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Tag: City Council

  • Fort Worth City Council hits ‘pause’ on $10 billion data center project

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    Developer Black Mountain is asking the Fort Worth City Council to approve rezoning of an additional 119 acres for inclusion in a development that includes a data center. The area is near Weston Gardens, bottom left, a family-owned botanical garden and event venue.

    Developer Black Mountain is asking the Fort Worth City Council to approve rezoning of additional land for inclusion in a development that includes a data center.


    Amanda McCoy

    amccoy@star-telegram.com

    The developer of a planned $10 billion data center in southeast Fort Worth has hit a speed bump in the rezoning of land for what could become one of the largest data center campuses in the metroplex.

    Black Mountain, a Fort Worth-based energy consortium, has successfully petitioned the city to rezone roughly 431 acres of land in the southeast corner of the city near Forest Hill and Everman.

    At the Fort Worth City Council meeting Feb. 10, Black Mountain was scheduled to ask the city to rezone another roughly 80 acres of land in two separate requests.

    One of those requests is for about 42 acres on the east side of Anglin Drive near the Forest Hill city line. That request was rescheduled after leaders in nearby cities asked for a discussion with council member Chris Nettles, who represents that part of Fort Worth. The other request, for about 38 acres east of Anglin Drive and north of Everman Kennedale Road, was previously approved by the Zoning Commission.

    Bob Riley, a consultant with Richardson-based Halff, who is working on behalf of Black Mountain, told council members that Black Mountain met with city leaders in Everman and Forest Hill on Feb. 4.

    After Riley spoke to the Fort Worth council members Feb. 10, Nettles and District 11 council member Jeanette Martinez said the council needs more information before it can approve the zoning cases.

    “I just don’t feel comfortable supporting this zoning case, because I don’t know enough about data centers and how concentration of those centers would impact our infrastructure and resources,” Martinez said.

    Nettles agreed with Martinez, and said he wants to see more information about Black Mountain’s plans.

    “I need real clarity on what the whole complex is going to look like, how many buildings, before we approve these last two lots,” Nettles said. Riley agreed to provide those details for the council.

    Mayor Mattie Parker told the council it will receive a report on data centers from city staff on March 3. The council approved a motion to postpone both zoning cases until its March 10 meeting.

    If these two requests are later approved, the city of Fort Worth will have approved the rezoning of over 500 acres for Black Mountain’s data center.

    Meta’s data center in north Fort Worth is on a 170-acre site. Another north Fort Worth data center, which was approved for earth grading work recently, will be on 107 acres.

    Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram

    Emily Holshouser

    Fort Worth Star-Telegram

    Emily Holshouser is a local news reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

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    Emily Holshouser

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  • Law Department nominee tells City Council he’ll be lawyer for entire city, not just Mamdani | amNewYork

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    Steven Banks, Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s nominee for New York City Corporation Counsel, tesitfied before City Council on Feb. 4. Photo by John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit

    Steven Banks, Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s choice to head the city’s Law Department, promised the New York City Council at his Wednesday confirmation hearing he’d be a “lawyer for the entire city” — not solely, or even primarily, an adviser to the mayor. 

    Banks, who served as the city’s “homelessness czar” under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, emphasized he plans to be readily accessible to council members and answer legal questions on bills they’re looking to pass — something members, including Speaker Julie Menin, said was lacking in former Mayor Eric Adams’ administration. 

    Menin and others also questioned Banks on whether he and his attorneys would provide truly confidential legal advice to members and how he’d approach disagreements on laws between the council and the mayor — for example, if the council passed a law the mayor disagreed with, would Banks help the mayor block its implementation? 

    Banks said his Law Department’s goal would be to ensure major disagreements like that don’t happen, pledging to focus on working with all parties involved throughout the entire legislative writing process to put forward laws that accomplish the goals of the council, are in the best interest of the city and are legally sound. 

    When pressed on what he’d do if a disagreement did arise, Banks said he’d look to act in the best interest of New Yorkers and the city at large.

    “I look forward to representing the whole city, and I look forward to doing what I’ve always done when I’ve had clients that have different points of view: try to reconcile those points of view and ultimately represent the … proper point of view under the law,” Banks said. “I’m not beholden to any institution, any particular elected official. My fidelity is to the rule of law and making sure that the best interests of the city of York are served, regardless of what part of the city is advancing a particular point of view.”

    Banks, a former attorney in chief for the Legal Aid Society, was an architect in the landmark McCain v. Koch settlement, which established the permanent and enforceable right to shelter for families experiencing homelessness in New York City. 

    Banks said he’s committed to upholding both the right to shelter and sanctuary city protections, bringing a “unique perspective” to the department as someone who spent 33 years litigating against it while at the Legal Aid Society.

    New York City Council Member Sandra Ung and Council Speaker Julie Menin on Feb. 4 at confirmation hearing for Steven Banks, Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s nominee for Corporation Counsel. Photo by John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit

    Members grilled Banks on how he’d handle the department’s current suits, too, like its defense of former Adams aide Timothy Pearson in misconduct suits and litigation against CityFHEPS, the city’s rental assistance program. 

    Acknowledging that the answer may not be “the most satisfying,” to members, Banks said he would review and reevaluate all current litigation and actions the department is taking.

    Banks said he will attempt to identify commonalities among the lawsuits against the city with the goal of addressing underlying liabilities prompting people to sue and hopes to reduce city attorneys’ caseloads.

    New York Attorney General Letitia James spoke in support of Banks’ nomination. She told council members she’d look forward to working with him in legal fights against the Trump administration and would “coordinate efforts” to protect New Yorkers. 

    “Given his decades of commitment to public service, he embodies the law as a source of common good for all of us,” James said at Wednesday’s meeting. “For his entire career, no matter the stakes or personal consequence, he has pursued justice for the most vulnerable in the city.”

    The council will vote on whether to confirm Banks at a later date.

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    Isabella Gallo

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  • Cleveland’s Proposed Crisis Response Bureau Could Cut Down on Police Arrests

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    On Wednesday, Cleveland City Council moved forward legislation that would put into place the demands of Tanisha’s Law two years after first talks with the city started.

    Those demands were clearer than ever during this week’s hearing of the Public Safety Committee: find a way to create a new Bureau of Community Crisis Response, under the city’s Division of EMS, that would dispatch unarmed clinicians to handle, and potentially save, Clevelanders in states of distress.

    That bureau, which would cost the city $792,000 to fund, could prevent tragedies like Tanisha Anderson, a 37-year-old woman who was killed by police while having a mental health episode in front of her home in 2014.

    A bureau able to dispatch mental health professionals, and bypass cops entirely, would also, other cities have shown, cut down on needless arrests and criminal charges—and do so drastically.

    “We’ve received hundreds of letters and phone calls from incarcerated individuals,” Faten Odeh, head of the Cleveland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told Council on Wednesday. “I can’t help but wonder how different their lives would’ve been if Tanisha’s Law was available at the time they were incarcerated.” 

    “What this does,” she said, is give “the city the opportunity to treat mental health as it deserves.”

    Although Mayor Bibb gloated earlier this month about the successes of his RISE program—namely the hiring of 251 new recruits in the past two years thanks to pay increases—Cleveland’s patrol is still short of its recommended and budgeted officer base, by about 80.

    In other words, Cleveland’s cops are overworked. 

    What other cities that have implemented co-response have shown is that diversion equals less police work. If clinicians deal with schizophrenic episodes or a shouting homeless person, that means fewer potential arrests—for disturbing the peace, for public intoxication, for loitering or, if the call escalated, perhaps, for assaulting an officer. Outcomes that put less stress on the system overall: on court magistrates, public defenders, intake officers and jail wardens.

    And other U.S. cities, from Houston to San Francisco and Albuquerque, are showing that this isn’t just theory.

    In New Jersey’s pilot program of its care response team, a whopping 98 percent of crisis-related cases that went to clinicians did not end up needing police dispatched. Same goes in Colorado, over a one-year span: out of 25,900 incidents, little more than 500 of those calls required cops.

