Arlington Mayor Jim Ross discussed everything Tuesday evening from diversity to street improvements at his first town hall held at the Bob Duncan Center.
The town halls are meant to give Arlington residents a closer look at how the city is working to improve public service with the theme of "Arlington Works," according to the city's website.
"There's a lot of distrust going around in government," Ross said. "So one of the things that we decided we needed to do is come up with a way to say: Your local government still works. We work. Arlington works."
The Bob Duncan Center, which city staff have suggested closing as part of budget cuts, saw about 70 people in attendance. Council members Nikkie Hunter, Rebecca Boxall and Long Pham also attended.
Mayor Ross hit on successes of the city like being designated one of the most diverse large cities in America, multiple companies bringing their headquarters to Arlington and overall crime being down. But he also discussed challenges the city faces like next year's $25 million budget shortfall.
He attributed much of that shortfall to the Tarrant Appraisal District's decision to not reassess property values for two years, making the city miss out on property tax revenue from increased growth.
"The shortfall doesn't come from Arlington spending money," Ross said.
City Manager Trey Yelverton told one resident the city plans to pull from its reserves but there are drawbacks to doing that.
"The reason we don't like to do that is because our credit rating is really based on staying away from that," he said. "They like to see all those dollars there to really help us in the future. But if we do it too often, too much, a triple A rating becomes a double A rating and then it costs more to borrow money."
There will be four more town halls:
- Aug. 19, Texas Rangers Golf Club, 701 Brown Blvd.
- Sept. 30, Boles Junior High School, 3900 S.W. Green Oaks Blvd.
- Nov. 13, ACTIV, 2061 W. Green Oaks Blvd.
- Jan. 13, 2026, Arlington City Council Chamber, 101 W. Abram St.
Dylan Duke is KERA's summer 2025 SPJ news intern. Got a tip? Email Dylan Duke at dduke@kera.org.
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