Sunday, August 11, 2024

Good evening:

A funny thing happened while the Dallas City Council spent the past few months ruminating on what to send to voters this November as part of a once-every-decade City Charter amendment process.

Some of those same voters sent four of their own amendments, drafted by two outside groups, that now must appear on the ballot regardless of what the City Council decides. At last Wednesday’s Dallas City Council meeting, concerns were aired about whether the four proposals are “appropriate, achievable, fiscally responsible or even legal,” The Dallas Morning News reports.

The four amendments would:

• Force the City to use a predetermined percentage of revenues each year to hire at least another 1,000 police officers, fund the police and fire pension, and increase police pay.

• Evaluate the city manager’s performance, including eligibility for a pay raise or cause for termination, based solely on an annual resident survey, “thereby transferring decision-making authority regarding the city manager’s compensation and employment status from city council” to as few as 1,400 survey respondents.

• Grant Dallas residents standing to sue the City to force compliance with the Charter, and state and city laws.

• Prohibit Dallas Police from enforcing certain marijuana laws unless part of a violent felony or high priority narcotics felony investigation, and make enforcement of marijuana possession up to four ounces the “lowest enforcement priority.”

A group that calls itself Dallas Hero and is led by a former Trump administration appointee who indicated he lives in University Park authored the first three amendments. The progressive group Ground Game Texas authored the marijuana proposal. Each collected the required number of signatures from qualified voters to force an election.

Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia did a little “show and tell” to demonstrate his view that 4 ounces of marijuana is no small amount (pictured below). He said approval of the measure would pose a threat to public safety. Not to be outdone, Council Member Paula Blackmon said her sons also confirmed, “that’s a lot of weed, Mom.”

The issue with the requirement to hire another 1,000 officers is not that the City does not need more officers. It is well-documented that we need at least a few hundred more. The problem is, as Council Member Gay Donnell Willis noted, “you don’t order Dallas police officers off of Amazon.” Police departments across the country have been losing officers faster than they can hire new ones for years.

Council Member Carolyn King Arnold warned that a mandate to add that many officers might lead us to hire cops who resemble the goofy character “Otis,” portrayed by Martin Lawrence in the 90’s sitcom Martin.

The proposed amendments would also tie the hands of Dallas leaders, effectively revoking some of the most important powers of the City Council in overseeing the city manager and the budget process.

The City Council will vote this week on whether to put the amendments on the November ballot, but they do not have much choice. City attorneys described it as a “ministerial duty” that they do so.

Meanwhile, City Council members also must decide this week which of 16 other proposed amendments to add to the ballot as part of the City’s Charter review process.

It will all likely make for an especially confusing voter education campaign, depending on which Dallas civic groups step up with funding.

Read on for more on this and:

• What’s in Interim City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert’s proposed $4.97 billion budget.

• How the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System blindsided City leaders last week.

• The Downtown Dallas-based architecture firm expected to win a contract for a planned new Dallas police academy in southern Dallas.

⚡ Highlights From Last Week’s Meetings of Interest:

— Planning for a proposed Dallas-to-Fort Worth high-speed rail line won’t be stalled by the Dallas City Council’s opposition to a proposed route that would cut through Downtown, D Magazine reports on Thursday’s meeting of the Regional Transportation Council. It now appears likely the $6 billion project will bypass Downtown to the west en route to a federally approved Cedars station that would also serve as the Dallas base for a separate Dallas-to-Houston high-speed rail line.

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:

— The Dallas Police and Fire Pension System (DPFPS) Board blindsided City of Dallas leaders on Thursday when it decided to take the City to court to determine who has final say on a funding plan to solve the system’s $3.4 billion shortfall, as reported by The Dallas Morning News.

“It is very disappointing to realize that while Mayor Pro Tem Tennell Atkins and City staff have been negotiating in good faith, it now appears the same cannot be said for the DPFPS representatives,” Interim City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert writes in a memo to City Council members.

***

— Downtown Council Member Jesse Moreno is seeking information to help address quality of life challenges tied to homelessness in and around the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library, according to this memo he sent to the interim city manager. DDI will continue working closely with Moreno and library staff to address non-emergency challenges in public areas outside the library, where DDI is authorized to operate.

— Check out all the latest City Hall memos here and here.

Meetings of Interest: August 12 - 16, 2024

Watch City of Dallas Meetings Live

Monday, August 12

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

— Dallas last year outsourced its crossing guard program to All City Management Services on a three-year contract not to exceed $24 million. There are currently 514 crossing guards employed at 286 intersections across eight independent school districts and nine private schools, according to this briefing, which includes the above information on how to get a crossing guard in your neighborhood.

