As Fort Worth City Council returns from its summer recess, city staff are continuing to work on updating the city’s policy regulating how the public may rent city-owned property for private use.
Fort Worth officials kicked off the policy review as city staff faced scrutiny for approving controversial event permit applications at the Fire Station Community Center in June and the Fort Worth Botanic Garden in July. Dozens of people protested the True Texas Project’s conference at the garden, which featured sessions on Christian nationalism and “The War on White America.”
Staff initially expected to complete the policy review by July 15 and brief council on the proposed update in August. However, as council returned from its July recess for its first meeting on Aug. 6, the city does not have a timeline for future updates on the policy.
Reyne Telles, the city’s chief communications officer, told the Report that city staff are still reviewing the policy but are not yet ready to provide updates. He said there is no estimated date for completing the review, but updates will be provided to the public as they become available.
Telles said in July that the city has stopped reviewing event applications following the backlash over the True Texas Project event. Pending applications will remain outstanding until the policy review is complete.
Assistant City Manager Jesica McEachern previously told the Report it is “very likely” that language prohibiting discriminatory speech at events on city-owned property will be removed from the policies. City staff also said changes to the community center policy will not be subject to a council vote.
The Report has submitted two open records requests regarding the policy. The city has requested permission from the Texas attorney general’s office to withhold the requested information.
Local activists and community members have criticized the city’s decision to approve two event permits. In June, the city allowed conservative activist group Texas Latinos United for Conservative Action to host an event at the Fire Station Community Center. The event, titled “Protect Kids,” featured a panel of activists discussing “the impact of LGBT ideology, the social contagion of transgenderism, and the dangers of pornography.” The same group had previously had an event permit rescinded due to a paperwork issue.
The city also approved a July event reservation by the Tarrant County-based True Texas Project, a conservative activist group that started as the Northeast Tarrant Tea Party and appeared on a national list of extremist groups in 2022.
Activists say the events violated the city’s existing community center policy and procedures manual, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex and other identity markers at community centers. Some have said the events also posed safety concerns to non-white and LGBTQ residents of Fort Worth.
Members of the city’s Human Relations Commission, which is made up of council-appointed volunteers, said in July that they planned to draft a statement to the mayor and council expressing their disappointment in allowing True Texas Project to host the event.
“I do not believe this body has to be silent. In fact, I think it speaks volumes when we are,” Chair Karen Johnson said at the commission’s July meeting. “We have every right to inform the council and our mayor that the Fort Worth Human Relations Commission opposes hate speech toward the LGBTQIA+ community, opposes hate speech toward the BIPOC community and hate speech toward all.”
The commission was expected to consider drafting the statement at their Aug. 5 meeting, but the item did not make it on to the meeting agenda. About 10 community members attended the meeting and called for the commission to draft their statement to the council.
Johnson declined to comment to the Report after the meeting.
Reed Bilz, who served on the Human Relations Commission for seven years, said the city should consult with the commission throughout the review process and asked commission members to make their stance heard. The commission is meant to advise and consult with City Council and the city manager on matters involving racial, religious or ethnic discrimination, according to the city’s website.
“I am here to urge you to make that statement immediately to the council and remind them of the role of their Human Relations Commission as well as the content of the city’s ordinance, which promises to protect LGBTQ residents from discrimination in public places,” Bilz said at the meeting.
Once the policy review is complete, City Council will have the opportunity to provide feedback on proposed updates. However, the update will be enacted by city staff without a formal vote of approval from the council.
Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org or @bycecilialenzen.
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This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.