City Budget – Page 2 – The Other Side Dallas

May 14, 2022May 13, 2022

The Road Not Taken…

Earlier in the week Dallas City Council chose the road not taken: the one where taxpayers pay a contractor the low bid amount for a project.

The $11.5M project is now suspended pending the outcome of legal action filed by Gadberry Construction and owner Dustin Gadberry in Dallas County District Court.

The project for the Design District had previously been approved by both city staff and parks and recreation.

The lawsuit names Mayor Eric Johnson and all members of city council except Jesse Moreno (D2), Jaime Resendez (D5), Narvaez (D6), and Paul Ridley (D14).

Moreno, Narvez, and Ridley all voted against the project, Resendez did not cast a vote on the matter.

The Road Not Taken: Taxpayers

On Wednesday, Judge Kristina Williams, formally blocked the city from proceeding with the contract and disallowed Dallas and the Fain Group from performing any work related to the project.

A May 25th hearing has been scheduled to review Gadsberry’s request for an injunction.

Williams’ order in part read: “If defendants are permitted to contract with the second-lowest bidder, defendants will violate their obligations under Chapter 252 of the Texas Local Government Code, and more than $700,000 of taxpayer money will be wasted.”

Williams is Judge for the 192nd Civil District Court and one of the few elected Republicans still in office. She is currently running for the 5th Court of Appeals, Place 7.

Unlike city staff, she appears to be on the road not taken by city council, defending the city taxpayer from wasteful and excessive spending.

The Road Not Taken: Ethics Disclosures

Some have complained the trail project is delayed because the road not taken in this case was Ethics 101.

Some city council watchers complained that city council member Omar Narvaez did not publicly disclose Dustin Gadberry was his campaign treasurer, but Narvaez disputes that.

Narvaez said, “I did publicly disclose he was my campaign treasurer. Every time I filed a campaign finance report his name is listed in the paperwork, and it’s a public record that anyone can find.”

Narvaez told local news that he’d been told by the city attorney’s office that he didn’t have to recuse himself because he didn’t have any financial interest in Gadberry’s construction company.

Other Side Dallas will follow this story and continue to update as developments occur.

February 23, 2022February 23, 2022

Dallas Infrastructure Deserts

In a surprise to no one, Southern Methodist University provided a study confirming the obvious: Dallas infrastructure deserts exists, they primarily exist in the southern sector, and they are happening despite massive funding and misspending by Dallas City Council.

Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Barbara Minsker led the research project using public data and aerial maps.

“An infrastructure desert is a low-income area that has very highly deficient infrastructure compared to other areas of the city,” Minsker said.

The study considered twelve features of neighborhood infrastructure including streets, sidewalks, internet access to access to medical care. Neighborhoods deficient in eight or more characteristics were graded as infrastructure deserts.

The City of Dallas has not had a serious effort to handle its budget priorities in years. This has led to multiple cost over runs and quality control issues leading to issues in both Public Works and other programs.

Dallas Infrastructure Deserts Study Details

The study can be viewed here, but has a warning that it should not be cited since it has not been peer reviewed yet.

January 5, 2022January 5, 2022

Public Input Requested For Federal Dollars

Federal dollars are coming to Dallas and public input is being requested for the use of those dollars.

The City of Dallas Community Development Commission (CDC), along with staff from Budget and Management Services will hold a series of virtual neighborhood public meetings to inform residents of the potential uses of U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds.

The meetings are also designed to encourage residents to provide input on how the City uses these federal grant funds to address community needs.

The HUD grants serve low-and-moderate income residents and communities in Dallas. The FY 2022-23 Action Plan (annual budget) will be submitted to HUD August 2022. The meetings begin virtually Thursday, January 6 to January 20.

Federal Dollars Public Hearing Schedule

Dates and times are as follows:

January 6, 2022: 7:00 PM

January 10, 2022 : 10:00 AM

January 11, 2022 : 5:00 PM

January 13, 2022 : 12:00 PM

January 13, 2022 : 6:00 PM

January 20, 2022 : 6:00 PM (Telephone townhall meeting)

More information on the Consolidated Plan and meeting links are available here: https://bit.ly/3pkmDC5.

It is unclear how this process will differ from the South Dallas/Fair Park Opportunity Fund which has had repeated problems over the years.

