OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

City Council Meeting Summary - December 9, 2025

City Council — Tuesday, December 9, 2025
BodyArlington, Texas
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, December 9, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 3:29:43

Transcript — Verbatim
6:01

Okay, we're gonna go ahead and go the afternoon session of the city council meeting to order.

2:21:01

Okay, we're gonna go ahead and call the afternoon session back to order.

2:21:06

We had a nice little break.

2:21:08

We're gonna move on down to three point one.

2:21:11

Ethan, how are you, sir?

2:21:14

Well afternoon, Mayor and Council.

2:21:16

Your favorite topic, the uh last time this year I will be addressing you in person.

2:21:22

Um had board nominations.

2:21:25

So I wanted to start with where the current vote totals are.

2:21:29

Uh there are three quarters of the votes in.

2:21:33

This was as of this morning.

2:21:34

You can see we've got uh three of them bunched up at almost four hundred and fifty to five hundred votes, with one at about a hundred votes.

2:21:43

There are still plenty of votes out there that all candidates are still viable.

2:21:48

Um tonight on your ballot, you will be voting for how you want to allocate your ninety-one votes.

2:21:55

You may allocate them to all one person to split them up to amongst any of the four um or not vote at all.

2:22:02

It's entirely up to you.

2:22:04

There are still what I would consider five large entities and then a slew of small entities.

2:22:13

Um also since the last time we met, one of the current board members, uh Fort Worth Councilman Alan Blaylock has resigned.

2:22:22

He is not part of the two that are being voted in tonight.

2:22:26

Um, but instead is a third position that you have the ability to nominate for, where this one you nominate with the others you nominated and your voting on this particular one, you will nominate and then you will not vote.

2:22:42

It's the current board that will elect someone specifically out of those that are all nominated by all of the different entities.

2:22:51

Nominations are due by December 26th.

2:22:55

So we have it on your evening agenda item, but you can, if you so choose, push that into next uh the December 16th meeting if you haven't decided who you want to nominate or if you want to nominate anyone to begin with.

2:23:11

Uh with that, the next steps are we will allocate the votes tonight for the two seats.

2:23:16

And as I said, you can nominate to replace Mr.

2:23:19

Blaylock's seat tonight or next Tuesday.

2:23:23

With that, I'm here for answering questions.

2:23:26

Mr.

2:23:27

Fan.

2:23:27

Hey Ethan, can uh can we uh we have to do tonight, right?

2:23:32

So we have to mention it tonight how many vote we get it for.

2:23:35

Uh I want to discuss this with uh my colleagues here today.

2:23:39

Um I got a number listen listed down there.

2:23:42

The one for the replacement for Mr.

2:23:44

Blaylock, we can nominate, but we don't have to get any vote.

2:23:48

It's up to the TAT board to give it.

2:23:50

And uh sin I uh the last last time I request to be nominee for Mr.

2:23:56

Blaylock position.

2:23:57

Now I would like to withdraw my name and I'd like to nomine Miss uh Sayada Sayed because I spoke with her more than one occasion.

2:24:06

If if we nominate, we're gonna know nominee one, and I can ask the other small city uh mayor to nominate her, and then if they pick her, then uh the tent board director would decide who they they gonna select uh to be on the on the board.

2:24:23

But uh two pussy and tonight, we decide to vote a pretty critical because these are the people that are willing to do the annual appraisal and uh that's the people that uh uh we want to put it in there so we don't face that problem we did uh last year and uh next year.

2:24:41

So I want to share that with everybody.

2:24:44

But uh if you want to know to vote, uh I talked to one of my two uh one or two colleagues about the numbers I wanted to share.

2:24:51

We got 91 votes.

2:24:52

And if you want to talk now, uh week I can bring it up, or we can do it to nine.

2:24:57

So thank you.

2:24:59

Okay.

2:25:00

Well, uh what I what I would propose is um uh right now we have uh four candidates, right?

2:25:06

Uh Michael Alfred, Wendy Burgess, Eric Crowd, and uh Sayida Sayed.

2:25:12

And uh I would like to give one vote for uh Michael Alfred and Wendy Burgess get 43 votes, and then Eric Krause get 43 votes, and Miss Sayed get four, and then we can nominate her uh to replace um uh Mr.

2:25:28

Alan Blaylock.

2:25:30

Will you mind giving those numbers again, please?

2:25:33

So I can uh right now we got four four candidates.

2:25:37

Michael Alfred one vote.

2:25:42

One vote.

2:25:42

Wendy Burgess is uh 43 votes, Eric Krause, 43 votes, and then Sayeda Sayed is four votes, and then we can also nominate her because she don't have enough vote to get appointed, so we can nominate her to uh uh take over for Alan Blaylock.

2:26:02

Yes, yes, yeah.

2:26:05

So uh uh Alfred one vote, Burgess 43 votes, Crowell's 43 votes, and then Sayed is four votes.

2:26:14

Okay, Mr.

