Planning Today to Support the City of Tomorrow

William M. Johnson is a dedicated leader in city management with extensive experience overseeing complex municipal operations. As Assistant City Manager for the City of Fort Worth, Texas, he oversees police, fire, emergency management services and municipal courts. His priority is to ensure public safety services operate seamlessly, efficiently and reliably.

This feature explores Johnson’s approach to managing cities and powering their growth. He shares practical insights on how transparency, planning and proactive leadership can strengthen public trust and service delivery.

Engineering the Path to City Leadership

My initial career began in engineering and program and project management, where I learned how to plan, deliver and oversee large initiatives. As I gradually moved into city management, I continued to build on that experience.

Over time, I have managed infrastructure, economic development, culture and tourism and all aspects of city operations. I focus on strategic planning, improving how services function and bringing people together to solve challenges in a collaborative way.

Building Systems to Support a Growing City

The biggest challenge in city building is how to effectively utilize tax dollars to meet community demands. Fort Worth is experiencing tremendous growth across the city, and that pace requires careful strategic planning. Keeping up with infrastructure means more than roadways, bridges, streetlights, sidewalks and transportation. It also includes police coverage, fire services, waste collection and all of the other city services residents expect.

As the city grows, the landscape of public service is also shifting. New technology, especially artificial intelligence (AI), is changing the way cities operate. The challenge is learning how to manage and use it in a way that strengthens efficiency while protecting personal information. Government must balance innovation with the responsibility to safeguard data and maintain public trust.

Preparing for the Next Era of City Growth

AI is the most significant emerging technology shaping the future of city operations.

Fort Worth has chosen to embrace AI tools while fully recognizing that they bring opportunities along with new pressures. The city is exploring its use in reviewing permits, screening job applications and analyzing data that guides long-term planning. These tools will help staff keep pace with a fast-growing population. Fort Worth welcomes about 25,000 new residents every year. In many places, that number represents an entire city. Within four to five years, the city must be ready to deliver services to an additional 100,000 people. That level of growth requires thoughtful planning backed by accurate and timely information.

Along with these tech-related changes, the city is also managing challenges from a non-technology standpoint. A major focus is on maintaining transparency and trust between the local government and the communities it serves. This becomes especially important in public safety.

Some communities have a natural distrust between the community and the police. As a city, we have focused on community policing and constitutional policing and constantly strive to build steady relationships and trust between the city and those communities. We have invested in an Office of Police Oversight Monitor to provide further independent review and transparency to the community.

Expanded Emergency Services to Strengthen Public Safety

One of the major initiatives in Fort Worth this year has been the city taking on all emergency medical services throughout Tarrant County. These services were previously provided by a semi-private firm. 2025 is the first year that the entire operation has been brought under the city’s umbrella, with the goal of creating a service that improves response times for 911 ambulance calls across the county.

“Leading a growing city requires a forwardlooking mindset. Planning with intention, fully engaging stakeholders and community leaders, and communicating the “why” behind the work remains the most effective strategy for serving the city well.”

The impact is already visible. Average response times were more than 15 minutes earlier this year. Now, they have dropped to about ten minutes. The goal is to reach an eight-minute standard response time. These gains have come within a few months and reflect the level of coordination taking place across the region.

To support this transition, the city continues to invest in the system and coordinate with external partners, labor unions and others. The entire initiative is propped up on an investment of about $91 million. The focus is on building a higher-quality and more reliable service for residents across the county. The improvements are already taking place.

Strategic Planning for Long-Term Growth

Long-term planning is central to the city’s strategy. The focus is on looking 15 to 20 years ahead and determining how to use financial resources to support future needs. It includes strategically placing additional police and fire stations, increasing access to water and transportation resources in support of current and future development, increasing our capacity for residential and commercial development and building new parks in alignment with the City’s Comprehensive Plan.

A major part of this approach is using the city’s bonding capacity so that its voters can consider major projects every four or five years. This allows the city to make steady improvements in communities without raising property taxes. It has been a core strategy in Fort Worth and has helped the city keep pace with rapid growth.

This progress is supported by strong relationships with elected officials. They remain informed about ongoing improvements and recognize the value these projects bring to their communities. The partnership has been an important factor in advancing long-term planning and sustaining consistent investment across the city.

Planning Forward with Clear Communication

Leading a growing city requires a forward-looking mindset. The priority is to plan ahead, stay proactive and communicate clearly with the community and elected officials. People need to understand where the city is headed, why certain initiatives are necessary and what specific problems those efforts are designed to solve. It is equally important to develop strategies for prioritizing investments and share the details of how data helps to drive decisions on investments and budgets.

This approach shapes the work coming out of the city manager’s office. Every initiative is tied to a defined need, whether it involves addressing homelessness, expanding affordable housing, meeting the rising demand for services as the city grows, or improving neighborhoods that have long been underserved. The focus is on clearly explaining the purpose behind each decision, sharing the data and analyses that support the decisions, and highlighting the positive impact these efforts bring to our communities.

This clarity and consistency have been central to Fort Worth’s progress. Planning with intention, fully engaging stakeholders and community leaders, and communicating the “why” behind the work remains the most effective strategy for serving the city well.