Fort Worth council member accuses colleagues of ‘unfair process’ to select new manager
The process to select Fort Worth’s next city manager has been flawed from the start, city council member Chris Nettles said in a statement released to the Star-Telegram.
His statement comes days before the final city council meeting of the year where it’s possible the council could vote on a replacement for David Cooke.
Cooke announced in July he would step down from the position in February 2025 after serving as city manager for over 10 years.
The city manager is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the of the city’s government, and oversees the budget and carries out the policies approved by the City Council.
The city manager selection greatly affects the Fort Worth community, and is one of the most important decisions the council can make, Nettles said in his statement.
He accused his colleagues of creating a process meant to select an anointed candidate. He said in the statement that certain council members hand-picked this candidate without allowing a fair process to take place.
Nettles did not name the candidate in his statement, and declined to name the person on the record when contacted by the Star-Telegram.
The city sent a press release at 4:19 p.m. on Dec. 5 announcing former assistant city manager Jay Chapa would be the lone finalist for the city manager position.
Mayor Pro Tem Gyna Bivens, the longest serving member of the city council, said she was not surprised by Nettles comments.
Not everyone comes to the table with experience hiring c-suite talent, Bivens said.
Fort Worth got three times the number of applicants as nearby Dallas without using a national search firm, she said.
She also pointed to Chapa’s experience working through the 2022 Bond program. The city will benefit from that experience as it prepares a new bond package to be voted on in 2026, she said.
Mayor Mattie Parker declined to comment choosing instead to defer to Bivens.
Nettles is asking his fellow council members to open up the process to more public scrutiny.
“We did it for the chief of police. We did it for heads of other departments. Why not city manager?” Nettles said in a phone call with the Star-Telegram.
Nettles called the process “baked and unfair” in his statement, adding that the city needs to change from the so-called “Fort Worth Way.”
District 6 council member Jared Williams joined Nettles in his concerns about the process.
“The sudden rush to finalize the decision only deepens those concerns. I will share more thoughts on this matter soon,” Williams said in an email to the Star-Telegram.
This story was originally published December 5, 2024 at 3:08 PM.
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