    Cleveland’s bureau could operate similarly, a presentation on Wednesday showed. Non-violent mental health 911 calls would be immediately triaged and sent over to EMS, which would dispatch a Crisis Intervention Team officer. Only after the fact would a CPD officer be sent out.

    Although Public Safety’s eight committee members present went over yet another draft of Tanisha’s Law with a fine-toothed comb, no one really touched on the fact that crisis-trained clinicians would take the load off CPD.

    That is, if the model works as intended. 

    Cleveland already trains its officers in mental health episodes, as required by the federal Consent Decree, but that training is just 40 hours and isn’t mandatory. And the county is running a pilot co-response program—sending clinicians out to the West Side and Southeast Side—but that program depends heavily on calls to 988, the suicide hotline.

    As Ward 15 Councilman Charles Slife said on Wednesday, a bureau is the only recourse, primarily because it is standalone.

    “Our goal through all of this has been to divert calls from dispatch to the unarmed crisis response team,” Slife said. “Not that they’ll be available under every circumstance, but we want that to be the primary goal.”

    City Council’s Finance Committee will revisit Tanisha’s Law at the end of January.

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    Mark Oprea

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  • Fort Worth City Council adds more public comment meetings to 2026 schedule

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    The Fort Worth City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to increase the number of public comment meetings after previously eliminating some of those.

    In September, the council approved a resolution to revise the City Council meeting schedule for 2026, reducing public comment meetings from 15 to 10. That decision proved unpopular with citizens who felt the democratic process was being undermined.

    Concerns about city staff workloads and meeting efficiency were cited as reasons for the schedule change.

    With the adoption of the Jan. 13 resolution, there will instead be 20 public comment meetings this year. Members of the public will be allowed to speak at all 11 Tuesday evening council meetings and the nine Tuesday morning council meetings.

    Prior to the vote Tuesday night, more than two dozen speakers urged the City Council to reinstate public comment meetings. Several also asked council members to ensure at least three minutes per speaker moving forward.

    Previously, when public comments exceed one hour based on the number of registered speakers, the allotted time per speaker was reduced from three minutes to two.

    However, Council Member Elizabeth Beck requested an amendment to the meeting schedule resolution to strike and revise that provision. After the amended resolution passed, the allotted time for speakers can only be limited by council vote.

    Beck said council members made a mistake in the fall when they voted to reduce public comments. She said the latest resolution was an admission of that and an indication the council has listened to its constituents following public outcry over the amended meeting schedule.

    Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram

    Matt Adams

    Fort Worth Star-Telegram

    Matt Adams is a news reporter covering Fort Worth, Tarrant County and surrounding areas. He previously wrote about aviation and travel and enjoys a good weekend road trip. Matt joined the Star-Telegram in January 2025.

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    Matthew Adams

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  • Charlotte City Council approves $4.3 million for new transit authority

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    Charlotte City Council approved $4.3 million in existing sales tax money to fund the new transit authority until the voter-approved 1% sales tax increase takes effect in July.

    Charlotte City Council approved $4.3 million in existing sales tax money to fund the new transit authority until the voter-approved 1% sales tax increase takes effect in July.


    KHADEJEH NIKOUYEH

    Knikouyeh@charlotteobserver.com

    The city of Charlotte is spending $4.3 million to launch the new transit board.

    City Council on Monday unanimously agreed to take the initial steps to transfer oversight of the region’s public transportation system to the 27-member Metropolitan Public Transportation Authority. The action provides six months of funding to the MPTA and allows the city to handle administrative duties during that time, such as executing contracts and fielding start-up costs.

    Mecklenburg County residents voted 52.1% to 47.9% in November to support a referendum raising county sales tax by 1%. Those tax dollars will fund the authority and the billions of dollars in future road, rail and bus projects it will oversee.

    The tax increase won’t take effect until July 1, however. Council’s action allows the city in the meantime to draw money from the Charlotte Area Transit System’s operating fund, which consists of existing sales tax revenue that must be spent on public transit.

    District 7 Councilman Ed Driggs called the vote a “milestone” first step with many more decisions to follow as council wades into “uncharted waters.”

    “They need our help initially to transact and to gradually inflate this thing and build it up,” Driggs said.

    The legislation authorizing the referendum called for the establishment of a new board to take over governance of CATS from the city of Charlotte and Metropolitan Transit Commission. Some tasks must be completed before July 1 as part of that transition, including the development of financial and operational policies and creating plans for asset acquisition.

    Much of the transit authority’s first 18 months in office will focus on foundation building rather than specific projects, according to District 2 Councilman Malcolm Graham. Board members will create community partnerships, establish a culture, build trust and adopt policies as some of its earliest decisions, he said.

    As for the initial $4.3 million coming from the city, “it’s putting gas in the car so you can go,” Graham said.

    Council approves first businesses for Eastland Yards

    In other business, council was in near-unanimous agreement on who should be the first four tenants moving into Eastland Yards, the mixed-use development occupying the former Eastland Mall site now leased by the city.

    Council unanimously approved subleases for three tenants: Rumbao Latin Dance Company and two businesses run by Manuel “Manolo” Betancur, the owner of eastside staple Manolo’s Latin Bakery.

    Artisan Gelato will serve vegan gelato and gluten-free desserts, and Higher Grounds will offer coffee and light cafe foods. Betancur sought separate business space to avoid cross-contamination for customers with dietary restrictions, he told council.

    The fourth tenant is a salon suite business renting to individual beauty and wellness professionals. At-large Councilwoman LaWana Slack-Mayfield was the only to dissent out of concern it wasn’t the strongest fit as a first business.

    “For years we watched empty land,” at-large Councilwoman Dimple Ajmera said. “Tonight, we are finally turning that page. This is not just about opening stores. It’s about restoring dignity, opportunity and joy to the people who live on the east side that have shown incredible patience and incredible resilience throughout the last 10 years.”

    Related Stories from Charlotte Observer

    Nick Sullivan

    The Charlotte Observer

    Nick Sullivan covers the City of Charlotte for The Observer. He studied journalism at the University of South Carolina, and he previously covered education for The Arizona Republic and The Colorado Springs Gazette.

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    Nick Sullivan

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  • ICE detains City Council staffer at routine immigration hearing; Menin, Mamdani demand immediate release – amNewYork

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    An ICE agent inside 26 Federal Plaza.

    Photo by Dean Moses

    A New York City Council worker was detained by ICE agents on Long Island on Monday, according to City Council Speaker Julie Menin.

    The unnamed staffer, a data analyst for the Council, was taken into custody during what was supposed to be a routine immigration hearing in Bethpage. According to Menin, the employee had been legally permitted to stay in the U.S. until this October.

    “We learned about this very disturbing situation late this afternoon when this employee called the City Council HR appointment for help and told them he had been detained,” Menin said during an emergency press conference she called on Jan. 12.

    Making things worse, the City Council was initially unable to reach ICE to learn more about the detained employee. 

    “We immediately reached out to the ICE facility office at the Bethpage facility, but shockingly, the phone number doesn’t even work. It says that the number is disconnected. There is no public information about how to reach someone who is being detained at the Bethpage facility,” Menin said. “There’s actually no way to reach out to this individual, and I just want to be clear, as Speaker of the City Council, I cannot even call this ICE detention center to collect information.”

    city council speaker speaks about detainment of staffer
    The unnamed staffer, a data analyst for the Council, was taken into custody during what was supposed to be a routine immigration hearing in Bethpage. According to Menin, the employee had been legally permitted to stay in the U.S. until this October.Screenshot via YouTube/@NYCcouncil

    Menin stated that she has since learned that the detained individual, who hails from Venezuela, has since been transferred to a detention center on Varick Street in Lower Manhattan. She also stressed that he was not only on a work visa, but also that he had never been arrested or convicted of a crime later in the year.

    The speaker called the staffer’s detention by ICE an unprecedented “breach of liberty” and a further sign that no one is safe from harm from the federal agency.

    “This is, I want to say, the first time this has ever happened to a City Council Employee, and it must be the only time that this ever happens. But unfortunately, this breach of liberty is hardly an exception,” Menin said. Given recent events across the nation, we’ve seen aggressive escalations by ICE that threaten the freedom and safety of every American. These escalations raise serious concerns about overreach.”