2:26:15

Gonzales.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████67%
Boards and Commissions████6%
Parks and Recreation███4%
Elections██3%
Fiscal Sustainability██3%
Public Transportation██3%
Public Health██3%
Historic Preservation█2%
Personnel Matters█2%
Summary of Proceedings

City Council Meeting Summary - December 9, 2025

The December 9, 2025, afternoon session of the Arlington City Council convened to address several key agenda items, including Tarrant Appraisal District (TAD) board nominations, financial stability updates, committee reports, and various administrative motions. The meeting featured significant deliberation on voting strategies for upcoming board elections, discussions on infrastructure projects, and the introduction of new public safety and technology initiatives.

Consent Calendar

  • None. The transcript indicates no routine consents were processed during the afternoon session.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • None. The provided transcript does not contain a segment for formal public comments or testimony.

Discussion Items

  • TAD Board Nominations and Voting Strategy:

    • Councilman Pham proposed a specific distribution of the city's 91 votes: 43 for Wendy Burgess, 43 for Eric Crowell, 4 for Sayeda Sayed, and 1 for Michael Alfred.
    • Councilman Hogg expressed concern regarding the 43-43 split between Burgess and Crowell, worrying that Crowell might be favored by other entities, and advocated for increasing Burgess's allocation to 53 votes to close the gap. Councilman Gonzalez agreed with Hogg's assessment and supported adjusting the vote to 53 for Burgess and 33 for Crowell to ensure their election.
    • Dr. Odom Wesley asked for the rationale behind giving any votes to Mr. Alfred. Councilman Hogg stated that giving at least one vote to a candidate is a precaution against potential future removal if that candidate later receives more votes from other entities and acts contrary to city interests, as recalls are difficult.
    • Ethan (staff) clarified that the total vote count has been updated to 493 for Burgess, 552 for Crowell, and 93 for Sayeda Sayed after the City of Mansfield's 24 votes were tallied (21 for Burgess, 3 for Crowell). Staff advised that the council's adjusted vote (53 for Burgess, 33 for Crowell) would still result in Burgess and Crowell having the two highest totals.
    • The council agreed to allocate votes as: Michael Alfred (1 vote), Wendy Burgess (53 votes), Eric Crowell (33 votes), and Sayeda Sayed (4 votes).
    • Regarding the replacement for resigned Councilman Alan Blaylock, the council discussed nominating Sayeda Sayed. Councilman Hogg stated that while the nomination process for Blaylock's seat is an appointment by the current TAD board (which may occur before or after January 1st seating of new members), he supports the nomination of Sayeda Sayed due to her vocal presence and dedication.

  • Financial Stability and Resilience Update:

    • Director Spencer Slater presented a quarterly update on the "Preserve Financial Stability and Resilience" priority. He reported that the city has successfully outsourced tax compliance to the IRS via ADP and check printing to JP Morgan, resulting in savings and fraud mitigation.
    • He noted the investment portfolio generated approximately $39 million in interest earnings for FY25.
    • Councilman Hogg asked about software integration for Accounts Payable. Slater confirmed that the new AI service (Relish) and vendor payment software (Payment Works) integrate directly into the Workday system, utilizing its native modules.

  • Committee Reports and Nominations:

    • Dr. Odom Wesley presented the Municipal Policy Committee's recommendation to name the walking trail at Veterans Park as the "Cleek MacAllister Honor Trail" with a bronze plaque. Councilman Hogg asked if renaming the entire park was considered; Wesley clarified that the park's name would remain "Veterans Park," and the naming is strictly for the trail amenities.
    • The committee also directed staff to develop a formal concept for the "President's Corner" identity in North Arlington, potentially involving street sign toppers and working with developers to continue the presidential naming theme.
    • Mr. Hogg reported on the North Texas Council of Governments (COG) regarding a succession plan for RTC Transit Director Michael Morris. Councilman Hogg shared concerns from mayors and stakeholders about Morris transitioning to a consultant role before the transition to a new director, stating that RTC representatives should be included in the search process to ensure continuity for the regional transit vision and FIFA preparations.
    • Councilman Gonzalez agreed that RTC involvement in the search process is a prudent step.
    • Mr. Hogg provided updates on the National League of Cities (NLC) Summit, highlighting concerns about short-term rental monitoring (estimating 4,800 rentals, 70% outside designated zones) and the potential for utilizing NLC's upcoming policy portal.

