Meetings of Interest 1: January 7, 2024

Meetings of Interest: Memo Wars

January 07, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 15 minutes

Sunday, January 7, 2024

Good evening:

Welcome back to the reality that much of life consists of meetings, so many meetings, especially in local government.

Unlike

(and

), my statute of limitations for wishing you a Happy New Year has not yet expired. I hope you enjoyed a few meeting-free weeks with friends and loved ones.

Read on for more on:

  • A City Hall debate by memo about when the City Council will next discuss time-sensitive issues, including the 2024 Bond Program.

  • The Dallas Police Department's continued struggles with response times for even the most serious crimes, missing their targets by a range of minutes to hours.

  • Which legendary Dallas dive bar is on the City Council agenda this week for what will hopefully be a routine approval.

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Did You Get The Memo?

Dallas voters this year will be asked to approve an estimated $1.1 billion City bond package to fund streets, parks, trails, affordable housing, libraries, economic development projects, police and fire facilities, and more infrastructure projects.

The Community Bond Task Force last month delivered its recommendations after months of work, and City staff gave its own competing briefing. City Council members will ultimately decide what to send to voters for approval, but time is running out to get the program on the May ballot, as City staff would prefer. The deadline to order a May 4 election is February 16. The other option is to hold the election in November, as some City Council members prefer.

City Manager T.C. Broadnax set the next briefing on the bond for the regular City Council meeting on Wednesday, January 17.

Not so fast,

ordering that meeting to be rescheduled for January 31. He will be representing the City at the World Economic Forum on the 17th, he said.

Under the City Charter, special meetings of the City Council may be requested in writing by the mayor, city manager, or three City Council members.

And on Thursday, City Council members Adam Bazaldua, Jaime Resendez, and Paula Blackmon sent another

, requesting another meeting be scheduled for Friday, Jan. 19, at 2 p.m. That meeting will include deliberations on the bond program and potential changes to the Employee Retirement Fund that may also be up for voter approval in May.

Why does this all matter?

A whole lot of Dallas residents have dedicated much of their lives over the past year to advocating for bond dollars. They will want to show up in force at future City Council meetings to fight for their piece of the pie. They also need to know whether to prepare for a May or November campaign push.

Bond elections are historically successful in Dallas, but passage is far from certain. Campaigns require time and a big chunk of private money. Here's hoping we get some clarity soon on when the bond election will happen and what we will be asked to approve.

📝 Memos of Interest:

-- A recently approved State constitutional amendment allows the City to exempt child-care providers from property taxes for any facilities used to run a child-care business. Read more in

.

-- The City of Dallas wants to hear from you on how to spend federal housing grant funds over the next five years. You can attend upcoming in-person, virtual, or phone meetings, or complete an online survey.

and

.

-- Check out all the latest City Hall memos

and

.

Meetings of Interest: January 8 - 12, 2024

Monday, January 8

🏫

City Council Workforce, Education, and Equity Committee, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall

🚔 City Council Public Safety Committee, 1 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall

-- Murders were up nearly 15% in 2023, with 246 victims last year as compared to 214 in 2022. All other violent crime dropped last year, according to Dallas police officials.

.

-- Check out these recruitment updates from

and the

.

-- Dallas police continued to struggle with long response times in each of the four priority call categories in 2023. The average response time in 2023 for the most serious crimes--such as shootings, stabbings, assaults, kidnapping and robbery--was nearly 11 minutes, while the goal is 8 minutes. For Priority 2 calls--which includes burglaries, major car accidents, road rage, and prowlers--the average response time is nearly 98 minutes (the Priority 2 goal is 12 minutes). Things get much worse for Priority 3 and 4 calls, as noted in the chart above. The goal for Priority 3 response is 30 minutes and for Priority 4 is one hour. See the full breakdown above and

.

-- Dallas police in July began requiring crime victims to report certain less-serious crimes online instead of sending officers to take reports. The main argument for expansion of the Dallas Online Reporting System (DORS) was to help decrease response times for the most serious crimes. Dallas police say the DORS expansion "has resulted in an estimated savings of 33,519 patrol hours" so far. A DORS update is also on this committee agenda for tomorrow.

.

Tuesday, January 9

🌆

Comprehensive Land Use Plan Committee (CLUP), 8:30 a.m., 6ES, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

-- Work continues on

ForwardDallas

comprehensive land use plan updates. DDI's President & CEO Jennifer Scripps is on this committee.