    Man in mask looks back at man in suit, with latter providing a stern gaze and hands on hips
    US Rep. Dan Goldman faces off with an ICE agent.Photo by Dean Moses

    “We are looking at all legal options right now,” the speaker added.

    Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement that he was “outraged” to learn of the City Council staffer’s detainment, and publicly demanded their release.

    “This is an assault on our democracy, on our city, and our values,” Mamdani said. “I am calling for his immediate release and will continue to monitor the situation.”

    U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman, who has spent months himself railing against ICE operations in the Big Apple and immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza, also spoke out against the stunning detainment.

    “I want to be very clear: there is no indication that there is anything about this individual other than his immigration status that caused him to be arrested,” Goldman said. “Venezuela, as we know, is in massive turmoil. The President was just abducted and kidnapped by our United States government. There is a temporary, chaotic government. There is nothing safe and secure about that country.”

    The analyst has worked for the City Council for about one year and, according to those with knowledge of the incident, made their only call to the City Council HR department for help. As of Monday evening, his colleagues had been unable to contact his family.

    Queens City Council Member Tiffany Cabán called the City Council employee’s detainment a “kidnapping.” 

    “A public servant was detained by ICE. Masked police kidnapping a City Council employee who works day in and day out for New Yorkers does not make us safe,” she said. “Trump’s deportation agenda was never about safety. It’s about scapegoating immigrants for problems caused by billionaires. Free our neighbors. Abolish ICE.”  

    The staffer’s detention comes amid citywide and nationwide protests against ICE following the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good on Jan. 7 as she attempted to drive away from masked, heavily armed ICE agents in Minneapolis. Immigration enforcement has been growing increasingly more aggressive, leading to unrest throughout the country.

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    Dean Moses

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  • Blaine Griffin Re-elected as Hopeful Council Sworn in at City Hall – Cleveland Scene

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    Amid messages of optimism and unity, the 119th City Council in Cleveland’s history was sworn in this week, months after a decisive election in November — one that has shaken up Council Chamber with tones of progressivism and potential.

    Newcomers Nikki Hudson, Austin Davis and Tanmay Shah were three non-incumbents initiated on Monday night, a shift that effectively tilts the now 15-person body an inch or so to the left. (That is, without ex-councilpersons Kerry McCormack, Jenny Spencer, Danny Kelly and Anthony Hairston.)

    That ushering in, witnessed by a who’s who of Northeast Ohio politicos—from Dennis Kucinich to former mayor Frank Jackson—came with a round of speeches from the members new and old. Members who stressed that if Cleveland is to move forward, Council as a whole must get along.

    A message Council President Blaine Griffin projected, as did many incumbents that night, onto the body’s three new members.

    “Make no doubt about it: Cleveland City Council is the most scrutinized government body in Cleveland,” Griffin, who was re-elected Council chief, said from his podium.

    “To my incoming colleagues and returning members,” he added. “This is a tough job. You will most definitely get critics and haters from those who are great lawyers for their own mistakes, but poor judges of yours and others’.”

    He took to quoting Teddy Roosevelt: “Leaders don’t give hell,” Griffin said, “we catch it.”

    Council isn’t a stranger to catching heat over the past four years.

    For most of 2024, Councilman Joe Jones was in the spotlight for alleged misconduct around his female staffers and, in August, a death threat to at least one. Former Ward 12 Councilwoman Rebecca Maurer reprimanded Jones and his backers—Richard Starr and Hairston—in a text thread made public. Jones was censured by Council in September, but not removed.

    And there were months of criticism from leftist groups scrutinizing Council’s long refusal, in the winter of 2023, to formally call for a ceasefire amid the Israel-Hamas War. (Council budged that March.) And Stephen Rys, a policy analyst to Griffin, made a rift with the city when he was accused in September of secretly downloading sensitive city data.

    Nikki Hudson and Tanmay Shah, both political newcomers, were officially sworn in Monday night. Credit: Mark Oprea
    The swearing-in ceremony attracted a swath of political who’s who—including Dennis Kucinich and State Rep. Tristan Rader. Credit: Mark Oprea

    But none of that was brought up Monday night, amid the pomp and circumstance, the thank-you speeches and frequent nods to family and fellow politicians who packed the hall.

    Instead, several council members, both old and new, stuck to Cleveland’s current reality—a time when its schools are shrinking and merging; when its SNAP beneficiaries are lining up for food handouts; when its transit agency is dealing with back-to-back homicides and a dwindling budget (and routes).

    Which culminated in a message for Council’s freshmen: focus on the issues, not the personalities.

    “People care about safety, housing, jobs, daycare, social work, right?” Councilwoman Jasmin Santana, who was elected for her third term, said. “Things that maybe explain why we’re all here [at Council] in the first place.”

    Councilwoman Stephanie Howse-Jones doubled down on the anti-performance.

    “Schools too often issue diplomas without skills. We must address public safety with tangible deliverables—not daily TV appearances,” she told the room. “Nor any performative press conference or social media activism.”

    As for Davis, Shah and Hudson, all three in their first political gig, the words of advice were accepted with open ears. (Shah spent most of the time scribbling notes on a notepad.) Many leaned on their belief systems as the main reason they were sitting on this side of Council Chamber. (Not a paycheck.) All three nodded to their families.

    Hudson, a mother of two known for putting pressure on former Councilman Kelly’s decision to back a gas station at a former CVS her ward, framed her ascension to Council with a kind of shoulder shrug. It seemed natural, she said, after owning the activist label.

    “I embraced that title because it felt right, it felt empowering,” she said. “Along with my fellow activists, many of whom are here, we’ve made our impact on Cleveland’s west side.”

    As for Shah, who garnered the loudest hurrah from his supporters in the visitor gallery, the 29-year-old housing lawyer-turned-councilman stuck to the three points he repeated on the campaign trail: affordable homes, cheaper groceries and more reliable city services.

    Even if that means facing the music in the years ahead.

    “I stand before you and ask you to hold me accountable,” he said. “I will make mistakes and I hope we can learn together.”

    Shah looked back at his supporters, who stood to cheer. “I hope to earn your trust through my actions,” he said. “For those who know me, I have a reminder: Our enemies are not in this room.”

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    Mark Oprea

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  • Lauren Welch Running For Ohio State Representative Seat – Cleveland Scene

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    It seems that Lauren Welch has caught the political bug.

    Just three months after former Ward 3 Councilman Kerry McCormack chose Lauren Welch to serve out the remainder of his term on Cleveland City Counil, Welch is announcing her own campaign as she nears the end of her short-lived tenure at City Hall—a bid for the Ohio Statehouse.

    Welch has collected enough signatures to officially launch a campaign for District 20, a seat that’s been held by Terrence Upchurch since January 2023. Upchurch himself will be termed-out come November.

    District 20 encompasses most of Downtown Cleveland, Slavic Village and Central, and runs up to University Circle and North Collinwood. 

    Neighborhoods that Welch, as a Downtown resident for the past two years, believes she’s well-equipped to advocate for. She told Scene there are two reasons behind the run —she loves the work and wants that love to translate into state policy.

    “For me, it’s about having competent individuals in these seats who are able to work across the aisle,” she said. “We need common-sense folks who understand these systems who are ready to fight for us in these places. And to be occupying seats to actually do the work.”

    Welch’s brief three-month stint as Ward 3’s representative was brief but she helped open up a kiosk on Public Square and used casino funds for the Warehouse District. She ran a series of newsletters, TL;3, that took a more conversational approach to what was happening in the city.

    “Hold space for joy just as deliberatively as you hold space for work,” Welch wrote in one of her newsletters.

    Born and raised in Ohio City, Welch moved to Los Angeles in her twenties to work in communications. She’s been on three boards—RTA, the Cleveland Press Club and Environmental Health Watch—and worked at Say Yes! Cleveland before McCormack handed off the Ward 3 job to her in October. She was one of Crain’s Notable Leaders in Communications in 2024.