September 9, 2021September 9, 2021

Crime Up And DPD Overtime Down

Dallas crime up and DPD overtime is down per a Dallas City Council vote earlier which removed additional funds from the Dallas City budget.

City Council is putting the finishing touches on next year’s budget which will be finalized on September 22, 2021.

The biggest fireworks were when Dallas Police Department’s overtime budget was cut by $10M and moved into city reserves awaiting results of an audit. The vote was 8-7 in favor of defunding the department and ignores recent failures of officer availability to respond to three children assaulted last week.

Crime Up And DPD Overtime Down – Again

Citizens can still contact their member of City Council prior to the final vote on September 22, 2021.

July 1, 2021July 1, 2021

Dallas Trash Delays

Dallas trash services will be experiencing delays per Tim Oliver, the City of Dallas Interim Director of Sanitation Services.

The City of Dallas is experiencing a laborer shortage within the Department of Sanitation Services, resulting in intermittent service delays for customers.

Sanitation has adjusted operations to prioritize on-time garbage collection for customers. This means all available staff are assigned to garbage collection routes first. Per a city press release, blue roll cart collection of recyclable materials may be delayed by one or two days in various areas of the city, on a rotating basis, over the next several weeks, until staffing levels stabilize. IT has been reported that recycling has been missed by more than a week in some cases.

The City of Dallas says it is not necessary for customers to report missed recycling collection to 311 unless materials have not been collected after more than forty-eight hours. Areas primarily serviced by automated truck routes will be less affected by this disruption.

Residents can find updates on garbage, recycling, and brush and bulky trash collections on Sanitation’s website, on NextDoor, and the Dallas Sanitation app (App Store / Google Play). Sanitation customers enrolled in the City of Dallas ePay system also receive service advisories directly via email.

Dallas Trash Issues Ongoing

At its last meeting, Dallas City Manager TC Broadnax was given another raise along with the City Secretary despite multiple service issues throughout the city.

Last October, Dallas fell one spot in a national survey of cities by Orkin. It fell on spot to sixteen due to a lower rat population per a national survey though those numbers did not account for changes due to COVID19.

That report came roughly a month after Dallas said it would be limiting residential bulk pickup.

June 1, 2021May 31, 2021

QAnon Supporter Michael Flynn Calls For Coup in Dallas

QAnon Conference Leads To Call For Coup In Dallas

Michael Flynn Calls For a Myanmar style coup in Dallas at the Omni Hotel this weekend in the latest provocation by far right QAnon supporters.

The Omni Dallas Hotel is hosting guests for the four-day QAnon inspired conference called For God and Country Patriot Roundup. The event featured prominent QAnon supportes including former national security advisor Michael Flynn.

The conference began on Friday with a VIP meet-and-greet reception and lasted through yesterday, Memorial Day.

Flynn responded to a crowd question about why a Myanmar style insurrection could not happen here and he respodned he thought it should.

It is unclear what the cost is to taxpayers for police overtime to provide a space to organizers who openly support insurrection against the United States government.

Dallas County overwhelmingly voted for Joe Biden in November 2020 with 598,576 votes to Donald Trump’s 307,076 votes. This was approximately 65% to 33% with third party candidates taking in the remainder.

Coup In Dallas – Not The First Issue At Omni Hotel

The Omni Dallas has had numerous issues in recent history.

Last year the Omni Hotel refused to put the Black Lives Matter slogan on its hotel wall. The Omni is one of the hotels supported by Visit Dallas which has had numerous audit issues over the years costing taxpayers millions of dollars.

This conference also comes on the heels of Barry Wernick’s campaign for Dallas City Council, District 11, being accused of Trumpian campaign tactics. Wernick’s team admitted in a secret recording to doctoring a Facebook post of his opponent for the Dallas City Council seat earlier in the campaign season.

October 17, 2020October 16, 2020

Shock and Fail: The Lorenzo Hotel Was To Get COVID19 Relief Dollars?

The Lorenzo Hotel almost got $1.9M in CARES Act funding through a provision City Manager’s staff tried to push through this week.

Cara Mendelsohn, Dallas City Council member for District 12, on Thursday called out the city manager’s office for seemingly trying to hide the proposed $1.9M in COVID19 relief money to a prominent hotel developer.

The agenda item was described in a presentation as a $1.8 million debt payment, with no mention the money would be for the Lorenzo Hotel in the Cedars.

