After a string of controversial event reservations earlier this year, Fort Worth leaders have rolled out a new policy regulating the types of events residents and private organizations may host at city-owned facilities. 

The new policy overturns the city’s previous ban on discriminatory events held on city property. Moving forward, the city “may not adopt regulations pertaining to a speaker’s viewpoint or the content of the event,” Assistant City Manager Jesica McEachern wrote in a Sept. 23 email to City Council members obtained by the Report. 

The city has classified community center and library meeting rooms as “designated public forums,” barring them from content-based restrictions, according to the email. With the new designation, regulations on renting the spaces will be limited to an event’s time, place and manner. 

McEachern, who oversees the park and recreation department, said the city ultimately decided that “supporting the First Amendment rights of everyone” was the right way to handle the situation. 

“We believe, as a city, it is important that we provide the same rights to all residents,” McEachern told the Report. “While it may be difficult for some employees who have certain beliefs, to see a group using a facility, we have to remember that we are here to serve all of our residents, and that includes those that somebody may agree with their beliefs or may disagree with their beliefs.” 

Her email included a note from the city’s attorney’s office, which stated that the government can’t constrain free speech, and “hate speech is free speech.” 

A Sept. 23 statement posted to the city’s website did not detail changes to the facility rental policy, but said the review “reaffirms a commitment to free speech while preserving a welcoming environment.” City staff will begin accepting facility rental applications for use of community centers and libraries Oct. 1 after pausing the process this summer, according to the statement.

McEachern said there was no specific reason why the city posted the brief statement without explicitly stating the policy changes, but she feels like the posted statement addresses resident concerns, like when the rental application will reopen. 

In a written statement to the Report, Mayor Mattie Parker said she is a “staunch supporter” of the First Amendment who believes it’s “always best to err on the side of constitutional rights.” 

“The decision made by city management was driven by a commitment to uphold constitutional rights, and I support their decision,” Parker said. “The safety, security and welcoming nature of our community spaces are always paramount, and I have confidence that city management and the city attorney’s office have carefully balanced these priorities while respecting the First Amendment.”

The Report contacted all council members for their thoughts on the new policy. Council member Gyna Bivens declined to comment, saying she had not yet read the policy. 

Council member Chris Nettles said the update may give residents the impression that the city supports the controversial content some event holders promote. He wants them to know that approving event reservation applications does not equate to city leadership endorsing an event’s content, but he understands and shares their concerns. 

“I support the original policy,” Nettles said. “I think it’s important that we are not discriminatory, that we don’t allow programming in our facilities that would promote or disinclude individuals of our communities.” 

Council member Michael Crain described the updated policy as a “rededication to people’s First Amendment rights.”

“We live in a rule of law country, and I’m very respectful of the rule of law … the law has said this is what free speech looks like and what it is,” Crain said. “Just because I personally, or you personally, or someone else personally doesn’t agree with what that speech is, people still have a right to it — on both sides of whatever the issue might be. Once we start limiting what that is, it’s a very slippery slope.” 

Previously, Fort Worth’s community center policy and procedures manual specified that groups that practice or profess discrimination on the basis of sex and other identity markers aren’t allowed to book events at city-owned community centers.

The updated policy comes months after city leaders faced heightened scrutiny for approving event reservations from local conservative activist groups. Parker tasked staff with updating event reservation policies after backlash over an April event reservation on “The Dangers of Transgenderism” planned by Texas Latinos United for Conservative Action, or LUCA. Carlos Turcios, director of the organization, did not immediately return a request for comment. 

In July, the Tarrant County-based True Texas Project earned statewide headlines for hosting a conference at the city-owned Fort Worth Botanic Garden featuring sessions on “The War On White America,” “The Case For Christian Nationalism” and “Great Replacement Theory.” The group, formerly known as the Northeast Tarrant Tea Party, has appeared on a national list of extremist groups. 

Local activists criticized the city for approving the event reservation, saying the event promoted hate speech and posed safety concerns to Fort Worth residents. City officials have maintained that allowing the event, as well as others criticized by residents, was necessary to protect the right to free speech. 