    At 37, Welch is a newcomer to politics but champions her youthful energy as an asset to the job. She feels that public policy should meet lived experience, whether that be through funding public transit, tightening curfews to curb car break-ins, or fully supporting Cleveland’s co-response model for crisis reponse á la Tanisha’s Law.

    In her view, those pieces of local policy that have clear influences at the Statehouse.

    “What Council reinforced for me is that many of the challenges facing our neighborhoods are decisions that are made and shaped by decisions made in Columbus,” Welch said.

    Mike Seals, a labor organizer who ran against Upchurch in 2022, is Welch’s only challenger so far, according to Cuyahoga County Board of Elections records. Once her signatures are verified, Welch will compete for votes against him and anyone else in the May 5 primary election.

    Welch said she’s already doorknocking with help from her team of 10, yet is still on the lookout for a campaign manager. If she’s elected, Welch said she’ll operate a people’s-first seat, one that balances dollars for lakefront development—she supports Burke closing—equally with issues around gun control and mental health.

    And she’s not looking to be your run-of-the-mill career politician.

    “I’m a girl who went to Jane Addams High on East 30th,” she said. “I grew up in Ohio City. I’ve been in various neighborhoods, in this community, doing the work. And I want to hear from them what’s most important in this moment.”

    “I mean, I don’t want to wake up in November and regret the representation that we have,” she said. “I’ll say that.”

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    Mark Oprea

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  • City Council approves ‘unfair deactivations’ safeguards for rideshare drivers, delivery workers – amNewYork

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    Drivers with the New York Taxi Workers Alliance rally in support of legislation that would add job protections for app-based for-hire-vehicle drivers. Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025.

    Credit: Gerardo Romo / NYC Council

    The City Council approved on Thursday a pair of measures designed to bolster protections for app-based rideshare drivers and delivery workers against firings without recourse — known as “unfair deactivations.”

    The body passed a measure that would add protections against unfair deactivations for for-hire vehicle drivers, Intro. 0276, by 40 to 7 votes with one abstention. It also approved legislation that would add safeguards for food delivery workers, Intro. 1332, by 40 to 8 votes.

    Both bills aim to prevent unfair deactivations — a practice that drivers and delivery workers describe as sudden terminations without a stated reason or an independent appeals process in place.

    The bills were passed during the final City Council stated meeting of the current session. Should outgoing Mayor Eric Adams veto the legislation, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams — who is also leaving office at the end of the year — said it will be up to the likely next speaker, Council Member Julie Menin, to override the mayor’s vetoes. Menin is expected to be elected speaker in early January, soon after the next session of the council is sworn in.

    “This is just another step in trying to in trying to take care of the human beings behind this technology,” said outgoing Council Member Justin Brannan (D-Brooklyn), the prime sponsor of the delivery worker bill.

    “These are billion-dollar app companies, and the reason why they’re billion-dollar app companies is because of the workers that bring in these profits for them,” he added. “So I don’t think we’re asking much to treat them fairly, and that if someone is going to get fired, that there needs to be some sort of recourse.”

    The legislation affecting for-hire-vehicle drivers — backed by the New York Taxi Workers’ Alliance — would place far more restrictions on how the companies that employ them, such as Uber and Lyft, can go about deactivating their accounts. It is designed to prevent drivers from being removed from the app without a clear reason, advance notice, or a means to appeal the decision.

    During a news conference before the votes, City Council Member Shekar Krishnan (D-Queens), the lead sponsor of the for-hire-vehicle bill, said app companies can currently fire drivers “at any time, for any reason, and with no notice, cause or appeal process.” He added his bill “puts an end to unfair firings.”

    queens lawmaker speaks against Uber and Lyft driver deactivation
    City Council Member Shekar Krishnan rallied with Uber and Lyft drivers for his legislation aimed at strengthening their job protections. Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell

    The legislation would require app companies to give a stated reason for deactivating a driver — known as “just cause” place the burden of proof on them, mandate the firms give drivers 14 days’ notice before kicking them off the app, and institute an independent appeals process for drivers. The 14-day notice would apply to all drivers, except for those alleged to have committed account sharing, fraud, or gross misconduct — such as violence or sexual harassment.

    Proponents of the bill also argue a new appeals process is needed because the only way for drivers to appeal the apps’ decisions currently is through the Independent Driver’s Guild, a group funded by Uber.

    Uber spokesperson Josh Gold, in a statement, said the company opposes the for-hire-vehicle bill because it could have “devastating impacts on passenger safety.”

    “Among other things, it forces rideshare apps to keep sending rides to drivers for up to 14 more days after a driver has already been told they’re being terminated, meaning New Yorkers could unknowingly get picked up by someone the company has already fired,” Gold said.

    Lyft spokesperson CJ Macklin expressed a similar sentiment.

    “It makes it harder for us to keep unsafe drivers off the platform, requires public sharing of sensitive victim information that will have a chilling effect on complaints, and places the city in the untenable position of defending individuals accused of misconduct against those they may have harmed,” Macklin said.

    The other bill passed by the council would provide many of the same safeguards for deliveristas, who work for apps including Uber, DoorDash, Grubhub, Seamless, and Relay. It would also require app companies to provide a reason when reactivating deliveristas; give 120 days’ notice before permanently removing them; and institute an appeals process.

    Gold said Uber does not oppose the legislation. Grubhub — which owns Relay and Seamless, DoorDash, and Instacart did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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  • Tamala Takahashi Elevated to Position of Burbank Mayor for 2026

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    Mayor Tamala Takahashi (Center) (Photo by Ross A Benson)

    On Monday, December 15, during the annual reorganization meeting, the City Council Members elected their colleague Tamala Takahashi as the new Mayor of Burbank and Council Member Zizette Mullins to serve as Vice Mayor.

    Elected to the Council in 2022, Mayor Takahashi is a pre-licensed LMFT and LPCC therapist and certified trauma treatment professional, specializing in neurodivergence and relationship trauma. Previously, she owned a consulting business serving nonprofits and has worked and volunteered in the nonprofit sector for over 15 years. She is a John Maxwell certified coach and a Distinguished Toastmaster. Mayor Takahashi is also a semi-professional fiber artist and designer, and one of the founders of the SFV Knerdy Knitters and Crocheters guild in 2011. She has lived in Burbank for 26 years with her husband and three college-age children and is a strong advocate for sustainability, mental health, and transportation.  

    Mayor Tamala Takahashi ( Photo by Ross A. Benson)

    “I’m honored to serve as Burbank’s Mayor,” said Mayor Takahashi. “This city has been my home for decades, and it’s where my family grew, my work took shape, and my commitment to community began. As Mayor, I want to continue fostering a Burbank where people feel connected, supported, and proud to call this place home. I’m excited to work alongside my colleagues and our residents as we move forward together.”

    Mayor Takahashi serves in a variety of regional and national organizations, including The Valley Economic Alliance, the Southern California Association of Governments, the League of California Cities, where she was appointed Chair of the 2026 Community Services Policy Committee, and the National League of Cities.

    The Mayor and Vice Mayor will serve for one year (December 2025 to December 2026).

    (Photo by Ross A Benson)
    (Photo by Ross A Benson)
    (Photo by Ross A Benson)
    (Photo by Ross A Benson)
    (Photo by Ross A Benson)
    (Photo by Ross A Benson)
    (Photo by Ross A Benson)
    (Photo by Ross A Benson)
    Chamber

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  • Denver leaders reject giving more space at DIA to ICE contractor Key Lime Air

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    Denver’s enormous welcome sign, and advertising platform, on the way into Denver International Airport. Dec. 9, 2025.

    Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

    Denver City Council shot down a proposal that would give Key Lime Air extra space for its operations at Denver International Airport. Key Lime has drawn fierce criticism in Colorado because it operates deportation flights for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

    The council rejected the contract on an 11-1 vote, with Kevin Flynn voting in support of it and Chris Hinds absent. 

    Every council member who spoke condemned current federal immigration policies, and several described them as “unconstitutional.” No member supported Key Lime Air’s collaboration with ICE. 

