Fort Worth City Council approves nearly $10 million in legal settlements
FORT WORTH — The Fort Worth City Council got an earful Tuesday night from angry taxpayers before approving nearly $10 million in legal settlements for alleged mistakes including the firing of a former police chief.
Former Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald was fired in 2019 amid allegations from city leaders that he mismanaged his budget and acted inappropriately at times.
But Fitzgerald claimed in a whistleblower lawsuit along with two fired IT employees that they were terminated because they had information that city leaders were concealing security breaches and destroying public documents.
Only one council member spoke after a unanimous vote to approve the payouts.
"I'm grateful we were able to get to a settlement [so] we can move forward in the City of Fort Worth and make sure we can support all of our employees," said Chris Nettles, councilmember for District 8.
The city council also approved an $825,000 payout to the family of Jerry Waller more than 11 years after the 72-year-old man was shot and killed in his own garage by a rookie Fort Worth Police officer.
Officers were responding to a burglar alarm in the neighborhood and confronted Waller with flashlights in his face when he was walking outside with a gun thinking he heard a prowler.
Before approving the settlement, some residents chastised the city for waiting so long to offer financial restitution to Waller's family.
The settlements come at a time when the city is trying to balance and approve a $2.7 billion budget for next year.
We are told money for the $10 million in legal settlements will come from a risk financing fund which will have about $29 million remaining after Tuesday night.