In coalition with our friends at DFW for All (Texas Working Families Party, Sunrise Dallas, Our Revolution North Texas, and others,) we have collectively created the following platform for municipal elected officials that aligns with all of our values for transforming the systems we live in to develop a better society. All of United Fort Worth's endorsed candidates have signed on to this platform and have pledged to proactively and publicly support and advocate for these policy positions if and when they are brought to city council or arise in council discussion, and to use their influence as a member of city council to help pass these policies. Let's hold them accountable!
Learn more at linktr.ee/BrandNewCityCouncil!
If you are in agreement with this platform, please sign on to show your support!
Housing is a Human Right
We believe that everyone deserves a home and that housing is a human right. Our government’s most basic function is to protect its citizens and we are failing when hundreds of people in North Texas are without shelter every night. Houselessness is a public health crisis, particularly during this pandemic. When there are limited affordable housing options, middle class people and working families are less likely to be able to build their homes in our cities. We need public servants that serve us, work for us, and house us:
- Ensure all people have a home in our cities by substantially investing in accessible, deeply affordable housing and providing robust property tax relief to low income homeowners who have the greatest need.
- Expand emergency shelter services with protections for high risk groups, specifically for people with disabilities, undocumented residents, youth, and LGBT+ communities
- Permanently stop the disbandment of houseless communities which criminalizes poverty and instead provide direct services to shelter and house vulnerable communities
- Guarantee municipal utilities will not be shut off for residences during emergencies and disasters
- Give renters the option to purchase their home if a landlord decides to sell the property
- Prevent gentrification by providing tax lien relief in low-income neighborhoods and ensuring any residential properties being demolished are rebuilt as sustainable high density housing or in a similar style and comparable value to existing surrounding properties
- Implement robust, local eviction moratoriums so families and individuals don’t fall through the cracks.
Health and Safety for All
It is our time to create a government that serves and protects all of us, which means we must put the lives of our residents first. This includes fully funding health and social services, as well as taking proactive actions to solve our communities’ issues at the root of the cause. We must meet the needs of our citizens. It’s simply about putting our money where our hearts are!:
_ Fully fund public and community services including, public transportation, health care, food security, accessible housing, immigration assistance, child care, internet access, fine arts, and after-school programs
- Invest in restorative justice programs like reentry programs for formerly incarcerated individuals, narrow the scope of policing through efforts to decriminalize poverty, and demilitarize the police.
- Develop a comprehensive emergency response plan with standards that ensure the protection of the most vulnerable communities, specifically youth, people of color, and people with disabilities, LGBT+ communities, and all people regardless of immigration status during times of disasters, health care crisis, and other emergencies
- Continue to train and dispatch community care workers, mental health crisis response teams, and de-escalation first responders in routine patrols, 911 calls, and emergency situations, and invest in non-police forms of emergency response (i.e.
CAHOOTS)
- Make all efforts to avoid the incarceration of offenders and to prevent the detainment of immigrants who pose no threat to the community through expanded citations and need-based diversionary programs.
- Create city level IDs for all residents regardless of documentation status
- Ban No-Knock raids and Knock & Announce raids
- Eliminate juvenile curfews which criminalize the movement of our youth
Cities for Working People
We know that our cities thrive when working people thrive, but this is not the case when inequality is at an all time high. Our coalition shares a vision where all residents have the opportunity to earn a living wage at a meaningful career within our cities. These are some simple choices we can make to improve working conditions and create a community that works for us all:
- Support the right for all city employees and public workers to organize and join unions
- Expand accessible workforce development programs like paid apprenticeships, OSHA safety training, tech and literacy courses, and vocational recertification to ensure all residents have the opportunity to earn a living wage at a meaningful career within our city.
- Prioritize contractors and vendors who have a unionized workforce for public projects and require exemplary working conditions from corporations receiving public incentives and contracts from the city
- Provide investment and financial assistance to small businesses and worker-owned cooperatives through public procurement incentives and revolving loan funds
- Create city-wide relief funds for direct assistance to undocumented individuals and families, left out of stimulus bills, federal and state-wide relief programs
- Create working schedules for people and families - mandate 2-weeks in advance scheduling and restrict “clopening” shifts (when night and morning shifts are scheduled consecutively)
- Create public banks to invest in unbanked and underbanked communities to service individuals outside the private sector’s scope.
A Clean, Livable Future
We deserve to live in cities that allow us to move, play, work, and live alongside our planet. We have an obligation to ensure our cities are sustainable for all. We need brave, bold change in order to combat the growing ecological and climate crises. Here’s our plan to ensure a clean and livable future for our DFW metroplex:
- Expand public transit services to be reliable, accessible, free, and net-zero emissions
- Implement policies to equitably make commercial and residential buildings net-zero emissions as soon as possible.
- Update zoning plans and decision making processes to prioritize walkability within the city, increase accessibility for people with disabilities, and protect residents from environmental hazards
- Invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency to provide DFW residents with clean, affordable, and reliable electricity.
- Create food donation partnerships and municipal compost services to eliminate hunger and food waste
- Complete comprehensive cleanups and restoration of any areas affected by environmental hazards, such as Dallas’ Lane Plating, Shingle Mountain, brownfields, and Echo Heights in Fort Worth, etc.
Government of the People
Our government should serve the people and make decisions that improve the lives of all, not just the few. This means committing to transparency, accessibility, and ensuring that the people of the city are included every step of the way:
- Communicate with constituents honestly, openly, and in a timely manner
- Commit to providing virtual and full accessibility to public resources, events, and city council meetings including language interpretation and sign language
- Prohibit contractors who have violated local, state, or federal laws from receiving or holding city contracts
- Promise to make decisions based on the needs of constituents and not be influenced by donors or special interests, such as police unions, real estate developers, or fossil fuel companies
- Actively co-govern with constituents by ensuring community groups, particularly for marginalized groups such as people of color and people with disability, are represented on boards, commissions, oversight committees and advisory boards that are part of the decision-making and implementation process for initiatives
- Ensure fair elections by increasing polling locations, expanding absentee ballot drop off options, and ensuring all instructions are accessible to every eligible voters
