Meeting Notes: General Membership – March 24, 2025

Attendees: See sign in sheet

Minutes:

Call to order: 7:09 PM

Elizabeth Sehon welcomed everyone and called the meeting to order.

Officer Updates:

• Neighborhood Police Officer (NPO):
  • Officer Daniel Karna is in attendance.
  • Officer Karna will be filling in for Officer Clint Moore for approximately 6 months as he was injured.
  • As usual, reach out via the same NPO phone number anytime via call or text, but call 911 if anything pressing is occurring.
• Code Compliance:
  • Not in attendance
• Deputy Constable:
  • Not in attendance
• Fort Worth City Council District 9 Representative:
  • Elizabeth Beck is in attendance.

Fairmount Neighborhood City Council (District 9) Election Forum:

• Fairmount Neighborhood Association (FNA) has invited the three District 9 City Council candidates – Elizabeth Beck, Michael Raulerson, and Jenny Stewart – to speak to the neighborhood in a forum environment before elections in May.
• FNA gathered questions for the candidates from Fairmount residents in advance of this meeting via a Google form and have compiled them into 16 total questions in various categories. This is not intended to be a debate and there will be no rebuttals. Each candidate has two minutes maximum to speak per question.
• If anyone has any additional questions for the candidates, please feel free to reach out to them afterward at their provided contact information.
• Candidate Introductions:
  • Beck: (Elizabeth Beck): Incumbent
  • Raulerson: (Michael Raulerson): Native of FW, lives in District 9, running for the underserved populations
  • Stewart: (Jenny Stewart): Native of FW, used to live in Fairmount, has a Chemical Engineering degree, current State Farm agent
• Infrastructure & Public Safety:
  • Fairmount has faced ongoing water infrastructure issues, with frequent repairs but no full replacement of aging lead pipes. What steps would you take to advocate for long-term infrastructure improvements rather than temporary fixes?
    • Beck: The city is on a replacement rate of 20 miles per year but that’s not enough. It will take approximately $1.6 billion to replace ALL the pipes. Beck has tasked Water with doing more than that to speed up the process.
    • Raulerson: We need to do more to reduce the lead in our water. Individuals should utilize free water testing resources. There is an issue with privatization of services in Fort Worth, which makes everything in the long run more expensive to taxpayers. We need to push for infrastructure work to be done by the city as opposed to contracted out.
    • Stewart: Fort Worth applied for an EPA grant in 2022 to help pay for replacing 100% of the pipes but was turned down. Since then, this has become such a serious issue that Water is applying for a loan from the Texas Water Development Board, which is typically used by smaller cities to finance big projects. The 2026 city bond has no money allocated for this issue. We don’t want Fort Worth to end up like Flint.
  • Speeding in residential areas, especially near schools and parks, is a major safety concern. How would you address traffic calming measures like speed bumps and increased enforcement?
    • Beck: The Regional Transportation Council secured funding for safe routes to school to get sidewalks near schools safer and this work is ongoing. Speeding is an issue and District 9 has been working with Fairmount on trouble areas and get traffic calming devices implemented.
    • Raulerson: The city needs to put money toward this issue and have a police presence for enforcement. Speeding tickets do not affect people of all income levels the same, so people who can afford to pay a speeding ticket are likely to offend again. Mandatory community volunteer work for speeding ticket offenders would make people less likely to offend again.
    • Stewart: Speed bumps are discouraged in a city because they are not good on emergency vehicles. We need better staffing for speeding enforcement. Rumble strips and stop signs are alternatives that should be considered.
  • Safety concerns near the Jail Diversion Center, continues to be an issue. What strategies would you implement to improve public safety and law enforcement presence?
    • Beck: The Center was placed in the neighborhood with little advance notice to the city. Beck took pre-emptive steps then to do what she could to ensure that the Center does not affect the neighborhood negatively – including: having three spots on the center’s advisory board. Beck does not agree with the Center’s recent decision to replace on-site sheriff’s deputies with security staff instead and has pushed back on this.
    • Raulerson: There should be a push for better infrastructure and job programs for ex-convicts and affordable housing so that people are not in this situation to begin with.
    • Stewart: The Center is a great idea but the location is a mistake. These types of centers are typically located in industrial or rural areas so that people brought to the center are not incentivized to walk out and into the city center. Many police officers are uncomfortable with sending candidates here. Stewart proposes moving this Center to somewhere more appropriate in the county.
• Historic Preservation & Development:
  • Fairmount’s historic district faces challenges from zoning decisions made by officials unfamiliar with preservation guidelines. How would you work to ensure historic protections remain strong?
    • Stewart: Stewart used to live in Fairmount and restored a house in the neighborhood – 1937 Fairmount Ave. Historic district guidelines and city processes are not easy to understand and she wants to make this a more seamless process for homeowners so that we can keep Fairmount Fairmount.
    • Raulerson: There is a diverse typology in District 9 so Raulerson wants to push for neighborhoods to have a stake in the decision making in the community for themselves and put decisions back on the community members.
    • Beck: Beck has worked in her tenure to make sure that Fairmount remains Fairmount. Together with the FNA, we have stopped bad zoning and development and questioned city/ county staff on decisions and the county commissioners court on how Landmarks Commission members are appointed. We have also worked to celebrate many marker unveilings and legacies of Fairmount residents.
  • High-density apartment construction near Fairmount is raising concerns about maintaining neighborhood character. What is your stance on balancing development with preservation?
    • Stewart: Fort Worth is growing and we need development to keep up with the population growth. There is lots of land in Tarrant County that would welcome new development but this area has some of the most historic buildings in the city and is not the right place for massive new developments if they were to replace historic buildings.
