Dallas City Council – Page 2 – The Other Side Dallas

June 27, 2022June 27, 2022

City Council Redistricting Complete

Dallas City Council redistricting is complete with new district lines. The new lines come after the census which takes into account population shifts.

The city council engages in this process every ten years after they receive census data. The process draws district lines that city council members get elected to represent.

Mayor Johnson said, “Redistricting is critical to a functioning representative democracy.”

He went on, “I am grateful for the work of our Redistricting Commission…led by Chairman Jesse Oliver.”

City Council Redistricting Commission And Upcoming Races

The Dallas city council adoped Plan ID 132918. Per the city charter, city council must approve redistricting forty-five days after redistricting.

Redistricting commission fights were regular and there were process problems when former Republican Alexandra Guio ghosted Paula Blackmon.

A 2014 ruling by the United States Supreme Court negates the preclearance standards. This does not mean a lawsuit will not follow.

One insider called it an incumbent protection map. At least two African American candidates considering races in D5 are dropping out.

Other changes to D4, D6, D7, and D13 also occurred.

June 22, 2022June 22, 2022

Another City Council Equity Giveaway

Another city council equity giveaway was on the Consent Agenda this morning. The item has moved after District 12’s Cara Mendelsohn pulled it from the agenda.

Council Member Mendelsohn asked why a 2018 policy needed to be updated so soon.

David Noguera said he anticipates minimal staff time from his team.

A question asked how can Dallas trust an out of state entity for a policy if they can’t handle their own state incorporation paperwork. It seems Noguera and Housing can not provide adequate oversight to this project.

Today city council is considering a $300,000 payment for a Phase II consulting contract. The contract would be to draft policy and engage stakeholders. The professional services contract was first to be paid to Michele S Williams LLC. There is an amendment to make payment to Michele S Williams, sole proprietor.

A big issue for city council to consider is the fact Michele S Williams LLC is not a Texas registered business. The LLC does not have a registered agent in Texas per state officials.

Additionally, Michelle S Williams LLC is not in good standing per Maryland.

Citizen Opposition

A resident of District 11, Christopher Suprun, also spoke against the contract. He noted the large number of local organizations who could perform this contract. He mentions the issues about using a firm that has issues with its own state incorporation.

Suprun then asked why city staff was not aware of incorporation issues. He posed to city council why they would use an outsider. Suprun believes there are many firms with local ties who better understand Dallas.

Why Another City Council Equity Giveaway?

As the city advertised, B.U.I.L.D. grants. BUILD stands for Broaden Urban Investments to Leverage Dallas.

The city launched the small business grant program in 2020. The goal was to assist small businesses hit by global COVID-19 pandemic. The program said it would provide selected businesses with one-time grant of up to $3,000.

In January 2021, Other Side Dallas documented eight local organizations who never received their grant. It is unclear who kept or used those funds.

One nonprofit called it a classic bait and switch.

Another education based nonprofit noted they received a notification Friday. The notice demanded agreement to new terms not outlined in the original advertisement. They were then given one businesses day to agree.

Afterward, the nonprofit then still never received their funds. Their reaction to this bait and switch was outrage.

Other Side Dallas has been unable to get city staff to respond to inquiries about this contract or the BUILD grant problems.

June 21, 2022June 21, 2022

Eric Johnson Surrenders

Mayor Eric Johnson surrenders in his battle against TC Broadnax. In a post on Medium, Johnson said he will work with Broadnax moving forward. The two pledged a collaborative environment moving forward.

As we asked earlier it appears Tristan Hallman is the mayor’s janitor – cleaning up his messes.

Less than two weeks ago Johnson said,” it was time for a change at the top of our city government.” Johnson now realizes he is short the votes needed to remove Broadnax. Johnson has effectively boxed himself into a corner.

Eric Johnson Surrenders

The mayor and city manager have “agreed” to improve personal relations. They will focus their combined attention on several issues.

Those include permitting, public safety, and general city communication.

Permitting may be the biggest issue to tackle.

The city manager will develop a new action plan for permitting delays. It is unclear if he will start anew or use Council Member Blackmon’s recommendations from May.

The plan will move from the usual city system and be customer centric. The goal is to both create systemic improvements in the system, but also respond to issues now.

On public safety, the two have found new friendship. Both Mayor Johnson and City Manager Broadnax say they will work together.

Broadnax has committed to active and timely meet-and-confer negotiations with public safety. This is for both fire and police services.

