Joel Burns leaves for a year at Harvard, but promises to return
SAYING THANKS | Former Fort Worth City Councilman Joel Burns, right, thanks family and friends who turned out for a farewell party Wednesday. He saved his biggest thanks for his partner of 21 years, J.D. Angle, left. (Tammye Nash/Dallas Voice)
By Tammye Nash | Managing Editor
A large crowd of family, friends and supporters packed into the lobby of the Moncrief Cancer Institute Wednesday evening to bid farewell — at least for awhile — to as-of-Thursday-former Fort Worth City Councilman Joel Burns.
Burns, 45, who became the first openly gay elected official in Fort Worth when he was sworn in as the District 9 council representative in 2008, announced in February that he was resigning from the council to accept an invitation to attend a Mid-Career Masters Degree Program in public administration at Harvard University. He left for Boston Thursday morning.
Moncrief Cancer Institute Director Dr. Keith E. Argenbright on Wednesday described Burns as “a visionary leader” and “a problem solver” who has had an enormous, positive impact on District 9 and on the city of Fort Worth as a whole. He pointed to the revitalization of Magnolia Street, the “vibrant near south side” of Fort Worth and new bike lanes, but also said the cancer institute itself is a sign of Burns’ contributions.
“None of this would be here” without Burns’ help, Argenbright said of the center. “He went to bat for us at city hall and even cut through a little red tape for us.”
But Argenbright said those outside Fort Worth know Burns best as the person who made Fort Worth “a part of the national conversation” on bullying with his “personal message of hope to victims of bullying,” delivered during an October 2012 city council meeting. Video of Burns’ emotional speech, in which he described being bullied as a teen and how he considered taking his own life, catapulted him to national fame.
Argenbright said that Burns “had the personal courage to do the right thing, even when it wasn’t the easiest thing.”
Burns’ voice choked with emotion Wednesday night as he thanked his friends and family.
Burns said his tenure on the city council had given him the chance to “meet incredible people doing great things,” and that he continues to be inspired by those he has met. He said that choosing to step down from the council to attend the Harvard master’s program “was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made,” but that he feels certain he will have “an incredible year” in Boston.
Burns saved the biggest thanks for his partner, Democratic political consultant J.D. Angle, saying he was “incredibly lucky” to have Angle and thanking him “for loving me for 21 years and for giving me this opportunity” to live in Boston for the next 10 months to attend Harvard.
Even as he prepared to leave on the next leg of his journey, Burns promised that he would continue public service in some way, and that he would do that in North Texas.
“I’m not done,” he said. “I don’t know what I’ll do next. But I know I will come home to Fort Worth.”
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition July 11, 2014.