This week we have a very special episode, talking just about transit. EJ Carrion is out this week, so Ann Zadeh & Wesley Kirk bring you the history of transit in Fort Worth, where we're currently at, what the future of transit could look like, and how you can advocate for better transit.

Much of the info for today's episode came from local historian Quentin McGown's History of Transit presentation for Tarrant Transit Alliance's Transit Academy, and is being used in the upcoming Transit Zine for Community Design Fort Worth.

Other info came from:

Streetcar operations once thrived in Fort Worth. And then buses and cars came along. by Carol Roark in Star-Telegram.

Who Killed the Streetcar? The State of Fort Worth's Public Transit by Brian Kendall in Fort Worth Magazine

Trolley Parks: Lake Como ("Most Beautiful Spot in Texas") by Mike Nichols in Hometown by Handlebar

ACTIONS

Join us at Community Design Fort Worth's monthly transit mixer every third Wednesday of the month from 4:30pm - 6:30pm at Acre Distilling.

For more transit info, follow:

@design.fortworth

@urbanfortworth

@walkablefortworth

@ridewithdata

@strong_towns

@jonjon.jpeg

This week, for our big story, we sit down with Hunter Griffin and Emeri Calloway from the Tarrant County Young Democrats to showcase how young people in Tarrant County make a difference when fighting for democracy. TCYD helped fight Tim O'Hare's attempt to eliminate college campus voting sites, Keller ISD's attempt to resegregate, and get a Fort Worth progressive elected. We listen to their origin story and how a band of small groups can make a difference while also building community. Enjoy! Watch on YouTube | Join the Discord | Attend an 817 Gather

The short stories for the week are below:

SHORT STORIES

Short Story #1: Big BullSh!T Bill's Impact on Texas

Short Story #2: Tarrant County Spends $250K of Your Tax Dollars to Protect Their Racial Gerrymander

Short Story #3: Tarrant County Adds Extremists to Their Historic Commission to Silence LGBTQ Recognition

WINS - LOSSES - ACTIONS

Wins: Sonidos Northside, New Southside Distillery,

Losses: Kerr County, Defense Capital, Cooper Apartments

Actions: Sonidos Northside September Event, A Strange Loop, Cooper Apartments Fund

The team is joined by Allison Campolo, who is running for chair of the Tarrant County Democratic Party. She ran for the Texas Senate in 2017 and served as the former county chair from 2021 to 2023. She shares why she wants to get back in the saddle and updated plans on how to turn the county blue! Watch on YouTube.

BIG STORY: An interview with Allison Campolo

- DFW native Kendall Scudder is the Texas Democratic Chair

- Democrats Allred, Castro, O’Rourke, Talarico meet to discuss 2026 options

- Texas Dems To DC: We’re Not You

- Become a precinct chair

SHORT STORY #1: Trump wants cities to remove DEI programs. How will Fort Worth respond?

- Watch City Hall

- Fort Worth weighs DEI programs vs. $277M in federal money. What will it do?

- Fort Worth council debates DEI programs, delays vote

SHORT STORY #2: Dan Patrick wants Bo French Gone

- Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick: Bo French should resign as Tarrant GOP chair over ‘bigotry’

- Nate Schatzline exits race for Texas Senate after new candidate announces her run

SHORT STORY #3: SINIFI Grades House Members Alliance to Christian Nationalism: What does it mean?

- Review the full grades

WINS

- Fort Worth lights City Hall in rainbow colors for LGBTQ Pride Month

- Pictures from Trinity Pride

LOSS

- Fires: Cooper | Hulen Mall | Metal Recycling Business

- Echo Heights

- Fort Worth Community Arts Center

ACTIONS

- Speak at the Commissioner Court. July 1st

- Sign up to be a precinct chair

Ann, EJ, and Wesley attended Bernie Sanders' Oligarchy Tour with some awesome 817 Gatherers. We give a full analysis of the event, but also what is to come! Watch on YouTube

Big Story: Bernie’s Fighting Oligarchy Tour at Dickies Arena

Short Story 1: Absences force cancellation of Tarrant County Commissioners Court meeting

Short Story 2: Fort Worth City Council weighs ending minority business incentive programs

Council to vote on suspending Fort Worth’s diversity and inclusion department

Short Story 3: Kelly Hancock, who represents Fort Worth, set to become next Texas comptroller

Wins:

Trinity Metro approves 10-year, $324M contract extension for TEXRail, TRE rail operations

High-speed rail study will highlight economic impact for Fort Worth, Arlington

Fort Worth dives into options to create more publicly accessible pools for residents

Could a Latino cultural museum open in Fort Worth? A study underway explores the possibility.