Broadnax will also continue violence interruption service, lightning improvements, and blight remediation. Violence interruption often has high price tags with questionable results.

The mayor and city manager will also start having biweekly discussion on issues to promote discussion. A few citizens we spoke to already expected this type of communication and were surprised it wasn’t happening already.

Moving forward initiatives like the mayor’s “Summer of Safety” campaign will be a focus.

These issues will receive attention also. They include attracting talent, technology infrastructure, and firefighter concerns.

June 21, 2022June 21, 2022

Tristan Hallman – Fall Guy or Janitor?

Is Tristan Hallman a fall guy or the mayor’s janitor trying to clean up the inevitable mess that follows him?

Ten days ago Dallas expected TC Broadnaz to be cleaning his office by now. Instead it appears Broadnax is stronger than ever and has a council majority behind him.

For groups like the Dallas Builders Association the anger is palpable. The same for Dallas Professional Firefighters. They are starting to point fingers not only at Eric Johnson, but Tristan Hallman, too.

Hallman is the former Dallas Morning News reporter/editor who is the mayor’s policy chief.

Tristan Hallman Helped Eric Johnson Win Bum Steer Award

Tristan Hallman – Man In The Middle

Some city employees accuse Hallman of fabricating city council signatures. Those signatures were on the five signature memo putting Broadnax contract for discussion.

The Broadnax agenda item fell off the schedule once it was obvious Broadnax would not resign. It appears either the Mayor or his acting chief of staff can not count to eight. (Eight votes are needed to remove Broadnax from his position.)

Adam Bazaldua’s name appeared on the five signature memo calling to review Broadnax.

He was unquivocal: “mayor’s staff fabricated this memo and submitted it to themselves.”

Other Side Dallas reached out to Hallman more than a week ago with no response. This is a stern accusation and it isn’t clear who will investigate it.

Hallman – Not All Failure

Hallman is not a complete failure. He has helped the mayor win at least one award.

While Mayor Johnson was unable to defund the bureaucracy he did win an award. Texas Monthly gave Johnson a Bum Steer Award. They credited his ability to ‘managed to alienate almost everyone.’

While Texas Monthly notes Johnson’s decade of time in the state legislature, they fail to mention any accomplishments.

The Johnson-Hallman duo has shown complete ineptitude on both economic development and sports.

Earlier this month, Johnson argued for another NFL franchise in Dallas. NFL watchers stated the obvious: Eric Johnson is an idiot. “Jerry Jones won’t allow a team in San Antonio, why would he here?”

June 15, 2022June 15, 2022

Broadnax Off Agenda

It appears there is no excitement at today’s Dallas City Council briefing. TC Broadnax off agenda per the city website marking a huge change since last Friday.

What is the meaning of all this? Last week reports surfaced that TC Broadnax’s career in Dallas was over. An agenda item by Mayor Eric Johnson was going to review his performance as chief executive.

Mayor Johnson has made clear he believes Broadnax should be relieved of his duties.

Johnson and three council members, Blackmon (D9), Mendolsohn (D12), and Willis (D13) have asked that the closed session meeting take place.

Wednesday is typically a staff briefing day.

The mayor says the meeting is to “discuss and evaluate the performance and employment of Dallas City Manager TC Broadnax.”

Johnson said, “several of my duly elected colleagues on the Dallas City Council have made it clear in recent days that they also believe it is time for a change.”

He continued, “we are ready to move forward and discuss how best to build for the future of our great city…”

There is a long list of accountability issues with Broadnax’s tenure. Some of those include general management accountability including failure to supervise former Police Chief Reneé Hall, the loss of terabytes of city data, and a nonfunctional permit office inhibiting economic growth.

Why Is Broadnax Off Agenda?

There was a great deal of retail politics happening this weekend.

Reports surfaced that seven council members had approached Broadnax about resigning his position. They Mayor’s vote would be eight meaning a majority of the council supported the ouster of Broadnax.

It is becoming clear that Broadnax is has at least one, if not two, votes up in the air. Who those city council members are is not clear.

What is clear is today’s agenda no longer refers to an Executive session meeting about his performance. Additionally, his career does not appear in the draft agenda for next week’s city council meeting either.

May 25, 2022May 25, 2022

Adam Bazaldua Loses

Adam Bazaldua loses his most recent election – for Precinct Chair of 1084 in South Dallas per Dallas County Elections.

It is unclear why a sitting city council member felt the need to run for Precinct Chair, but the results are disastrous per one local elections watcher.