    • Raulerson: There is a shortage of apartment complexes and affordable housing, but we need to respect existing communities and empower them to make decisions regarding new development. We need to invest in infrastructure and transit before bringing more development to the city.
    • Beck: We need to make sure that the zoning is right, and that development happens where it is best suited. It is possible to have success in interweaving new development and historic building in proper projects as well – for example, the public market building.
  • Short-term rentals (like Airbnbs) remain controversial in Fort Worth. Do you support regulating, restricting, or allowing them?
    • Stewart: I get why people would want to rent a STR in Fairmount. But don’t want to risk turning the neighborhood into a revolving door. The urban core can be the right place for it.
    • Raulerson: STRs should be on a case-by-case basis as they depend on a lot of things. We need to listen to the people in the communities to see what they want to allow.
    • Beck: STRs are allowed in some areas of Fairmount due to the patchwork zoning of the neighborhood. Beck does not agree with the STR regulation process. We missed the mark regarding ADUs in Fairmount – there is no reason why people in Fairmount should not be allowed to rent out their garage apartments when the owner also lives on the property in the main house.
• Education & Community Support:
  • Public schools in Fort Worth are facing declining enrollment and insufficient state funding. How would you advocate for stronger city support for local schools?
    • Beck: Call your state representative to say that you oppose vouchers. Beck does not control curriculum but has worked in her position to do the best for parents and student in Fort Worth. Beck is working with neighborhood associations to have a liaison position with local schools to keep that relationship going.
    • Raulerson: We need to invest in infrastructure and city-wide funding to school districts and put pressure on the state for more funding, especially as such a large city in the state. Schools are closing due to decreased enrollment, but you can argue that this is due to decreased funding and parents choosing to send their kids to school elsewhere.
    • Stewart: Enrollment in public schools is decreasing but population is increasing – this is counterintuitive. We need to strengthen relationships with private sector partners and the ISD. Increased enrollment, then increased funding will save the public schools.
  • De Zavala Elementary is a vital neighborhood school, but its future is uncertain. What would you do to support efforts to keep it open and thriving?
    • Beck: Beck trusts in the school board trustees to make the right decisions for Fairmount and FW ISD, as she hopes that they trust her in city matters. Beck has been vocal with the FW ISD about how closing these neighborhood schools would be negative for Fort Worth.
    • Raulerson: It is the city council person’s responsibility to fight for community schools. It is insane that we are discussing school closures and needing additional funding at this point when population in the city is increasing at such a rapid rate.
    • Stewart: Closing A rated schools to send students to F rated schools is not logical. In closing schools, this will create higher student to teacher ratios at the existing schools and education outcomes will only get worse.
  • Do you believe households without children should have an option to direct a portion of their school taxes toward neighborhood schools?
    • Beck: Beck sees this question as an anti-school voucher question – citizens cannot choose where their tax dollars go, so why would they be able to now at the state level with the proposed school voucher?  There is no mechanism to direct your tax dollars. Everyone’s taxes go to the same. Call your state representative to ask why they are proposing that now we should be able to pick where our tax dollars will go.
    • Raulerson: Privatization via vouchers will not be beneficial for public schools. Children don’t choose what zip code they live in or what schools they attend, so we should work to make sure that schools in all zip codes are successful.
    • Stewart: School vouchers are welfare for rich people. We need to work to save neighborhood public schools.
• Transportation & Noise Pollution:
  • Expanding transit options—including better pedestrian, bicycle, and public transportation infrastructure—is important for District 9. What role should the city council play in improving these options?
    • Stewart: Less than 2% of the population uses public transportation in the city. We need to incentive people to use the systems that we do have before spending more money on public transportation infrastructure. We need to find ways to convince people to use public transportation. 
    • Raulerson: The current growth is unsustainable as-is with a heavily car-dependent infrastructure. We can never build enough roads to sustain this. We need to put money toward transportation alternatives and infrastructure projects.
    • Beck: As a former transportation planner, we need better transportation options. How to incentivize people to use public transportation? We need to build rail as an option. Rail creates more “choice riders” as opposed to “captive riders.” For rail to make sense, we need to densify the urban cores. This won’t work by just scraping together grant dollars, but we need to work on other funding avenues. Public transportation needs to be included in future bond dollars.
  • Residents have waited over a decade for a “quiet zone” along the Fort Worth & Western Railroad on 8th Avenue. What steps would you take to advocate for a resolution?
    • Stewart: The city, county, state, and federal levels all are involved in railroads. District 9 has gone through three different council people who have not been able to accomplish this quiet zone, but Stewart plans to be the one to accomplish this.
    • Raulerson: We need to enact quiet zones in residential neighborhoods. We also need more of a focus on safety at railroad crossings.
    • Beck: Railroads are in the purview of the federal government. Call your congressman as they have supremacy on this topic. Fort Worth has been trying to meet with Western Railroad, but Western has refused to meet with the City and negotiate. The railroad has made requests of the city that would cost a lot of taxpayer dollars. The city has not given up on this but is facing obstacles with the railroads.
• Leadership & Vision:
  • For the incumbent: What are your biggest accomplishments in office, and why should voters choose to re-elect you?

