FORT WORTH (1080 KRLD)- Fort Worth's next city manager started the job Tuesday. Jay Chapa has worked for the city 25 years and replaces David Cooke, who is retiring.
"We're very proud of David Cooke's tenure in this city," says Mayor Mattie Parker. "He has seen us through tremendous growth and opportunity."
Cooke was the longest serving city manager in Fort Worth's history, starting the job in June 2014.
Chapa was sworn in Tuesday morning.
"I grew up in South Texas, and I've been to places all over the world," he says. "There are places I'd like to visit a little bit longer, but as far as moving, I don't see myself going anywhere."
Chapa says among issues the city will deal with in the short term are the selection of a new police chief. Neil Noakes plans to retire in May.
He says the city also needs to plan to roll MedStar employees into the Fort Worth Fire Department. Last year, the city council voted to stop contracting with an outside organization for emergency medical services and transition employees to the fire department.
"As we plan for next year's budget, we'll understand how we can do that without having major impacts to the rest of the organization or the tax rate," Chapa says.
Last year, Fort Worth passed Austin to become the fourth biggest city in Texas and now has a population of 989,878. Fort Worth is the fastest growing of the 30 biggest cities in the United States, growing by 6.5% from 2020 through 2023.
Chapa says the city benefits from population growth but must make a long-term plan to ensure the infrastructure can handle so many people.
"It's difficult, and it's not just Fort Worth dealing with that issue," he says. "We are going to have to, as much as possible, plan for [growth] but also ensure we don't overburden our citizens with taxes. It's a balance."
Chapa says Cooke maintained existing infrastructure instead of letting things fall into disrepair.
"That was a big push during the last ten years, and I will continue that," Chapa says. "It does no good to build a community center if two community centers need to be closed down the next year in other parts of the city because they weren't maintained."
During his first 100 days, Chapa says he also intends to meet with city staff to ensure "people are in the best place so we're successful overall."
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