IRVING (WBAP/KLIF)- Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price and Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson share the stage for the 1st time at the North Texas Commission luncheon for a conversation on regionalism, their goals for working together and the challenges and opportunities the North Texas Region faces.
Both spoke about their individual efforts for public safety and gun violence in light of recent mass shootings. Mayor Johnson says this years budget for the City of Dallas prioritizes the needs of first responders with money allocated for equipment upgrades and to have a competitive salary. “Salary will no longer be one of the basis to which you can compete with because we are going to make sure our salary is competitive with agencies in the metroplex,” Johnson said. “We will also have to focus on the morale of the department which is turning around,” he said.
Johnson also talked about his efforts in the community task force to find the root of the spike in violence with a holistic data-driven approach. “We need to look at the root- guns, gangs, drugs,”Johnson said.
Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price commended Johnson for the Task Force. She talked her efforts in Washington, a conservative mayor, calling on the Senate to pass laws for extended background checks and to fix loop holes in private gun sales. “Background checks help with not only mass shootings but gun violence in our city,” said Price. Johnson weighed in stating it’s nice to be able to have the discussion on gun control on a bi-partisan level. “Taking partisan labels out of a discussion allows a discussion and conversation for change to happen,” said Johnson. Price also mentioned Fort Worth’s efforts to curb gun violence locally by having school resource officers available in every school and having a Crisis Intervention Team. “The team coordinates with mental health doctors, families for people to notify if they notice signs of mental health issues,” Price said.
The two bounced back ideas and initiatives to enhance safety in both cities, noting public safety is their number one priority.
