FORT WORTH -- Businessman Scott Mahaffey was elected chairman Monday of the newly re-formed board of the Fort Worth Transportation Authority.
The nine-member board, meeting on its own for the first time Monday afternoon, cast paper ballots. Six members voted for Mahaffey, two for Carter Burdette and one for Neftali Ortiz.Mahaffey pledged to be an active leader and to be accessible by phone or in person to other board members. "We will be an inclusive board, where everybody has a seat at the table," he said. "We have a massive job in front of us. A lot is expected of us from citizens. A lot is expected of us from the City Council."Before the vote, Mahaffey and Burdette made comments of less than a minute, touting their business and civic experience. Ortiz took another tack, a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation that laid out how he would restructure the T and accomplish goals years ahead of schedule.In all, choosing a chairman took nearly 25 minutes, as members used the unusual paper ballot procedure. The matter was further delayed when some members realized they had the wrong agenda folders.The T board, with eight new members appointed by Fort Worth and the ninth appointed by Tarrant County, took about an hour more to go through a regular agenda.Gordon Dickson, 817-390-7796Twitter: @gdicksonHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
