Should Fort Worth mayor, council get a raise? Question might come to voters
Do the Fort Worth City Council and Mayor Mattie Parker deserve a pay raise? That’s a question that could be posed to voters this May if a proposed amendment to the city charter makes it onto a special election ballot.
The mayor earns $29,000 a year, and council members make $25,000. But the charter amendment, if approved by voters, would increase the mayor’s salary to $60,000 and council salaries to $50,000.
The City Council can decide at the Feb. 10 meeting to add the pay raise amendment to the May ballot, along with other amendments to the city charter. If the amendment doesn’t make it on the May special election ballot, it would have to be shelved until the November election at the earliest.
Gavin Midgley, assistant city attorney, said the proposed salary figures are similar to ones that were recommended in 2016. Voters rejected that request. A 2022 proposal that would have tripled the mayor’s and City Council members’ salaries was likewise shot down at the polls.
At that time, Beck told KXAS-TV serving on the City Council was “far more than a full-time job.”
Mayor Pro Tem Carlos Flores formerly worked as an aerospace engineer, but he’s now a full-time council member. Outside of a few consulting opportunities, Flores said he isn’t involved in engineering work anymore because there simply isn’t enough time on top of his city duties.
Flores said he and his family have willingly made sacrifices for his work in public service, and he credited his wife and her career as the reason he’s been able to serve on the City Council without having an outside job.
“It’s hard to get by on 25 grand a year,” he said in a phone conversation.
Flores said even $50,000 a year isn’t commensurate with the demands of the job and the long hours, but it’s an improvement. He added that he believes voters rejected the 2022 pay raise because it was based on a moving scale. The latest proposal is a flat increase with set amounts. That, Flores feels, may be easier for voters to accept.
Aside from Flores, most of the members of the council have full-time jobs.
- Parker is a licensed attorney and works in public affairs in addition to her mayoral work.
- Charles Laudersdorf founded Realty Pro Shots, which produces visual media for real estate professionals, and he serves as a part-time vice president with Battle Tested, a security services company, according to his LinkedIn profile.
- Michael Crain is a partner and broker at Northern Crain Realty, a residential and commercial real estate firm.
- Deborah Peoples retired from AT&T as a vice president in 2011. According to her LinkedIn profile, she has since been chairperson of the Tarrant County Democratic Party and worked as a consultant, business strategist and keynote speaker.
- Mia Hall is the executive director of strategic recruitment for the Fort Worth school district. Hall began her career as a classroom teacher, her LinkedIn profile showed, before moving into administration.
- Macy Hill founded Macy Hill and Co., an advisory firm that helps “high-net-worth families and foundations” manage their philanthropic investments.
- Chris Nettles is the senior pastor at Purpose Driven Ministries and the founder of the Haven of Purpose Child Care, a child care center in east Fort Worth. His LinkedIn profile also lists him as the president and CEO of Purpose Driven After-School Enrichment.
- Elizabeth Beck is an attorney with the office of Kerry H. Collins and Associates, according to her LinkedIn profile. Council Member Alan Blaylock formerly worked as a product and project manager but is now retired. He is stepping down from the City Council to run for a seat in the Texas House of Representatives.
- Jeanette Martinez is the executive administrator for Tarrant County Commissioner Roy Charles Brooks.
This story was originally published February 5, 2026 at 12:03 PM.