Nettles said he understands concerns about free speech but believes the city should prioritize a welcoming environment for all — even if nondiscrimination clauses lead to legal issues. 

“It will probably cost us money to have to fight these cases if we start defending and not allowing certain programming to happen,” Nettles said. “But at the end of the day, are we willing to make our community feel safe and welcoming to everybody? I think that’s what it boils down to. So no matter how much money it costs, we can do it.”

McEachern said she does not foresee any instances that would lead the city to deny an event reservation application in the future. As long as applications comply with all the listed requirements on the form — which includes an agreement that event holders will note on their advertising materials that the city does not endorse their event — their application will be approved, she said. 

In an April 23 statement about the controversy over event bookings, Parker said “it is a slippery slope when government restricts free speech.” Activists and community members have called on Parker to take a stance on the events and denounce white supremacy. 

“It’s one of those situations where you do have to pick a side,” Amy Ramsey, chief operating officer for the national nonprofit Defense of Democracy and an organizer of the protest outside the botanic garden, previously told the Report. “One of them is the side of fascism, and one of them is the side of ‘We just want to exist in Fort Worth without fear.’”

Ramsey did not immediately return a request for comment. 

Aaron Rocha, media director for Texas Latinos United for Conservative Action, said his organization commends city leadership for its “clear-headed stance on this critical issue.” He added that people should have the freedom to express their views even if they might stir controversy. 

“You can not like speech all you want. I don’t like it when the left tries to call me a Nazi — I’m Hispanic,” Rocha said. “But you know what, if they want to call me a Nazi, that’s their right to call me a Nazi. They can say whatever the heck they want.” 

He said LUCA intends to begin renting city facilities for their events when the application reopens, especially heading into the November presidential election. Having access to those facilities again is “very helpful” to the organization, he said.

Under the new process for renting city facilities, staff will notify Fort Worth police if an event reservation application “​​indicates the potential for concern and/or includes alcohol,” according to McEachern’s email. Then, the police department will review the event information and monitor “online chatter.” 

Either a facility’s manager, the park and recreation department director or assistant director or McEachern herself will decide whether to escalate an event reservation application to the police department, McEachern told the Report. Police will make the final decision on whether an application merits concern or security. 

If warranted, the police department will determine how many off-duty police officers the event holder will be required to have on-site, and the event holder will be responsible for paying the cost to contract them. If the police department determines that on-duty officers are required outside of the facility as well, the city will cover that cost as part of normal operations, McEachern wrote. 

The police department deployed four off-duty officers inside the Fort Worth Botanic Garden as security for the True Texas Project’s July event. Fort Worth Police Lt. Paul Genualdo declined to give a count of on-duty officers on site at the event, but more than a dozen squad cars were visible inside the garden, and a handful of officers stood near demonstrators protesting outside the garden.

The new rental policy was implemented by city staff without heading to City Council for a vote. Council members received a briefing on the policy update in August. McEachern previously told the Report that the policy falls under staff’s purview. 

“The mayor and the council never weigh in to facility rentals,” McEachern said in July. “That’s really a management policy and a management decision, so they don’t ever actually even see the applications or any step in the process.” 

McEachern said the review process was led by the city manager’s office and the city attorney’s office in addition to staff from the park and recreation department and library services. The process involved evaluating previous policies, researching how other cities regulate facility rentals and understanding legal concerns with the First Amendment. 

During the review, staff evaluated the options of keeping the policy as it was, eliminating facility rentals altogether and the policy of loosening restrictions that they ultimately landed on. McEachern said staff never truly considered terminating facility rentals because that option was “not in the spirit of providing service and spaces to our residents.” The buildings exist to provide meeting space for people to use, she said. 

“We know that not everybody is going to be thrilled with the decision, and we understand that,” McEachern said. “I do think we’ve landed where the city should be for a city of nearly one million people in population.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include comments from Assistant City Manager Jesica McEachern and Aaron Rocha, media director for Texas Latinos United for Conservative Action. 

Government Accountability Reporter Emily Wolf contributed to this report. 

Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org or @bycecilialenzen. 

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