    Key Lime Air calls itself “the largest single feeder aircraft network in the U.S.” News of the affiliation sparked protests outside its Centennial Airport headquarters and at CU Boulder, which has contracted with the company since 2011 to transport athletes. 

    Key Lime, which operates under the name Denver Air Connection, has flown cargo service from the Denver airport since at least 2006, as well as scheduled passenger service since November 2015, according to airport officials.

    It’s unclear whether Key Lime supports its deportation operations from Denver’s airport.

    Councilmember Stacie Gilmore said she has been following Key Lime’s deportation flights at the Centennial Airport, a practice she described as “unconstitutional.” She could neither “ethically nor morally” support an agreement with the company

    Councilmember Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez expressed concern that deportation flights could be leaving Denver International Airport and frustration that airport staff did not clear that up before the vote. 

    Councilmember Kevin Flynn was the lone “yes” vote on the contract.

    While Flynn also decried current mass deportations, which he said are based on race, the councilmember also argued the contract would not alter whether or not the airline would operate at Denver International Airport. Instead, voting down the contract would simply mean Key Lime would not pay the city to use storage space.

    “Voting it down means they won’t be paying us,” he said. “They’ll be using it for free.”

    The council does not have the power to outright kick Key Lime out of the airport, he said. 

    Councilmember Jamie Torres, who first found out about the contract from a reporter, also opposed contracting with Key Lime.

    “It may seem like any other business decision to the private airlines that are contracting with the federal government, but it’s just not,” she said. “We know that people are being deported without due process. It is a standard business and history will be kind to those who participated in these removals.”

    Council President Amanda Sandoval implored her fellow members not to support the contract, saying she would outright refuse to sign a contract with the company.

    “As a body that has six Latinas on here, let’s not do this,” Sandoval said. “We cannot do this.”

    Several city council members raised concerns that federal grants could be reduced because of the body’s vote.

    “I want to be clear that if this is voted down, it’s not going to stop the flights from coming in and out,” Gonzales-Gutierrez said.

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  • Today in Chicago History: Holy Name Cathedral dedicated

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    Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Nov. 21, according to the Tribune’s archives.

    Is an important event missing from this date? Email us

    Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)

    • High temperature: 72 degrees (1913)
    • Low temperature: 1 degree (1880)
    • Precipitation: 1.49 inches (1906)
    • Snowfall: 7 inches (2015)

    Vintage Chicago Tribune: Holy Name Cathedral’s 150th anniversary

    1875: The Cathedral of the Holy Name, at the corner of Superior and State streets, was dedicated with Bishop Thomas Foley presiding. The $200,000 building (more than $6 million in today’s dollars) was designed by Patrick Keely of Brooklyn.

    The Tribune had one criticism of the church’s interior design: “The decorator deserves whatever censure is bestowed. He appears to have aimed at two objects — light and softness — and to have missed both in the artistic sense.”

    The William Green Homes public housing project at Division Street and Ogden Avenue was dedicated on Nov. 21, 1961. (Chicago Tribune)

    1961: The 1,099 apartments of the William Green Homes — a $17 million project named for the former American Federation of Labor president — were dedicated just north and west of the Cabrini extension towers.

    Cabrini-Green timeline: From ‘war workers’ to ‘Good Times,’ Jane Byrne and demolition

    Nicknamed the “Whites” for their white concrete exterior, the William Green housing complex consisted of eight buildings that were each 15 or 16 stories tall. The development, as a whole, became known as Cabrini-Green.

    Ald. Wallace Davis Jr. was indicted on Nov. 21, 1986, as part of Operation Incubator, an undercover investigation into alleged City Hall corruption. (Chicago Tribune)
    Ald. Wallace Davis Jr. was indicted on Nov. 21, 1986, as part of Operation Incubator, an undercover investigation into alleged City Hall corruption. (Chicago Tribune)

    1986: Seven were indicted — including Chicago Aldermen Wallace Davis Jr., 27th, and Clifford P. Kelley, 20th, — by the FBI as part of its 2½-year undercover investigation into alleged City Hall corruption known as Operation Incubator.

    The Dishonor Roll: Chicago officials

    Davis Jr. was convicted in 1987 of accepting a $5,000 bribe from an FBI informant, forcing his niece to pay $11,000 in kickbacks from her salary as his ward secretary and extorting $3,000 from the owners of a restaurant in his ward. He was sentenced to 8½ years in prison by a federal judge who accused Davis of committing perjury at his trial and castigated him for his lack of remorse after a jury convicted him.

    Kelley pleaded guilty in June 1987 to charges he accepted $6,500 from Waste Management Inc., the world’s biggest trash hauler, and $30,000 from a New York bill-collection agency vying for lucrative city work. A flamboyant 16-year Chicago City Council veteran, Kelley was sentenced to one year in prison and served nine months in a minimum-security prison in Duluth, Minnesota.

    Want more vintage Chicago?

    Subscribe to the free Vintage Chicago Tribune newsletter, join our Chicagoland history Facebook group, stay current with Today in Chicago History and follow us on Instagram for more from Chicago’s past.

    Have an idea for Vintage Chicago Tribune? Share it with Kori Rumore and Marianne Mather at krumore@chicagotribune.com and mmather@chicagotribune.com

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  • Denver plans to make downtown into nation’s biggest ‘play’ zone

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    Denver Pavilions on 16th Street. Oct. 18, 2025.

    Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

    Downtown Denver’s COVID-19 era slump is far from over. There are record-high office vacancies. Storefronts sit empty. People aren’t returning to work.

    To fix it and make downtown “world class,” Denver City Council just passed a new Downtown Denver Area Plan — the first major downtown plan since 2007. 

    The plan passed the council 11-0, with members Jamie Torres and Stacie Gilmore absent. The vote wrapped up a two-year planning process.

    “What we heard was that a vision for downtown must not just reflect the values of the people who live and work here, not just the people who have a direct stake in this place, but also anyone who has a fond memory of this place and the people who have yet to experience this place,” said Andrew Iltis, Senior Vice President, Downtown Denver Partnership.

    Many residents said downtown needs to be safer, affordable and focused on play. During a long public comment period, city boosters from Visit Denver, the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, registered neighborhood groups asked the council to pass the plan. 

    Thousands of people shared their ideas for downtown in written comments and through public meetings. 

    The approved plan includes shorter-term projects like the redesigns of Civic Center Park, Glenarm Plaza and Skyline Park, along with long-term projects like the potential realignment of Cherry Creek and Speer Boulevard, two-way streets through downtown, a reimagining of Broadway and a new Broadway Park.

    Mayor Mike Johnston plays a pick-up game with kids gathered for the opening of two new soccer arenas at downtown’s Skyline Park. Aug. 26, 2025.
    Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

    The goals of the plan are to improve public safety, affordability, downtown governance structures, fill local businesses and office spaces, and connections between downtown and the rest of the city. 

    Ryan Ross, a Denver businessman who proposed a gondola through the center of the city, described the plan as “deeply flawed” and argued the public was not thoroughly engaged.

    “The plan, as you know from having read it, consists of a long series of micro projects that even collectively won’t do much to get the vibrancy that we need in downtown, to get it back on its feet,” Ross said. 

    Why all the focus on downtown? 

    While the city center comprises less than 2 percent of the city’s land, it generates more than a fifth of the sales tax that pays for city government.

    “When downtown falters, Denver feels it,” Councilmember Chris Hinds said. “When downtown thrives, the whole city benefits.”

    Around 34,000 people live in the city center, with 53 million people visiting just last year. 

    In the decades to come, the city center may expand into Auraria, along the South Platte, with Stan Kroenke’s development plans for the Ball Arena parking lots and the proposed River Mile district, potentially doubling the population of downtown. 

    A vision, boosters say, is needed.

    What will the new plan do? 

    The plan aims to make downtown “the nation’s largest signature ‘play’ district.”

    How? Events, art, food trucks, better parks and plazas, hang-out and fitness areas, pedestrian-oriented shopping and dining, creative lighting, digital games and musical installations, and enough security for everybody – including children – to feel safe. 

