Fort Worth residents will have fewer opportunities to address their elected representatives at City Hall next year.
The number of meetings dedicated to allowing residents to air concerns in front of City Council members will shrink from the 15-meeting schedule this year to 10 in 2026. Residents will have one chance per month, excluding July and November, to publicly address them on any topic.
Council members approved the change with a 7-4 vote as they adopted their 2026 meeting schedule Sept. 30. Council members Elizabeth Beck, Mia Hall, Chris Nettles and Deborah Peoples opposed the change, arguing that it鈥檚 important to hear constituents鈥� concerns publicly.
Those in favor of the change stressed residents still have the opportunity to address them during those designated meetings as well as during committee meetings or privately one-on-one.
The vote came after six speakers urged council members to increase, not decrease, chances for residents to address City Council. No one spoke in favor of the reduction.
鈥淭here continues to be this restriction of the people鈥檚 voices, and this can not be accepted,鈥� Fort Worth resident Alexander Montalvo told council members before challenging them to double such speaking opportunities. He also asked that they add public comments to all regular council meetings.
Fort Worth resident Mendi Tackett described the ability to address elected officials as the 鈥渇oundation of representative government.鈥�
鈥淧ublic comment is where accountability happens,鈥� Tackett said before the vote. 鈥淚t鈥檚 where citizens can bring forward concerns that may not fit neatly into an agenda item but still matter deeply to their neighborhoods, their families and their livelihoods.鈥�
Residents may address council members during regular meetings, but their comments must remain focused on a specific agenda item that they signed up to speak about. During public comment meetings, speakers can talk about any topic.
Fort Worth City Council meetings in 2026
Under the adopted schedule, council members will meet on Tuesdays as follows:
- 20 regular meetings to vote on city business, with nine in the morning and 11 in the evening.
- 21 work session meetings to discuss city business and hear reports from staff without voting. Nine of those meetings will be on the same day as a regular meeting.
- 10 public comment meetings.
The new schedule gives council members one Tuesday per month with no meetings.
During debate, Nettles proposed adding public comment opportunities to the end of the council鈥檚 morning meetings. His amendment was voted down by the same council members who approved the change.
Council member Michael Crain said his constituents have easy access to him and his staff.
鈥淚f there are true issues that need to be resolved and you need to reach us, (we鈥檙e) very accessible, all of us are,鈥� Crain said. 鈥淪o I see that the time that we spend here in public comment means we don鈥檛 have a Tuesday night out where we can go to a neighborhood meeting, we can go meet with people, etc.鈥�
Council member Charlie Lauersdorf said he would have supported Nettles鈥� amendment if he witnessed more residents attend meetings, adding that the majority of frequent attendees are journalists and city staff. Like Crain, he said he鈥檚 happy to meet one-on-one with residents.
鈥淭he issue with the public comment is you don鈥檛 really get that back-and-forth dialogue where you can ask questions, get answers, bring some subject matter experts to the table and actually solve the problems,鈥� Lauersdorf said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot of the same song and dance, which I鈥檓 happy to listen to, but I never really hear a lot of solutions.鈥�
Hall said public comment is 鈥減art of the Democratic process.鈥� She and Nettles argued that although residents can have private meetings with them, it鈥檚 beneficial to the entire council to hear the concerns of other districts鈥� constituents in a public forum.
鈥淚 need to hear from other districts in a public setting like this so that I can know how that individual feels,鈥� Nettles said. 鈥淵ou鈥檒l see votes tonight where people will vote against and for projects that I have in my district 鈥� it鈥檚 because of their own individual interests or they heard from their constituents.鈥�
Hall said limiting public comment opportunities to one Tuesday per month forces residents to choose between spaces where they want to have a voice because Tarrant County Commissioners Court and Fort Worth ISD board members also meet on Tuesdays.
鈥淚 definitely believe that we need to give people the options and the availability and the flexibility to bring forth their concerns,鈥� Hall said.
During the Tuesday meeting, Mayor Mattie Parker Patrice Jones, who told the council that limiting public comments could force her and others to seek out alternatives to air concerns to council members.
鈥淧atrice, I still have your casket,鈥� Parker called out from the dais as Jones took her seat in the audience. The mayor otherwise didn鈥檛 comment on the meeting schedule change.
Several Fort Worth advocacy groups have since to Jones.
Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org.
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