All Fort Worth City Council members plan to run again

Every member of the Fort Worth City Council plans to run for re-election in May, and Councilman Danny Scarth is the only council person to draw an opponent so far.

Cary Moon, president of the Heritage Home Owners Association in far north Fort Worth, said he plans to run against Scarth and will push for smarter development and better budgets.

Experience on the City Council ranges from newbie Councilwoman Ann Zadeh — who ran in a special election last May to fill the seat after the unexpected departure by Joel Burns — to the longest-serving members, Councilmen Sal Espino and Jungus Jordan, both first elected in 2005.

Filing for the election starts Jan. 28 and runs through Feb. 27 with a $100 filing fee. Potential candidates can also submit a petition with signatures from qualified voters in lieu of the filing fee.

Mayor Betsy Price

Price, who ran uncontested in the 2013 race, said she has business to finish — like focusing on customer service, fiscal responsibility and healthy living — before she is ready to pass the baton. She plans to run for a third term.

“We have started a lot of projects that I would like to see finished. … There is still work to be done, and if the voters don’t feel that way then they will send me home,” Price said.

Price was first elected as the Tarrant County tax assessor in 2000, a post she held until 2011, when she won her first bid for mayor against well-known figures, like former Councilman Jim Lane.

District 2

Sal Espino, a local attorney, is seeking his sixth term on the council. In 2013, Espino battled to keep his seat against Lane.

Espino’s district includes far north Fort Worth west of Interstate 35 and the near north side.

“I look forward to having the opportunity to earn another two year-term from the voters,” Espino said in an email. “Our campaign will focus on economic development, public safety, transportation and education.”

District 3

W.B. “Zim” Zimmerman, a retired vice president at Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems in Fort Worth, was first elected in 2009 and plans to run for his fourth term.

“This is a job that is never done,” Zimmerman said. “I enjoy what I’m doing. I believe I am making a difference, not only in my community, but the city, and I look forward to being elected for another two years.”

Zimmerman’s district includes southwest Fort Worth and west Fort Worth, such as the up-and-coming Walsh Ranch development and historic communities seeking revitalization like Lake Como.

District 4

Danny Scarth, first elected in a special election in 2006, will run for his sixth term in May. Scarth’s district includes part of the east side to Loop 820 and parts of the far north east of I-35.

“There are so many things we want to get finished,” Scarth said. “We are working hard on economic development on the east side, and transportation infrastructure remains a priority.”

Scarth, executive director of Hope Media, also recently served on the city’s homelessness task force and is currently on a task force seeking solutions to a citywide lack of permanent supportive housing.

Cary Moon is a partner and board member with Castle Development Group, a commercial development and real estate firm based in Fort Worth. He is also does business with Moon Financial Inc., a holding company for a portfolio of residential properties.

“Development-wise, we continue to have the development we don’t want in north Fort Worth, and we are not getting the development we need in east Fort Worth,” Moon said.

He said he wants to match the city services with the tax rate citizens pay, and said his experience in finance and development would help the city.

District 5

Gyna Bivens, who is wrapping up her first term on the council, said she plans to continue her focus on attracting development to CentrePort near Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, Stop Six, Historic Handley and other east side neighborhoods.

“We are just now getting traction when it comes to an economic development draw,” Bivens said. “And I think 2015 is really going to be an important focus for zoning matters, to focus on zoning that makes sense.”

Bivens, president and executive director of North Texas Leaders and Executives Advocating Diversity, beat out longtime Councilman Frank Moss in 2013. Moss served on the council from 1998 to 2004 and from 2007 to 2013.

District 6

Jungus Jordan, seeking his sixth term representing the far south and southwest areas of the city, said he hopes to work on economic development at Fort Worth Spinks Airport, redeveloping the Altamesa Boulevard and McCart Avenue areas and continue to improve transportation in Fort Worth.

Jordan, a retired lieutenant colonel from the Air Force who works part time at Cook Children’s Hospital, also serves as president of the Texas Municipal League.

“My priorities have always and will continue to be maintaining public safety, providing adequate infrastructure and ensuring that our government is accountable to the citizens we work for. I think I have accomplished that,” he said.

District 7

Dennis Shingleton, first elected to the council in 2011, said he will continue to work on the new Fort Worth multipurpose arena, approved by voters in November, and the rapid development around Alliance Airport.

“There is just a lot of growth and a lot of infrastructure problems in the north and the west side that need to be attended to,” Shingleton said. “We have been working on them, and we just have to continue working on them.”

Representing parts of the far north and west sides of town, Shingleton is a retired colonel from the Army and also a retired senior associate dean at the University of Texas Health Science Center’s Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Worth.

District 8

Kelly Allen Gray, who beat out Ramon Romero in a special election in 2012 and then beat former Councilwoman Kathleen Hicks for the seat in 2013, said she will continue to focus on the revitalization of East Lancaster Avenue, the development of the Evans and Rosedale Urban Village and homelessness issues if elected again.

“We have communities that are still in dire need of revitalization and so we are going to continue focusing on all of the things we have focused on the past two and a half years I’ve been in office,” Gray said.

Former executive director of the Riverside Rebuilding Corp., Gray represents Morningside, Polytechnic Heights, parts of Riverside, Rolling Hills, parts of Meadowbrook and Hallmark/Camelot to the far south.

District 9

Ann Zadeh was elected in a special election in June after Joel Burns resigned from the post.

Zadeh, a city planner by profession, advocated for safe neighborhoods, getting residents actively involved and smart city planning in the face of rapid growth.

“I have barely had a chance to drill down into the issues that I talked about during the first campaign,” Zadeh said. “I am pleased with the amount of citizen participation and the involvement of neighborhoods in District 9 have been showing, and I hope to continue to encourage that.”

This story was originally published January 17, 2015 at 2:31 PM with the headline "All Fort Worth City Council members plan to run again."