A deal the city council reached in 2013 used federal HUD money to turn a blighted abandoned building into the boutique Lorenzo Hotel. Visit Dallas has been unable to help and like many hotels is struggling. If the owner does not make the payments to HUD that is owes, the city is the guarantor.

Lorenzo Hotel or Rental Assistance

Months ago we did a story about rental assistance going to richer landlords and not South or West Dallas tenants in need. $1.9M would be almost 20% of the budget alloted for rental assistance. Instead of dollars going into an upscale private entity it is worth asking if those dollars would be better spent towards many with rental assistance needs.

Additionally, this is another example of city economic development not creating trust between itself and the citizens it serves. The current Economic Development Director Courtney Pogue has been rumored to be leaving for some time now.

October 2, 2020October 2, 2020

Did Dallas Defund 9-1-1 Call Takers Too?

Where are the 9-1-1 call takers?

Multiple news reports said a man died early Sunday after he was shot while in his vehicle outside the Westin Galleria, Dallas police say. This comes less than a week after the Dallas City Council voted to defund Dallas Police overtime, but a social media account suggests the response was slowed due to lack of 9-1-1 call takers.

Officers responded about 2:47 a.m. to the shooting call in the 13340 block of Dallas Parkway, where witnesses told police a group of males in a dark-colored sedan shot at a white Mercedes in front of the hotel.

Both the shooter’s vehicle and the victim left the area, but police found the victim near the service road with a gunshot wound.

9-1-1 Call Takers Inaction An Ongoing Problem

9-1-1 call takers are an ongoing problem in numerous big cities. Dave Statter of Statter911 has a long history of reporting issues with Washington, DC’s Operation Center.

Dallas appears to be having some of the same issues per the social media responses above including a fight in progress and uninterrupted” automatic gun fire.

September 30, 2020September 30, 2020

Willis Winters Blues

Willis Winters Park must be experiencing some winter blues after Dallas Morning News writer Sharon Grigsby described the park as a “zombie football stadium” risen again from the dead in her East Dallas neighborhood.

Grigsby described local Facebook pages exploding and indeed they are of late. One error may prove fatal to the project: blocking Avi S Adelman from commenting.

The new stadium plan would include 4000 seats, but does not address the lack of parking in the immediate area surrounding Willis Winters Park currently which is used for baseball, football, soccer, and softball.

Adelman, famous for a lawsuit against Dallas Area Rapid Transit for wrongful arrest has been active in the Dallas community for decades. Administrators of one Facebook group thought silencing him would stop his questions.

Willis Winters Park v Avi S Adelman

Adelman has been blocked from the Randall/Winters Park Improvement Project News Facebook group discussing the Willis Winters Park project immediately following the post below.

Willis Winters Park Discussion by Avi S Adelman

Avi S Adelman has been down this road before and is going directly after questions about who is funding what. As local political pages go the language is not over the top.

An important point made by both Adelman and Grigsby is the upcoming Dallas ISD Bond 2020 vote. Currently Dallas ISD has no funds programmed for a new stadium for Woodrow Wilson High School in its $3.7B bond package, bnut numerous bonds have passed and then funds were reprogrammed.

The Park Board is holding a meeting Thursday, October 1. Interested parties can sign up to speak to the board via Webex.

September 24, 2020September 24, 2020

City Budget Choices Leaves Everybody Unhappy

The Dallas City Council budget choices appear to have everyone mad after a 9-6 vote which cuts $7M from the police overtime budget, but adds another $8M in year over year spending.

The council passed the new budget late Wednesday that increases overall police funding despite promises from progressive members of the council to to slash it. In the backdrop were a crowd of marchers who assembled outside City Hall to protest police violence.

Budget Choices

The budget places an emphasis on ending historical inequities by injecting more money into disadvantaged southern Dallas neighborhoods. There are millions of dollars in federal coronavirus relief for programs like rental assistance filling some of those gaps, but Dallas’ own program ended up sending money to North Dallas.

Local activists did try to cut nearly forty percent from the Dallas Police Department budget – but their proposal for a $200M cut – won no votes. The $200M cut is well over the $77M cut previously rumored for Defund DPD 2.0.

City Council members also did not support Mayor Eric Johnson’s plan to defund the bureaucracy or mention the pending departure of the City’s Economic Development Director Courtney Pogue.