Meetings of Interest
Posts
Meetings of Interest 23: June 16, 2024

Meetings of Interest 23: June 16, 2024

Meetings of Interest: High-Speed (De)Rail ⛔🚄

June 16, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes

Sunday, June 16, 2024

Good evening:

A Dallas City Council vote last week to “pause” support for a proposed Dallas-to-Fort Worth high-speed rail line that could slice through the Reunion area of Downtown may be a hiccup in a decades-long journey.

The hope is that it does not become a major derailment (sorry!) on a Texas vision that dates to the 1970s.

The current concept of a Fort Worth-Dallas-Houston rail network formally came together a little over ten years ago. On a March day in 2014, the mayors of the three cities appeared at a joint press conference in Houston to declare unified support for construction of a bullet train between the two metro regions, as The Texas Tribune reported at the time.

The arguments for the rail connection remain strong today.

“This project is more than linking locations; it’s about uniting economic powerhouses, fostering innovation and celebrating cultural diversity,” my former boss, former Dallas mayor Mike Rawlings, wrote recently for The Dallas Morning News. “As a catalyst for economic growth, it will generate jobs, stimulate investments and boost both cities’ global competitiveness.”

The Dallas-to-Houston line was always planned to be a separate project from the Dallas-to-Fort Worth stretch. And Dallas City Council members say they largely support the Dallas-to-Houston line, which has federal approval and a recently announced potential Amtrak partnership to make it happen.

The concern in recent months in Dallas were proposals for an elevated portion of the Fort Worth-Dallas line that would run through the southwest corner of Downtown to reach the federally approved Cedars station. Regional transportation planners had previously said the elevated line may be necessary for a “one-seat ride” to Houston because that Cedars station sits seven stories above ground.

But at the regularly scheduled meeting of the Regional Transportation Council (RTC) on Thursday, Michael Morris, the North Central Texas Council of Governments Director of Transportation, said that is no longer the case.

“Our plan forward is not to have an elevated train through your Downtown,” Morris said in response to questions from Dallas City Council member Cara Mendelsohn, who sits on the Regional Transportation Council (RTC). “We’re more than happy to comply and simply move forward.”

More details are expected be shared with the RTC in the coming weeks. Here’s hoping the revised plans get the regional high-speed rail vision back on track.

Then-Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings joined then-Houston and Fort Worth mayors, Annise Parker and Betsy Price, in March 2014 to pledge unified support for a Fort Worth-Dallas-Houston high-speed rail network. That is (past and current) Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Tennell Atkins to Rawlings’ left.

Read on for more on:

Who gets to play mayor during City Council meetings when the real one is unavailable.
Why you should avoid the elevators in a major Dallas Arts District parking garage.
The potential transition of alley trash and recycling pickup to curbside pickup for many Dallas residents.

⚡ Highlights From Last Week's Meetings of Interest:

— The Dallas City Council spends a lot of time debating matters that have real consequences for the people they represent. The decisions on which council members to appoint as mayor pro tem and deputy mayor pro tem are not among them.

Still, these annual votes can be a test of alliances that have been known to damage relationships for months or years that follow.

The mayor pro tem runs weekly City Council meetings when the mayor is unable to do so. The deputy mayor pro tem runs the meetings when both the mayor and mayor pro tem are unable to do so. Beyond that, the positions for several years also came with nicer and bigger offices on the fifth floor of Dallas City Hall. Offices are now decided by seniority.

Last Wednesday, City Council member Adam Bazaldua tried to oust current Mayor Pro Tem Tennell Atkins from his seat as the guy who gets to run meetings when the mayor is out. Atkins, entering his 16th year on the Dallas City Council, rarely loses votes. As they say around Dallas City Hall, he knows how to count to eight.

Atkins kept the mayor pro tem position in an 8-7 vote (vote breakdown here). The City Council then voted to appoint Bazaldua as the deputy mayor pro tem, meaning he gets to sit in the big seat if both Mayor Eric L. Johnson and Mayor Pro Tem Atkins are absent.