💹

Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors, 9 a.m., Fair Park Visitor Center, 3809 Grand Avenue; Watch it live here

-- An update on the search for the first permanent CEO of the City's new Economic Development Corporation is on this agenda. Previous briefings suggested a CEO could be in place soon.

🤑

City Council Economic Development Committee, 1 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall

-- Discussion continues on proposed fee increases for residential and commercial building permits.

.

--

notes the "Reimagining Downtown Dallas" transportation grant. DDI is seeking clarification on what that grant will fund. We'll update you next week.

-- A one-time $250,000 federal grant will be used for Dallas-based small businesses for rental assistance, staffing, utilities, and other related operational expenses,

. An application process is expected to open in late February.

-- According to

, the City's preliminary state and federal legislative economic development priorities include:

  • Support property tax relief for Dallas residents. (State)

  • Expand business opportunities to grow the tax base and generate revenue streams for city priorities, including but not limited to authorization, licensing, and regulation of casino gaming and sports wagering in this state. (State)

  • Ensure project delivery processes serving residents and industry are effective and transparent. (State)

  • Strengthen Dallas’ workforce development pipeline and support the growth of small business enterprises. (Both)

  • Continue to broadband service as a critical utility. (Both)

🚍

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Committee-of-the-Whole, 2:30 p.m., DART Conference Room C - 1st Floor, 1401 Pacific Ave.; Watch live here

-- DART leaders are continuing to improve the popular GoPass app, now used by half of the transportation system's riders,

.

Wednesday, January 10

🤝🏼

Dallas City Council Meeting, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

--

: One of the great Dallas dive bars, Adair's Saloon in Deep Ellum, is up for renewal of its Specific Use Permit for another 5-year term. Voting against this permit would likely be political suicide.

Thursday, January 11

✈

DFW Airport Board Meeting, 8:30 a.m., Board Room, DFW Airport HQ, 2400 Aviation Drive, DFW Airport

💹

City Council Ad Hoc Committee on Pensions, 3 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

-- Agenda materials have not been posted yet for this planned committee meeting. This committee is charged with addressing financial troubles for the Dallas Police & Fire Pension System and Employee Retirement Fund.

📃

Charter Review Commission, 6:30 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

-- The Commission is expected to begin review of proposed amendments to the City's constitution submitted by the public. The Commission will make recommendations to City Council later this year. Voters will ultimately decide what, if any, changes to make to the City Charter. Proposed amendments from the public are due by January 19. Check out all amendments submitted through mid-December and submit your own

.

🏞

Dallas Park & Recreation Board, 10 a.m., 6FN Conference Room, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

-- The Park Board (on which I serve) is being asked to approve abandonment of two easements at Downtown's Pegasus Park to allow for an addition to be built at the adjacent Magnolia Hotel.

-- Also up for approval is the extension of the Texas-OU Red River Rivalry game at the Cotton Bowl in Fair Park through at least 2036. That agreement was

.

-- A briefing is scheduled to update progress on Mayor Eric L. Johnson's greening initiative to

.

🌇

🚃 Regional Transportation Council, 1 p.m., Transportation Council Room, North Central Texas Council of Governments, 616 Six Flags Dr., Arlington, TX, 76011; Watch live here

-- The agency is seeking public input on regional transportation priorities. Learn more

.

-- More conversation could be had on a tunnel option for the proposed Downtown Dallas-to-Fort Worth high-speed rail line. 

In Memoriam: Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson

Then-State Senator Eddie Bernice Johnson (Source: Anabel Burke, “Eddie Bernice Johnson,” Waco History, accessed January 5, 2024, https://wacohistory.org/items/show/199.)

President Joe Biden

, an iconic force for good in Texas politics for generations. If, like me, you moved to Dallas in recent decades, you may not fully appreciate all that EBJ accomplished and what she stood for.

I got chills last week listening to

. In it, she speaks about how she faced injustices throughout her career, and why she always tried to understand the perspective and life experiences of people of all political stripes, even those who were unworthy of her respect.

I hope you will take the time to listen to the interview. We all can and should continue to learn from EBJ.

Did we miss anything? Do you have any questions? Just want to talk about meetings?

.

Were you forwarded this newsletter?

.

Have a great week.

Best,

Scott GoldsteinChief of External Affairs& Government Relations

Downtown Dallas, Inc.

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