth Police fire departments and certainly our code enforcement officers who all played a part in combating the firework problem across our city and within our own John T white neighborhood association borders fireworks have changed a lot since most of us were kids you know we small black cats or cherry bombs maybe a sparkler in the street usually under the watchful eye of a parent you know where really fun things and even magical moments to look forward to but today these have too many times been replaced by military-grade projectiles that can start fires hundreds of yards away from where they were launched and besides the constant fire threat the noise pollution is nothing more than giving the middle finger to your neighbors as you set off concussion bombs throughout the night generally in neighborhoods containing small children people that have to work the next day and now dozens of traumatized dogs this year we posted 25 signs throughout our nebor neighborhood association area promoting the law Associated fines for fireworks within the city limits and they made a tremendous difference greatly reducing the normal amount of noise and fire threat seen in recent years we placed multiple signs in front of several apartment complexes which are usually Ground Zero for fireworks in our area our NPO and their team also plac flyers on doors and inconvenience stores located near these problems areas altogether these efforts made a huge difference so thank you again to everyone involved increasingly dangerous street racing and stunning have also plagued the John T white area in recent years with a problem being highlighted in papers on TV and across social media platforms with the help of both the code and police departments including cameras on major intersections and new installation of square shaped speed bumps in the intersections were starting to win this battle as well this has truly been a team effort starting with the support from our city leaders this very Council fire police departments and of course our code departments all of which were supported by citizens and neighborhood associations our John T white neighborhood association takes great pride in working with our city and we are very thankful to live in a city where our voices are heard for so many in our association and other neighbors I'd like to say a very sincere thank you to everyone involved in this effort and well I got a few more seconds I would like to just personally say I hope we can keep the same format that we have on our meetings I do not believe there's any infringements on rights to talk our voices have plenty of time to be heard I think four meetings a year just give us four two more opportunities to be Billy whip by Mr Willoughby so thank you thank you Mr pson next speaker please our next speaker is Cindy bowling yeah perfect thank you hi everybody I'm Cindy bowling I live in District 11 I'm also um president of central met Brook neighborhood association our East Side team has so many people and City departments to thank for helping us to be successful in our campaign to stop the dangerous Street takeovers and illegal fireworks in our neighborhoods the slide show show you've been watching we put together is just a few of the amazing people who gave more than 100% to keep our neighborhoods safe and quiet East Division PD rocks DC Martin's Community safety team Oscar Reyes and his amazing Code Compliance team and chief Davis and our Fire Department Station teams Chief Davis issued a warning letter to All tarant County vendors and our fire station teams made it easy to download confiscated fireworks safely our PD officers helped us put out our fireworks our illegal signs in heavy traffic areas like rosale and East Lancaster they also handed out warning flyers and even posted Flyers at multiple High hight trffic retail locations like Sam's and Albertson's and of course our code team passed out hundreds of Flyers door Todo at multifam complexes we all reported that those complexes were were For the First Time Quiet like never for and I say despite this uh official stats we in mebrook historic Carver Heights Hanley and John T white all reported true quiet on July 3 and significant significantly more quiet on July 4th we now have had Riverside citizens reach out to us to ask them help initiate a program that's success we're happy I close by asking our city leaders so please use your influence I know you don't control the Trinity River show um but we know you have influence to influence the show to turn to drones not fireworks for so many reasons they're amazing they're exciting and their 21st century uh and since I had a few seconds left also I second what Dave said you all give ample opportunity for citizens to speak speak um I understand what Bob says I don't agree with his method but you all give us ample time to speak you're here all the time so I thank you and I support you all thank you Mr molan next speaker please our next speaker is Gerald Banks senior Adrien Smith oh sorry sorry Mr Banks you snuck up on me Geral Bank senior District 5 at taana Jefferson it's a step in the right direction to charge Martin for his criminal act but to convict and sentence him remains to be seen here in Fort wor we know about these incidents but what about the ones unaccounted for that's why anyone that has ever had an encounter with Martin wrongfully mistreating them should come forward now and give their reason why Martin should be fir if 14 individuals gave a statement of what they seen and all were the same account then Martin is falsifying his Court in