Fort Worth City Councilman Joel Burns apparently still is not happy with last year's 7-2 vote that allowed a Walmart to go in at Hemphill and Berry streets over neighborhood objections. It was a substitute motion by Councilman Sal Espino that unravelled a compromise motion Burns was trying to engineer.
Tuesday night, as the council debated Texas Wesleyan University's controversial request to remove the historic designation from the old Dillow House, Councilwoman Kelly Allen Gray, who represents the neighborhood, moved to approve the Zoning Commission's approval of the request.
Burns objected and ended up voting no. Espino said he was deferring to Gray. To which Burns buzzed in and complimented Espino for backing a fellow council member.
"Happy to see him turn over a new leaf in that regard," Burns said, earning laughter from the audience.
For his part, Espino notes there was neighborhood support for the Walmart, and he characterized his substitute motion as the compromise. "I could argue it was the Espino motion that was the compromise motion," he said.
- Scott Nishimura, Star-Telegram Fort Worth City Hall reporter
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