  • Evening Agenda Items:

    • Item 7.7 (Autonomous Mowers): Councilwoman Boxell inquired if autonomous "grubbing" mowers could be utilized to assist with privat control, in addition to current mowing operations. Director Gary Pack promised to investigate the feasibility of grubbing mowers.
    • Item 7.12 (Electricity Contract): Councilwoman Boxell questioned the expected rate increase. Councilwoman Boxell noted the public impact. Councilwoman Boxell was informed that rates are expected to increase by 20-30% (approximately 4-6 cents per kilowatt) due to market shifts and the end of the 9-year contract. The Council noted that the financial impact is budgeted for in the upcoming fiscal years.
    • Item 12.1 (Animal Euthanasia Ordinance): Councilwoman Boxell asked if the new ordinance affects healthy animals surrendered by owners. The Animal Services Manager clarified that the ordinance applies to owner-requested euthanasia but allows for exceptions to place healthy animals in adoption programs if feasible.
    • Future Agenda: Councilwoman Boxell proposed adding an item to consider amending the smoking ordinance to include e-cigarettes, following examples from Fort Worth and Dallas.
    • General Discussion: Dr. Odom Wesley suggested establishing a systematic plan to periodically review all city ordinances to ensure they remain current.

Key Outcomes

  • Vote Allocation Decided: The council directed staff to cast the following votes for TAD board candidates: Wendy Burgess (53 votes), Eric Crowell (33 votes), Sayeda Sayed (4 votes), and Michael Alfred (1 vote).
  • TAD Nomination Decision: The council approved the nomination of Sayeda Sayed to replace the seat of Alan Blaylock, to be presented to the TAD board.
  • Trail Naming Direction: The Municipal Policy Committee received direction to proceed with the "Cleek MacAllister Honor Trail" naming at Veterans Park and to develop a formal concept for the "President's Corner" identity project.
  • Succession Process Concerns: The council expressed a consensus that the North Texas Council of Governments should include RTC representatives in the selection process for the new transit director following Michael Morris's transition.
  • Investigation Directives: Staff was directed to investigate the use of autonomous grubbing mowers for privat control and to review the possibility of amending the smoking ordinance to include e-cigarettes.
  • Review Plan: The council agreed to consider creating a systematic process for reviewing city ordinances.

Meeting Transcript

Okay, we're gonna go ahead and go the afternoon session of the city council meeting to order. Okay, we're gonna go ahead and call the afternoon session back to order. We had a nice little break. We're gonna move on down to three point one. Ethan, how are you, sir? Well afternoon, Mayor and Council. Your favorite topic, the uh last time this year I will be addressing you in person. Um had board nominations. So I wanted to start with where the current vote totals are. Uh there are three quarters of the votes in. This was as of this morning. You can see we've got uh three of them bunched up at almost four hundred and fifty to five hundred votes, with one at about a hundred votes. There are still plenty of votes out there that all candidates are still viable. Um tonight on your ballot, you will be voting for how you want to allocate your ninety-one votes. You may allocate them to all one person to split them up to amongst any of the four um or not vote at all. It's entirely up to you. There are still what I would consider five large entities and then a slew of small entities. Um also since the last time we met, one of the current board members, uh Fort Worth Councilman Alan Blaylock has resigned. He is not part of the two that are being voted in tonight. Um, but instead is a third position that you have the ability to nominate for, where this one you nominate with the others you nominated and your voting on this particular one, you will nominate and then you will not vote. It's the current board that will elect someone specifically out of those that are all nominated by all of the different entities. Nominations are due by December 26th. So we have it on your evening agenda item, but you can, if you so choose, push that into next uh the December 16th meeting if you haven't decided who you want to nominate or if you want to nominate anyone to begin with. Uh with that, the next steps are we will allocate the votes tonight for the two seats. And as I said, you can nominate to replace Mr. Blaylock's seat tonight or next Tuesday. With that, I'm here for answering questions. Mr. Fan. Hey Ethan, can uh can we uh we have to do tonight, right? So we have to mention it tonight how many vote we get it for. Uh I want to discuss this with uh my colleagues here today. Um I got a number listen listed down there. The one for the replacement for Mr. Blaylock, we can nominate, but we don't have to get any vote. It's up to the TAT board to give it. And uh sin I uh the last last time I request to be nominee for Mr. Blaylock position. Now I would like to withdraw my name and I'd like to nomine Miss uh Sayada Sayed because I spoke with her more than one occasion. If if we nominate, we're gonna know nominee one, and I can ask the other small city uh mayor to nominate her, and then if they pick her, then uh the tent board director would decide who they they gonna select uh to be on the on the board. But uh two pussy and tonight, we decide to vote a pretty critical because these are the people that are willing to do the annual appraisal and uh that's the people that uh uh we want to put it in there so we don't face that problem we did uh last year and uh next year. So I want to share that with everybody. But uh if you want to know to vote, uh I talked to one of my two uh one or two colleagues about the numbers I wanted to share. We got 91 votes. And if you want to talk now, uh week I can bring it up, or we can do it to nine. So thank you. Okay. Well, uh what I what I would propose is um uh right now we have uh four candidates, right? Uh Michael Alfred, Wendy Burgess, Eric Crowd, and uh Sayida Sayed. And uh I would like to give one vote for uh Michael Alfred and Wendy Burgess get 43 votes, and then Eric Krause get 43 votes, and Miss Sayed get four, and then we can nominate her uh to replace um uh Mr.

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