Hundreds of Texans walk for Opal Lee at her annual Fort Worth Juneteenth celebration

More than $10M awarded for street improvements in 3 Tarrant County cities

Losses:

Federal construction disputes push back Panther Island’s flood control project

Fort Worth is short $66.1M for street maintenance. What options could fill the gap?

Actions:

• Tuesday, July 1st at 10am, Tarrant County commissioners’ court meeting.
• Sign up to speak about the wasteful spending for the inevitable lawsuit over the racist gerrymandering map.
• Trinity Pride Festival June 28th

Ann, EJ, and Wesley walk into the studio with a smile on their faces and hope in their hearts, after attending the No Kings Rally in Fort Worth and a weekend of community events. The trio discusses what's next after Mayor Parker's Gay Pride Proclamation, as Juneteenth is this week and Bernie Sanders is coming to town.

BIG STORY: Protesters in downtown Fort Worth declare US has ‘No Kings’

• Turnout was great for Fort Worth. Easier 2-3 times more than last month.
• EJ’s speech
• March Dissent

Short Story 1: Fort Worth mayor declares ‘Y’all means all’ with recognition for LGBTQ Pride month

Short Story 2: Fort Worth LGBTQ historical marker abandoned after letter from Tarrant County judge

• White House Pushes Texas to Redistrict, Hoping to Blunt Democratic Gains

Short Story 3: Texas lawmakers allocate $10M to support National Juneteenth Museum development

• Inaugural festival aims to make Fort Worth epicenter of Juneteenth celebrations

WINS, LOSSES, AND ACTIONS:

Win

Wesley: SparkFest

EJ: Community

Ann: Momentum from city activism

Losses:

Wesley and EJ: Echo Heights silencing at city council

Actions

EJ: Speak at the city council on June 17th at 6 PM

Wesley: Vibefest Juneteenth Week Schedule

Ann: Sign up for Bernie Sanders

Ann, EJ, and Wesley provide a comprehensive post-analysis of the June 3rd commissioners court meeting, where Judge Tim O'Hare, Commissioner Manny Ramirez, and Commissioner Matt Krause voted 3-2 to accept Map 7. Why Map 7? Where did Map 7 come from? How does this impact Fort Worth? Watch this episode to get a deep dive.

BIG STORY: Tarrant County commissioners vote 3-2 to redistrict, adopting a racially gerrymandered map

• They selected Map 7
• Citizens Map
• Lawsuit in place
• FW Council Meeting
• Tony Tinderholt

SHORT STORY #1: Mia Hall won District 6: What does it mean for the council

• Mia Hall wins her race as the first majority female council member in FW history

SHORT STORY #2: Tarrant Democratic Party Chair Resigns

• Crystal Gayden resigns as chair
• Former chair announces candidacy

SHORT STORY #3: Transportation Wins During Hard Times

• New Blue Line
• TRE still exists
• Heartland Flyer ends
• High Speed Rail

WINS LOSSES ACTIONS

Ann's Win: LGBTQ PRIDE PROCLAMATION

Tuesday, June 10

6 PM CST
City Council Chambers
100 Fort Worth Trl, Fort Worth, TX 76102

EJ Win: NO KINGS RALLY

Saturday, June 14
12 – 2 pm CST

Burk Burnett Park
501 W 7th StFort Worth, TX 76102

Wesley's Win: MORE ARTS FUNDING

The Texas Commission on the Arts received a significant increase of $5.7 million in its budget, totaling about $39.8 million to help fund arts organizations throughout the state.