***

— The Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Board approved the agency’s updated strategic plan goals, and new mission and vision statements “designed to steer the agency toward a more dynamic, efficient, and community-focused future,” according to this press release.

***

— Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins was elected chair of the Regional Transportation Council on Thursday. He will lead the 45-member transportation policymaking body for the next year. Read more.

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

📝 Memos of Interest:

— In response to City Council member guidance, the City’s Office of Homeless Solutions is looking for locations across the City for a “Temporary and Alternate Housing pilot project” for people experiencing homelessness, according to this memo. The sites are expected to include up to 50 “industrialized housing units for temporary use,” as well as areas for sanctioned camping and for people to live in their cars if they choose.

— The City Council will host budget town hall meetings from August 15 to 29, both in-person and virtually. These meetings provide residents an opportunity to give feedback on the City Manager’s Recommended Biennial Budget. There will be 14 in-person meetings, 14 virtual meetings, and four City Hall in Action combined district events. Read more.

— April 2024 sales tax receipts total $35.6 million, representing a 9.3% increase compared to April 2023, according to this memo. However, year-to-date collections are $5.6 million below the budget. The FY 2023-24 budget for sales tax is $451.7 million, with a year-end forecast of $446.2 million.— Check out all the latest City Hall memos here and here.

Meetings of Interest: June 17 - 21

Watch City of Dallas Meetings Live

Monday, June 17

📑 City Plan Commission Special Called Meeting, 9 a.m., Council Briefing Room, 6ES, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

— This is a public hearing on the latest draft update of the Forward Dallas comprehensive land use plan. Dallas Morning News contributor James Armstrong offers some sound suggestions on how to get this controversial plan update back on track.

CPC may also vote during this meeting on plan language adjustments, with a final vote expected in July.

🅿️ City Council Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, 10 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

— Committee members will discuss potential state and federal legislative priorities for 2025.

— Budget discussions are planned regarding the Office of Bond and Construction Management, the Department of Aviation, and the Department of Transportation.

— Repair attempts on 37-year-old elevators at the City-owned Hall Arts Garage “have failed to prove beneficial, with entrapments occurring on a frequent basis,” according to this memo. The City Council is expected to vote on June 26 on emergency repairs and modernization for the four elevators in the garage that serves the Meyerson Symphony Center and other Arts District venues. Three of the elevators are inoperable and the fourth has been experiencing mechanical issues since December. Stairs sound like a safe alternative!

Tuesday, June 18

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

— Discussions continue on potential City Charter amendments to send to voters for approval in November. This will include debate on whether to seek City Council member pay raises and whether the Park and Recreation Department should be funded by an allocation of 10% of all City of Dallas general revenue funds. Read more about amendments proposed by City Council members.

— A briefing is planned but not yet publicly posted on funding soundness restoration plans for the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System (DPFPS) and Employee Retirement Fund (ERF). Both systems face substantial funding shortfalls.

— City officials want to transition trash and recycling pickup from the most narrow and unsafe alleys to curbside pickup over the next two years, according to this briefing.

🚌 Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Board of Directors, 6 p.m., Board Room, 1401 Pacific Avenue, Dallas; Watch Live Here

— Item 22 on this agenda is the sale of DART property at or near 552 Second Avenue and 3021 Oak Lane to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) for the Interstate 30 Canyon Project on the south side of Downtown.

Wednesday, June 19

— City Hall is closed in observance of the Juneteenth holiday.

Thursday, June 20

📃 City Plan Commission, 9 a.m. Briefing; 12:30 p.m. Public Hearing, Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

— Another briefing is planned on the Forward Dallas comprehensive land use plan update.

— Commissioners will consider an application to create a new sign subdistrict in the West End to allow for supergraphic advertising signage on the Katy Building at 701 Commerce Street. Read more.

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

— This agenda includes votes on two historical markers to be placed at Martyr’s Park in Downtown, where three enslaved Black men were lynched in 1860. A memorial was recently installed there to commemorate the victims of race-based violence in Dallas between 1853 and 1920. Read more on this important project from The Dallas Morning News.

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