Council Member Carolyn King Arnold, who represents District 4, has vowed to stop some citizen-led reforms that would bolster the Dallas Police Department and hold local officials accountable.
Dallas citizens will vote on an extensive list of proposed charter amendments in November. Three amendments, which stem from a petition campaign organized by the nonprofit Dallas HERO, were added to the ballot after the requisite number of resident signatures were secured.
One proposed charter amendment would require the City to hire roughly 1,000 police officers, increase police salaries, and secure the Dallas Police & Fire Pension System. Another would allow citizens to sue City leaders if they refuse to follow local or state laws. The last proposal would establish a resident survey that would determine the city manager’s bonus pay.
At a Dallas City Council meeting held earlier this month, Arnold threatened to use taxpayer dollars to oppose the Dallas HERO amendments.
“So when we allow this misleading language and actions to get on the ballot, how do we counteract that?” she asked. “Well, it’s education. It’s education, but it has to go through this process. How will we get our message out? Do we use city funds, or do we have to have the partnership to help us with a campaign, or is it legal to do that?”
“I am committed to educating our community around this charter,” she continued. “Democracy is one is one of those elements that I do support. But misleading, in my opinion, is unfair to our constituents. So, my position is, I’m going to try to get through every avenue I can to educate the people that I represent and those who come to me.”
“So what can I do as a council member?” she asked the city manager’s office. “What help can I get, and what can I do legally? As I get out to message against those misleading measures that will have to go on the ballot?”
Pete Marocco, executive director of Dallas HERO, claimed that Arnold’s opposition to the Dallas HERO measures is rooted in a misunderstanding of the policy proposals, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. She spoke at another Dallas City Council meeting this month about the city manager amendment.
“The recommendation of being able to evaluate a city manager based on popular feeling is dangerous,” she said. “I have seen a city manager’s reputation decimated on social media. These are folks on the outside. They don’t even work here on a day to day. I’m like, what do you know about that city manager?”
Marocco said the city manager survey would provide essential pressure to ensure the official’s effectiveness.
“A city manager for a $4.65 billion budget should be held to a transparent standard of measurement and results. I can think of nothing worse than a professional lazy bureaucrat peddling failed status quo deterioration and hook-ups to give new revenue to their buddies,” he previously told DX.
Several Dallas City Council members proposed charter amendments that were in direct contradiction to the Dallas HERO proposals. The local nonprofit filed three lawsuits 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.”