Actions:

• Pride Proclamation - June 10th at 6pm at New City Hall
• SparkFest June 13-22
• Rally No Kings
• Freedom Vibes: Juneteenth Celebration
• Get involved with the 817 Gather Community

Ann and EJ have the privilege to be joined on air with former Commissioner of Precinct Two, Devan Allen. She is the youngest commissioner in county history. She was also the first black female to lead as a commissioner in Tarrant County and the 3rd female in the county's 100-year history to hold such an office. She was part of the court when the county underwent the redistricting process in 2020, during which the 3-2 Republican majority court voted 4-1 to maintain the existing maps. She also possesses a deep knowledge of the county's history.

BIG STORY: A Conversation with Former County Commissioner Devan Allen

• News maps
• Mayors Letter on Thursday Against Redistricting
• New Mayors Letter For Redistricting
• 2 mayors backed out, standing against Tim O'Hare
• Judge O’Hare’s interview on TV interviews

SHORT STORY #1: Ann goes through a few state bills that impact Fort Worth

• People Veto
• The use of flock cameras
• Protecting Child Marriage
• Proposed ban on sister city relationship with China
• LGBTQ school club bans

SHORT STORY #2: Film Incentive and Breakdown with Producer Wesley on Is this good for local creatives.

• Economic incentive worth hundreds of millions of dollars
• Dan Patrick endorses the bill for his conservative Hollywood agenda

SHORT STORY #3: Stockyards Phase 2 Gets Bucked Off Its Saddle

WINS, LOSSES, AND ACTIONS

Ann's Win: Wellman Project finds funding post NEA grant elimination

Wesley's Win: Fort Worthians have rented more books this year than last year

EJ Win: Young activists and leaders

Collective Loss: Dealing with the ups and downs of activisim

Collective Action: Do something on June 3rd 👇🏿

Commissioners Court meeting on Tuesday, June 3rd at 10 AM, where the final vote will occur!

The deadline to sign up to speak is Monday, June 2nd, at 5 PM.

Sign up to speak on the Agenda Item: X.A.4 - Consideration of an Order to Establish New Precinct Boundaries for the Tarrant County Commissioners Court.

Sign up to give a public comment:

This is our first VIDEO episode! You can watch on YouTube! Subscribe, share with friends, and do not forget to add us on social media!

The format of this episode is a little different due to all the announcements and progress we have made over the last two weeks. So we start the show with a little introduction and a description of what listeners can expect. The meat of the episode is Judge Tim O'Hare's Racial Gerrymandering attempt by redistricting our precincts in the middle of a census period with NO NEW DATA!

The trio discusses its impact on Fort Worth and why our leadership is not doing more. They also ignited a conversation about what our city council can do now that Democrats have the majority of the seats. Enjoy the show!

SHORT STORY #1: Welcome to our first video show!

SHORT STORY #2: Welcome Wesley Kirk as 817 Producer

SHORT STORY #3: What to expect from the podcast

BIG STORY: Tarrant County Redistricting Efforts and How it Harms All of US

City Council adopts as a resolution in opposition to Tarrant County's redistricting.

Articles: https://fortworthreport.org/2025/05/20/fort-worth-council-narrowly-opposes-tarrant-county-redistricting-along-partisan-lines/ County Commissioners Court flooded with opposition.

https://fortworthreport.org/2025/05/20/residents-voice-their-support-concerns-over-tarrant-countys-contentious-redistricting-process/

The Grand Prairie city council unanimously encouraged the Tarrant County commissioners court to maintain the current precinct lines and reject the proposed lines.

Articles: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJ5sd15uMg0/?igsh=MTl0dzJ1eHEyOGZqMg%3D%3D

WINS, LOSSES, and ACTIONS

👎 LOSS: A tremendous loss is the Tarrant County racial gerrymandering process that they WILL get away with

👍 WIN: People are mobilizing, and we have an opportunity to dismantle the Fort Worth Way

📣 ACTIONS: Sign up for the June 3rd Commissioners Court where they will make the final vote!