Interview: Matthew Hudson, Fort Worth City Council candidate

by Steve Smith of West and Clear

Matthew Hudson is one of a wide field of hopefuls vying to fill the vacant District 3 City Council seat in Southwest Fort Worth. Hudson is a past president of the Fort Worth League of Neighborhoods and boils down his campaign message to these three elements: retain the character and quality of life in our neighborhoods, restore the character and quality of life in our neighborhoods that have been neglected or forgotten, and revive a spirit of service and volunteerism in our city. Below are the answers he submitted to the questionnaire sent by West and Clear last week.

West and Clear: What is your position on urban gas drilling? Do you believe the current ordinance offers enough protections? Do you believe that injection wells can be safely operated in the city? If not, do you have a position on disposal of wastewater from the fracking process?

Hudson: First, let me say this. I have not and will not sign a lease for the minerals under my property until the issues below have been addressed. I have been in 3 documentaries including ones on NBC and PBS expressing this very same sentiment. I have been working on the issue since 2003.

Here is a list of some of the issues that need to be addressed and/or evaluated:

This is a long list, but as you know I will work to install two new programs.

i) Make the Gas Drilling Task Force a standing committee.

ii) Appoint a Gas Czar (funded by the city’s gas drilling revenue.) This person will be available for questions, comments and advice to direct neighborhoods on these issues. I originally proposed this idea to the Mayor in 2007. He agreed we needed a resource, but wanted the energy companies to pay for it. So what did we get? The Barnett Shale Energy Education Council. While a quality resource for information, the Education Council serves more as a propaganda tool for the energy companies than a support group for neighborhoods. This was not my intention when I approached the Mayor years ago.

By the way, why is so much being spent to convince us that urban drilling is good for us? Between billboards and magazines and radio commercials, hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent on this campaign. I have never understood why someone needs to spend money to “convince” me something is good for me. Next time you get the chance; ask what percentage of the gas stays in Fort Worth? And why they only showcase people who are getting rich off the mineral rights when the average person in Fort Worth receives a royalty check of about $32 a month?

Currently there is a bill in the Texas House, HB4654, which would require the Texas Railroad Commission to create standards for drilling within the State. This bill would supplant our city’s right to enforce our ordinance as it stands now. Plus, with only our area dealing with urban drilling and the vast majority of the state dealing with rural drilling, the chances that we would get quality text from the RRC is none and less than that.

I will never deny residents the opportunity to better themselves through the leasing of their mineral rights. But the safety and well-being of our neighborhoods and our children are my first priority.

West and Clear: What is your position on tax incentives and special tax districts being used to entice businesses to relocate and/or expand in Fort Worth? In a few cases, these incentives have gone to businesses (Cabela’s for example) which can more than afford to operate without them, thus costing the City much needed tax revenue. Will you continue this practice?

Hudson: First, I am in favor of these types of actions. Having been either working or consulting with retail businesses for over 26 years, I can assure you Cabela’s would NOT have come to Fort Worth without the package. We were in competition for the store. Although these large companies could afford to build without help, they will not. Would you if you could avoid it? The store could and should serve as the catalyst for other development in that area. So, while I understand viewing this instance on its own merit, we cannot forget the broader vision impact.

But, let me also say that we need to install better practices around abatements and TIFs in our city. First, we need to make all programs incentive based. If the developer does not meet certain requirements within the appropriate timeline, then we remove the abatement. Second, the programs need to be tied to the developer and not to the property. If the developer fails to live up to their end of the deal, currently, the abatement advantages pass along to the next owner. What assurances do we have that the new owner will fulfill the original commitment that precluded the awarding of the abatement in the first place.

As I travel our District, job creation is an important topic to our neighbors. TIFs and abatements that lure people to our city are the best tool we have for job creation. We also have a tool of Economic Development grants. With these tools, like the ones being considered for Q-Edge Corporation, you do have incentive clauses and requirements such as 50% of all employees at the site be from Fort worth and 20% from Fort Worth central area. We need all agreements to have this kind of teeth to them.

West and Clear: What is your position on the development of commuter and light rail in Fort Worth?

Hudson: I am for the test of commuter rail in our city. The most important piece of the economic puzzle is the stability of a home. When home ownership goes up, so does the strength of our economy. When home ownership goes down (as we are seeing with the recent foreclosure rate) then the economy goes down and in our current case, slips into a recession. We need to make housing stability priority in out city. One way to impact this is through public transit like light rail. On the Quality Affordable Housing Task Force for the city of Fort Worth (which I serve on) we make one of the requirements to receive aid or funds from the Trust Fund easy access to public transportation. In today’s economy, it is difficult to own a car and a home. We need a system that allows people to function and make a living without having to own a car.

Following the North Texas Council of Governments for several years now I have been monitoring the Mobility 2030 plan. This plan predicts the transportation infrastructure we will need for the year 2030. It has a core element of light rail. The concern on light rail is two-fold. 1. Will people use it? 2. How will we pay for it? Let me deal with each of these.