For candidates: What are your top priorities for District 9 if elected, and how do you plan to differentiate yourself from the current council member?

• Beck: Beck is proud of the Berry St intersection solution and has proven to be a fierce advocate for the neighborhoods. Learn more on elizabethforfortworth.com.

• Raulerson: GDP has massively increased but not everyone in the communities have reaped the benefits of this growth. Raulerson would advocate for these missed people in the urban areas of Fort Worth and advocate for more public commodities and advocate for people to be paid appropriately for their work, as well as for more funding for parks for example with food truck gatherings and in the arts to reinvest in communities.
• Stewart: Stewart has heard in the community that streets, public safety, and schools are the most pressing issues. Street maintenance, a full strength police force, and public school enrollment would be top priorities as city councilperson. A city council position is intended to serve constituents and not your own needs. Having been in a customer service position in her career, Stewart has a proven track record in providing customer service as an insurance agent.

• What do you see as the most pressing issue facing Fort Worth in the near future, and how would you address it?
  • Beck: With big growth comes big city problems like homelessness and issues with emergency services. We need to get out in front of these issues to protect our neighborhoods. We need to invest in housing and keeping crime low. Beck has brought Med Star into Fort Worth as opposed to private.
  • Raulerson: Affordability. It is difficult to find an apartment under $1,200 per month. We need to put pressure on the state and city to keep common sense tenant regulations and increase wages.
  • Stewart: Explosive growth. Where to put people/ how to move them around/ how to keep them safe/ how to get everyone water? City council seems to be reacting to issues rather than getting in front of the issues. We need to plan ahead with long term plans rather than reacting to issues with band aid solutions.

• Arts & Culture:
  • How would you advocate for arts and artists in District 9, and have you supported the arts in any previous capacity?
    • Stewart: Dance, music, theatre, etc. We need to engage with the youth with healing and therapy through art. We need to advocate for this for students in schools as well.
    • Raulerson: Raulerson is a frequenter of local Fort Worth music venues and a purchaser of local art. We need increased funding for venues for music and food truck events.
    • Beck: We are standing in Arts 5th Ave – one of Forth Worth’s art jewels. Beck is a supporter of many local art communities, including the Fort Worth Roots Festival. Beck has done a lot for the arts in Forth Worth, including 817 Day for Fort Worth artists. This is a festival by the Forth Worth Library for local artists to show their works on 08/17.
• Public Questions:
  • Concerns on the city water quality and toxic metals in the water.
    • Raulerson: Publicly funded infrastructure work is better than privatized in the long run for how much it will cost taxpayers. The city needs to pay workers better.
    • Stewart: Reference the galvanized piping data from the city’s website. The city says it is actively working to get funding to replace piping but it is not in the 2026 bond.
    • Beck: Note that the Water District has their own bond. Lead piping in the city has mostly been replaced, but we still need to replace cast iron piping and this is more of a safety issue with old pipes rather than a health and water quality issue.
  • Based on recent federal decisions about employment and increased unemployment among federal employees – how can the city step in to alleviate stress of citizens?
    • Beck: Beck is all for government efficiency, but this should be done with a scalpel method, not a blowtorch. Trickle-down employment issues will likely happen from federal to city levels eventually and we will all need to do more with less. There are existing job search programs provided by the city.
    • Raulerson: We need to invest in the people. It is not more efficient in the long run to get rid of public employees and hire out instead. This will cost more in the long run.
    • Stewart: The city can’t hire everyone who has been laid off. Fort Worth needs to attract more businesses. The commercial vs residential taxpayer base in the city is 60/40 but is in the opposite way to what a successful city should have. We need more businesses and more of a commercial tax base as it would reduce the burden on the residential tax base.

Note that the FNA website and emails are back to functioning. This has been publicized via Facebook channels.

Adjourn: 8:31 PM