By Bill Zeeble, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-954247.mp3
Dallas, TX – Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief has given his final state of the city address, as he prepares to retire from public service. KERA's Bill Zeeble reports three candidates so far hope to occupy the Mayor's seat this May.
In front of more than a thousand people at a Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce lunch, Moncrief' built his address on one theme.
Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief: If there's one thing I've learned over the last 8 years, it is this: Here in Fort Worth, partnerships equal progress.
Moncrief cited public funds coupled with private sector dollars that helped secure the recent Super Bowl, the city's convention center hotel, and established a homeless program. He said public/private partnerships are also at work in multi-billion dollar road and rail projects. But an urban streetcar died last year from lack of money.
Moncrief: Not unlike our effort to reassess the Convention Center Hotel proposal, let's hit the reset button. Let's consider another model with greater participation from the private sector. I believe Fort Worth can find a successful balance.
Hoping to continue the record Moncrief established, Tarrant County Tax Assessor/Collector Betsy Price says she'll keep pushing public-private partnerships. She added that if Moncrief had sought re-election, she'd not be running, & would vote for him. But given his retirement, Price says she was urged to run, by others like Representative Kay Granger. With 10 years overseeing Tarrant County's tax office, Price says she's experienced, able, and eager to serve.
Lawyer and former Fort Worth City Council man Jim Lane also wants the Mayor's job. He says he knows how the city works, cares deeply about grassroots issues, and also knows the next mayor must face the city's huge pension problem. The system's unfunded liability exceeds $700 million.
Jim Lane: The issues that I'm always interested in are public safety, obviously. And I'm interested in creating an economic climate so we can bring more jobs into this area, not minimum wage jobs but economic opportunity for everyone. I know the pension fund and reform is very important. I was talking to some of the Council members. They told me they would have a plan in place in the next month so I'm interested in seeing what that is.
Also in the race, another past city council member. Cathy Hirt says she too has the experience to solve the city's problems. She says Fort Worth must face the pension problem, including the possibility of lowering pension payouts. She also wants to directly reach out to voters, something she used to do as a city council member.
Cathy Hirt: We had town hall meetings that really involved every group, we involved neighborhoods , we involved small business owners. I think we need to include the community much more profoundly than Mayor Moncrief did under his administration.
Hirt says too many people have told her they now feel disconnected and disenfranchised from their city, and she wants to change that.