Mayor Mattie Parker via Twitter
The Fort Worth City Council, minus one seat, from left, Michael Crain, Charlie Lauersdorf, Alan Blacklock, Macy Hill, Elizabeth Beck, Chris Nettles, Mattie Parker, Jared Williams, Gyna Bivens, and Carlos Flores.
Fort Worth’s reconfigured City Council is taking shape, beginning with the swearing in of existing members, as well two new members to the dais on Tuesday evening at City Hall.
Macy Hill took her oath to replace outgoing District 7 Councilman Leonard Firestone, who elected not to seek reelection, and Charlie Lauersdorf filled an open seat in District 4. The incumbent Alan Blaylock vacated the seat to run in the District 10, where he lives, one of two new civic political entities formed through a redistricting process last year.
The election on May 6 was the first with 11 members on the council. The terms are for two years.
There is still work to be done to fill out the council.
In District 11, the other new district, Rick Herring and Jeanette Martinez are vying for the seat in an election that has gone to a June 10 runoff.
It’s a hot potato, that one.
The voters sent Mayor Mattie Parker back for another term. The mayor’s second race was not nearly as contentious as her first, a runoff triumph over Deborah Peoples.
Other incumbents returning were District 5 Councilwoman Gyna Bivens, District 6 Councilman Jared Williams, and District 9 Councilwoman Elizabeth Beck, all of them fending off challengers.
Councilmen Carlos Flores (District 2), Michael Crain (District 3), and Chris Nettles (District 8) all won reelection unopposed.
“It’s extremely humbling,” says Lauersdorf, hours before he raised his right hand, “just realizing there are so many people who are expecting so much of me. Everyone in the district, whether they voted for me or not, all eyes on me to make a difference not just in District 4, but the city as a whole.”
Lauersdorf owns a real estate media company that provides photography, video and viral tours for homes up for sale, as well as portfolios for builders and designers. He has a bachelor’s in intelligence studies from American Military University and an executive MBA from TCU.
A funny guy once said something to the effect that public serve in the realm of electoral office can sometimes offer no more freedom than the county jail offers.
Lauersdorf has been exposed to worse.
Lauersdorf has a Purple Heart after being wounded in the Battle of Ramadi in Iraq, one of his three deployments there. On his card is also two deployments to Afghanistan and another to Jordan.
His unit, the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, was ambushed on April 6, 2004.
In Ramadi, “We were trying to make a safe place for the local Iraqis and a place where they can go to school and hold local elections. The insurgents didn't like that. So, they picked a fight with us and they picked a fight with the wrong folks. We had a large part of our unit that was ambushed. A few days later, we put together an operation to go root out these insurgents.
“On April 10, my element, we were in a pretty heavy firefight. I was wounded that day; I took some grenade shrapnel, but we made it out obviously. We inflicted quite a bit of damage on the enemy … rooted out a lot of the insurgents in the area that really set the city up for success.”
Lauersdorf, who was raised in Garland and moved to Fort Worth for a civilian job at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, soon will be promoted to 1st Sergeant in the Marine Corps Reserve.
The swearing in was humbling, he says, but it’s also “one of a great pride.”
“I'm feeling a lot of pride right now as well. People coming together, coming together as a city. It makes me very proud to be not just a part of District 4, but part of Fort Worth as well. So, lot of feelings. My kids are trying to get ready right now and, they can't find shoes or shirts or everything else. So, it's like frustration, too. Like, ‘come on guys, come on.’”
He’s got jokes, too. That’s a sense of humor that will undoubtedly come in handy.