    It also calls for a focus on arts, culture and history, environmentally resilient design, child care and affordable housing, according to the plan. 

    But council members still have doubts and questions.

    Councilmember Flor Alvidrez raised a pressing concern informed by a recent walk with her son through downtown. 

    “It felt like he was constantly going to get in trouble, or someone was going to come out and get mad at him for being a kid downtown,” Alvidrez said. “There wasn’t any other children when we were around Skyline Park, and there was, you know, human feces and urine.”

    The new downtown plan does not mention public restrooms, of which there are only a handful downtown.

    People mill around Denver Pavilions, on 16th Street, on a Saturday evening. Oct. 18, 2025.
    Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

    “People experiencing homelessness are always going to go downtown because it’s where there’s transit and resources and people, and ignoring that reality creates an unsafe, uncomfortable condition for everyone, especially families, when we’re trying to be a family-friendly city instead of meeting human needs,” Alvidrez said. 

    Downtown could also offer more child care centers, schools and free public amenities like a library extension, she said. 

    Other council members raised concerns about whether the L Line — the light rail through Five Points — would be maintained. Would converting Broadway into a park create traffic problems? And was downtown getting outsized attention compared to other neighborhoods that have no plans at all?

    “We need to invest in the other 78 neighborhoods that we have in Denver,” Council President Amanda Sandoval said. 

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  • Mayor Bass lifts state of emergency on homelessness. But ‘the crisis remains’

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    On her first day in office, Mayor Karen Bass declared a state of emergency on homelessness.

    The declaration allowed the city to cut through red tape, including through no-bid contracts, and to start Inside Safe, Bass’ signature program focused on moving homeless people off the streets and into interim housing.

    On Tuesday, nearly three years after she took the helm, and with homelessness trending down two years in a row for the first time in recent years, the mayor announced that she will lift the state of emergency on Nov. 18.

    “We have begun a real shift in our city’s decades-long trend of rising homelessness,” Bass said in a memorandum to the City Council.

    Still, the mayor said, there is much work to do.

    “The crisis remains, and so does our urgency,” she said.

    The mayor’s announcement followed months of City Council pushback on the lengthy duration of the state of emergency, which the council had initially approved.

    Some council members argued that the state of emergency allowed the mayor’s office to operate out of public view and that contracts and leases should once again be presented before them with public testimony and a vote.

    Councilmember Tim McOsker has been arguing for months that it was time to return to business as usual.

    “Emergency powers are designed to allow the government to suspend rules and respond rapidly when the situation demands it, but at some point those powers must conclude,” he said in a statement Tuesday.

    McOsker said the move will allow the council to “formalize” some of the programs started during the emergency, while incorporating more transparency.

    Council members had been concerned that the state of emergency would end without first codifying Executive Directive 1, which expedites approvals for homeless shelters as well as for developments that are 100% affordable and was issued by Bass shortly after she took office.

    On Oct. 28, the council voted for the city attorney to draft an ordinance that would enshrine the executive directive into law.

    The mayor’s announcement follows positive reports about the state of homelessness in the city.

    As of September, the mayor’s Inside Safe program had moved more than 5,000 people into interim housing since its inception at the end of 2022. Of those people, more than 1,243 have moved into permanent housing, while another 1,636 remained in interim housing.

    This year, the number of homeless people living in shelters or on the streets of the city dropped 3.4%, according to the annual count conducted by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. The number of unsheltered homeless people in the city dropped by an even steeper margin of 7.9%.

    The count, however, has its detractors. A study by Rand found that the annual survey missed nearly a third of homeless people in Hollywood, Venice and Skid Row — primarily those sleeping without tents or vehicles.

    In June, a federal judge decided not to put Los Angeles’ homelessness programs into receivership, while saying that the city had failed to meet some of the terms of a settlement agreement with the nonprofit LA Alliance for Human Rights.

    Councilmember Nithya Raman, who chairs the City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee, said the end of the emergency does not mean the crisis is over.

    “It only means that we must build fiscally sustainable systems that can respond effectively,” she said. “By transitioning from emergency measures to long-term, institutional frameworks, we’re ensuring consistent, accountable support for people experiencing homelessness.”

    Times staff writer David Zahniser contributed to this report.

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  • Charlotte’s barrier breaking new police chief gets positive GOP, Democratic reception

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    Republicans and Democrats alike celebrated Charlotte’s next police chief in a bipartisan show of support on Friday.

    The city announced Estella Patterson will become the first female chief of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department following current Police Chief Johnny Jennings’ retirement at the end of this year. She worked with CMPD for 25 years before serving as Raleigh police chief from 2021-2025.

    “It kind of gives us the best of both worlds: Someone who understands who we are and brings fresh eyes from the outside,” said Democratic District 2 Councilman Malcolm Graham. “And I think she’s a truth teller, and she will be able to command respect inside the building as well as within the community.”

    Graham described Patterson as “always personable, sharp, candid and professional.”

    The Fraternal Order of Police pulled for Patterson to be the next chief, according to Krista Bokhari, the Republican candidate for City Council’s open District 6 seat.

    “She is very well-liked and admired within the rank and file of CMPD, so I am thrilled about their choice,” Bokhari said. “That is one thing that the rank and file would say is, ‘Oh, I wish she didn’t leave and go to Raleigh. I wish she was here.’”

    Bokhari’s husband served in the position she’s running for from 2017 until earlier this spring, when he resigned for a brief stint in the Trump administration.

    Tariq Bokhari went toe-to-toe with Jennings over issues he believed were important to officers. Most notably a disagreement between the two over outer carrier vests paved the way to Jennings’ departure. The City Council approved, in secret, a $305,000 separation agreement with Jennings after he allegedly suggested he would sue over threatening text messages Bokhari sent during the vest saga.

    The FOP released a short statement on Facebook saying its members repeatedly named Patterson as somebody they wanted to be their next chief. The union “wholeheartedly” supports her hiring, it said.

    Kimberly Owens, Bokhari’s Democratic opponent running in District 6, also complimented Patterson as an “impressive selection.” She highlighted Patterson’s military experience as a member of the U.S. Army Reserve from 1996-2005 and two-time recipient of the Army Commendation Medal, which she thinks adds gravitas to her skill set.

    At-large Councilwoman Dimple Ajmera commended Patterson for breaking barriers in conjunction with delivering results.

    “As a mother of two young girls, I’m especially inspired by Chief Patterson’s achievement. Her journey shows our daughters that with hard work and integrity, there are no limits to what they can accomplish,” Ajmera said. “As Chief in Raleigh, she reduced vacancies, strengthened morale, and achieved a 100% homicide clearance rate — a testament to her results-driven and compassionate leadership.”

    Owens preferred residents not linger on identity politics in the first place, she said.

    “I think that focus always sets us up for failure,” Owens said. “I’m not trying to take away any of the accomplishments of being a first, but that is just such a disservice to the person who’s put in the time and energy and really the work to be considered for a position of this sort of size and importance.”

    City Council members’ vision for the next chief of police

    Council members say Patterson must focus on transparent communication and an active presence in the community in order to succeed in the role.

    Public safety has been a top-of-mind concern for Charlotte residents since the light rail killing. People need a chief who can begin a chapter of outward-facing communication and ease those concerns, Graham said.

    “A lot of people are just not buying that Uptown is safe or that crime is down. Perception is very important. Whether it is statistically accurate is pointless,” said Edwin Peacock III, a District 6 Republican Councilman who’s running for election at-large.

    He advocated for a law-and-order candidate during the hiring process and hopes Patterson will adhere to a “broken window philosophy.” That involves going after low-level offenses to send a message that laws will be enforced across the board.

    Patterson needs to be upfront and visible about safety on public transit, Peacock said. In contrast, outgoing chief Jennings has remained out of public eye in recent months as the city has grappled with these discussions.

    “I see this appointment as the start of a new era for CMPD, one that’s grounded in community trust, our officers’ wellness and data-driven leadership,” Ajmera said. “That’s the leadership Charlotte needs.”

    This story was originally published October 31, 2025 at 4:35 PM.

