Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker will deliver her first state of the city address Thursday (Sept. 29) during an event hosted by the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce and presented by Simmons Bank. The event will take place from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at Dickies Arena.
Parker was elected as the 45th mayor of Fort Worth in June 2021 at the age of 37. She is the youngest mayor of any major city in America.
Parker is leading one of the fastest growing cities in the nation. In the latest report from worldpopulationreview.com, Fort Worth ranks 13th in the U.S. in population with 954,457, less than 21,000 behind No. 12 Jacksonville, Florida, and less than 42,000 behind No. 11 Austin. The city’s current growth rate of 3.87% is greater than other city in the nation’s top 50.
No details about the mayor’s speech were released but she is expected to focus on key issues facing her administration over the past year and in the future, including growth, economic development, transportation, education and public safety.
One big item on the city’s agenda for 2023 that the mayor could discuss is the $67 million first phase of the long awaited expansion of the Fort Worth Convention Center. Construction is expected to begin mid-year and be completed in 2026. The $500 million second phase of the expansion will get underway when pandemic-crunched hospitality taxes recover sufficiently to support the issuance of debt to finance construction, officials say.
Along with Parker’s address, the luncheon-style state of the city event will feature Margaret Hoover, host of PBS’s Firing Line, joining the mayor for a special interview segment. Also on tap: the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year Awards presented by Bank of Texas, and the Best Place for Working Parents Awards.
The event is sold out, the chamber said, but a recording of Parker’s address will be available on the city’s YouTube channel in English, Spanish and ASL starting on Friday, Sept. 30, at noon.