March 22, 2021 FNA General Membership Meeting

Watch a meeting recording here

Start time: 7:02pm

Code Compliance Officer – Al Vasquez & Thomas Guerin

• Officer Vazquez is new to the neighborhood and is the  one who has placed notices recently
• Guerin: 24 years in the code compliance office and has done everything in the department besides multi-family
• Supervises the district that includes Fairmount
• Questions about the citations, specifically pertaining to one of the BnB in the neighborhood.
  • The case was closed once they confirmed it is in a commercial zone
• Once you turn in a complaint, a case is created for it. Turning in multiples will not help and will be flagged as a duplicate
• 817-999-7457 cell (Guerin)
• 817-392-5393 office
• 682-287-5393 office Vasquez cell
• Office out of Hazel Harvey, but officers are out in the field
• Tiffany Taylor is the historic code compliance officer for the entire city

Officer Garner – NPO

• 2 thefts, 1 auto theft, 2 mischief calls and 2 vehicle burglaries
• catalytic converters are being cut from the cars all around the city (only 2 out of Fairmount)
• Officer Garner did not tag “Lucky”
• Make sure there are no debris under the car and air up the tires so that it does not appear as it is abandoned
• Blocking sidewalks leads to a citation as does parking a car facing the wrong direction

Elizabeth Brammer – Safety

• Compliance ticket was handed on College Avenue for cars in front of homes
• Asked for a ‘frequent offender’ list of things seen in the neighborhood to put out in the newsletter for a FAQ

Dori – Community Crossroads Outreach Center

• ESL program
  • hoping to get started back in the fall when we can meet in person
  • only providing services outside during COVID
  • There is new construction completed this year
  • Pantry and Grocery sack program offered to the community
  • Formula and diapers the third Monday from 9-11am
  • Groceries are provided by 3 grocers in the area
  • Had a drop off due to the Boys and Girls Club also distributing groceries
  • New partnership
    • Center for Transforming Lives
    • Goodwill
    • TrueWorth with JPS
    • Boys and Girls Club
  • Dorothea Al-Hammami, LMSW
  • 817-333-9461
  • dalhammami@fpcfw.org
  • First Presbyterian Church Fort Worth
  • Cannot take direct donations of clothing yet
  • Because they are having to wipe down everything that comes in, they have not been able to take in donations
  • Volunteer opportunities
    • Sacking groceries (inside or outside)
    • distribution of lunches
    • unpacking and reorganizing the donated goods
    • Help with the vaccine sign up initiative
  • To volunteer for the pantry please go to the Tarrant Area Food Bank and select the church as the place you would like to volunteer www.tafb.org
  • First Presbyterian Church Fort Worth and select Giving and designate Community Crossroads as the recipient

Regina Jackman – Finance

• Balances
  • Checking: 5020.00
  • Savings: 1300.00
  • MM: 15,000.00
  • P&L: income $15,873 expenses $17,067

Preston – Infrastructure

• Waiting on the lamp post on Washington to be addressed
• Will be asking for volunteers to put up flags soon
• Flag sponsorship program will be going on this year as well
  • Link for sponsorship program will go up and will also give the opportunity to donate for new flags as well

Lori – Promotions

• Getting plans together for home tour and working on the final list of homes
• Fairmount Virtual Easter Bonnet Contest
  • Prizes
  • 3/28 11:59pm is the deadline for submitting pictures
• Garage Sale is not officially on, but there are many groups of people participating in their own event during the same day 

Voting Item

• Membership director has asked to step down and need to fill the position that goes til the end of August
• Barbara Crotty has volunteered to step in as interim director
• In Zoom: leave a comment
• On Facebook: leave a comment
• Motioned by Lori
• 2nd by Rachel
• Passed by Vote on Quorum

Michael McDermott- Preservation

• Continued meeting with members who are wanting more information about their homes and the certificate of appropriateness for changes made to their homes
• preservation@historicfairmount.com
• Working on histories of homes that are going to be on home tour
• if you see something going on that is being done to the exterior of the homes, please send them in to have them reviewed
• 2225 Fairmount is in limbo 

Jean-Carlo – Administration

• Looking for volunteers to help inventory the items in the storage facility
• Storage went up about $600 a year