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    Nick Sullivan

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    Nick Sullivan covers the City of Charlotte for The Observer. He studied journalism at the University of South Carolina, and he previously covered education for The Arizona Republic and The Colorado Springs Gazette.

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  • Fort Worth councilman says he will ‘stand with the mayor’ as she faces criticism

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    Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker during a Fort Worth City Council meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025.

    Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker during a Fort Worth City Council meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025.


    Amanda McCoy

    amccoy@star-telegram.com

    Fort Worth City Council member Charles Lauersdorf is supporting Mayor Mattie Parker amid calls for her to apologize for a comment she made at a council meeting last month.

    On Sept. 30, Parker accused community activist Patrice Jones of being involved when a casket painted with the names of Atatiana Jefferson and others killed or injured in Fort Worth police shootings was dumped on her front lawn in 2022.

    “Patrice, I still have your casket,” Parker said to Jones as Jones left the podium after speaking against a council motion to reduce the number of public comment meetings for the coming year.

    Jones denied involvement in the casket incident, and police reports from the time say no one matching Jones’ description was seen on video dropping off the casket. A police report did note, however, that Jones made a Facebook post prior to the incident saying, “Any funeral home willing to allow use of a casket for tomorrow? We also need some buses from some churches.”

    E.J. Carrion, host of the 817 podcast, said he and others created a petition urging the city council to push Parker to issue an apology and retract her statement about Jones.

    When people signed the petition, Carrion said, it generated emails to council members. Lauersdorf responded to one of those emails — the only one he received, Laudersdorf said — and told the sender he would “stand in solidarity with our duly elected Mayor.”

    In the email reply, Laudersdorf also accused Jones of making threats during her remarks on Sept. 30.

    “If you guys make it harder for us to talk to ya’ll in spaces like this, then we’re just going to have to come to spaces where you are and make it uncomfortable,” Jones told the mayor and council. “So you may as well give us the opportunity to do what you were elected to do and hear us here so we don’t pop up at your church or where you’re at and make you uncomfortable in your comfortable spaces.”

    Additionally, Lauersdorf referred to Jones in his email response as Council Member Deborah Peoples’ “race-baiting mouthpiece.”

    Lauersdorf told the Star-Telegram that was in reference to Jones working with Peoples at an organization called By Any Means 104. He also mentioned the shirt Jones wore to the Sept. 30 city council meeting, which read “I am sick of racist white people.”

    In a text message, Jones clarified that Peoples is on the advisory board for Southside Community Garden, which Jones founded. Jones said Peoples isn’t involved with By Any Means 104.

    Peoples did not immediately respond to a request for comment. When reached by phone, Jones said she was in a meeting and would call back, but she has not yet done so.

    “If someone wants to stand with Patrice Jones, that’s their right,” Lauersdorf said in a phone interview. “But it’s my right to stand with the mayor.”

    In a phone conversation, Carrion criticized Lauersdorf’s response, saying Lauersdorf didn’t understand the complexities of race relations in Fort Worth.

    “The mayor of the 11th largest city is villainizing a Black woman activist,” said Carrion. “There’s history in our past of white women pointing fingers at Black people for crimes they did not do.”

    Lauersdorf’s comments in support of Parker follow an Oct. 14 city council public comments meeting when residents showed up in force to condemn Parker’s comments.

    Reporter Harrison Mantas contributed to this report.

    This story was originally published October 24, 2025 at 5:41 PM.

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    Matt Adams

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    Matt Adams is a news reporter covering Fort Worth, Tarrant County and surrounding areas. He previously wrote about aviation and travel and enjoys a good weekend road trip. Matt joined the Star-Telegram in January 2025.

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  • Orange County shoppers say goodbye to Westminster Mall

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    After serving for decades as a community hub and popular shopping center, the Westminster Mall in Orange County is getting ready to close its doors.

    Most of the shops in the mall will shut down on Oct. 29 when leases expire, according to Westminster City Manager Christine Cordon. The City Council approved a redevelopment plan in 2022 to turn the mall into a mixed-use site for housing, leisure and retail.

    The 100-acre property, situated on the south side of the 405 Freeway, could soon offer 3,000 housing units and at least 600,000 square feet of upscale retail space.

    The city’s Westminster Mall Specific Plan also sets aside more than 9 acres for parks and recreation.

    “The community has expressed a strong desire to revitalize this important commercial center,” the redevelopment plan says. “The project site provides a unique opportunity to reposition the mall into the thriving activity center that it once was and to accommodate the future growth of the city.”

    Community members gathered last week to say their goodbyes to the mall, which already has shuttered stores and empty parking lots. According to the mall’s online directory, popular shops such as Victoria’s Secret, Vans and Kay Jewelers are still open.

    JCPenney, the mall’s oldest anchor store, is slated to close by Nov. 21. Best Buy and Target are expected to remain open for a few more years as the property undergoes redevelopment.

    Alexis Malatesta, who frequented the mall as a teenager and now runs a Westminster Mall fan account on Instagram, hosted a farewell karaoke party at the mall on Friday.

    She posted videos of the gathering, where several community members came to reminisce and sing songs in the mall’s honor.

    Malatesta’s Instagram says it’s “a page dedicated solely to the Westminster Mall’s battle with terminal illness,” referencing the mall’s long, rocky fall from its prime.

    In 1986, the mall was Orange County’s second-highest-grossing retail center. The next year, the mall announced a big renovation plan.

    In its heyday, the mall was a gathering spot when there were few other places to hang out. It was where kids found the latest fashions and where “mall rats” roamed in packs after school.

    Malatesta, who grew up in Huntington Beach, said she spent countless afternoons at the mall in the early 2000s, riding the carousel and snapping digital photos. As the mall fell into disrepair, she posted stunts on social media to try to generate business, including a fake wedding ceremony to declare her marriage to the mall.

    “I wanted to get people to go enjoy the space while it was still there,” she said in an interview. “The Westminster Mall was a huge part of my childhood and I’ve met a ton of people through our shared obsession with the mall.”

    The Westminster Mall opened in 1974 on the former site of the world’s largest goldfish farm, according to city documents.

    It underwent major renovations in the 1980s and in 2008, and is now controlled by four companies that share ownership of the property: Kaiser Permanente, Shopoff Realty, True Life Cos. and Washington Prime Group.

    True Life, a Denver-based real estate firm, has received permission from the city to build a five-story, multifamily housing structure on the 3.6 acres that was previously occupied by Babies R Us.

    Because of a pending agreement between the four companies, a demolition date for the mall has not been set.

    Though the city has ambitious redevelopment plans, the Westminster Mall will lose its nostalgic value for Malatesta, now 33 years old.

    “You can go into an indoor mall and you can forget about the outside world,” Malatesta said. “Westminster Mall was my spot.”

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  • Philly renters will get voter registration information when signing a new lease

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    Upon signing a new lease in Philadelphia, renters soon will receive information explaining how they can register to vote or update their existing voter registrations.

    A new bill unanimously approved by City Council on Thursday updates the city’s handbook on good housing to include a link to the How to Register page on the City Commissioner’s website. Landlords are required to provide new tenants with a copy of this handbook and a certificate stating the property is suitable to live in. The update to the handbook is intended to ensure residents vote at the polling places connected to their new addresses.

    MORE: Philly’s only rape crisis center receives financial relief to stay afloat after layoffs

    Tenants must sign a form saying that they’ve received a copy of the handbook. The How to Register page provides information on how to register, check one’s registration status and register to vote by mail. Residents must have lived in their election districts for at least 30 days prior to Election Day before they can vote using their new addresses. 

    Approximately 47% of housing in Philadelphia is renter-occupied and the city saw a 2.5% increase in renters from 2010 to 2020, the Economy League reported. But Councilmember Nina Ahmad, who introduced the legislation, said renters often move multiple times, neglect to update their addresses and “fall off the voter rolls.”

    “The bill meets people where they are and makes updating registration easy when people move in the city,” Ahmad said during Thursday’s meeting. 

    The legislation takes effect Nov. 16. The city’s handbook will be updated with the new information before that deadline. 

