Council Member Tennell Atkins has claimed that citizen-led reform efforts to grow the Dallas Police Department and establish more accountability when it comes to City officials would “set us back to the dark ages.”
Atkins, who represents District 8, spoke at a Dallas City Council meeting this month in opposition to proposed Dallas City Charter amendments stemming from petition campaigns organized by the nonprofit Dallas HERO.
If approved by voters, the amendments would bolster public safety resources, empower citizens to hold their local leaders accountable in court for not following state and local laws, and tie city manager bonus pay to an annual resident survey. Dallas residents will vote on the proposed amendments in November.
“This charter amendment in the HEROs — I think it would set us back to the dark ages,” Atkins said at the meeting.
Atkins explained his criticism, expressing concern about the proposals’ potential budgetary impacts. The charter amendment concerning public safety would require half of the excess City budget to be used to bolster the Dallas Police & Fire Pension System, hire roughly 1,000 police officers, and boost police salaries to competitive levels.
Interim City Manager Kimberly Tolbert allegedly spread misinformation about the budgetary impact of this particular proposal, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Pete Marocco, the executive director of Dallas HERO, slammed Tolbert for what he described as a fabricated narrative.
“Kim Tolbert’s spurious allegation that every other City agency would have to cut resources is absolutely untrue and appears to be deliberate voter disenfranchisement,” he previously told DX.
Several Dallas City Council members passed three charter amendments this month that, if approved by voters, would essentially negate the Dallas HERO proposals. These members face three lawsuits filed by Dallas HERO in response, as previously reported by DX.
“This case is about the right of Texans to direct popular participation in lawmaking,” the lawsuit states. “This case is also about the right of Texans to vote on citizen-placed city charter amendments without governmental actors manipulating their ballots in ways designed to mislead and cause confusion.”