“Baz just told everyone he can be beat in his own precinct. He just opened the floodgates of new candidates who are going to challenge him.”

One former supporter surmised Tracy Dotie Hill probably did something causing offense to Bazaldua so he decided to take her out of office only to find he couldn’t even win the most local of elections.

Note, final results are not in, but based on Early Voting there is no clear path for Bazaldua to win this seat.

Adam Bazaldua Problems Beginning?

Bazaldua may have a new ethics issue to follow on last year’s regarding his party filing.

The city charter expressly states “A member of the city council shall forfeit his or her place on the council if he or she becomes a candidate for nomination or election to any public office other than a place on the city council or if he or she becomes a candidate for election to any different place on the city council that requires taking office prior to the end of his or her elective term.”

Precinct Chairs are elected positions requiringin a place on a party primary ballot, an affidavit, and are elected by the public. It is unclear how Bazaldua’s filing for Precinct Chair does not violate the city charter.

May 23, 2022May 23, 2022

Dallas City Budget Input 2022

Dallas city budget input 2022 starts tomorrow. The City of Dallas is seeking input from residents on the upcoming Fiscal Year 2022-23 budget.

Two years ago, a progressive group led by Adam Bazaldua, asked for $77M to be removed from the Dallas police budget without city input. In the end they settled for $7M in lost overtime.

That move was described as a budgetary gimmick by some.

Since that time though violent crime has skyrocketed in Dallas making it more dangerous than other cities on a per capita basis.

City Budget Input 2022 Hearings

The City of Dallas holds public hearings to provide residents of Dallas the opportunity to speak on the upcoming year’s budget.

The hearing will be held at Dallas City Hall in the Council Chambers on May 25, 2022 as part of the regularly scheduled City Council meeting, which begins at 9:00 AM.

The deadline to register to speak is Tuesday, May 24, 2022 at 5:00PM.

Additionally, the Office of Budget and Management Services is conducting a Budget Priorities Survey, which is available online in English and Spanish from May 2 to July 2, 2022.

Paper copies are also available at select Dallas Public Library and Recreation Center locations. Please visit the survey website here for more information.

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.

May 10, 2022May 10, 2022

District Lines Askew In Dallas City Redistricting

The city redistricting commission is getting heated as commissioners attempt to finish their Dallas city redistricting plan and present it to city council.

In a Facebook post Tuesday morning prior to a 9:30AM Redistricting Commission Meeting, District 8 Commissioner seemed to be openly attacking the idea of Hispanics on City Council arguing his map (17) gave four opportunities for Blacks or Hispanics to be represented, but another map under consideration (41) provided no opportunity for Black representation.

Dallas City Redistricting Members Openly Attack Citizen Input

In the same post Bryant attacked Bill Betzen, a self professed data geek, over his amendment to Map 17.

It is unclear what history, Bryant and Betzen may have from the past, but some say the behavior attacking a citizen trying to contribute to the redistricting plan has a chilling effect on citizen participation -which is supposed to be a goal of the group.

Bryant is listed as President of a group, Politics United Marketing, and two sources have told Other Side Dallas that Bryant is angling for future political work for his firm.

Turnout in local elections has been historically low. The recent schools elections this past Saturday had an average county turnout of only six percent.

April 27, 2022April 27, 2022

Dallas Housing Socialism

Dallas housing socialism appears ready to come to Dallas if some get their way.

The City of Dallas is considering limiting property purchases within city limits and may seek state legislation also.

David Noguera, the Director of Dallas Housing said, “Canada restricts how many foreign investors can come into your market and buy up your real estate.”

Dallas Housing Socialism

Median prices on housing are up more than twenty percent in th Dallas/Fort Worth market over last year and there has been general sticker shock over the tax bills coming due.

Dallas Councilwoman Jaynie Schultz asked “are we working on a bigger policy regarding the scourge of investment buyers?”

Some are not sure this should be a city council priority.

Mark Fuentes, a local landlord, said “Dallas does not need to follow Canada on anything. We need police to respond to emergencies and city council members to follow their own ethics policy.”

“Why do they want to bring Canada’s socialism to Dallas,” he continued.

Dallas has a poor history of affordable housing issues in part because of repetitive corruptions trials where elected officials were getting rich off federal programs and bribes. These have led in some cases to today’s higher tax bills.

Fuentes said, “Dallas can’t even get its permit office to run properly. Why are they going to restrict how I make a living?”