    According to the Philadelphia Commissioner’s Office, 1.062 million of Philadelphia’s 1.6 million residents are registered to vote. However, turnout remains an issue. Only 65% of registered voters took part in the November 2024 election, down 1.3% from the 2020 election, the Inquirer reported. 

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  • Arlington considers ending LGBTQ protections in anti-discrimination ordinance

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    The Arlington City Council meets every other Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Arlington City Council Chambers following an afternoon council meeting.

    The Arlington City Council meets every other Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Arlington City Council Chambers following an afternoon council meeting.


    Rachel Royster

    rroyster@star-telegram.com

    The Arlington City Council will consider removing protections for LGBTQ+ residents Tuesday as part of the changes to its anti-discrimination ordinance.

    In early September, the City Council voted to temporarily suspend the anti-discrimination ordinance until city staff could propose amendments to it removing specific diversity, equity and inclusion language. Had this not taken place, the city would be at risk of losing $65 million in federal grant money.

    Tuesday night, the council will be presented with an edited anti-discrimination clause. The changes include deleting “Gender Identity and Expression” and “Sexual Orientation” from the definition of discrimination.

    But a leader in the LGBTQ+ community said the proposed change leaves a class of residents without local protections.

    Previously, the ordinance said discrimination is “any direct or indirect exclusion, distinction, segregation, limitation, refusal, denial, or other differentiation in the treatment of a person or persons because of a race, color, national origin, age, religion, sex, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity.”

    If the council approves the amendments Tuesday, anyone experiencing discrimination due to their sexual orientation or gender identity will not be able to look to the city for help.

    DeeJay Johannessen, CEO of the HELP Center for LGBT Health and Wellness, said this is not necessary to keep grant funding.

    “Out of the 395 cities with sexual orientation, gender identity in their list of protected classes, not one other city is doing it,” Johannessen said. “In fact, historically, no city has ever removed sexual orientation from their list of protected classes. So Arlington would be the first.”

    When a municipality receives grants from the U.S. government, it enters into a contract with various stipulations on the allocation of those funds. Those contracts have been updated since President Donald Trump took office to prohibit “advancing or promoting DEI” in decision-making, City Manager Trey Yelverton said at the Sept. 2 meeting.

    In Fort Worth, the City Council voted to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs to protect federal funding in August. The city code still includes sexual orientation, transgender, gender identity or gender expression as protected classes from discrimination.

    Sana Syed, a spokesperson for the city of Fort Worth, said due to how the ordinance was written, “no changes were needed to adhere to new federal requirements and none are planned at this time.”

    An attorney who Johannessen consulted with regarding Arlington’s proposed anti-discrimination code changes said removing sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression as protected characteristics from the current ordinance “reflects a fundamental and profound misunderstanding of the law.

    “The inclusion of ‘gender expression’ in this list is somewhat telling, since the term does not appear in the Current Ordinance,” Daniel Barrett, the Fort Worth lawyer Johannessen consulted, wrote in a statement. “Its inclusion exposes the staff’s analysis of the situation as sloppy or, perhaps, based upon something other than legal considerations.”

    Under the original ordinance, if someone is made to leave an establishment because of their gender identity or sexual orientation, they could go to the city and file a complaint. With the exclusion of those kinds of discrimination in the amended ordinance, the only way to rectify the issue would be through the federal government, Johannessen said.

    Johannessen was part of the focus group who helped make gender identity and sexual orientation protected classes in Arlington’s anti-discrimination chapter in 2021.

    “It passed unanimously, and there was not even any public comment voting against it,” Johannessen said. “It sailed through. So that’s why it’s so surprising now that there’s so little push back about having to make this change, even if it was required for them to make this change, there’s no angst about it.”

    The City Council will vote on the amendments at the 6:30 p.m. meeting on Tuesday.

    Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram

    Rachel Royster

    Fort Worth Star-Telegram

    Rachel Royster is a news and government reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, specifically focused on Tarrant County. She joined the newsroom after interning at the Austin American-Statesman, the Waco Tribune-Herald and Capital Community News in DC. A Houston native and Baylor grad, Rachel enjoys traveling, reading and being outside. She welcomes any and all news tips to her email.

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  • Charlotte council member lost primary. Is application for new transit board allowed?

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    Charlotte City Council District 5 Representative Marjorie Molina speaks during a candidate forum, hosted by the Black Political Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025, in Charlotte, N.C.

    Charlotte City Council District 5 Representative Marjorie Molina applied for the board of trustees that would oversee the region’s new transportation authority. City council is responsible for appointing members to the board.


    Matt Kelley

    For the Observer

    A Charlotte city councilwoman wants to serve on a countywide board she could help appoint, raising conflict of interest questions among her peers.

    Marjorie Molina, who represents east Charlotte’s District 5, told council members at a meeting on Monday she submitted an application for the board of trustees that would oversee the new Metropolitan Public Transportation Authority. A full list of applicants who’ve applied so far hasn’t been publicly released. The authority also will only materialize if voters approve a proposed 1% transportation tax referendum this November.

    State law prohibits sitting elected officials from serving on the board.

    Molina said her knowledge would benefit the board because she is the vice chair of the transportation, planning and development committee. But several council members worried about optics, with Councilwoman Tiawana Brown calling her application “a red flag.”

    “There’s been a lot of confusion at this dais right now, and so I can understand why some people are saying no, and me being one of them,” Brown said.

    Is it a conflict of interest if Molina serves on the transportation board?

    A conflict presents itself if a council member has a financial interest in the outcome of a decision, Interim City Attorney Anthony Fox told council on Monday. He didn’t see Molina’s application as a conflict of interest “at this point,” he said.

    Molina called the role a volunteer position without financial benefit. However, Fox later noted state law does not prohibit board members from setting compensation for themselves.

    Elected officials by law cannot serve “concurrently” on the board. That’s relevant to this situation, too, Fox said. Molina lost reelection to J.D. Mazuera Arias and will leave office before the authority would take effect.

    “It depends on timing and whether or not the member is still an elected official,” Fox said.

    Still, Molina’s tenure overlaps with the council’s deadline to make transportation board appointments. Her last day is Dec. 1, and appointments are due Nov. 24.

    Molina said her colleagues brought valid concerns and pledged to recuse herself from the vote if she was still in consideration. She is weighing whether to withdraw her application.

    “It’s a risk for me,” Molina said. “I risk losing my voice to offer my information, and I risk being a part of the process.”

    Council members had mixed opinions— some encouraging Molina to join in the vote and others supporting a decision to step aside.

    Ed Driggs, who chairs the committee on transportation, said he “wouldn’t be offended” if Molina retained her vote. Driggs thought the issue did not rise to the level of a conflict of interest, he said.

    Councilwoman Renee Perkins Johnson said she would support Molina’s decision to excuse herself over the potential for negative public perception.

    How will the transportation board be appointed?

    Gov. Josh Stein signed the PAVE Act in June, allowing Mecklenburg County to place the referendum on ballots. If passed, it would overhaul the region’s transportation system and raise an estimated $20 billion over the next 30 years.

    Under the PAVE Act, the referendum would establish an independent transit authority with a 27-member board to make transportation decisions. Members will serve for four years, though the inaugural board will include some two-year appointments so terms are staggered.

    The city is responsible for appointing 12 of those members: the mayor chooses two people, the Charlotte Business Alliance recommends two people, Foundation for the Carolinas recommends one member and the city council chooses seven appointees.

    A work group consisting of three council members will lead candidate interviews, then bring recommendations or summaries to the full council to consider and vote on. The exact interview process with the work group has not been finalized.

    Molina said she would “have to recuse (herself)” from voting over perceived conflict if she makes it to the interview stage.

    “In other words, I can’t vote for myself,” Molina said.

    Related Stories from Charlotte Observer

    Nick Sullivan

    The Charlotte Observer

    Nick Sullivan covers the City of Charlotte for The Observer. He studied journalism at the University of South Carolina, and he previously covered education for The Arizona Republic and The Colorado Springs Gazette.

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    Nick Sullivan

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