April 20, 2025 – Volume 8 Number 16

 

HIGHLIGHTS:

* Candidate Forum on Monday. Early voting starts on Tuesday.

* The city council did approve the 380-agreement with MM Hospitality and will further consider possibilities on donation transparency.

* Bark in the Park is on Saturday.

 

SCHEDULE:

Sunday, April 20: Easter.

Monday, April 21: Candidate Forum, Kennedale High School Media Center, 901 Wildcat Way, 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, April 22: Start of Early Voting for Municipal and School Board Elections.

Tuesday, April 22: Economic Development Corporation (EDC) Board meeting, 6:00 p.m.

Thursday, April 24: P&Z meeting, 6:00 p.m.

Saturday, April 26: Bark in the Park, 9:00 a.m.-noon.

Tuesday, April 29: End of Early Voting for Municipal and School Board Elections.

Saturday, May 3: Municipal and School Board Elections, 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Sunday, May 11: Mother’s Day.

…..

Senior Tax Freeze

http://arlspectator.mysite.com/blank_10.html

 

Kennedale Observer website:

http://arlspectator.mysite.com/index_3.html

 

Latest Kennedale Observer newsletter:

http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_44.html

 

Kennedale Observer city council grades:

http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_26.html

 

City Council Comparison (May2021-May2023 vs. May2019-May2021):

http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_77.html

 

KNOW WHAT YOUR CITY IS UP TO...

Your City Council

The city council met for their regular monthly meeting this past Tuesday, April 15. Their agenda included public comment, presentations, regular session reports, consent agenda, individual consideration items, and an executive session. NOT on the agenda was a public hearing regarding the planned development for the old drag strip. The agenda can be found at: https://kennedaletx.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3565/files/agenda/10049 . The full packet can be found at: https://kennedaletx.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3565/files/agenda/10053 . The meeting may be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJDnE75WQHc .

(4:02) Start of meeting. They bounced around on the agenda. There were six presentations.

(6:10) 3. Proclamation for April 2025.

(9:23) 1. Recognition of the Kennedale Wildcats State Championship Basketball team.

(25:05) 2. An award for KKB.

(27:00) 4. Proclamation for May 2025.

(31:00) There were two speakers during public comment. The first was a former council person calling for a council-initiated investigation [Commentary: The city council already approved an investigation when he was on the council at the December 2023 meeting and received that report in January 2024. Considering the lack of truth concerning the Senior Tax Freeze, any report should probably be placed in the fiction section at the library.] The second speaker was calling for the mayor to step down.

(37:25) 5. Kennedale Public Works Annual Report (presentation). It was opened to council comments/questions about 49:56.

(53:35) 6. Kennedale EDC Annual Report (presentation).

(1:07:18) Regular session reports. At 1:17:56 they presented the financial reports. The financial reports start on .pdf page 60 of the packet link given above.

(1:34:24) There were three consent agenda items (March 18 minutes (minutes), interlocal agreement with Fort Worth Transportation for Section 5310 administrative costs ( ILA , ridership ), amended March 7and March 8 minutes (minutes)). Nothing was pulled or discussed. It was approved, 5-0.

There are four items for individual consideration.

(1:35:09) 2. Action item – approve a budget amendment (staff report). About 1:39:22 they opened it up to the council for comments/questions. The IT budget amendment was first. At about 2:00:20 they presented the public works amendment. About 2:04:11 they discussed the fire department. About 2:06:05 they presented the amendment for water impact fees to Fort Worth. It was approved, 5-0.

(2:17:44) 1. Action item – approve the independent auditor's Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for FY2024 (the presentation begins on .pdf page 95 of the packet link mentioned far above). It was opened to council comments/questions at 2:25:00. It was approved, 5-0.

(2:27:50) 3. Action item – approve a policy regarding donations and public funds (staff report). There were two former council members who spoke in favor of this item. The council tasked the city manager to work with the city attorney to come up with a proposal.

