Fort Worth City Council members on Aug. 5 will determine the fate of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, as details about how the city could support small businesses start to emerge.
The council will vote on a resolution to suspend the work of the city鈥檚 diversity and inclusion department, economic incentives for minority- and women-owned businesses, and other initiatives designed to address racial, ethnic or gender disparities.
The suspension would help protect the $277.1 million Fort Worth receives from the federal government as the Trump administration seeks to eliminate DEI efforts from government spending. City leadership has not specified how long the suspension would last.
City Manager Jay Chapa said in June that his office is aimed at helping small businesses mitigate the impact they could see under the DEI suspension.
A page on the city鈥檚 website published July 29 outlined a City of Fort Worth Small Business Development Program, which detailed goals to expand opportunities for local entrepreneurs, particularly in procurement, certification and access to capital.
The page, which has since been taken down, said the effort 鈥渁ligns with federal grant requirements and builds on existing partnerships and community feedback.鈥�
Sana Syed, the city鈥檚 interim chief communications officer, said via email that the city would not provide details about the new program until after council members are briefed on it during a Aug. 5. Council members meet at to vote on the DEI suspension.
Weigh in on the decision
Anyone may register to address council members at their 6 p.m. meeting and speak on an agenda item. To do so, they must , call the city secretary鈥檚 office at 817-392-6150, or fill out a physical speaker registration form in-person at City Hall no later than two hours before the meeting starts, according to the city鈥檚 website.
The page described how, beginning Sept. 1, the city will pivot to a 鈥渂est value procurement鈥� process to utilize small businesses and implement requirements for including small business in city contracts. According to the page, that would include:
- a 5% bid preference on contracts under $100,000.
- a 30% target for small business inclusion in contracts over $100,000.
- unspecified inclusion of small businesses in development projects.
Leaders with the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce and Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce signed a memorandum of understanding with the city to collaborate, share resources and amplify opportunities for local businesses, according to the page. The Black and Hispanic chambers pledged in June to help the city manager鈥檚 office develop the small business program.
Representatives with the chambers did not immediately return the Fort Worth Report鈥檚 requests for comment.
Council members were set to vote on the city鈥檚 DEI initiatives June 24. Since then, a coalition of Democratic community leaders have spoken out on social media to discourage them from adopting the resolution.
An sponsored by the leaders of 817Pod 鈥� a weekly podcast focused on Fort Worth politics, culture and growth 鈥� encourages people to write letters to Chapa, Mayor Mattie Parker, City Attorney Leann Guzman and City Council members demanding that they 鈥淜eep DEI in Fort Worth.鈥� As of July 31, more than 5,200 letters had been sent, according to the petition.
817Pod collaborated with Tarrant4Change, a progressive activist group focused on equity and inclusion, and Chris and Mendi Tackett, an activist couple advocating against Christian nationalism in Tarrant County, to publish a outlining 鈥�20 reasons for Fort Worth to keep DEI.鈥� The 20th post in the series, published July 30, warned against the precedent that a DEI suspension could set.
鈥淭he quiet dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion under federal pressure isn鈥檛 just disappointing 鈥� it鈥檚 familiar,鈥� the post states. 鈥淲e鈥檝e seen this before: regimes erasing equity under the guise of neutrality, using 鈥榗ompliance鈥� to silence progress.鈥�
Chapa that the suspension is necessary to protect the $277.1 million that Fort Worth receives in multiyear federal funding. The grants help fund at least 10 city departments, including police, fire and emergency management, neighborhood services, and transportation and public works.
In January, President Donald Trump issued an to end 鈥渞adical and wasteful government DEI programs and spending,鈥� instructing his administration to terminate all DEI-related mandates, policies, programs, preferences and activities.
Trump鈥檚 order does not explicitly require municipal governments to terminate their own programs but could impact whether such agencies continue receiving federal dollars.
Chapa told the council in June that he didn鈥檛 know if Fort Worth received any direct notification from the federal government that the city must remove DEI programs or risk losing federal dollars.
Fort Worth appears to be the first city in North Texas to consider terminating its DEI initiatives, but the city of Dallas followed suit shortly after.
In late June, Dallas City Council members instructed their city manager to review DEI efforts and ensure compliance with federal directives. A briefing on findings is due by Aug. 20, according to 四虎影院.
Fort Worth council members began discussing the funding risk during a closed meeting in May. Their first public discussion was at a .
The decision to delay the June 24 vote came after a tense debate on the merit of DEI initiatives and the impact of suspending such initiatives on the city鈥檚 relationships with communities of color.
The discussion was largely partisan, with most Democratic council members opposing the suspension and wanting to 鈥渢ake a stand鈥� against Trump. Republican council members, including Parker, said they weren鈥檛 willing to risk millions in federal funds or remained silent during the discussion.
Several Democratic council members told Chapa they understood the need to protect federal funds, but they weren鈥檛 comfortable with suspending minority- and women-owned business incentives without seeing concrete plans in place to continue aiding small businesses in Fort Worth.
Those in opposition to the resolution said they would be more amenable to it if they could first see a detailed plan for continued support of local, small businesses.
If the council approves the resolution Tuesday, the diversity and inclusion department鈥檚 five staff members would not lose their jobs, Chapa has said. He has not detailed how the suspension would impact volunteer advisory commissions, such as the Human Relations Commission and Mayor鈥檚 Committee on Persons with Disabilities, which are housed under the diversity and inclusion department.
Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org.
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