From safety to services, Fort Worth continues to be a city on the rise and a great place to live, Mayor Mattie Parker said in her State of the City address Friday at the Fort Worth Convention Center.
“Our success as a city is contingent upon our commitment to quality of life policies and investments,” Parker said. “People are quite literally voting with their feet. When people could live anywhere, they’re choosing to live in Fort Worth.”
Nothing surprising about the second-term mayor’s positive outlook but it wasn’t just talk. She had facts to back up her message, noting that Southern Living Magazine named Fort Worth the Best Place to Retire for “City Lovers” – and the Pacific Research Institute named Cowtown the “Most Pro-Growth City in America.”
Likewise, Parker said the city has been recognized for its success by the Wall Street Journal and Texas Monthly.
“And maybe our favorite,” she said, was a May headline in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “Fort Worth leads Dallas in real estate growth.” Fort Worth ranks fourth in the U.S. in that category, Parker recalled.
Parker said large cities such as San Francisco, New York and even Dallas “are losing residents while we are gaining them at an incredible rate.”
With just over 950,000 residents, Fort Worth ranks 13th nationally in population.
Parker said the DFW area is on pace to surpass the Chicago metro area as the third largest population in America in the next decade.
“I’m here to tell you today that the state of Fort Worth is absolutely strong,” she said.
Parker praised the Fort Worth City Council, which she noted is the largest it’s ever been with 11 members, including herself. Also, she stressed, there are more women – five – on the council than ever before.
“Our beloved Mayor Pro Tem, Miss Gyna Bivens, is the dean of our council,” Parker said, praising Bivens as the longest-serving Fort Worth council member.
“I’m grateful for each of you and our ability to work together,” Parker said.
The mayor addressed several areas of concern as the city pursues growth and prosperity.
PUBLIC SAFETY
The city’s 2023-24 Fiscal Year budget includes funding for 106 new positions in the police department and 76 new positions in the fire department.
Plans are to have the Fort Worth Police Department at full strength by 2026, she said.
“Our top responsibility at the local level is public safety. When you call 911, first responders need to be there as quickly as possible. We are right-sizing public safety to meet the growing needs of our city,” Parker said.
In 2022, the mayor said, the FWPD Crisis Intervention Team answered almost 10,000 calls (9,984), including 237 high-risk mental health interventions and 67 firearms seizures. She noted that homicides in the city are down 18% in 2023 (comparing the first quarter of this year to the first quarter of last year).
In partnership with United Way and Tarrant County, Fort Worth created the One Second Collaborative last year, which has invested $2 million in ARPA funds to 18 organizations across the City to help address youth gun violence.
Parker announced that FWPD Assistant Chief Julie Swearingin will be honored with the Mayor’s Unsung Hero Service Award.
“Today, we are attracting the best and brightest to our Fort Worth Police Department thanks to Julie. Leaders like Julie are inspiring the next generation,” Parker said.
HOMELESSNESS AND HOUSING
Also in the budget, there is an additional $2 million in the Priority Repair Program, which will allow the program to complete 200 additional homes in the next fiscal year, increasing the program’s total to approximately 430 homes.
“Smart policies matter. Our policy is housing first – with service to keep people housed and prevent displacement,” Parker said.
In 2016, the city’s Upspire program, which provides steady employment opportunities for people experiencing homelessness, employed 2 people. That has now grown to 84 employees helping with mowing, litter, and animal control services.
The city has also invested more than $41 million in projects to support permanent supportive housing, deeply affordable housing, and permanently affordable housing since 2022, financing the initiatives largely with one-time American Rescue Plan Act revenue.
Many projects have also been leveraged partnership funds with Tarrant County. This includes a new project in which, for the first time in Fort Worth’s history, the city is looking to adopt an innovative new tactics to support affordable home ownership by taking steps to partner with a community land trust.
CITY SERVICES
“After public safety, it’s imperative city leaders focus on the basics – your roads, parks, libraries, picking up your trash, water – and we as a city council must do everything in our power to be good stewards of your tax dollars,” Parker said. “Budget decisions and the direction of this city are about leadership, not politics.”
Earlier this year, the council voted to increase the over-65 and disability exemptions on property values from $40,000 to $60,000. The city also adopted a tax rate reduction of four cents, the largest tax rate reduction in more than three decades.
Budget highlights include:
- Increased mowing frequency and litter removal for all parks, medians, and other park property.
- A focus on streetlight and striping maintenance citywide.
- A new West Side Library branch outside of Loop 820.
- A new community center and expanded hours at five other centers.
- A new Environmental Services Department to improve environmental quality.
- Expansion of priority home repair program for 200 additional homes annually.
- More positions and equipment for homeless camp cleanup and more dollars in homeless services.
- A $3 million contribution to the Economic Development Incentive Fund.
- Additional staffing for animal shelters and pet adoptions.
The budget also includes a second neighborhood for the Neighborhood Improvement Program. In 2017, Stop Six was selected as the first community to benefit from the program.
The city invested $2.5 million in 2017. That one year of targeted investment, bolstered by $35 million in federal dollars in 2020, is expected to leverage a $345 million community investment by the end of 2026. It has led to a dramatic decrease in violent crime, a housing renaissance, and a 4% increase in the value of building permits in the area, Parker said.
ECONOMIC DRIVERS
Parker reminded the audience that the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport has over 72 million annual passengers annually. Ahead is $4.8 billion in capital investment, including construction of Terminal F, the renovation of Terminal C and other modernization projects.