(3:23:44) 4. Action item - 380-Agreement with MM Hospitality (agreement draft). There was one speaker in opposition. Basically, for a $3 million improvement the corporation will pretty much make only a quarter of that back with waived permit fees, five years of 25% property tax abatement, and seven years of hotel occupancy tax rebated (the last two years at 50% instead of 100%). During the discussion some of the numbers between Mr. Glover and Mr. Hull did not agree [The hotel tax of 7% = $102,000 annually based on assumptions by Mr. Glover, and Mr. Hull was using $80,000 on the sales tax of just room sales. The 2% the EDC and city gets would be just under $30,000.] They approved, 5-0.

(3:49:30) Executive session. They did not vote on anything from executive session.

 

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Senior Tax Freeze

Back in June of 2023 the city council approved a senior tax freeze. The three-page ordinance can be found at: https://kennedaletx.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3288/files/attachment/11739 . This would be applicable for the city portion of property taxes where properties have a homestead, and the owner is 65 or older. The KISD, the county, and Tarrant County College also have senior tax freezes.

Apparently, this did not happen for City of Kennedale residents. So, what happened or did not happen? The city manager [poorly] addressed the issue at the November 2024 council meeting. [The “official” stance of the city manager and city attorney and backed by the three incumbents running in this year's election, is that the tax freeze is happening, as planned.]

The city administration has done a MAJOR INJUSTICE to Kennedale seniors by a) writing an ordinance incorrectly and/or b) failing to explain how the ordinance was to start back in June 2023. For example, Fate, Texas, in Rockwall County, implemented a senior tax freeze (with the ordinance written correctly) in August 2023, two months after Kennedale, and their seniors saw a freeze on their October 2024 statements. The major difference between the two ordinances is the Kennedale ordinance states effective January 1, 2024, while the Fate ordinance states effective immediately.

The November 2024 city council meeting can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFR_rKkFyg8&t=3116s . The discussion of the item begins at about 47:36.

Some quotes:

48:16 Mr. Hull: “Currently, the ordinance is written where it takes effect in 2024.” [Meaning IF the city attorney wrote the ordinance correctly it would have helped seniors with their October 2024 statements, but since he didn't, it won't.]

48:46 Mr. Hull: “The ordinance does not read for 2023 that was not even the intent...” [Not true. He wants you to go back to the June 2023 city council meeting but let us instead go back to the April 2023 Work Session on the subject. (See timeline below for April's council meeting information.) Mr. Hull states, “So ultimately, the tax [freeze] would not affect us until the 2025.” [2025 IS THE OCTOBER 2024 TAX STATEMENTS. These are the statements that DID see an increase, but back in April 2023, based on the city manager's own words, the tax freeze should have affected.]

49:15 Mr. Hull: “Even then [June 2023] it was indicated and confirmed the tax freeze takes place in 2024.” [Here's the problem. In basic English the expectations of “2024” meant the October 2024 Statements. There is no prerequisite for council members to be a lawyer, or in this case, a specialized tax lawyer. The expectation is the city attorney and/or the city manager would explain to the council members any fine points of the law that would make a difference on any subject. At NO point in April 2023 or June 2023, was anything stated to council members of the significance of a January 1, 2024 start date.]

49:36 Mr. Hull: “So with everything that is being said with reference to when we filed it, when we didn't file it, if we did, if we didn't is minute.” [NOT TRUE. If it had been filed in a timely fashion TAD could have pointed out the required changes to make it match Mr. Hull's April 2023 statement. When TAD did finally get it in November 2024, they made suggested changes on another part of the ordinance that needed modification. The city DID modify that other part of the ordinance and passed the modification a month later at the December 2024 meeting.]

50:05 Mr. Hull: “We have looked at the possibility, even as someone made a comment, about doing a reimbursement. Unfortunately, we cannot do that on the legal side. So even if the intent was to be in 2023, we can't do that by law.” [It is true the law does not allow a reimbursement for this reason. However, since they even looked into it, it pretty much tells you the intent was 2023, even though their official stance is significantly different.]

