Mayor Betsy Price and Councilman Sal Espino sported sneakers, answered questions and listened to concerns from their constituents Wednesday evening during a two-mile walk on Marine Creek Trail.
“I started the rolling town halls when I was first elected,” Price said. “So I could selfishly get on my bike a little more, and connect with people. And then we real quickly realized a lot more people walk than ride.”
“Rolling Town Halls” are still in effect; additionally, the city offers “Walking Town Halls” and “Caffeinated Town Halls” in order to make city officials more accessible to the average citizen.
“I’ve got two names in my pocket that people have given me so far,” Price said, “about their neighborhood that they want me to look into for them. And I got to answer all these cub scouts questions for their citizenship badge.”
A mile down the trail City Councilman Sal Espino went live on Facebook to broadcast the walk and encourage viewers to get involved in their communities and city government.
After the mosquitoes began to feast, Espino told everyone to turn back and get out of the woods before the sun set.
“And let me know what you want to talk about,” Price said while everyone was still listening.
A constituent shouted for a wider road in her area, a request she had repeated throughout the walk, and the crowd laughed in response.
“Talk to the mayor here about it,” Espino said. “Y’all already bent my ears. Bend the Mayor’s ear now.”
Thomas Baiter, a Keep Fort Worth Beautiful board member and 12-year resident of Fort Worth, said coming to these events is an effective way to address concerns in the community.
“The mayor is wonderful,” said Bainter. “She does things like this all the time, and she listens to people. She really does. She listens. And our city councilman Sal Espino over there, he listens, too. So we appreciate that.”
Bainter said if you don’t show up, then the council members are listening to someone else, and it might be someone with whom you don’t agree.
At the end of the walk, there was a raffle for free museum tickets and an overnight stay at The Stockyards Fort Worth.
To find out more about Fort Worth Town Hall events like this, visit their webpage.