the intent to cover up his crime that ensued Martin's actions were dis dangerous and put other citizens Lives In Harm's Way we need for the person in charge to go through the prop the proper procedure and far Martin from the forward police department and we respectfully asked William Martin be put on the Brady list so that he would never work work in the law work in law enforcement anywhere ever again especially in for worth let's be clear or transparent if you use the funds for wrongfully firing chiefest Jill then you can use the funds to rightfully F William Martin before he kills someone what does Martin have on the on the forward Police Department what does he have on the city of forward that he thinks he's Above the Law official oppression police brutality miscarriage of Justice must stop in the city of for far William Martin and honor Linda mcfay M Linda Fay mcain rest easy I appreciate you all listening thank you Mr Ma and next speaker our next speaker is Adrien Smith Adrien Smith district 6 I in one with the people the iconic hip hop group Public Enemy once created a song that speaks to the dysfunction of the 911 emergency call system that governs within our society the word spoken highlight A system that tends to upend individuals livelihoods rather than ensure the pre preservation of them whenever the service is utilized for emergency purposes it's 2024 911 still is a joke for worth Crisis Intervention vention team CIT is a joke and doesn't serve the purpose in which it was created for an individual with a mental health crisis shouldn't be criminalized Caitlyn balagon May 2023 or receive a death sentence Brent niichel September 23rd 2024 because of a broken system that doesn't seek to understand value or prioritize the lives of those in need of its services and I'm grateful that our chief is Sir Chief Neil NOS you have an obligation as a CH as a chief of police to ensure the trigger happy death squad amongst the ranks of the forward Police Department are weeded out and terminated there's no more room for incompetent incompetence sir the state of our city depends on it and you have been entrusted to ensure the greater good of all is taken into consideration mayor Maddie Parker although the position you hold is beneath you there are some of us who are concerned for the well-being of all who call forward home it's time out for you it's time out for picking and choosing what makes you look good and start being the mayor for all Fork worth and I stand before you all this Council to ask you all to help us to ensure that the CIT team is fully funded and fully operational 24 hours because there's no reason a person should call 911 with a mental health crisis and end up dead there's no reason for that if they can't do the job by all means dismantle it and we just let people continue to die at the hands of forward police officers thank you thank you Mr Smith next speaker please our next speaker is JD jerson my name is JD Jimerson and I reside in District Two on the north side of Woodworth I'm here again to make a request and also be in favor of continuance of people being able to speak in the meetings as that's secondary but I'm here because of noise violations and ordinance that are in place to reduce noise in areas where people reside this has been a three-year project and I've been here on several occasions and been referred to a lot of people but on just this past weekend I was up there after 2:00 on on a Saturday morning listening to noises and disturbances I realize that the police department has duties and things to do but I further realized that this is an ongoing situation and just from talking I found out that there are officers that know that this is going to happen when it's going to happen when they when this proposed I'm requesting that some action be taken and not just me being referred to somebody else to address the situation three years for an ordinance that was was approved in 2012 and this is an ongoing problem that that's primary because there's no justification that I've received to say well you stay up to 3:00 in the morning and listen to this music that that's more than uh 1,000 ft away and have to endure that so and you may not be able to comment but I'm here to say citation should be issued warning should be issued and there's not been any done and I was told on this past within the past month that they were going to um monitor the situation if that has happened I don't have any information on it but regardless to monitoring and knowing that's going on some action should be taken to make that cease and um a little background on it the neighbors believe that it's legal they believe that they authorized they have the noise there but it's not there were not any U authorized authorizations for that function to be at the noise level that it is uh with the nursing home being less than 50 well less than 100 F feet away from it two adjoining property lines and then where I live the people that live there are greatly affected but they're under the influence that what is being done is correct and permissible and legal and it's not I thank you thank you Mr jerson next speaker please our next speaker is Jim DeLong good evening my name is Jim dong it's an honor to be able to stand before you all this evening I want to talk about the uh freedom of speech and how there's been a move recently to allow freedom of speech for any group in any of the city's buildings that can uh that have meeting rooms there's been um some of you that have really spoken out and said yes the first amendment is for freedom