Suzanne Mabe – Community Garden

• Saturday 3/27 holding an egg hunt from 9-10:30am
• Everyone is welcome and will have the garden open for viewing
• All the plots are rented
• Fairmount Community Garden on Facebook

Will be posting by the end of the month answers to the questions to historicfairmount.com

Jordan Mims – Council seat for district 9

• Resident of the Nearsouthside
• Priorities
  • raising minimum wage in the city
  • access to affordable housing in the city
  • transportation that is adequate for the size of the city

Deborah Peoples – Candidate for Mayor

• Made a point to mention that community is what the city needs to come together and what could solve a lot of the problems we are facing

Mattie Parker – Candidate for Mayor

• 14 year resident of Fort Worth
• Priorities:
  • Embracing diversity
  • Transportation

Jared Sloane – Council seat 9 www.jaredsloane.com

• From Pittsburgh
• 10 year resident of Fort Worth
• Priorities:
  • Championing the urban corridor
  • Public transportation
  • Growing commercial base
  • Advocate for Schooling

Daniel Caldwell – Candidate for Mayor

fb.com/dcdanielcaldwell

• Wants to use his skills to best serve the community
• Serves as a volunteer educator in the surrounding communities

Questions:

Jordan Mims:

• running for council because people need help and there are many members of the community who are not able to live and thrive within the city
• Proposing a $15 minimum wage to those who are employed by an company with 100 or more employees and wants to work with small business owners to propose something that will work with everyone in the community

Deborah Peoples:

• The Mayorship is a City Manager position and has the power to set forth the agenda that drives changes in the city
• Education:
  • We are about to be the 12th largest city in the US, but we are also one of the most diverse cities in the nation
  • Average age of the city is 37 years old
  • Because of the demographics of the city, we need to make sure we give the future residents of this city the tools to be able to thrive
• Transportation:
  • Light rail
  • Ride share technology

Mattie Parker:

• Education:
  • 30% of 8th graders never finish high school
  • 14% of low income students do not finish high school
  • Public education is the backbone of the city
  • Changes in education will bring commercial clients
  • need to flip 60 residential/40 commercial tax base to 40 commercial/60 residential

Jared Sloane:

• City staffing is a need that is not being met. We need to have the right amount of positions covered to adequately address the needs of the city

Daniel Caldwell:

• Improving mobility in the interest of improving economic development and improving the quality of life of those who are in less accessible areas of the city
• Seeks to make a difference in the homeless population of the city
• Wants to help improve city programs to run in a more efficient manner

1. Quiet zones on railroads. How to help obtain and enforce them
2. 2014 policy reversal allowing people to take free bus rides to job interviews and getting groceries
3. How should we respond to the failures of the electric system in the aftermath of the Texas Freeze

Jordan:

• #2. This should be brought back for the people who are in need to help make themselves better

Deborah:

• #1. We need to be good neighbors, which includes the railroads, to enforce quiet zones
• #2. Equity is a big issue for her. We need to make sure that the transportation system is helping the people of the city in need
• #3. We need to make sure that the monies that came in

Mattie:

• #3. This is something that is the responsibility of the state legislature, but the city needs to use CARES funds to address the aging infrastructure of the city
• #2. Not for bringing free rides back. We need to think bigger and expand 

Jared:

• #1. We need to work with the railroads to make sure we are working together while maintaining safety. 
• #2. Need to make sure to expand the public transportation system in the city not take more money away from the public transportation. 
• #3. Also agrees this is a State failure and we need to hold them accountable for what occurred 

Daniel:

• #1. There are some safety issues that need to be addressed and not overlooked when we are trying to make changes 
• #2. While I understand trains have efficiencies that automobiles do not, I regard buses as significantly more inefficient. Rather than large, heavy gas guzzlers, I regard ride-sharing as a much more intelligent solution to the transportation problems.  We might be able to obtain discounts for low-income residents on Lyft, Uber, and/or other services instead of free buses. 
• #3. Unlike some cities, the City of Fort Worth does not own and operate its own municipal electrical utility services supplier; that could become an option in the future, alongside contracting to open additional electrical power generation and distribution facilities locally.