 When your time has ended the bell will sound again, and you should complete your comments before beginning And you should complete your comments Before you begin your comments, please state your name and city of residence. Thank you Good evening. Welcome to your four city council meeting. I'll call us to order and turn it back over to city secretary Today's invocation will be by Reverend Lance Marshall first United Methodist Please stand for the invocation and remain standing for the pledge of allegiances Would you please join me God of assault We pause to invoke your grace and blessing upon the gathering of this council May those who have the gifts of leadership guide us with your vision May those who have the gifts of peace unite us with your compassion May those who have the gifts of witness lead us towards your justice May those who have the gifts of service heal us with your love God we give you thanks for the leaders and servants who have come before us We thank you for their work, which benefits us today May we benefit the city of Fort Worth and all its people in our time and in all time to come Bless us keep us shape us in your image and it is in your name that we all pray and say Amen First item of business will be the consideration of the minutes from the August 9th 10th 12 16th 23rd and 25th council meetings Please vote I don't have a vote but neither. Sorry There we go. I can't in vote for some reason. There you go. That's okay motion carries Next is the public comment period Our first speaker this evening is Carol Sherman Gonzalez followed by Brian Croson or Croson. I apologize Good evening mayor council members. I'm Carol Sherman Gonzalez 3609 Dryden Road and council member cranes district 3 and I'm so grateful always for the opportunity to speak during public comment hearings Normally, I'd be here talking about a specific agenda item you would have coming before you at some point But this is very personal to me tonight. So I'm especially grateful for the open comments part of this I've brought you something. I think you all have it. It's a back-to-school theme It's a children's book and as an aspiring children's author and very very very part-time substitute teacher The first time I read the book I thought Dang, I wish I had written that But I can't take that honor It was written by the founders of the National Advocacy Organization that I deeply respect called mom's clean Air Force and As you know, the title is every breath we take a book about air But I would add the subhead a book about the elephant in the living room Because air pollution is everywhere in North Texas So at a time when the well-being and safety of our children is top of mind for everybody I wanted to give this to you As a general reminder of how important clean air is to our kiddos and how important your role is in safeguarding that When I looked at the book it has gorgeous photography and it reminds me of how the skies were when I was a kid a Long time ago growing up in North Texas But since the early 90s, I think most of you know we've been out of compliance with air quality standards EPA air quality standards for safe air And we've stayed there ever since so Whether it's by responsible permitting code enforcement protecting our trees Stewarding environmental justice throughout Fort Worth your governance directly impacts the quality of our most vulnerable Breather's lives for the rest of their lives so I thank you for bearing this in mind and all that you do especially during the budgeting process and I thank you for your service. I know it's a super hard job that you do and I'm very grateful I hope we get a green school bus fleet someday And I hope so many other things change to make the air easier to breathe for all of us But especially for our kids So thanks for flipping through the book and sharing it with the kids in your lives. Thank you Carol Our next speaker is Brian Croson followed by Dan Hays honorable members of the city council mayor letter of firestone my representative my name is Brian Croson USMC retired I live in Fort Worth I'm coming here today in regard to Construction and mr. Firestone's district that's some outdated roads and Recent storms have caused pretty substantial flooding Have made it near impossible to get out of the neighborhood and for emergency vehicles to enter the neighborhood. I recall last week Coming from Ragley Robertson down East Bailey Boswell Road Where there was a huge? pond like I guess you'd call it where I a Grand am had tried to Make a right turn there and flooded out because water had gone over the top of his wheels and his car had died We're seeing substantial flooding like that throughout the neighborhood as new apartment complexes are built on East Bailey Boswell in regard to international leadership of Texas high school there on 287 and Bonds ranch their construction of their football fields Apparently has caused flooding to back up along the railway line there and that's the other entrance into our neighborhood So literally many people in our neighborhood If they were away from the neighborhood during recent flooding Couldn't enter the neighborhood and those that may have needed to exit couldn't exit Also with all the construction vehicles going along Wagley Robertson Road, which some of it is under the county of the road starting to just fall apart And it has been for considerable time With regard to East Bonds ranch. I was under the impression that we were expecting that to be expanded pre-covid to add lanes to it But because of budget deficits, I want to say as I understood that was being put off But I would like to remind the council that We'd like you to make good on that. That's all I have. Thank you so much. Thank you Brian. Appreciate you Our next speaker is