In an apparent bid to counter the thrust of a citizen-led charter reform initiative, Council Member Adam Bazaldua advanced a proposal to further shield City officials like himself from litigation filed by residents.
“I move to amend the ordinance by adding a proposition that adds a section to Chapter 3 stating that nothing in the city charter is intended to waive the City’s governmental immunity from suit, liability, or damages or to grant standing to residents to bring suit against the City, its employees, or officials,” Bazaldua (District 7) said during an hours-long Dallas City Council meeting on August 14.
Bazaldua seemed to propose the measure to block a citizen-led charter amendment proposal resulting from a petition campaign organized by the nonprofit Dallas HERO.
If approved by voters, Dallas HERO’s proposition would allow residents to file suit “against the City of Dallas to require the City to comply with any of the provisions of this City Charter, any City ordinance or any law of the State of Texas.”
“I believe that governmental immunity is something that is already practiced, and we should absolutely support a practice that already exists,” Bazaldua said in defense of his proposed charter amendment.
His motion passed with 13 votes in favor.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Council Member Omar Narvaez (District 6) advanced a proposed charter amendment of his own that, if approved by voters, would undermine the spirit of two other Dallas HERO proposals appearing on the November ballot.
Dallas HERO’s executive director, Pete Marocco, called out the maneuvers by Bazaldua and Narvaez.
“Those two clowns, just on the spot, literally said, ‘I just thought of this,’ and spouted out about amendments that have not been drafted or gone through consideration by legal counsel. There’s been no collaboration with the other council members or the public. Just complete egotistical lunacy,” Marocco told DX.
He suggested the proposed amendments could face legal challenges.
During the meeting, Bazaldua also attacked Dallas HERO’s proposed amendment to increase police pay and staffing and bolster the Dallas Police & Fire Pension System. He read a statement from the Dallas Fire Fighters Association, which purportedly criticized the measure for a number of reasons.
Marocco, however, claimed that Bazaldua coerced the union into coming out against the proposed amendment.
“There has been some very duplicitous behavior, particularly by Adam Bazaldua, who has gone out and threatened firefighters with eliminating their parity pay if they don’t come out in opposition to this,” Marocco alleged.
“Imagine the hubris of being a city council member that thinks you run all the dirty deals in the city and you are threatening police and firefighters to somehow create a fight amongst themselves. And just imagine the delusional mindset of somebody who would treat our heroes this way,” he added.