— These are the latest state and federal legislative priorities expected to be advanced by this committee to full City Council for consideration this fall.

North Texas Council of Governments: Transportation Public Meeting, 12 p.m., 616 Six Flags Drive, Arlington; Watch live here

— This public input meeting will include presentations on mobility plans, projects, and demographic forecasts.

Tuesday, August 13

Dallas City Council Budget Workshop, Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

— Interim City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert’s proposed $4.97 billion City of Dallas budget for the fiscal year beginning October 1 includes the largest single-year property tax reduction in modern history and new investments in public safety, homelessness, streets, and public right-of-way cleanup. The occasionally cranky Dallas Morning News editorial board calls it “a disciplined budget focused on the right priorities for a city that leads a growing region.” Read all 838 pages of the proposed for yourself here. Check out the video above for highlights.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit, Committee-of-the-Whole at 2 p.m., Board of Directors’ Meeting at 6 p.m., 1401 Pacific Avenue; Watch Live Here

— The Committee-of-the-Whole work session includes a briefing on the proposed fiscal 2025 agency budget (highlights above). Review the briefing here.

— The Board is scheduled to vote during the regular meeting on whether to distribute the proposed budget and 20-year financial plan to the agency’s 13 service cities and towns for review.

Wednesday, August 14

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

— Item 2 is an ordinance to transition the City’s Real Estate Division from the Department of Public Works to the renamed Department of Facilities and Real Estate Management (FRM), formerly the Building Services Department. “Real Estate and all associated functions and operations, positions, and funding will be transferred to FRM.” More background on this budget-neutral change can be found in this June 28 memo.

— Item 32 is acceptance of a $900,000 federal grant to support planning and design for projects surrounding the planned Southern Gateway Park over Interstate 35E next to the Dallas Zoo. Read more in this memo.

— Item 42 is a nearly $10 million architectural services contract with Downtown Dallas-based HKS, Inc., architecture firm for the planned Dallas Police training academy, formally known as the Regional Law Enforcement Training Center. The $130 million academy is being funded with 2024 bond money, state funds, and private donations. It will be located on the University of North Texas at Dallas campus in southern Dallas. Read more about the project in this memo.

— Item 45 is an annual public hearing to receive comments regarding the proposed 2025 assessment of $0.139 per $100 valuation on Downtown property owners to fund the Dallas Downtown Improvement District, managed by Downtown Dallas, Inc. (DDI), for more than 30 years. This assessment is what funds DDI’s supplemental services, including the nonprofit’s Security, Clean, Homeless Outreach, and Ambassador teams, as well as marketing, events, and economic development initiatives. This assessment also includes the cost for DDI to plant approximately 500 new trees throughout Downtown.

— Item 66 is $200,000 service contract with Bellcam Group for in-home garden kits “to provide residents with a recurring supply of fresh grown produce.” The 18-month deal is funded with federal pandemic relief money.

— Item 85 is an ordinance ordering a City Charter election to be held on November 5 with whatever City Council decides to put on the ballot as part of the once-a-decade Charter Review process. As noted above, the City Council still has to finalize which of these amendments to send to voters.

— Item 89 is an ordinance ordering a November election on a City Charter amendment to prohibit Dallas Police from enforcing certain marijuana offenses and requiring them to de-prioritize others. Read the ballot language here.

— Item 90 is an ordinance ordering a November election on three more City Charter amendments to 1.) allow residents to sue the City to force compliance with the Charter and state and local laws; 2.) evaluate the city manager’s performance and adjust his/her salary or terminate him/her based on annual resident survey results; 3.) require the City to use a specified percentage of new revenues to fund the Dallas Police and Fire Pension, hire 1,000 more officers, and pay police more. Read the ballot language here.

— Public Hearing 1 is regarding creation of a new sign subdistrict in the West End to allow for supergraphic advertising signage on the Katy Building at 701 Commerce Street. Read more.

Thursday, August 15

Special Called City Council Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

— The committee will continue deliberations on state and federal legislative priorities for 2025.

— Committee members are also expected to get an update on an economic impact analysis of the Dallas-to-Fort Worth high-speed rail project that was requested by City Council earlier this year.  

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

— This agenda includes a quarterly park system safety update. I serve on this board as the Lake Highlands (District 10) representative.

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

Have a great week.

Best,

Scott Goldstein

Communications & Government Relations Consultant

Downtown Dallas, Inc.