Dan Hays followed by Bob Willoughby Good evening mayor and council. My name is Dan Hayes. I live in district 8 in Fort Worth I've spoken to you all on several occasions on the topic of short-term rentals and by now you've heard and read more than you care to This issue has been swirling around for some time and has many nuances and many voices Your eventual decision will cause anger for some and delight for others It occurred to me that the further into fall you continue your fact-finding efforts and Deliberations on this topic sooner or later the suggestion will be made to defer a vote until after the May 2023 election The logic would be this is a complicated issue. We shouldn't rush It would avoid the distractions of running for reelection and that waiting to add the two new positions To the dais would ensure their input was considered as well This would also of course allow the current council to kick the can down the road and avoid a decision that could be a campaign issue If this has occurred to you, it's a terrible idea Considering the delay until after the May elections, which are eight months away Really means many concerned citizens will wait more than a year for a decision once runoffs The drinking from the international information fire hose for new kids Summer break and the 2023 budget six season are concluded This approach would leave everyone hanging and isn't right on such an impactful issue I would strongly urge you to get through budget time and then make this a topic of a that is a priority this fall Set yourself a deadline just as you did for redistricting, which was certainly a consequential issue, too It's just too important to delay any longer than necessary All interested parties deserve a well-informed informed decision sooner than next fall Thank you for all you do to make Fort Worth a better city Thank you, Dan. Our next speaker is Bob Willoughby followed by Thomas Trollin-Cosse. I don't need this tonight I got enough family's people you can only show so much wrong stuff and that's enough The budget meetings that we went to that they advertised that all questions would be answered was not true Now You can find my website through these connections here and you can see the videos for yourself Okay, not what the city news puts out by Michelle goo. They'll cause met it up like it's really good, but it's not a Lot of me couldn't answer questions. You'll see them crane couldn't get him stand in front of the people Jared you and and they like you lied You said that litigations why you couldn't answer but the answer to the question Jared and and Bailon Was that someone told you how to vote now? You don't have to back that or what but God knows okay, and I believe it too Somebody told you how to vote and it came to Fitzgerald given that 250,000 dollars tax money away You're not supposed to say anything. This is my time. Okay. Oh, I love it You know, I really love to when I interviewed you. Hey Bob Stick to your comments, please. Let's just keep going. You're doing well. I've got two minutes left. Thank you Okay, oh the next thing then. Okay, let's do the comments here. Okay, mr. Cook You can't turn your back on me here like you did on the video at the meeting. Okay We had an hour meeting and we talked about a lot of things We never got no response from you about any of them One of the main ones was the corrupt John T. White neighborhood association where I live at okay They just moved their meetings to two times a year once every two years. I don't care what they do They do not need to be on the city data bank We've asked mr. Cook to recognize the one to say one thing to each of you that sit here find the money somewhere Group with the United Way and whatever they're doing. This is our city United Way shouldn't have to provide the majority of that funding I know the budget is going to be approved in October I'm hoping to see that we find the money to maximize his efforts with that program secondly One of our village received justice from City Hall in the DA's office. I hold you both accountable I don't want to hear that City Hall has done their part that Infuriates me When it comes to a Tatiana Jefferson George Floyd was murdered by officer Derek Chauvin on May 25th, 2020 the trial took place March 8th, 2021 Dante Wright was murdered by officer Kim Potter on April 5th, 2021 the trial took place December 17th, 2021 Brenda Taylor was murdered by officer Brent Hankinson on March 13th, 2020 The grand jury acquitted him of those charges, but the feds filed charges on April 4th, 2020 William Martin assaulted Jackie Craig and her family And her daughters like a hula on the street in year today the city's made no compensation to miss Craig Roe Cop, Aaron Dean murdered a Tatiana Jefferson on October 12th, 2019 Almost three years the wills of justice are turning real slow and forward We're looking at a Ferguson, Missouri Where officer Wilson shot 12 rounds at Michael Brown six hit home six hit home And uh, they allowed him to plead self-defense Do we matter is our blood valued in this city? Can we expect justice from these hollowed quarters? Uh, I've been quiet for a long time and I'd like to stay home and spend time with my grandchildren Please make sure we find the money for pastor Rodney And maybe one of the seven street club meetings you guys could get together and start turning the wheels Our next speaker is excuse me Thomas Trollen-Cosse followed by Avery Lindsey Mayor Parker and council members tax-paying citizens and neighbors I signed up to talk about accountability and transparency because we hear that phrase a lot I want to point out that I have filed a commendation for a particular Fort Worth police officer His name is sergeant Molina. He works in the northwest division The sad thing