Fort Worth voters narrowly back bigger council size

By the narrowest of margins, Fort Worth voters charted a new course Saturday for their city government by approving the addition of two council seats within the next several years.

As election results came in throughout the evening, the measure appeared to have been defeated. It all came down to one precinct, the last to be reported.

Of the 15,845 voters who cast ballots on that proposition, 50.6 approved increasing the size of the council to 10 members plus a mayor, compared with 49.4 percent against, a difference of 185 votes.

Voters also defeated a proposal to raise the pay of council members to $45,000 from $25,000 and rejected a proposal to increase their terms from two to three years.

The size of the council won’t increase until redistricting is conducted after the 2020 Census.

Mayor Pro Tem Sal Espino, speaking from New York, said, “It’s just unbeliev able” and called the vote “historic.”

Mayor Betsy Price said the larger council will give members smaller, geographic districts “and that’s a good thing.”

The current council was split on the issue, with some saying representation would not change with eight districts even as the city’s population increases. Too large a council would be divisive, some argued. Others said the city needs to prepare for a growing population, expected to pass the 1 million mark in the next decade.

The City Council called the charter election in February after the findings of an 11-member citizens task force.

In the past few weeks, council members held informational meetings in each of their districts, Price and Espino conducted a Twitter town hall, and most of the council members took to social media outlets to get the vote out.

Price and seven council members voted early; Councilman Cary Moon said he voted about an hour after polls opened.

The issue of increasing the council size has been debated for many years. In 1975, voters narrowly approved the current eight single-member districts. In 2011, the council approved a resolution to keep the size at eight plus a mayor just before it started redistricting efforts after the 2010 Census.

In 1964, voters said yes to electing council members every two years.

Only two other propositions were close: Proposition 4, which would allow the majority of the council to appoint a person to serve an unexpired term if a vacancy occurs within 12 months of the next election, won 51.4 percent to 48.6 percent, and Proposition 10, which would allow the city to use electronic notices as a substitute for publishing in the newspaper when state law allows, won 54.5 percent to 45.5 percent.

Proposition rundown

The remaining six propositions easily won.

Those were:

Proposition 5, to allow newly elected council members to be sworn in at the meeting at which election results are canvassed, won 75.8 percent to 24.2 percent.

Proposition 6, to clarify that a person seeking election to the council must have resided in the district in which he or she seeks election for 180 days before the first day to file, won 88.2 percent to 11.8 percent.

Proposition 7, to add a new section to allow the removal of municipal judges for cause, won 67.5 percent to 32.5 percent.

Proposition 8, to allow for the publication of notices of public hearings on the budget, the appropriation ordinance and the tax levy ordinance to follow state law. The appropriation ordinance caption would be published once after adoption instead of publishing the entire ordinance twice as now required, and all documents would be placed on the city’s website and be available in the city secretary’s office. The proposition won 83.9 percent to 16.1 percent.

Proposition 9, to clarify that when competing ordinances are presented to voters at an election, the ordinance that receives the greatest number of favorable votes wins, won 83.2 percent to 16.8 percent.

Proposition 11, to eliminate a section of the charter that requires that municipal employees immediately forfeit their employment on becoming a candidate for public office. This requirement is in conflict with state law. The proposition won 78.4 percent to 21.6 percent.

In 2006, when 14,853 residents voted in the last City Charter election, nearly 2 to 1 voted for the current pay structure for council members and the mayor.

On Saturday, 15,853 voters, less than 5 percent of Fort Worth’s registered voters, turned out.

This story was originally published May 7, 2016 at 7:39 PM with the headline "Fort Worth voters narrowly back bigger council size."