of speech and we need to allow all freedom of speech I'm going to digress a little when Texas started after the Civil War and we call our city the city where the West Begins and there became a group of Law Officers called the Texas Rangers that are in that are so famous why was that group put together because there was lawlessness in Texas the average citizen who wanted to live in peace couldn't do that because there wasn't any there was very little law in Texas so they formed a group that went around the country and eradicated people that were breaking the law now those people that broke the law uh they can have freedom we have that today there's people that come across our border they have broken the law but they're accepted in and I'm not opposed to people coming into our country but when you break the law so I want to talk a little bit about decorum and I have that on the overhead that's part of the city Charter that is there for those of us who come before you rules of conduct of speech and there's been a time in the recent past where there's been two individuals that you did not allow in here to speak why was that because they were deemed offensive so my request is if there is that standard of decorum to speak before you and it's an honor to be able to speak before you and in our country we've kind of forgot about respecting one another honoring one another but if you're going to hold that decorum for freedom of quote freedom of speech in here I humbly beg of you do that everywhere in our city in any City facility where people have the freedom to speak may they follow the same rules of the Quorum thank you thank you Mr dong next speaker please Janette uh next speaker is Tina James next speaker will be martesa James by phone Miss James yes go ahead please hi my name is Maria James and I'm speaking against uh zoning general for property 4521 Miller Avenue and 4215 chickens Avenue um throughout our neighborhood we see a spool of unwanted businesses such as industrial multiple corner stores hang out spots and not to mention the growing numbers of homelessness three acres should not be designated as a used for vehicle sales it serves no purpose within our neighborhood have them or suggest them to go to the man Highway which already houses multiple vehicle sales rather than that how about a building for businesses that houses local artists who seem to be a part of the younger demographic Who special who who specializes in nail Artistry last technicians technicians technicians cosmetologists and even Barbers we constantly raise a concern about our youth and academic performances or crime involvement while not bring business that offer the curriculum study and Assistance or family mayor Parker if you could find the time to in a time for us to meet when it comes to our youth rather soon I appreciate it within the project description they State our request for a change in zoning from e-commercial so that we can operate a vehicle sales business e neighborhood commercials all use permitted in ER Plus retail sales Banks restaurants gasoline sales bakeries and alcohol sales ER commercial is beauty barber shops book stor drug stores Studio offic not to mention we just left our wellknown CBS Pharmacy on Miller and Barry on top of the light industrial the demolition being done to our roads due to their existence the poor kept sidewalks and like to their of Street flights and speed bumps should we be worried about changing our zoning giving the ongoing issues with zoning the community is already facing thank you thank you Miss James next speaker please our next speaker is James Smith good afternoon Council my name is James Smith as we prepare for the fiveyear anniversary of the death of Dr Anna Jefferson I'd like to say I feel cheated in a way I say that because I've presented myself in front of two Mayors two police Chiefs three different councils maybe two city managers so my message has been deleted because some of you haven't been on this journey with me it's been a long journey and I'd like for it to end I recently realized I recently learned that this case a historic incident in for Worth Texas I'm going to say again historic incident in for Texas reached it reached the Supreme Court the highest court in the nation Justice prevailed the appeal was denied I can't say this strong enough that the proof was in the pudding 5 years ago and it saddens me that we have to jump hurdles that we didn't have to jump but the lord gave us strength to jump them and the patience to wait till the end this weekend is uh tday weekend it's a proc proc Proclamation that you guys voted in I'd like to invite you guys to the activities where be the parade whether it be the Galla whether it be the karaoke at the home of Atiana Jefferson H tantiana Jefferson will not be forgotten in the city of forward that's a given that's a fact that's a truth change is coming to for wor slowly I think I remember take my mind back five years andir price said that things move slowly but we're moving and again I asked what speed limit are we moving with I take this seriously I attended my first my first uh Commissioner's Court meeting took me five years to to to to stand before them but I did and changes coming to them too slowly Justice for Tatiana Jefferson accountability so we can move forward and I can find something else in this great city of the champion but until this she's my top priority thank you for listening thank you Mr Smith Mr now I believe that's the end of our speakers yes it is yes it is all right thank you this meeting is adjourned at 6:48 e