Salary increases for Fort Worth council members and clarifying the city manager鈥檚 authority could soon be on the ballot.
Fort Worth residents may see eight proposed amendments to the city charter during the May 2 elections after council members appeared receptive to city staff鈥檚 recommendations during a Tuesday work session.
However, some expressed concern that 鈥� if the city is not careful about how it presents and words the proposed changes 鈥� voters will shut the efforts down.
鈥淗opefully, it鈥檚 super easy to read, like: 鈥楬ere鈥檚 what (the amendment) is going to say. Here鈥檚 what it means, and here鈥檚 why,鈥欌�� council member Charles Lauersdorf said. 鈥淩ight now, government鈥檚 messy, and there鈥檚 a lot of distrust with government.鈥�
City Council plans to call for the special election on Feb. 10, officials said. If council members don鈥檛 do so by Feb. 13, the next available option would be in November.
One measure would about double the mayor鈥檚 and council members鈥� salaries from $29,000 and $25,000, respectively, to $60,000 and $50,000. If approved in May, the pay raises would go into effect in October, at the start of the 2027 fiscal year.
Similar raises were shot down by about two-thirds of voters in 2016, when a proposal would have given the mayor $60,000 and council members鈥� $45,000.
In 2022, Fort Worth voters narrowly that would have increased the mayor鈥檚 pay to half the average salary of city department directors and council members鈥� to half the average salary of assistant department directors.
The charter serves as the playbook for a city鈥檚 government structure and outlines the powers and responsibilities of its elected officials, according to the National Civic League.
Municipalities may call a charter election once every two years to ask residents to authorize or reject amendments proposed by their city council.
Several amendments seek to expand and clarify city manager鈥檚 authority
Other amendments would expand or clarify City Manager Jay Chapa鈥檚 authority to make decisions without approval from the council, officials said.
One amendment seeks to give the city manager the power to create, abolish and consolidate departments without a council vote, as long as those areas are not required by city charter.
Currently, the charter requires council members to approve such changes. Gavin Midgley, an assistant city attorney, said the requirement 鈥渓imits the organizational control of the city manager,鈥� who has broad administrative authority already under Fort Worth鈥檚 structure of government.
The city manager is hired and reviewed annually by the City Council.
Another amendment would change how a city manager terminates department directors by removing a provision that allows the employees 鈥� if they鈥檝e held their positions for at least six months 鈥� to demand a written statement and a hearing in front of council before being terminated.
A similar entitlement for council appointees would be erased under another proposed amendment.
Midgley said the hearing requirements are also 鈥渋n conflict with鈥� Fort Worth鈥檚 structure of government, as the city manager can fire staff without council approval. Such hearings 鈥� which rarely crop up 鈥� often only open the door to mudslinging between the city and an outgoing employee, he added.
鈥淚f the city manager elects to remove a department director, an appeal to council really doesn鈥檛 change anything, as council doesn鈥檛 have the correct authority to rehire or continue to employ a department director,鈥� Midgley said.
City Attorney Leann Guzman said city leaders would rather deal with such conflicts and allegations in court rather than in a public City Council meeting.
Meanwhile, another amendment would remove requiring council approval to make a company a . If passed, city staff could recognize such haulers through a process known as 鈥淕ranting of Privilege.鈥�
City Council already has rolled out requirements for companies seeking to become a garbage hauler, Midgley said, so the additional council approval is unnecessary.
Amendments seek to remove 鈥榓dditional complexities鈥�
Other amendments aim to further streamline processes, staff said.
Council members could approve the city鈥檚 yearly budget at the same meeting that the city holds a public hearing, where residents can speak to council about the budget, according to one proposal.
Council members currently must wait until another meeting to adopt the budget, which is not required by law, Midgley said. The requirement creates 鈥渁dditional complexity in an already complex process,鈥� he said.
Another proposed amendment would remove the requirement for the Fort Worth public utilities to create annual reports for council. The final proposal could change some of the charter鈥檚 timelines for calling special elections to comply with state law.
City Council members shut down one amendment recommended by city staff that would have reduced the number of council members required to hold a public meeting from two-thirds to a simple majority, or six out of 11.
鈥淪ince I鈥檝e been on the council, there has never been a time when we have not had a quorum,鈥� said council member Deborah Peoples, who was elected last May. 鈥淭he public expects us to be there to take care of business.鈥�
To pass any votes during meetings, council would still need a majority of all 11 council seats, not just a majority of those in attendance.
The amendments would appear lower on residents鈥� ballots, below the city鈥檚 .
This spring鈥檚 ballot also will include at least one as Alan Blaylock steps down to representing Fort Worth.
Drew Shaw is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at drew.shaw@fortworthreport.org or .
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