New election, same old story for Fort Worth’s mayor and city council. They ask for a pay raise. The voters say no.
It happened again Saturday as a proposed amendment to the city charter that would have raised the mayor’s annual salary to $99,653 and council members’ pay to $76,727 went down to defeat by a margin of 52.4% to 47.6%.
It was the second time in recent years that Fort Worth voters have rejected a pay raise for the city’s elected officials. In 2016, a charter amendment that would have raised the mayor’s salary from $29,000 to $60,000 and council salaries from $25,000 to $45,000 was opposed by nearly 66 percent of voters.
The proposal on the May 7 election ballot also would have taken decisions about future raises out of the hands of voters, linking elected officials’ pay to that of department heads and assistant department heads. According to the plan, the mayor’s salary would have been half the average salary of department heads and council members’ pay half that of the average for assistant department heads.
Council members apparently didn’t take the rejection personally – nor did it dissuade them from pursuing their quest for higher pay.
District 3 Councilman Michael D. Crain said the no vote was simply a matter of voters not understanding the full scope of the jobs of the mayor and council. He also noted that it wasn’t a landslide denial.
“It didn’t fail that miserably,” he said. “I don’t think people fully understand the hours it takes to do this job. I make about 17 cents an hour doing this job. If the pay raise goes through I make two dollars an hour. I think people believe we just show up on Tuesdays and vote.”
“It is public service, and I’m proud to do it, but it is also hard and time-consuming work,” Crain added. “But I voted to put it out to the public and ask them are we worth it? Now, we are a big city and we have to put our big city pants on and continue to work hard.”
District 7 Councilman Leonard Firestone echoed those thoughts.
“It’s hard to get inside voters’ heads,” he said. “Clearly, there’s an aversion to it (a pay raise). But you can’t argue with the voters and the majority.”
Mayor Mattie Parker and other council members did not respond to requests for comment.
Firestone thinks city leaders need to be more effective in communicating what they do and why they deserve a raise.
“We have to do a better job of answering the why,” he said. “I don’t know what’s next, but when we address it again, it has to be about messaging.”
Both Crain and Firestone said the current salaries could limit the type of candidates who will run for office. After all, they said, folks have to make a living.
“It leaves only a certain class of people who can afford to run,” Crain said.
Firestone agreed.
“It’s absolutely a limiting factor,” he said. “There’s not been any connection between compensation and growth.”
Fort Worth is now the nation’s 12th largest city and Texas’ fifth largest, nearing 1 million in population, but mayoral and council salaries lag far behind more populous metro competitors.
Data presented by the city shows that Dallas pays its mayor $80,000 per year and council members $60,000; Austin pays its mayor $97,656 and council members $83,258 per year; San Antonio pays its mayor $61,725 and council members $45,722 per year.
Although voters proved to be tightfisted when it came to pay hikes, they were ready to open their wallets for five bond proposals on the May 7 ballot, approving $560 million for street and mobility improvements, park and recreation projects, public safety facilities, a new library branch and land for natural areas.
Voters also approved 10 of the 13 proposed charter amendments on the ballot. Most of the amendments involved technical issues related to municipal governance.
The largest expenditure among the bond projects is $360.2 million for road and mobility projects. That proposal passed by a margin of more than 2-1 – 67% to 33%.
“The bonds addressed some critical quality-of-life projects,” Firestone said.
Both Crain and Firestone said the new bond projects are expected to get underway soon, notwithstanding several projects from a 2018 bond election that are still in progress.
The mayor turned to social media to thank voters for approving the bond proposals.
“I want to say thank you to the voters for passing this bond, enabling us to fund vital projects that will build stronger communities and support a growing Fort Worth for generations to come,” Parker tweeted. “I also appreciate that voters provided us valuable feedback on city charter changes, which included passing many important technical amendments to address the ever-evolving needs of a big city.”
Crain said the success of the bond proposals proves that voters did their homework.
“Most people understand we are a growing city and we are spending their money wisely,” he said. “Also, that we were able to do this without a tax increase is important. We’re paying out of general funds.”
One other item of business in the election was filling the District 4 council seat being vacated by Cary Moon. Voters chose Alan Blaylock over three other candidates to replace Moon, who forfeited the seat to run for the Texas House of Representatives. He ran unsuccessfully for the District 93 House seat that will be vacated by Matt Krause. Blaylock’s term will expire in May 2023.
As is usually the case in municipal elections, voter turnout for this one was dismal all across Tarrant County – less than 9% – as elections were held by the Fort Worth school district in addition to the city of Fort Worth and a number of other municipalities.
“We wish we could get people to the polls, but historically, in Fort Worth, it was what was expected,” Firestone said.
“Turnout was miserable.” Crain said. “I don’t know why more people don’t understand how important these local elections are. On a day-to-day basis the things that drive you crazy are in your city. I wish more people would focus on that.
“But the people who show up and vote are the ones who decide.”