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- Meetings of Interest 9: March 3, 2024
Meetings of Interest 9: March 3, 2024
Meetings of Interest: 🏞️ Parks and Wreck?
Sunday, March 3, 2024
Good evening:
On Friday, Downtown Dallas, Inc. (DDI), honored Robert W. Decherd, the visionary behind Downtown's parks renaissance.
In accepting DDI's 2024 Groundbreaker Award, Decherd made a brief and not-so-subtle commentary on an important issue to be debated at City Hall tomorrow night.
"Dallas is truly fortunate to have an independent Park Board. Remember that," said the always understated chairman of nonprofit
.
Dallas may not be so fortunate if any of three proposed City Charter amendments are sent to voters and approved later this year. The amendments will be heard tomorrow night and later this month by the City Council-appointed Charter Review Commission.
For nearly 120 years, the Dallas Park & Recreation Department director has reported to a board appointed by the mayor and City Council. Most parks advocates would say that independent structure is key to the department's success, allowing for increased transparency, accountability, and access. Almost every parks measure of significance goes through both the Park Board and City Council.
Two of the proposals before the Charter Review Commission would make the Park & Recreation Department the 40th office or department nestled under the city manager's purview. Those will be discussed tomorrow at 6:30 p.m.
The third would have the department director become the fifth position reporting directly to the City Council.
Both would essentially undo Park Board authority, turning it into a toothless advisory board (I serve on the Park Board as the representative for Lake Highlands).
Decherd raised more than $48 million as part of a public-private partnership with the Dallas Park & Recreation Department to plan and develop four signature Downtown parks. It likely would not have happened if not for the independent structure, allowing for a partnership that simply is not possible with most other departments buried in the City Hall bureaucracy.
The structure works as it was designed to more than a century ago. And the people it is meant to serve are largely happy with it. It certainly is not broken, which is why DDI will join many others in advocating against the Charter proposals this month.
The City Council has final authority on what Charter amendments to send to voters for approval in November.
Read on for more on:
The major Downtown projects to be discussed by City Council this week.
How Dallas is doing in combating crime so far this year and what crime is being added to the mandatory online reporting system.
Approval of two major contracts tied to the Downtown convention center redevelopment.
This tribute video to Robert W. Decherd played at DDI's Annual Meeting on Friday. It was produced by Medium Giant.
⚡ Highlights From Last Week's Meetings of Interest:
-- The Dallas City Council in a 12-2 vote on Tuesday appointed Deputy City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert as interim city manager, effective when current City Manager T.C. Broadnax leaves his post on June 3. Read more from
.
-- The Dallas City Council on Wednesday awarded two contracts totaling more than $17 million to Black women-led firms to oversee the renovation of the Downtown convention center's Memorial Auditorium and The Black Academy of Arts and Letters,
.
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].
📝 Memos of Interest:
-- City workers will jump out of the new Dallas 311 app upon request with two thumbs up, according to City marketing materials to be released at
. This will hopefully result in faster service.
-- The first round of fiscal 2024-25 budget town halls is set for late March. Check out the virtual and in-person options to tell City Council members and staff your budget priories
.
-- Check out all the latest City Hall memos
and
.
Meetings of Interest: March 4 - 8, 2024
Monday, March 4
🏛
, 9 a.m. Briefing, 1 p.m. Public Hearing, Council Chambers, 6ES Council Briefing Room, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- This agenda includes proposed replacements of windows and doors on the historic Downtown Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.
🏞
City Council Parks, Trails, and the Environment Committee, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- The committee will discuss
in any indoor or enclosed area or park property. The briefing comes after Dallas County Heath and Human Services Director
.
💹
City Council Economic Development Committee, 1 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- Economic Development Corporation (EDC) Board Chair John Stephens
on the nonprofit charged with supporting business development and serving as a public developer. Stephens will share the latest on the organization's search for its first permanent CEO.
-- The beleaguered City permitting department says things are looking up and customers are largely satisfied,
.
-- The City Council on March 27 will
to the City Economic Development Incentive Policy.
🌆
Special Joint Meeting of Economic Development Committee and Workforce, Education, and Equity Committee, 3:30 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- The committees will meet together to discuss a draft of the Historical and Cultural Preservation Strategy, the latest in a series of equity-centered Dallas policy reforms,
. The slide below appears to show that residents engaged on historic or cultural preservation have the unenviable task of navigating up to ten different city departments. They also have questions. The City Council is expected to vote on the strategy on March 27.
📜 Charter Review Commission, 6:30 p.m. Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- DDI President & CEO Jennifer Scripps and I are registered to speak against proposals to have the Park & Recreation Department director report to the city manager instead of the City Council-appointed Park Board.
-- Also on the agenda are
. Council members currently are paid $60,000 annually. The mayor makes $80,000 a year.
Tuesday, March 5
💪🏽
City Council Workforce, Education, and Equity Committee, 9 a.m. Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- This update briefing on Racial Equity Plan Big Audacious Goals (aka "BAGS") includes the above breakdown of budget investments tied to the plan.
.
-- Committee members will also discuss
that all committees host a meeting this spring to gather community input on major topics related to their policy areas.
-- The mayor's Workforce Development Czar Lynn McBee will deliver
.
🤑
Dallas Economic Development Corporation, 9 a.m., L1EN Room E, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- The EDC will discuss in executive session the latest on the ongoing search for the nonprofit's first permanent CEO.
👮🏽♀️
City Council Public Safety Committee, 1 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- Violent crime is down by more than 17% as compared to this time last year, but business robberies have spiked by nearly 45%,
.
-- As expected, Dallas police are continuing to expand the use of online reporting instead of sending officers to the scene for certain crimes. Minor hit-and-run collisions involving no injuries will be handled via online reports starting Tuesday,
.
Wednesday, March 6
🚄
Dallas City Council Briefing Meeting, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- Updates on major Downtown projects are on this agenda. That includes the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas master plan, and discussion on high-speed rail, streetcar expansion and Eddie Bernice Johnson Union Station. Neither of two planned briefings have been made publicly available, but
D Magazine's
.
Thursday, March 7
🗺
City Plan Commission, 9 a.m. Briefing, 12:30 p.m. Public Hearing, Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- Downtown's beloved
at 1508 Commerce Street is up for renewal of its two-year Specific Use Permit.
.
🏞
Dallas Park & Recreation Board, 10 a.m., 6FN Conference Room, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
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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