By Bill Zeeble, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-977142.mp3
Dallas, TX – Betsy Price becomes Fort Worth's 44th Mayor this evening. She'll be inaugurated during the City Council's 7 o'clock meeting in the Convention Center. KERA's Bill Zeeble reports the celebration may not last long, given some of the city's challenges.
Price has been saying for weeks she'll hit the ground running, and the top priority is the city's $30 million deficit.
Price: We have to get our budget approved in mid-August and we'll be taking a hard look at it. We'll have to sit down with the City Manager. They've already done some planning. See where we are, analyze every item in that budget and see if we can't pull that down, cover that, help our employees out because our employees are crucial to us.
Then on Wednesday, Fort Worth finally gets its delayed air quality report. The 2-month, independent study looks at the impact of natural gas production on public health and the environment. It gathered air samples from almost 400 natural gas facilities. Some citizens worry Barnett Shale sites are fouling the air, while drilling companies say operations are clean and safe.