Fort Worth City Council members are preparing to take a formal stance on Tarrant County鈥檚 unusual mid-decade redistricting process, after five of the 11 members came out in opposition to the hotly debated issue at the end of last week.
The council will vote May 20 on opposing 鈥渁ny Tarrant County Commissioners Court process for redistricting that results in the adoption of a map by the court that would change the existing precinct boundaries.鈥�
The resolution has so far gained partisan support among the council, with Democrat members Chris Nettles, Elizabeth Beck, Jared Williams, Jeanette Martinez and signing on in favor.
鈥淔ort Worth is the largest city in Tarrant County. We just surpassed a million people. We should have a say, or we should be asked to come to the table when big decisions like this are happening,鈥� Nettles, who initiated the council proposal, told the Fort Worth Report Monday.
His proposal states that the county redistricting is 鈥渃ause for concern over the negative impact to the residents of the city of Fort Worth who are represented by the existing precincts.鈥� It argues that the city and county collaborate on several infrastructure projects, such as transportation improvements, that stand to be impacted by shifting precincts and resulting shifting precinct priorities and budgets.
鈥淭he change in precincts would put some planned projects in multiple precincts going forward, which at best will contribute to a delay in the transportation projects as additional approvals are secured, and at worst result in the cancellation of the projects if the approvals are not secured,鈥� the proposal states.
Any council member may submit items, called council proposals, to include as an action item for the council body to vote on during a meeting. To do so, they must get four other members to sign on in support.
Fort Worth is the latest municipal government body to weigh in on the proposal to redraw Tarrant County Commissioner Court precinct boundaries 鈥� an effort widely criticized by Democrats as an attempt at racial gerrymandering. Last week, Arlington Mayor Jim Ross instructed city staff to investigate the legality and ethics of the proposal.
Republican commissioners outvoted Democrats 3-2 in April to hire the conservative law firm Public Interest Legal Foundation to lead the redistricting process and redraw commissioners鈥� precinct boundaries. The county is drawn into four precincts, with each one represented by a commissioner. Judge Tim O鈥橦are, a Republican who initiated the redistricting proposal, represents the county overall.
Republican officials argue that redistricting is needed to account for rapid population growth in Tarrant. Redistricting typically happens shortly after a census, but county commissioners opted not to redraw precinct lines in 2020, saying at the time that precincts remained demographically balanced after the census.
As the unusual mid-decade effort kicked off, Democrats have criticized the effort as an attempt to give Republicans an advantage in one of the county鈥檚 two Democratic-led precincts. Hundreds of Tarrant residents have attended county meetings to weigh in on the proposals, with many speakers stating the new maps would disenfranchise voters of color by changing the political makeup of Democrat Alisa Simmons鈥� Precinct 2.
Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons speaks during a commissioners court meeting June 4, 2024. (Alberto Silva Fernandez | Fort Worth Report) Each of the five proposed precinct maps would give Republicans the edge in Simmons鈥� precinct, which includes Arlington, Dalworthington Gardens, Kennedale, Mansfield, Pantego and parts of Grand Prairie. Simmons, who is up for reelection in 2026, claims Republicans initiated the redistricting to intentionally draw her out of her seat.
Nettles said he has closely followed the county鈥檚 redistricting effort, and he hasn鈥檛 been satisfied with the level of transparency county officials have implemented throughout the process to date. The county has hosted three town hall meetings 鈥� in , Arlington and southwest Fort Worth 鈥� and plans to host one more to allow residents to provide input on the process.
Attend a redistricting town hallTarrant County is hosting its final of four town hall meetings to gather resident feedback on the redistricting proposal at 6 p.m. May 21 at the Gary Fickes Northeast Courthouse in Hurst.
Nettles felt compelled to speak out on the county issue after seeing Ross鈥� public stance in Arlington, speaking with county commissioners and hearing his own constituents voice concerns about racial gerrymandering.
In addition to the five council members who signed on, Nettles said he told members Michael Crain and Carlos Flores about the proposal to ask for support. Crain confirmed via text message to the Report that Nettles told him about the proposal but added that he was not asked to sign it. Flores, who did not return a request for comment, didn鈥檛 get on board in time to have his signature included in the initial request for a vote, according to Nettles.
A Monday news release from Nettles鈥� office stating that council members want to oppose the 鈥渞ushed plan to redraw precinct lines鈥� included Flores鈥� signature in addition to the five members who signed the initial proposal. Flores鈥� support gives Democrats the majority needed to successfully adopt the resolution Tuesday.
Fort Worth City Council member Carlos Flores speaks during a MedStar board of directors meeting Nov. 21, 2024. (Camilo Diaz | Fort Worth Report) Mayor Mattie Parker declined to comment on whether she intends to support the resolution, communicating via her spokesperson that she plans to wait until the vote to weigh in. She said she wasn鈥檛 asked by any council members to sign the proposal.
鈥淚t鈥檚 my desire that it鈥檚 not a political resolution,鈥� Nettles said of the council鈥檚 impending vote. 鈥淚t basically talks about funding for the city of Fort Worth, and I can see my colleagues getting on board with that unless there鈥檚 something that I may be missing.鈥�
He recalled the process to , which resulted in the addition of two new districts to expand the council body from nine members to 11. He noted that council members unanimously approved the current district map after what he described as an 鈥渙pen process鈥� with numerous public meetings, intentional outreach to community stakeholders and a focus on getting it right without rushing.
Nettles said the county鈥檚 redistricting feels rushed to get new maps drawn and approved in time for next year鈥檚 election, when both O鈥橦are and Simmons will be on the ballot. Simmons will be up for her second term after defeating Republican Andy Nguyen with 51% of the vote to . Nguyen, who served as O鈥橦are鈥檚 chief of staff after losing to Simmons, represented Precinct 2 between 2011 and 2018 and lost his reelection campaign to Democrat Devan Allen in 2018. The seat has been represented by a Democrat since then.
If Republican commissioners are successful in their effort to continue pushing the process forward, Nettles hopes the new precincts won鈥檛 go into effect until after the 2026 election. That way, he said, residents will have time to establish residency in their precincts of choice in time to vote in the next commissioners court election 鈥� and would-be candidates would have ample time to meet residency requirements to get on the ballot to represent redrawn precincts.
鈥淭here鈥檚 ways around it to make it fair but on its face, right now, I would like to see it not voted on,鈥� Nettles said. Moving forward, he hopes to see county commissioners either abandon the effort until the next census or restart it as a 鈥渢rue public process.鈥�
Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org.
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