Meetings of Interest 13: April 7, 2024

Meetings of Interest: Shame On The Moon ๐ŸŒš

Sunday, April 7, 2024

Good evening:

There are no City Council committee meetings tomorrow.

Your trash and recycling pickup

.

and Dallas police are

for at least part of Monday afternoon.

Texas Department of Transportation officials have issued safety alerts (don't drive with those eclipse glasses on!).

.

Our region has hosted a Super Bowl, multiple World Series and NBA Finals games, college championships and bowl games. We are poised to host more 2026 World Cup games than any other host city.

But that darn Moon crossing between Earth and Sun for four minutes tomorrow afternoon just might cause more disruption than anything in recent memory.

If you do plan to be in Downtown Dallas, please come early and stop by

from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Somebody please get Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Carolyn King Arnold (left) and City Council member Gay Donnell Willis (right) some eclipse glasses by tomorrow. They are pictured with Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia and Council member Paula Blackmon at a City Hall news conference last week (photo via NBC 5).

Read on for more on:

  • When outgoing Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax will hit the road for Austin, where he was officially hired last week to take over as city manager.

  • How City of Dallas spending compares to other major Texas cities.

  • Continued Dallas Police staffing challenges in Downtown Dallas.

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โšก Highlights From Last Week's Meetings of Interest:

๐Ÿ›๏ธ

on Monday signaled support for a request from representatives of Downtown's Katy Building at 701 Commerce Street to create a new sign subdistrict in the West End Historic District to ultimately allow for supergraphic advertising signage on the building. A formal vote was not required at this stage of the process.

๐Ÿ“œ

voted to recommend substantial pay increases for City Council members and the mayor. City Council members would get a boost from $60,000 to $125,000 and the mayor's pay would go from $80,000 to $140,000.

. The Commission is expected to pass its recommendations on for City Council review this month. Dallas voters must approve any Charter changes.

๐Ÿ—บ๏ธ

approved illuminated signs for the Public Storage at 2425 Canton Street, near Barry Annino Bark Park.

๐Ÿ‘‹

voted unanimously to appoint outgoing Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax as the next Austin city manager. He will start his new job on May 6, nearly a month before his originally planned departure date, and be paid a base salary of $470,017.60,

.

Thanks to DDI's Nikia Summerlin, Urban Planning Manager, for monitoring hours of meetings every week and contributing to the above summaries.Questions? Nikia can be reached at [email protected].

๐Ÿ“ Memos of Interest:

-- City of Dallas expenditures had a greater percentage increase from 2019 - 2023 than any other major Texas city besides Austin, according to the above chart. The chart is part of

following up on

given to a City Council committee last month.

-- The 2024 Business Survey launches this month "to assess how well the City of Dallas is serving the needs of the business community, gather information about the characteristics of businesses in the City, and measure the Cityโ€™s performance over time." Randomly selected business representatives will receive surveys by mail.

.

-- Check out all the latest City Hall memos 

 and 

.

Meetings of Interest: April 8 - 12, 2024

Tuesday, April 9

๐Ÿ’ช

Dallas City Council Workforce, Education, and Equity Committee, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

-- If Dallas County raised the average earnings of people of color to match those of White people by 2030, the Gross Regional Product (GRP) for Dallas could nearly double to more than $600 billion,

and my wise friend Drexell Owusu, outgoing executive at The Dallas Foundation.

-- Dallas ISD Deputy Superintendent Dr. Pamela Lear will brief the committee on the school district's racial equity work.

.

-- If we make it through tomorrow's eclipse, the Hyatt Regency Dallas in Downtown will host the sold-out Welcoming Interactive conference later this week. Speakers include my former boss, former mayor Mike Rawlings, and Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki as part of a fireside chat. Learn more about the conference and the City's work on immigrant affairs

.

๐Ÿ‘ฎ

Dallas City Council Public Safety Committee, 1 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

-- Dallas continues to make progress reducing violent crime, according to

on the three-part strategic plan implemented under the leadership of Chief Eddie Garcia in May 2021. If you don't have time to read all 87 pages of the report,

.

-- Unfortunately, Dallas Police staffing in Downtown stands at 86 total officers across four shifts, down from 89 at the same time last year, according to the

. That total continues to lag behind a stated goal from DPD leadership to get to at least 100 officers assigned to the Central Business District by now. DDI will continue to push for more on-duty Dallas police officers assigned to work in Downtown, which now has 15,000 residents.

-- The Dallas City Auditor made 34 recommendations to the police and fire departments on how to improve recruiting, as

.

-- Dallas police plan to implement a new third-party online platform to manage the hiring of off-duty police officers, if approved by City Council this week,

. The new process will include fees to be passed on to some businesses when City equipment such as patrol cars are used as part of the off-duty assignment. The fees will not be charged to any Expanded Neighborhood Patrol (ENP), Public Improvement District (PID), or nonprofit organizations. This change has been in the works for years as a result of

with DPD's management and oversight of off-duty jobs.

๐ŸšŒ

 Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Board Committee-of-the-Whole, 4 p.m., DART Conference Room C, 1st Floor, DART HQ, 1401 Pacific Ave., Dallas; Watch live here

--

notes Downtown-related projects to be funded, including Dallas Streetcar maintenance and a feasibility study for a Downtown streetcar link.

Wednesday, April 10

๐Ÿ’ผ

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

--

is a three-year, $815,181 contract with RollKall Technologies, LLC, to manage the hiring of off-duty officers by businesses and nonprofits, as noted on the Public Safety Committee agenda above.

--

is a public hearing to receive feedback on the draft

, which may be followed by adoption of the strategy.

๐Ÿ›ด

Public Hearing Regarding Dockless Vehicle Program Rules, 5:30 - 6:30 p.m., L1FN Auditorium, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

-- Transportation officials are proposing "very minor" changes to the City's shared electric scooter program, as outlined in 

. Learn more and share you thoughts at this public hearing. You must register to speak by 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday by emailing

.

Thursday, April 11

๐Ÿ—บ๏ธ

 City Plan Commission, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, 1500 Marilla St.

-- This is another

ForwardDallas

land-use plan workshop.

.

๐ŸšŠ

 Regional Transportation Council, 1 p.m., Transportation Council Room, North Central Texas Council of Governments, 616 Six Flags Dr., Arlington

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

.

Were you forwarded this newsletter?

.

Have a great week -- and don't stare directly at the eclipse without proper glasses!

Best,

Scott Goldstein

Downtown Dallas, Inc.

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