Dateline Hobbit Hole

Why I'll continue to spend hours of my weekends cranking out the Meetings of Interest newsletter.

Author

Scott Goldstein
January 05, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 14 minutes

Hello, friend,

I spend a lot of my weekends in what my wife lovingly (?) calls my “hobbit hole” home office reading local government agendas, memos, and PowerPoint presentations. I do it to produce this weekly newsletter because I know the content and the related actions of our local policymakers has a direct impact on our daily lives.

Consider what’s ahead just this week.

The Dallas City Council on Wednesday will vote on matters related to public safety, streets, water, housing, parks, and economic development with a total listed value of over $165 million. Even by Dallas standards, that is a healthy chunk of change.

On Thursday, the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Board will consider a $600,000 consultant contract to help in its search for a new CEO. Whoever replaces Sean Donohue, who announced his retirement last year, will take the helm of the third-busiest airport in the world, generating an estimated $37 billion in regional economic impact every year.

On Wednesday and Friday, the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Board of directors will discuss potential funding and governance changes that could dramatically impact the way the agency serves an estimated 220,000 passengers daily.

There’s a lot more happening this week, more than I could ever cover in one email. That is part of why I’ve switched to a new platform that will make it easier for me to organize and archive my work for you.

For starters, every edition of Meetings of Interest — all 80 of them — can now be found at meetingsofinterest.com. Starting this week, I’ll also be saving every individual document “of interest” in publicly available Dropbox folders. That includes items that I don’t necessarily cover in the newsletter.

As always, I encourage you to send me your thoughts directly, now at my new email address, [email protected].

📖 Table of Contents

📝 Memos of Interest

  • With overnight temperatures expected to dip below freezing, City officials activated a temporary inclement weather homeless shelter at Fair Park this afternoon, according to this memo. It may remain opened for a few days, depending on how long this cold spell lasts.

  • The City’s IT department has 106 projects totaling more than $264 million in the pipeline. Read all about them here.

  • Each City Council member will be assigned topics of focus for the upcoming state legislative session, according to a plan proposed by Council member Cara Mendelsohn, chair of the Ad Hoc Committee for Legislative Affairs. The plan will be discussed during a committee meeting tomorrow.

  • Here’s the complete City Manager memo packet for Friday, January 3, 2025.

🤝 Meetings of Interest: Jan. 6 - 10, 2025

Monday, January 6

City Council Parks, Trails & Environment Committee, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

City Council Ad Hoc Legislative Affairs Committee, 12 p.m., Council Briefing Room, 6ES, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

  • Committee members are expected to discuss their proposed topics of focus for the state legislative session, as noted in the memos section above. They will also discuss potential changes to the City Council-approved legislative priorities.

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

  • The Dallas Housing Opportunity Fund (DHOF) has raised $41.5 million towards its $46 million goal as of the end of 2024. The money has been put toward 553 affordable housing units, with a focus on projects led by diverse developers that address critical needs such as permanent supportive housing and wraparound services. Read more.

  • The chairman of the Dallas Economic Development Corporation (EDC) is slated to provide an update on the work of the nonprofit charged with bolstering economic growth in Dallas. The briefing is not publicly posted.

Wednesday, January 8

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

  • Item 2 is a proposed $600,000 settlement with the family of late Dallas firefighter David Walters, who died after playing football with his family the day after Thanksgiving in 2018. His widow, Kristi Walters, and the couple’s three sons sued the city for payment of workers’ compensation benefits. The family was not entitled to line-of-duty death benefits, The Dallas Morning News reported in 2019.

  • Item 15 is a $6.1 million construction contract with Big Sky Construction Company, Inc. to redo Dallas Museum of Art galleries damaged in August 2022 floods.

  • Items 38 and 39 are both contacts related to the ongoing Downtown Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas redevelopment. Item 38 is a $22.3 million architecture/engineering and design contract with KAI Design for renovation and reconstruction of The Black Academy of Arts and Letters. Item 39 is a $25.1 million architectural and engineering design contract with Gensler for renovation and reconstruction of the Dallas Memorial Auditorium, the future home of the WNBA’s Dallas Wings.

  • Zoning case Z16 is a redo of a request for a Specific Use Permit (SUP) for Club Vivo at the southwest corner of North Harwood Street and Pacific Avenue in Downtown. City Council members last year punted the case back to City Plan Commission for a second look after CPC originally recommended denial of the permit. The second time around, CPC recommended a one-year renewal, which City Council members will now consider.

  • PH 1 is a public hearing to receive comments on proposed changes to the City’s Economic Development Incentive Policy. The proposed changes are detailed here.

Dallas Economic Development Corporation (EDC) Board of Directors, 9 a.m., Downtown Dallas, Inc. (DDI) Board Room, 1401 Elm St. #500

  • The board of the nonprofit charged with promoting economic growth in Dallas is expected to discuss CEO Linda McMahon’s compensation in executive session, followed by a potential vote on her revised pay.

Thursday, January 9

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Board Meeting, 8:30 a.m., 2400 Aviation Drive, Board Room, DFW Airport Headquarters Building, DFW Airport

City Council Ad Hoc Administrative Affairs Committee, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

  • Committee members will discuss three consultant proposals to lead the search for a new Inspector General. The position now reports directly to City Council members following voter approval of a Charter amendment last year.

  • They will also discuss how best to set goals for and evaluate the performance of the officials who report directly to City Council.

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

Regional Transportation Council (RTC), 1 p.m., Transportation Council Room, North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), 616 Six Flags Dr., Arlington; Watch live here

  • The agency is requesting $1 million to prepare for potential litigation from Hunt Realty Investment, Inc. and related entities over a proposed Dallas-Fort Worth high-speed rail line that would run through their properties in Downtown. The agenda packet contains nearly 100 pages in correspondence between attorneys for Hunt and NCTCOG, including 16 letters from Hunt attorneys “asserting various legal and factual claims” (linked here for your fireside reading pleasure).

  • RTC members will also discuss how to fill a nearly $14 million funding gap for the planned reconstruction of Riverfront Boulevard from Cadiz Street to Justice Center Way, just outside of Downtown. The project, which includes bike and pedestrian enhancements, is currently funded with a mix of Dallas County and City money.

Friday, January 10

  • This is a continuation of the Wednesday workshop discussion on DART service area city priorities and proposals.

Special Called City Council Public Safety Committee, 2 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

  • Violent crime in Dallas fell by more than 8% in 2024 as compared to 2023, including a 26% drop in murders and a nearly 8% drop in aggravated assaults, according to this presentation. That translates to 65 fewer murder victims last year and nearly 500 fewer victims of aggravated assaults, according to Dallas police data.

Did I miss anything? Do you have any questions? Just want to talk about meetings and memos and other fun stuff? Hit me up.

Were you forwarded this newsletter? Subscribe here.

Have a great week.

Best,

Scott Goldstein

Publisher

Meetings of Interest

How'd you like this edition of Meetings of Interest?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Reply

or to participate.