51:19 City Attorney: “If I could Mayor, just add one thing, it's not just the ordinance, Mr. City Manager, it's state law that governs. So, 2024 would have been the earliest the council could have done it anyway under state law. And it is state law that governs in this instance. So the ordinance adopted by the council was the earliest the freeze could be adopted.” [2024 is the earliest the current poorly written ordinance could be adopted, however, like Fate, Texas, in the State of Texas, where their ordinance was written two months later than Kennedale's ordinance, they were able to write an ordinance that said effective immediately (instead of January 1, 2024) and their seniors got their benefit on their October 2024 statements.]

Timeline.

April 2023 the city council discusses the item as a work session item. [That meeting may be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndf8BqnPjBw . The discussion on this item starts about 1:40:27. ]

1:44:59 Mr. Hull: “So ultimately, the tax [freeze] would not affect us until the 2025.” [2025 IS THE OCTOBER 2024 TAX STATEMENTS. These are the statements that DID see an increase, but back in April 2023, based on the city manager's own words, the tax freeze should have affected.]

minutes: https://kennedaletx.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3017/files/agenda/8873

staff report: https://kennedaletx.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3017/files/report/11354

June 2023 the city council approves the ordinance, 5-0. The June 20, 2023, meeting can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTm2LdTa_YI&t=303s . The discussion on this item starts about 2:43:35. At no point did anyone mention a delay in the implementation or that the effective January 1, 2024 meant there would be a delay in the implementation from the expectations of the April meeting. There were no statements/comments about this being different than the April 2023 meeting.

2:44:11 Finance Director Horton “[The tax freeze] does seem consistent with neighboring communities, having a tax freeze for senior citizens. Budget impact is minimal. I don't necessarily see a downside from a financial perspective. We will need to make up a little bit of funding, but from a personal standpoint, not a financial standpoint, I do feel the little bit of hardship we might have to face as a city versus the goodwill it will bring for the senior citizens, the correct would be to go with the freeze.”. [Yet the people that CLAIM to have “understood” the implementation delay, caring so little about the seniors, said or asked nothing regarding making a change to aid the seniors sooner. In my opinion, that certainly implies they DO NOT CARE about the seniors.]

2:45:05 Council Member Horton: “Is it my understanding that this won't take effect until 2024?”

2:45:11 Mayor Joplin: “January 1.” [then a comment by Mr. Nevarez]

2:45:42 Mayor Joplin: “And it does say on the last page that the ordinance will be in full force effective January 1, 2024.” [If you are one of the people, as the CLAIM is, who knows this is only loading the cap data, would this not have been a good time to speak up and explain the difference between “full force” and what the claim the law is? [and they claim the ordinance was clearly written...]]

minutes: https://kennedaletx.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3019/files/agenda/9175

staff report (with NO mention of January 1, 2024 significance; NO mention of timeline being any different than discussed in April): https://kennedaletx.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3019/files/report/11786

Questions

1. So why did the status change from April 2023 and the city manager stated it would affect 2025 to the implementation being delayed? Why was nothing stated about this change before the vote at the June 2023 meeting informing the council (and the public) of the change?

2. Why did the city administration not produce an ordinance to match what was discussed at the April 2023 meeting, and did not tell them they were voting on something different?

3. Why was the effective date of January 1, 2024 used instead of “effective immediately”?

4. Why was the importance of the January 1 date not explained?

5. At the June meeting, after the finance director spoke about the minimal impact, why did not one of the people who “understood” the delayed implementation not ask or comment to implement earlier to help the seniors? Are these people so uncaring about Kennedale seniors?

6. At the June meeting, after the use of “full force” where the majority of the city council and the public thought what they were getting was as it was stated by the city manager in April 2023, why did not one of these who “understood” the delayed implementation not clearly point out that 2024 was only going to be a cap loading year?

7. What is so important and being concealed, that people appear to be willing to fall on this sword for it?

 

May 3 Municipal Election

Early voting will begin this Tuesday, April 22, ending Tuesday, April 29. Election Day is Saturday, May 3. Kennedale's voting location will be held at Dover Fellowship Hall at 208 Municipal Drive, instead of the Community Room at the Kennedale Public Library.

Ballot order:

Place 1 – Bobby Goff, Glover (i).

