Michael Morris, influential North Texas transportation director for 35 years, has been fired from his job.<\/p>\n
The firing was made Tuesday by North Central Texas Council of Governments Executive Director Todd Little, a former Ellis County judge appointed to his role last May. Little did not immediately return a request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMichael Morris was terminated yesterday,\u201d Johnson County Commissioner Rick Bailey, the chair of the Regional Transportation Council, told the Fort Worth Report Wednesday. \u201cIn my opinion, it was unwarranted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morris, 70, could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n
Bailey said he and other members of the Regional Transportation Council, an independent, 45-member policy committee of the council of governments, would seek to get Morris reinstated.<\/p>\n
The council is expected to address Morris\u2019 termination at an emergency meeting planned Thursday at the council of governments office in Arlington.<\/p>\n
RTC members plan to request $5 million for \u201cunforeseen legal action\u201d that impacts the Metropolitan Planning Organization status of the council of governments, according to the meeting agenda<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bailey said RTC members maintain that Little, as executive director, works at the behest of the group, which is made up of elected and appointed officials from a 16-county region.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a desperate move, the fiscal agent made a really poor judgement to terminate Michael,\u201d Bailey said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Earlier this month, RTC members agreed to retain independent attorneys<\/a> to clarify the group\u2019s duties and pause the search for a new transportation director after a related lawsuit was filed by Denton County.<\/p>\n That 376-page suit, filed April 6 in Denton, stated its purpose \u201cis to stop the executive board of NCTCOG, which is currently unlawfully constituted, from taking continued ultra vires (beyond their legal authority) actions, and to correct its structure to be lawfully constituted.\u201d<\/p>\n Morris\u2019 firing, Bailey said, is the result of partisan politics. Elected and appointed officials also serve on the council of governments\u2019 17-member executive committee, including Fort Worth City Council member Carlos Flores and Tarrant County Judge Tim O\u2019Hare.<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, there\u2019s a couple or three who literally hired someone who believed the decision (to fire Morris) could be made by one person,\u201d Bailey said, adding that some conservative members are opposed to Morris\u2019 priorities in regional transportation<\/a>.<\/p>\n In recent years, Morris has championed transportation options he sees as vital for the rapidly growing region: toll lanes, rapid bus service in high-use corridors and a proposed high-speed rail line<\/a> through Arlington and Fort Worth.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Fort Worth Report contacted more than a dozen members of the NCTCOG executive board and RTC board on Wednesday regarding Morris\u2019 termination but did not receive immediate responses.\u00a0<\/p>\n Flores, Fort Worth\u2019s mayor pro tem, wouldn\u2019t say whether he supports Morris\u2019 termination, but repeatedly described the director as \u201cvery effective\u201d in his role during a phone interview Wednesday. Although the NCTCOG board had not yet met to discuss the termination, Flores emphasized that it had nothing to do with Morris\u2019 job performance.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe is a wealth of institutional knowledge,\u201d Flores said. \u201cBut you know, for years of doing this, we have to look towards succession planning. And that has been the reason, ultimately, for this action.\u201d<\/p>\n Morris directed North Texas transportation projects for decades. In his role, he was responsible for distributing millions of dollars to cities for road, rail, bus, bicycle and air quality projects.<\/p>\n The ouster won\u2019t affect regional transportation plans for the FIFA World Cup games to be played in North Texas in June and July as RTC members have approved funding for safety and mobility projects.<\/p>\n Still, Morris\u2019 termination comes at a \u201cvery critical time\u201d before the games, Flores said. Board members previously called for clear next steps upon Morris\u2019 departure, he added.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have emphasized that, whatever happens, we need to have, again, a clear succession plan \u2014 and my understanding was that involved Michael Morris staying on in a consulting capacity,\u201d Flores said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Under the secession plan approved last December<\/a>, Morris would transition to a consulting role as director emeritus. Flores said he and other board members plan to get clarity about the transition plan at the NCTCOG meeting Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n RTC members have had an ongoing dispute<\/a> with the council of governments\u2019 executive board, which sought to replace Morris.\u00a0<\/p>\n The issue surfaced in late 2025 after Little sought a succession plan to be enacted upon Morris\u2019 retirement. Morris created such a succession plan just before the organization launched a job search for the transportation director\u2019s replacement<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bailey said that the Regional Transportation Council and the council of governments worked harmoniously for 60 years for the greater good of advancing transportation projects to improve North Texas.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s always been nonpartisan,\u201d Bailey said. \u201cWe\u2019ve always put politics aside for the good of the region.\u201d<\/p>\n Bailey said he supports Morris because he was a dedicated administrator who worked to improve transportation in North Texas.<\/p>\n \u201cI will do my best to reinstate him,\u201d Bailey said.<\/p>\n This is a developing story.\u00a0<\/p>\n Eric E. Garcia is senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n