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February 8, 2026 – Volume 9 Number 6

HIGHLIGHTS:

* This the last week for candidate filings (to be on the ballot). Three people have filed so far.

* EDC met this past Tuesday.

 

Filings:

Mayor – Brian Johnson

Place 4 – Melissa Barrow

Place 4 – Ryon Ray

 

SCHEDULE:

Monday, February 9: Filing for municipal councils and ISD boards continues.

Tuesday, February 10: KKB (Keep Kennedale Beautiful) meeting, 6:00 p.m.

Tuesday, February 10: Parks Board meeting, 6:30 p.m.

Friday, February 13: Filing for municipal councils and ISD boards [with name on the ballot] ends.

Saturday, February 14: Valentine’s Day.

Monday, February 16: President’s Day.

Tuesday, February 17: City Council meeting, 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday, February 17: Start of Early Voting for Primaries, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Wednesday, February 18: Ash Wednesday.

Tuesday, February 24: EDC Board meeting, 6:00 p.m.

Thursday, February 26: P&Z meeting, 6:00 p.m.

Friday, February 27: End of Early Voting for Primaries 7:00 a.m. = 7:00 p.m.

Tuesday, March 3: Primaries Voting Day, 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.

 

KNOW WHAT YOUR CITY IS UP TO...

Your City Council

The city council did not meet last week. They are scheduled to meet quickly on this Monday, February 9 (packet). The main action item for the evening is passing a resolution for a grant application (R643).

 

* * * * *

 

Leftovers:

The “Investigation” was listed on the executive session agenda for the October 21 meeting. Council Member Kobeck came out of executive session and made the motion to waive the attorney-client privilege and release the investigation report to the public. That motion was approved, 4-0. Unfortunately, I have not found it on the website. I had also made a public information request (PIR) for a copy and on Wednesday (November 5) I DID finally receive a copy.

We have taken the .pdf Investigation Report and converted to text (far from 100% perfect) and tried to make improvements at: http://www.arlspectator.mysite.com/blank_13.html .

 

Previous Analysis:

Results: The evidence does NOT confirm…

See the November 9, 2025, Kennedale Observer for more details.

 

Witch Hunt?

See the November 16, 2025, Kennedale Observer for more details.

 

Jeff Nevarez interview – Our Part I

See the November 16, 2025, Kennedale Observer for more details.

 

Jeff Nevarez interview – Our Part II

See the November 23, 2025, Kennedale Observer for more details.

 

Was the Investigation Hi-jacked by the city attorney and city manager?

See the November 30, 2025, Kennedale Observer for more details.

 

Pay to Play Scandal

See the December 7, 2025, Kennedale Observer for more details.


Wandell Investigation Files

See the December 14, 2025, Kennedale Observer for more details.

 

Lack of Accountability/Afraid to Speak

See the December 21, 2025, Kennedale Observer for more details.

 

Griffith vs. Hull – “The Threat”

See the January 4, 2026, Kennedale Observer for more details.

 

Chamber Vote

See the January 11, 2026, Kennedale Observer for more details.

 

Hiring Austin Degenhart

See the January 18, 2026, Kennedale Observer for more details.

 

City Manager has Favorites?

See the January 25, 2026, Kennedale Observer for more details.

 

Our Commentary

See the February 1, 2026, Kennedale Observer for more details.

 

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

 

Last Week

The Economic Development Corporation (EDC) Board meeting last week was held this past Tuesday, February 3. There was the second Hazard Mitigation Plan public hearing on Thursday (view – start at 4:17).

 

This Week

The city council is scheduled to meet Monday for a short meeting.

The Keep Kennedale Beautiful (KKB) (agenda) and the parks board (agenda) are scheduled to meet on Tuesday.

 

Public Hearings

On Tuesday, February 17, the city council will hold a public hearing on PZ25-17 to change the zoning from MF (multi-family) to a planned development at 3100 Joplin Road.

On Tuesday, February 17, the city council will hold a public hearing on PZ25-20 to change the zoning from R-1 (large lot single-family residential) to a PD (planned development) at 4365 & 4431 Dick Price Road.

On Thursday, February 26, P&Z will hold a public hearing on PZ26-01 to change the zoning from Old Town-4 to General Commercial-2 at 444 E. Kennedale Parkway. This will go in front of the city council on March 17.

 

EDC

The next Economic Development Corporation (EDC) Board meeting will be this Tuesday, February 3. The agenda can be found at: https://kennedaletx.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3597/files/agenda/10431 . The meeting can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRFDHuf19BE .

(4:19) Start of meeting. The regular section includes reports and announcements (market analysis, strategic plan, and financials), consent agenda (minutes), and an item for individual consideration. The market analysis and strategic plan would be using a different company than the current consultant, CP2. The city manager is expecting it to cost $15,000 [his current estimate, but don't hold him to that]. He is looking to bring this new company at the March meeting. About 18:53 they start the financial reports. About 23:35 was the consent agenda.

(24:02) The individual consideration item is a $25,000 grant application from Spirals Gymnastics, 1083 Bowman Springs Road (presentation , application). They wish to build a pool. The $25,000 grant was approved.

[Commentary: The EDC and 1083 Bowman Springs have some history. The city owned the land (as a result of obtaining land to build Bowman Springs) and passed title to the EDC to sell it. When it was sold (former City Manager Bob Hart era), several years after the sale, I searched but never found any council approval. I tried an open records request to see how much it sold for, but they could find no record. Then they got a change of zoning because of some agreement that was produced saying the land would be zoned something else – the zoning should not have been promised by any deal; only the council should have been able to approve any zoning change. See http://www.arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_45.html ]

(51:47) The executive session includes legal discussions regarding consultant CP-2 negotiations and a potential land purchase. They reconvene about 2:21:47. There is a motion to approve the city manager to negotiate land purchases which is approved.

 

P&Z

P&Z will probably meet again on Thursday, February 26. They have a public hearing scheduled.

 

Other News....

TAD Rates

Tarrant Appraisal District has published the tax rates (October 2025) for the county. Kennedale has now dropped to the eighth highest municipality. [https://www.tad.org/content/rates/2025TaxRates.pdf ].

 

Top eleven of 41 (everyone else is < 0.65)

1. Everman 1.0260800

2. Sansom Park 0.8457840

3. Blue Mound 0.8138000

4. River Oaks 0.7439910

5. Burleson 0.7218000

6. White Settlement 0.7147780

7. Forest Hill 0.7004660

8. Kennedale 0.6961900

9. Pelican Bay 0.6762930

10. Fort Worth 0.6700000

11. Grand Prairie 0.6600000

 

 

HELPFUL WEBSITES and CONTACTS

Would you like to be added to our mailing list? Please send an e-mail to: KennedaleObserver@yahoo.com requesting to be added to our mailing list.

 

Also, please feel free to share this newsletter with your friends.

 

Kennedale Observer website:

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

 

Latest Kennedale Observer newsletter:

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

 

The “Investigation” Report

http://arlspectator.mysite.com/blank_13.html

 

Senior Tax Freeze Missing

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

 

Texas Open Meetings Act Violations???

http://arlspectator.mysite.com/blank_9.html

 

The Bridge:

http://arlspectator.mysite.com/blank_12.html

 

Texas Open Meetings Act Violations???

http://arlspectator.mysite.com/blank_9.html

 

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

 

 

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-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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