Place 3 – Ryon Ray, Amanda Hollins, Michels (i).

Place 5 – Nevarez (i), James Connor, Megan Burns (write-in).

 

# # # # # # # # # # # #

 

I have given the candidates the opportunity to address the six top issues as I see them. Yet, many times I am asked for whom I would vote. So, if you do not wish to know, fine, just skip.

First, let's talk about TGAA (Texas Government Accountability Association). To the best of my knowledge TGAA has given no money to any candidates, this year or last year. Some candidates did hire a political consultant firm, run by someone with ties to TGAA, that evidently has had Texas Ethics violations in the past. So, there was money flowing that way, from candidates to the political consultant, but not in the other direction. To the best of my knowledge the candidates being tied to TGAA have received no money from TGAA and NO PAC (Political Action Committee) money. [So, what is the belief? TGAA owns their vote because they didn't pay the candidates, and the candidates paid a consultant? You have a better chance of convincing me of the tooth fairy, or that the administration is implementing the senior tax freeze as planned.]

Running as a group works when voters do not recognize their choices and now, if they vote for one candidate they do know, they might vote for all three candidates. Running as a group can backfire if one member of the group has negative issues, or as in this case they get tied, correctly or incorrectly, to a negative item/issue. This certainly appears to be the strategy in this election.

On the other hand, one of the individuals pushing the anti-TGAA agenda, Bryant Griffith, did receive Arlington PAC money last year, from the power brokers in Arlington. His business (so it will NOT show up on any campaign reports) received an interest-free loan from the City of Arlington. [I do NOT know what influence, if any, the power brokers had on that.] He would be more of a concern to me than the candidates who are being tied to TGAA.

History has taught us to follow the money.

How to vote? The biggest one thing I would say is to select candidates that are NOT rubber-stampers. If something does not pass the smell test you need someone who is smart enough and has enough courage to ask more questions and possibly vote NO. You need to look for council members who will listen to you, your neighbors, and the businesses and place a priority on you over developers' desires.

If you look on the city's website (bottom of this page: https://cityofkennedale.com/108/Elections-Elecciones, they try to display the governance model as citizens being on top, electing a city council, who directs the city manager, etc. Well, if the situation has a majority of the city council who are rubber-stampers, the citizens are no longer in control.

Based upon the scoring, based on my opinion, the three highest scorers were James Connor, Megan Burns, and Amanda Hollins. If they were running for three different places that would make life really easy, but, of course, they are not. More detailed information can be found on the website at: http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_51.html .

 

Place 1: My choice is Bobby Goff

Bobby Goff

( http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_79.html )

Mr. Goff is a political newcomer. He scored higher on not being a rubber-stamper.

Glover (i)

( http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_47.html )

Mr. Glover, the incumbent, has a current Kennedale Observer grade of “D”. He scored a majority of his points on the Crestview Townhomes vote in February 2024, relatively early in his council career. If that vote was held today, I am not convinced he would vote the same.

 

Place 3: My choice is Amanda Hollins

Ryon Ray

( http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_50.html )

Mr. Ray is a political newcomer. He did not answer several of the questions. Past votes tell us how a person might vote on similar items in the future and therefore, are legitimate questions.

Amanda Hollins

( http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_21.html )

Ms. Hollins is a political newcomer. She scored very highly in the scoring system and potentially will make an excellent council person.

Michels (i)

( http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_80.html )

Mr. Michels, the incumbent, has a current Kennedale Observer grade of “C”. As a former employee, he has a lot of “Kennedale” knowledge. He voted in opposition to a rubber-stamp in November 2023 on the nuisance ordinance update.

 

Place 5: My choice is James Connor

Nevarez (i)

( http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_78.html )

Mr. Nevarez, the incumbent, has a current Kennedale Observer grade of “F”. He is a rubber-stamper.

James Connor

( http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_57.html )

Mr. Connor was on the city council from 2021-2023. During that time, he earned a Kennedale Observer grade of “A”. His opinions on the issues very much align with ours.

