The Fort Worth Corp.’s timing couldn’t be worse, but it couldn’t be avoided either. Just when Burson-Marsteller, the
public relations firm hired to promote the city, seemed close to getting its campaign up and running, along came a
series of mysterious disappearances, murders of women and youth gang wars.
Just how the recent rash of violence will affect the homespun campaign remains to be seen, but Burson-Marsteller has
no intentions of dropping the media blitz. Joseph Grant, president of the Fort Worth Corp., says he believes
the tragic events will be forgotten by the public when the campaign starts in September.
John Stevenson, chairman of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, agrees. “I believe the mark of a community
isn’t measured by the absence of difficulties, but rather by the way the community addresses the problem,” he says.
“Anyone considering relocation in Fort Worth will hopefully evaluate the whole picture.”
On the North Side, Councilman Louis Zapata has called the gang-related shootings isolated incidents that could
just as easily have happened in other parts of the city. Publicity surrounding gang fights and shooting has not
affected tourism in the historic Stockyards, he says, but police efforts to control potential problems have been
stepped up.
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