is is that by providing accommodation for sergeant Molina It'll probably get him in trouble with his coworkers All sergeant Molina did was walk up while manual mod and I were surrounded by 12 Fort Worth officers standing in public recording and said I know it's your first amendment right to do this. We're going to leave you alone Come on guys. Let's go That's it The reality in Fort Worth is that the only people providing accountability and transparency of the police department are these street journalists You may not like them. You may not understand them, but it's a wave across the country That's the most popular and most important thing The murder of George Floyd would not have been recorded if it wasn't for a street journalist She was standing about 11 feet away One of the biggest problems we see with wrongful and frivolous arrest by Fort Worth PD Is for interference In the statute it says specifically the d part of this statute on interference That free speech is a defense against interference And yet you've arrested manual mod of 14 times and he just spent more time in jail Specifically for interference and in each case it was because of his free speech Now a little over a week ago you arrested another street journalist for stalking The stalking is a terrible offense and women should be Safe in their homes and in their everyday lives But what the central division a did was they contrived the stalking charge Because street journalists followed a particular officer and her unit and covers them on youtube regularly This is the officer among six other officers that were fired in january of 2019 For participating in the wrongful death In custody death of a man named christopher low Now this officer thinks that because she's covered and featured in a few videos on youtube that that constitutes stalking So they used the license plate readers that you guys funded to track this journalist Then they met him at an intersection where they surrounded him at gunpoint And arrested him for felony stalking Now the reality is is that the fortward star telegram has covered this very same officer in multiple articles and other officers Regarding this incident and others because of course you rehired her So is that journalist Who publication is online also stalking the same fortward police officer When is the transparency and accountability coming? Our next speaker is Avery Lindsay followed by annie steele counsel How would you respond if you knew fort worth would be hit by a devastating meter in 10 years? Would any business as usual to maintain a sense of normalcy in your political career? Or would you enact sweeping legislation to protect those who call fort worth home? Citizens, how would you react? Would you continue to live your daily life concerned about your next career move or how you could make another marginal dollar? Or would you cherish finite time with your family? Appreciating what you already have before you lose it See I pose this question because it is an absolute reality not just for our city, but for everyone on this planet If there's one thing this last summer taught us it's that the rain can stop at any time without warning We will continue to experience the lasting impacts of this summer's drought for years Cattle ranchers were forced to sell their entire herds as fields went dry Farmers were forced to fallow crops and once again the texas power grid was pushed to its absolute limit Unfortunately, this is only a sign of the times to come Just this year. We've seen unprecedented droughts in the west texas europe china sub-saharan africa argentina canada and many more The science is not disputed our climate is changing The last time atmospheric carbon was as high as it is today was three million years ago At that time the earth was on average five to seven degrees warmer And sea levels were around 80 feet higher than they are today I'd like to remind you that downtown houston sits at just 50 feet above sea level and our global average temperature has already risen two degrees since 1880 Regardless of which side of theatrical politics you've been on This is very real and this is at least an extinction event worth of co2 in our atmosphere Now although i'm hopeful if i'm being honest with myself I know you guys won't do anything as a result of my speech here, but if there's one thing. I hope you take away. It's this The economic paradigm which brought you here today is not that which i or your younger children will grow up in Please don't be afraid to make large out of the ordinary changes to remedy this horrible situation And please don't be swayed by the influence of forward's leading oil and real estate interests Otherwise my generation will be forced to wait for the inevitable mortality of yours to fix these mistakes If these warnings are not heated. I fear we may lose the floor right out from under our feet And those in a position of the highest need will come looking for those in a position of the highest greed We're all human. Please remember that Thank you Thank you. Our next speaker is annie steel followed by george charles Okay, very well, george charles followed by jerald bank senior My name is george. George running charles. I live in footworth I've been doing this stuff since bob boland was married, which is to say just about as long as the current marriage has been alive Into the last election. I thought a city council is an entity to which people brought issues I never considered the possibility that it could become an issue in and of itself But current members have proven equal to that task This began with a profound change in what i'm doing right now by reducing it by 50 percent Is profound too strong a word would it be too strong if applied to a 50 percent reduction in fire protection? Added