Megan Burns (write-in)

( http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_46.html )

Ms. Burns is a political newcomer. She scored very highly in the scoring system and though I did not select her, she potentially will make an excellent council person.

 

Last Week

Last week the city council met on Tuesday.

 

This Week

This week the EDC will meet on Tuesday and P&Z will meet on Thursday.

 

 

Public Hearings

On Thursday, April 24, P&Z will hold a public hearing on PZ25-05 for a conditional use permit for a battery energy storage system at 509 S. New Hope Road.

 

# # # # # # # # # # # #

 

EDC

The next EDC (Economic Development Corporation) Board meeting will be on Tuesday, April 22. The full agenda packet can be found at: https://kennedaletx.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3588/files/agenda/10067 .

The agenda includes the financial statements (statements), no minutes, and two individual consideration items. The first individual consideration item is the CP2 Consultant update (update , restaurant fit scores). The second item is to discuss and take action on internal design services for the Kennedale YMCA (proposal).

 

P&Z

P&Z will meet on Thursday, April 24. The agenda should be posted on Monday.

 

# # # # # # # # # # # #

 

Other News....

Candidate Forum

There is to be a candidate forum on Monday, April 21 at the Kennedale High School Media Center. The event is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m.

 

Fire Department has Moved

The fire department has moved to their temporary location while their fire station is being rebuilt. They are now at 705A E. Kennedale Parkway.

 

TAD Rates

Tarrant Appraisal District has published the tax rates (October 2024) for the county. Kennedale is now the fifth highest municipality. [https://www.tad.org/content/rates/2024TaxRates.pdf ].

Top ten of 41 (everyone else is < 0.65)

1. Everman 1.0260800

2. Sansom Park 0.7796050

3. Forest Hill 0.7240940

4. Blue Mound 0.7220330

5. Kennedale 0.7061900

6. White Settlement 0.6798160

7. River Oaks 0.6758270

8. Fort Worth 0.6725000

9. Burleson 0.6627000

10. Grand Prairie 0.6600000

 

TAD Postcards

TAD has mailed postcards about values not changing for properties that did not change. The Matthew Sgroi of the Fort Worth Report article: https://fortworthreport.org/2025/04/15/tarrant-appraisal-district-mails-2025-property-notices-even-to-homeowners-with-frozen-values/ . [Commentary: He also makes reference to bills potentially changing some of the good accomplished by TAD changes. Taxing entities have abused Tarrant County taxpayers for years, so TAD doing something about it was a good thing. Then comes all the whining about several school districts potentially losing money. Fix the school district problem by fixing the school funding portion of state law that is causing them the issue, not changing the accomplishments of the TAD board for doing what was right. Unfortunately, Chris Turner and Charlie Geren love taxing and the taxing entities and do not care about the citizens they represent...]

 

HELPFUL WEBSITES and CONTACTS

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Senior Tax Freeze Missing

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Kennedale Observer: KennedaleObserver@yahoo.com

 

The Kennedale Observer can be found on Facebook as KennedaleObserver.

 

Kennedale Observer website:

http://arlspectator.mysite.com/index_3.html

 

Latest Kennedale Observer newsletter:

http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_44.html

 

City Council Grades:

http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_26.html

 

Old Texas Raceway property project:

http://www.arlspectator.mysite.com/whats_new.html

 

City Council Comparison (May 2021-May 2023 vs. May 2019-May 2021):

http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_77.html

The City of Kennedale website: www.cityofkennedale.com

 

Mayor and City Council Emails:

Mayor – Brad Horton BHorton@cityofkennedale.com

Place-1 David Glover DGlover@cityofkennedale.com

Place-2 Thelma Kobeck TKobeck@cityofkennedale.com

Place-3 Kenneth Michels KMichels@cityofkennedale.com

Place-4 Chris Gary CGary1@cityofkennedale.com

Place-5 Jeff Nevarez JNevarez@cityofkennedale.com

 

Recordings of City Council meetings can be viewed at:

[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4a2pjrnxZ5XrbsXcoLOP4Q?view_as=subscriber].

 

To apply for appointed positions:

https://www.cityofkennedale.com/boardapp

 

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