1. Will people use it? The design of the SW2NE Rail corridor right now is along a route that is planned for future development. If follows a line that connects the southwest part of the city all the way to DFW airport. Along the corridor in Fort Worth, there is plans to develop housing and Urban Centers as a plan to reduce urban sprawl within our city. If we follow this plan, the people that will move into these spaces are people who will do so with the driving reason of access to the light rail system. It is not “if we build it they will come” but the TRE has been a big success. Light rail is quieter than buses, more energy efficient and the trains can be a Wi-Fi hot spot for all riders.

2. How will we pay for it? First, there are federal and state funds for projects like this. But I would like to explore the privatization of this idea. All over the country, we are getting billion dollar toll roads built by private companies who manage and operate the roads once built. There is little upfront money from the city or county to build these roads. I would like to explore the same principle for light rail. Partner with a company who will front the money to build it and regain their investment through ridership.

The last two comments I would like to say on this is that 1. we need to experiment. Let’s start with the SW2NE rail system (go to www.sw2ne.com) first before we do any other rail in our city. The current study being done on rail connecting downtown to the museum district and the stockyards is more about tourists than it is residents. I am not a fan of this type of rail – only the light rail designed for mobility of neighborhoods. 2. We need to improve our air quality. Currently Fort Worth is on the federal government watch list for our air quality. Our rapid, unchecked development where we allow the clear-cutting of our trees and the installation of miles of impervious surfaces combined with the lack of a public transit system that reduces the number of gasoline powered vehicles on the road has put us in this position. My responsibility is to leave the city in better shape than when I arrived in office. I owe it our next generation.

West and Clear: What do you believe is the most important city issue that you want to address if elected?

Hudson: Fiscal Responsibility. We have been going through a tough time financially as a city. Each quarter brings about new reports of missing funds or faulty accounting practices. While I feel we are moving in a positive direction on this issue, we have a long way to go. We need to instill better processes to ensure that we do have these problems in the future. We need to create a fiscal process equivalent to the finest corporations in the country. We need a sunset process for our budgets. We need to incentivize our staff to look for efficiencies and reduce spending. Too often departments follow the practice of “spend the money or you will not get it next year” behavior. Instead, we need a culture that rewards people for not spending money.

We have projected a $50M dollar shortfall in the budget. Now, in a $1B budget, that is only .5% - so not as scary as the media would have you believe. That is not to say it is not important, but with a % shortfall in this level, it is not wholesale changes that need to be made to get there. However, to keep this from happening in the future, we need a culture change within our city government. I have a 4 Part Strategy to change the culture of city government which ultimately will lead to improved fiscal responsibility.

1. Create a Jr. City Council. This advisory board is made up of the next generation of leaders in our city.

2. Term Limits (6 years) for Mayor and City Council.

3. Raise the stipend for serving as city council representative to allow a person to devote themselves solely to this job, without working full time. This allows representatives to stay focused, to make decisions outside of the vacuum. This change would also encourage quality, servant-minded people to hold these positions. The current system rewards the rich and elite.

4. Create a Sr. City Council. This is the advisory board to the current council. So as representatives term out of their offices, they can transition to this position, which requires much less time, but ensures that we have a legacy of our policies.

West and Clear: Why should people vote for you?

Hudson: For the last 9 years, I have spent countless hours serving and engaging in neighborhood issues, working for all issues impacting our quality of life from founding NAs to serving as President of the Fort Worth League of Neighborhoods, the umbrella organization for all NAs with the city to working on various task forces and committees appointed by the mayor to serving as a COP in my neighborhood.

Professionally, I have been a Director, a Vice President, and even a COO of multiple companies. The largest division I ran did $750M annually and had 3,000 employees. As a consultant, I have sat in the offices of Fortune 50 (yes, fifty) CEOs and personally advised them on organizational effectiveness and corporate culture.

This unique combination of practical, real-world experience and years of working with the city and council on neighborhood issues makes me the best choice for this position. I can bring my professional experience to the city to help with efficiencies in the organization (which could help reduce our budget) and improve service levels within our city departments.

I also bring an additional, very important item to this position - a knowledge, passion, and understanding heart for neighborhoods. Too many times I stood in the council chambers and spoke out on issues like...

...only to be drowned out by the voice of commercial, corporate, or developers. I will NOT let this happen. All that to demonstrate that I understand these issues and have led the charge on behalf of neighborhoods.

Lastly, I have the time. In the last 5 years alone, I have been in more than 300 neighborhood meetings dealing with the issues listed above and more. I have been at more council, precouncil and transportation infrastructure committee meetings than all the other candidates combined. I am my own boss. I am a partner in a business consulting firm and set my own schedule. I answer to no boss or employer. I have no conflicts of interests or competing interests when it comes to serving neighborhoods. While the other candidates have worked on some issues and been to some of the meetings, I bring more of this experience to the table than anyone. I can hit the ground running.