{"id":254129,"date":"2026-04-17T12:04:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T12:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/254129\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T12:04:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T12:04:12","slug":"star-telegram-endorsement-raises-for-fort-worth-city-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/254129\/","title":{"rendered":"Star-Telegram endorsement: Raises for Fort Worth City Council"},"content":{"rendered":"

Call it the Goldilocks approach to Fort Worth City Council pay<\/a>: On the third try, the city has gotten it just right.<\/p>\n

Voters have rejected proposed salary increases for council members twice in about a decade. An item on the May 2 ballot, Proposition G<\/a>, would boost the mayor\u2019s salary from $29,000 to $60,000 and council members\u2019 from $25,000 to $50,000. It\u2019s an affordable way to improve representation in city government, and voters should approve it.<\/p>\n

Residents may be feeling an economic squeeze and wondering if the city spends efficiently enough to justify the raise. And the fact it follows more than $800 million of bond proposals<\/a> on the ballot might make it a tough sell. But voters should think about the long term.<\/p>\n

\"The The Fort Worth City Council dais in 2025. Kamal Morgan kmorgan@star-telegram.com <\/p>\n

Council service, whether intended or not, is a full-time responsibility, even in a city run by a hired manager<\/a> and his deputies. Voters want responsive elected officials. But the low salary shuts out anyone who doesn\u2019t have another significant line of income, either from personal wealth, a spouse\u2019s salary or a lucrative professional job with great flexibility, such as law, insurance or real estate.<\/p>\n

No one wants to see elected officials getting wealthy through public service. But the proposed salaries are modest while still making service feasible for a much larger number of Fort Worthians.<\/p>\n

We opposed the last pay proposal in 2022<\/a>, an extravagant plan that would have had the mayor approaching six figures. Worse, it would have tied council salaries to civilian positions, virtually guaranteeing future increases without voter approval.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s proposition lacks an index to trigger further raises, a sensible approach in a city that cares about fiscal responsibility. For the sake of better, more diverse representation<\/a> for themselves, voters should support Proposition G.<\/p>\n

What would propositions on the Fort Worth ballot do?<\/p>\n

The salary increase is followed on the ballot by a host of other amendments to the city charter, most of which are technical, even minor. All would clean up city governance, and several would reinforce the idea that the city manager, not the council, has the power and flexibility to run city government more efficiently. We endorse them all.<\/p>\n

Proposition H: City department heads who are fired<\/a> can currently request a hearing before the City Council, though the council cannot change the city manager\u2019s staffing decision. It\u2019s redundant and pointless. If a dismissed employee wants to seek redress, the courts can handle it.<\/p>\n

Proposition I: It would remove the hearing-request right for the three direct hires the council makes: the city manager, auditor and attorney. What\u2019s the point of a hearing before the group that just fired you?<\/p>\n

Proposition J: Utility corporations would no longer have to file annual reports to the city. We\u2019re long past the point at which cities had primary regulatory power over gas and electric companies, and ample information on their operations is available.<\/p>\n

Proposition L: City bureaucrats would be able to permit companies such as trash collectors to operate on Fort Worth streets, rather than each requiring a council vote.<\/p>\n

Proposition M: The city manager could reorganize government departments<\/a> without council approval. At first blush, that sounds like taking control away from elected officials. But simply put, the city manager needs to be able to manage, especially if he or she sees a chance for cost efficiencies. Besides, no sensible manager is going to make wild or wholesale changes without consulting or at least alerting the bosses.<\/p>\n

Proposition N: Fort Worth\u2019s charter no longer complies with state law on special elections to fill vacancies. Obviously, state law prevails.<\/p>\n

Proposition O: This would expand the types of documentation allowed for a vendor or legal claimant to send requesting payment beyond a purchase order. It\u2019s sad that voters have to approve basic paperwork changes, but there you have it.<\/p>\n

Early voting starts April 20 and is available through April 28. Registered Fort Worth voters can cast a ballot at any Tarrant County polling location.<\/p>\n

About our campaign endorsements BEHIND THE STORY MORE <\/a> Hey, who is behind these endorsements? <\/p>\n

Members of the Editorial Board, which serves as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram\u2019s institutional voice, decide candidates and positions to recommend to voters. The members of the board are: Cynthia M. Allen<\/a>, columnist; Steve Coffman, editor and president; Bud Kennedy<\/a>, columnist; and Ryan J. Rusak<\/a>, opinion editor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more by clicking the arrow in the upper right.<\/p>\n

How does the process work? <\/p>\n

The Editorial Board interviews candidates, asking about positions on issues, experience and qualifications, and how they would approach holding the office for which they are running. Board members do additional research on candidates\u2019 backgrounds and the issues at hand. After that, members discuss the candidates and generally aim to arrive at a consensus, though not necessarily unanimity. All members contribute observations and ideas, so the resulting editorials represent the board\u2019s view, not a particular writer.<\/p>\n

How do partisanship and ideology factor in? <\/p>\n

We\u2019re not tied to one party or the other, and our positions on issues range across the ideological spectrum. We tend to prefer candidates who align with our previously stated positions, but qualifications, temperament and experience are important, too.<\/p>\n

Do you have an opinion on this topic? Tell us! <\/p>\n

We love to hear from Texans with opinions on the news \u2014 and to publish those views in the Opinion section.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Letters should be no more than 150 words. <\/p>\n

\u2022 Writers should submit letters only once every 30 days. <\/p>\n

\u2022 Include your name, address (including city of residence), phone number and email address, so we can contact you if we have questions. <\/p>\n

You can submit a letter to the editor two ways: <\/p>\n

\u2022 Email letters@star-telegram.com<\/a> (preferred).<\/p>\n

\u2022 Fill out this online form.<\/a><\/p>\n

Please note: Letters will be edited for style and clarity. Publication is not guaranteed. The best letters are focused on one topic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Call it the Goldilocks approach to Fort Worth City Council pay: On the third try, the city has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254130,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":{"0":"post-254129","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-fort-worth","9":"tag-fort-worth-headlines","10":"tag-fort-worth-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}