“Our success as a city relies on several critical economic anchors, including the second busiest airport in the world, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, and our $3.6 billion tourism industry.”
The city’s tourism industry also supports 30,000 local jobs. Visitor spending generates $125 million in local tax revenues.
EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE
The Mayor’s Council on Education & Workforce is now in its second year. The council’s immediate goal is to increase by 10 percent the annual enrollment in early collegiate high schools, PTECH (Pathways in Technology Early College High School), and dual credit programs.
“The future of Fort Worth and our region depends on building a workforce and talent pipeline to support our growing economy,” Parker said. “Today’s students are your future workforce, and students in school districts need partnerships and innovative thinking to help close the gap.”
Each year, she said, more than 200 students graduate with an associate degree from a local early collegiate high school. Also, students are graduating in local districts each year with more than 8,000 industry-based certifications.
The Fort Worth Police Department and Fort Worth Independent School District recently partnered to launch a criminal justice program for students interested in the field to attend classes at the Bob Bolen Public Safety Complex.
Another important initiative: Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan’s 101 Studios, the Fort Worth Film Commission, Red Productions, and Tarrant County College have partnered to create a film workforce development certification program.
Since 2015, projects filmed in Fort Worth have contributed $555 million in economic impact.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The mayor interrupted her speech to have a panel discussion with Robert Allen, President/CEO of Fort Worth Economic Development Partnership, and the city’s Economic Development Director Robert Sturns.
Parker praised the work over the past year that she said has brought the city $1.75 billion in estimated private investments, along with 4,000 new jobs with an average salary of $73,000.
Sturns alluded to the beginning of Parker’s speech when she mentioned the vast amount of publicity the city is receiving in the media. He said such growth is the result of getting the word out to potential new businesses and investors that “Fort Worth is here and we have some really strong attributes that we can offer.”
Allen added: “How do you keep it going? Don’t become complacent.”
GREEN SPACE
Parker closed her presentation by announcing creation of “Good Natured, a Fort Worth Greenspace Initiative.” The city loses roughly 50 acres of natural open space per week to development, Parker said, and the Good Natured program is designed to bring public and private partners together to shape and enhance greenspace investment in the city for the next century.
Parker serves as chair of Mayors for Parks Coalition, a project of the City Parks Alliance. She signed Fort Worth onto the 10-Minute Walk Program shortly after being elected as mayor in 2021 and has set two initial goals for the Good Natured initiative: grow and enhance Fort Worth’s park system collaboratively with the support of private and public sector partners, and preserve at least 10,000 acres of open space over the next five years.
“Fort Worth is the fastest-growing city in America and is also currently half-developed,” she said. “We must meet this moment. We have an opportunity, responsibility, and urgency right now to protect natural areas and to preserve critical watersheds and green and blue spaces across our city. Leaving this city better than we found it starts now, and the generations to come are depending on us taking this seriously.”
According to data from the Trust for Public Land, Fort Worth lags behind other major cities in both park investment per capita and percentage of residents living within a 10-minute walk to a park.
The effort will build off the decades of greenspace and blue space investment by the city and the Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD), and will work toward further collaboration opportunities among the entities around recreation, conservation, stormwater management, and water quality.
Parker said the Good Natured initiative was able to get off the ground through a seed donation from Oncor of $1 million to be distributed over five years and facilitated by Streams & Valleys.
Prior to Parker’s speech, the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce announced the recipients of the 2023 Small Business of the Year awards, sponsored by Bank of Texas. The annual awards recognize and honor small businesses that have demonstrated exemplary “Best Practices” of entrepreneurship, such as sound business planning, fiscal responsibility and work process innovation.
“Small businesses are the lifeblood of a growing economy and essential for Fort Worth. They drive innovation, create jobs, and fuel growth so their success is success for Fort Worth,” said Mark Nurdin, president and CEO of the Fort Worth Market for Bank of Texas.
This year’s winners are:
- Emerging Businesses: Divine Intervention Recovery, LLC, a woman and minority-owned company in Hurst. Established in 2022 and founded by Angela Sachse and Karen Yowman Kaniki, the company’s purpose is providing quality care for substance use recovery and mental health wellness.
- 1-20 Employees: 6th Avenue Storytelling. Their mission is to empower entrepreneurship and simplify the process of starting and growing small businesses. They provide entrepreneurs with the tools, resources, strategy, and support they need to craft and share their stories effectively.
- 21-50 Employees: Varghese Summersett, established in 2014, they have three elite teams of attorneys and staff that make up their award-winning criminal defense, family and personal injury law divisions.
- 51-100 Employees: In an unprecedented moment for the chamber, this first-time award was presented to two companies, Ampersand Coffee and Auticon USA. Ampersand is a community-driven coffee shop in Fort Worth that puts a modern twist on coffee with a wide selection of coffee drinks paired with favorite spirits, and their lounge transforms into a vibrant bar on weekends. Auticon USA is an award-winning social enterprise with a mission to improve the employment prospects of autistic and neurodivergent people. To accomplish this, it builds high-quality technology careers for autistic adults and acts as a catalyst for change by bringing neurodiversity education to client workforces.
Also presented were The Best Place For Working Parents Awards:
- Family Resources Innovator Award: Baylor Scott & White Health. The health care system is ranked among the best in America.
- Policy Innovator Award: Apex Capital. Founded in 1995 with one employee, the company focuses on making a difference in the lives of truckers.
- Events Innovator Award: Balcom Agency. An advertising agency, social media shop, public relations firm and a web design group, Balcom bills itself as “built to deliver online and offline – without ever losing sight of the bottom line.”