Fort Worth City Council Work Session - February 24, 2026
Fort Worth City Council Work Session - February 24, 2026
The Fort Worth City Council held a work session on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 9:14 AM in the City Council Work Session Room. Mayor Mattie Parker presided. Council members present: Mayor Pro Tem Carlos Flores (remote), Michael D. Crain, Charlie Lauersdorf (remote), Deborah Peoples, Dr. Mia Hall, Macy Hill, and Jeanette Martinez. Council members Chris Nettles, Elizabeth Beck, and Alan Blaylock were absent. The meeting adjourned at 9:48 AM.
City Manager’s Report
- Organizational Updates and Employee Recognition: City Manager Jesus "Jay" Chapa introduced new staff: Teresa Thomason as Deputy Director of Park and Recreation (overseeing park operations, planning, and resource management) and Brianna Brown as Assistant Director of Economic Development (overseeing business attraction and retention). Lauren Prieur recognized recipients of the 2026 American Public Works Association awards: Stormwater Operations Dashboard (Management Innovation Award), Concrete Team (Project of the Year in Structures), Paul Oliah (Field Excellence Award), and Kevin Stone (2nd place in zero-turn mower competition).
Informal Reports
- 26-0027: January 2026 Report on ETJ Release – No questions.
- 26-0028: ARPA Reallocation – No questions.
- 26-0029: MyFW App Photo Processing – Council Member Peoples requested an overview. Chief Communications Officer Dr. Sana Syed presented a slideshow explaining how the app processes and stores uploaded photos. Council Member Crain asked if photos must be entered in the moment; Assistant Director Sharon Gamble confirmed the app geotags photos, so users can upload later. The presentation addressed a prior resident complaint about code officers not seeing photos, noting that system upgrades now allow code officers to view attached photos.
- 26-0030: Proposed Text Amendments to O-1 Floodplain Zoning – Council Member Peoples thanked Assistant City Manager Dana Burghdoff for work in her district.
- 26-0031: Incentive Agreements Reviewed in FY 2025 – No questions.
- 26-0032: Door-to-Door Vendor Regulations – City Manager Chapa noted that Council Member Beck (absent) wanted to go on record supporting the recommended changes.
- 26-0033: Drug and Alcohol Testing Program Positions – No questions.
- 26-0034: FWPD Response to DWI – No questions.
AllianceTexas Annual Economic Impact
Mike Berry, President of Hillwood, presented the 2025 economic impact report. Key points:
- Cumulative economic impact since 1990: $142.9 billion; $12.9 billion in 2025 alone.
- Property taxes generated: $4.5 billion total, with $504 million directly to the City of Fort Worth.
- 73,134 people employed at AllianceTexas across 600+ companies; 65 million square feet of development.
- Recent project highlights: Wistron (Taiwanese AI manufacturing, $761M investment, 800 jobs), which led to three additional advanced manufacturing projects totaling 4,400 jobs in six months; Torc Robotics and ASI (autonomous vehicle headquarters); SGS Studios (450,000 sq ft sound stages for Taylor Sheridan productions).
- Airport activity: Embraer project, MTU 30-year maintenance base agreement (1,200 jobs).
- Alliance Logistics District approved by council, featuring a private bridge and special logistics zone for autonomous/heavy-load vehicles.
- Upcoming events: Supply Chain Mobility Innovation Summit (March), UP Summit community day (October 11).
- Workforce development: partnership with Tarrant County College; expansion of skills training for advanced manufacturing, film, and technology sectors.
Mayor Parker asked about job creation and education; Berry emphasized the need to expand training programs.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken.
- Council Member Deborah Peoples requested a future informal report on the Human Relations Commission, including: number of discrimination complaints filed in the last decade (by race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability, religion), number of findings for cause, and identification of the top five employers against whom complaints were filed. Council Member Flores supported the request.
- The meeting was adjourned at 9:48 AM, followed by an executive session (not part of the open meeting).
Meeting Transcript
Okay, let's start this while we've got quorum. Good morning and welcome to your Fort City Council work session. I'll call our meeting to order and turn it over to Jay Choppa. Good morning, Mayor and Council. Under upcoming and recent events, we don't have anything specific. Um, organizational updates and employee recognitions. I'd like to call Dave Lewis up to introduce his new uh deputy directory. Good morning, Madam Mayor, City Council, Mr. City Manager. I am extremely excited to introduce our new deputy director. She's gonna have to change it when she gets up here. But uh Teresa Thomason, she is joining us with a wealth of experience in other municipalities in North Texas in the park and recreation field, including stops in Keller, Allen, and McKinney. Uh, she is also currently finishing her second master's degree in uh public affairs at the uh University of Texas at Dallas, and she will be overseeing the park operations and the planning and resource management division. We've kind of been calling it the two joels, and so she's in charge of the two jewels, so give her lots of grace with that. But uh please join me in welcoming Teresa Thomason. Thank you, Dave. Um, hello, council and mayor. I have had the opportunity to meet some of you in the Capitol Project Updates that we've done, and I'm looking forward to meeting those that I haven't had the opportunity to yet, and I'm looking forward to being part of the team here at Fort Worth and serving our community. Thank you for the opportunity. Welcome. Welcome. Uh, next, I'd like to bring up Jessica Rogers to introduce her new economic development assistant director. Okay, my excitement definitely exceeds Dave's because I'm super excited. Um let me introduce you, Council Brianna Brown. She is our new assistant director of economic development. She'll be overseeing our business attraction and retention team. Um Brianna's actually originally from Bedford, so she's coming back home. Um, and she spent the past two decades in Lubbock, but we won't hold it against her. Um last 10 she spent um with economic and uh in the economic and business development. She's actually worked both on the city side and on the um economic development corporation side there in Lubbock. She has a bachelor's and a master's from Texas Tech. Um, and her last position as the business development director with the city of Lubbock. Um she is married to a Bobby, and she is a bonus mom to two sons, Caden and Logan. They have a lot of fun with the teenage boys and a dog mom to Charlie, of which I have already received pictures of Charlie playing in the snow. Um, and so we're very excited about that. Good morning, Mayor and Council. I'm Brianna Brown. I'm excited to be here, excited to meet and get to know all of you. Um gracious and thankful to be back home in the city of Fort Worth near my family that I haven't been uh close to for quite some time. So appreciate the opportunity. Looking forward to getting to work with you. Congratulations. Welcome. And next, I'd like to call up Lauren Preer to recognize some award winners from her department. All right, good morning, Mayor and Council. I'm pleased to share that our department received multiple honors at the 2026 American Public Works Association Public Workshop held here in Fort Worth earlier this month. These recognitions highlight the dedication, innovation, and professionalism of the employees who serve our residents every day. First, our stormwater operations dashboard received the management innovation award. So this tool is improving real-time data access, streamlining field operations, and strengthening our decision making across the organization. Our concrete also earned the Project of the Year in the structures category for exceptional craftsmanship and quality in public infrastructure.
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