to this was a change from six seven o'clock to six o'clock as I previously pointed out in other words ad nauseam The pets of people practicing the eight to five five days a week lifestyle know the very large difference between those times on a weekday Added to this was the draconian policy of stopping someone in mid-sentence. I can't remember even mike moncreef doing that Rounding out the current fundamentals of city council leadership the mayor's a serial scoffer rule I'm being ad nauseam on this is to a change In the topic about her getting 70 000 more a year and to wandering minstrels from hillwood not having to follow any rules But unknown to me at that time was a ten thousand dollar campaign contribution from surprise surprise Ross perot jr. The mayor demonstrates the same blithe disregard about rules that apply only to her On august 23rd. She ordered bob will it be be removed from this building which she can't do within the rules And then proclaimed that he had been Well, he hadn't been since those providing security followed the rules when the chief elected official of fort worth does not Then there is a practicing attorney council member Who not only acts toward speakers as if they were opposing counsel But does this in a vitronic ad hominem manner that would be inappropriate even if this was a courtroom For the speaker as the moving party could rely could could reply to this And the mayor go and the mayor pro tem cheers this on People with other concerns look at the atmosphere in this reported bastion of free speech and become concerned about it Enough so that they pay someone pay someone to speak for them Then the mayor tells that person quote We've been incredibly patient with you unquote about that person practicing a constitutional right And so this toxic parody of democracy continues to feed on itself Our next speaker is gerald bank senior followed by adrian smith in the gerald bank senior district five Time and time again Speaking of how cops are supposed to do their jobs And what to expect if they don't When a person is wrongfully approached by a cop and the cop Seems to be a racist individual in a threatening way The manner in which that person is To do except comply with them reasoning After complying the rtc is asked for their name and badge number And they don't comply While getting mad and find a reason to psych the person for asking Is wrong and needs to be addressed When the citizen says that they will speak to their boss The chief and the cops don't give a damn and still refuse to give their names and badge numbers Shows disrespect for that chief and how his department is ran All the pop-up organizations to help the cops Relate to the community is good for show But when it when it's put into effect And the bad cop that slips through the cracks is what we really have to watch and report to get rid of them Something tragic before something tragic happens Both them shim jong brianna taylor filando castillo George floort and just a few Just a few names For you all to understand That those cops don't need to be on our streets Forward has the same has some good qualities And bad cops are not one Just as a tatiana jeffson Oh, that's right. You can't Get rid of them thug cops mentality Get rid of the thug cops mentality Some of the community can be safer Without those thug cops mentality people on the streets My brother james banks dink don't have to worry about cold compliance, but beware When you do people wrong karma In my brother's name in my brother james banks And honor my brother james banks rest easy. I appreciate you listening Our next speaker is malik austin followed by james smith I'm sorry adrian My apologies Come on down followed by malik austin than james smith Good evening mayor and to the council adrian divine smith district three District three is my district uh council candidate for 2023 Is there a Sorry about that Is there a crime problem ongoing within our city Or lack of visibility Before some say crime Let me remind let me remind everyone that crime doesn't affect some like others The non-effect I speak of relates to demographics economical sustainability In prioritization I truly feel it's a lack of visibility I mentioned before during a past council meeting Until law enforcement makes themselves actively visible on a continual basis The criminal element will continue being being written about Chief nox is one man So I will be inconsiderate to point the finger solely at him The council Has to do more considering they sit on the board Which funds law enforcement initiatives To the commanders of the central division monaco martin of the east division Chad mccaffey of the north division david carol bodgell of the northwest division Roy hudson of the south division and buck willer of the west division You have to do more in ensuring the officers under your command Are actively engaged within the communities they serve Last but not least Independent media and journalists Keep doing what you are doing The fort worth weekly The fort worth report Let's talk fort worth with host carry hans local voter education fw district five dot com mr. Bob willoughby Mr. Tommy tolacasi And last but not least not he's not on seeing present mr. Emmanuel matta Our police auditor And as I take my seat We had an exchange between mr. Bob willoughby and some of our council members Please you all just a little consideration. It goes both ways Y'all be considerate of our time. We'll be considered considerate of you all. Thank you Our next speaker is Malik Austin followed by james smith Even to the mayor and the council Malik Austin Born and raised in highly hills texas district That structure of the rec center Is very important to my community. We ain't no Poverty stricken afro-americans that come out their community Our parents worked at bail helicopter General modus my father was an engineer for the highway department 32 years this structure Has been in place I was about 11 50 plus now As I look at the budget in the bonds 32 going to four That's too many times It's too many times that this neighborhood has been overlooked. I'm tired of looking at Side walks that need to be completed on certain streets It's the only thing I gotta say bro. I'm not here to argue You if you take an oath Do your job Just do your job In that structure Based on the structure has a fresh air ventilation system. That's outdated. It's antiquated It's at the foundation of the structure which causes several sinkholes in the structure Based on the property that sits on That rec center is well over 10 acres Alcon already domed you out on the lease program. So therefore We asked that The lease program that was entitled to the gas company be refundable back in that community so we can get Something that looked like come up And it's no need For that structure Not to be rebuilt and look better than anything in Fort Worth, Texas No people have lived there all their lives. They pay their taxes again There were a lot of people who worked at bell helicopter military retired folks GM Lockheed It wasn't just one block of us having Cadillacs. It was a whole block of us having Cadillacs We dressed like the people in wedgewood in the late 70s in the 80s We were a healthy community and I would really fight hard to keep that community health Our crime rate is not even on the radar, man We weigh down here So why is it that Our community can't get the things that they need And you got to have effective programs We are on these streets no cost Keeping these streets safe. We go all over for work But I spent a lot of time in my community. I grew up in so the crime rate has stayed low We're winning the commo No violence on the third So mayor you need to look at the people who are really doing the work and I'm gonna continue to come back until I get in my way If we got money to fund the police On these useless cameras We got to find the police for our rec centers. Thank you Our next speaker is james smith followed by james de long jim de long Afternoon council. My name is james smith. I live in district eight When I signed up today, I signed up to speak about a talk to hannah as well as police accountability It's been almost three years. We'll be three years next month that a talk to hannah's life was was was taken away from her The talk to hannah project will be honoring her on october the seventh eighth and ninth And I'd like to see All of your faces or one of your faces are two. I'd like to see you there Today a few moments ago or hours ago. I received A 97 page report A special panel expert expert panel On your police department and as I read that expert report I cringe because what I was reading I already knew if you ask my neighbors or people of my color We already knew what this expert panel Revealed to y'all 97 pages The summary was Law enforcement agencies across the country are facing a serious Are facing a crisis regarding the use of accountability and force and legitimacy in all jurisdictions The Fort Worth police department is facing a series of challenges Aligning its practices and policies with its policies and procedure And express values over the last decade the department has both invested in infrastructure And taken steps to increase its legitimacy all in all four cities But the expert review panel Observe in many instances these steps are informed only and do not influence the behavior of the officers on the street The concerns identified in this report though not unique Are serious and will require sufficient attention by the department's leadership And the city There's an important learning from these reforms being undertaken by other agencies for Fort Worth as it continues its effort According to its stated values and policies Reading Is fundamental comprehension Should be applied reading is fundamental So when you read the 97 page Expert panel on your police department I beg of you to come for him with her asking you to do And implement it. Thank you for your time. Our next speaker is Jim DeLong Good evening. I'm Jim DeLong resident of district seven And my subject line was a retraction called the retraction A while back I spoke about that were a product of our vision, but were affected by our past And after I spoke on that Something was just scratching on the inside of me. It just didn't seem right So I did some studying and thinking and reading And uh, so I'm going to change what I said if that's okay Yes, we are vision oriented people We're created to be able to look forward and move towards things But when you are born and raised in a situation of abuse Of poverty of neglect You can become hopeless And when you become hopeless You can't see your future I'm thankful that there's a lot of Organizations and entities in our city that are helping mentor young men and young women That are fatherless And there's so many different ones and those organizations and those people Are giving young people a chance to have hope There's an old proverb hope deferred makes the heart sick Without hope You know, you can't go through a day with a smile on your face And one thing that I appreciate about you I believe every one of you in your own way Are wanting to increase hope For the citizens and residents in our city And for that, I thank you and the dedication to that So again, I make a retraction On what I said and and and addendum to it Let's do what we can to increase hope With our friends our families and those we talk to Thank you for your service Thank you, Jim council. That's the last of our speakers meeting is adjourned