The Dallas City Council finalized three proposed charter amendments on Monday that would counter citizen-led reform initiatives.
Residents will vote on 21 proposed amendments to the Dallas City Charter in November. The nonprofit Dallas HERO pushed for three of these propositions through petition campaigns. If approved by voters, its amendments would allow citizens to sue City leaders for failing to abide by the charter, city code, or state law, tie the city manager’s bonus pay to an annual community survey, and require the City to increase police pay, hire roughly 1,000 more police officers, and bolster the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System.
A number of Dallas City Council members expressed opposition to Dallas HERO’s amendments at last week’s council meeting, but due to state law, they were required to add them to the ballot. However, during the meeting, a majority of the council adopted three additional proposed charter amendments that, if enacted, would undercut Dallas HERO’s propositions.
Council Member Omar Narvaez (District 6) introduced an amendment to ensure the Dallas City Council has authority over the budget, as previously reported by DX. If passed, council members could override the requirement to boost the police department under the Dallas HERO amendment.
“Shall Chapter XI, Section 3 and Chapter XXIV, Section 18 of the Dallas City Charter be amended to state that city council shall make the final determinations regarding appropriations of city funds, that instructions regarding the approval of city employee wages or adjustments to city employee wages outlined in the charter serve only as recommendations for city council’s consideration, and that these provisions control over other provisions in the city charter?” the ballot language reads, as first reported by CandysDirt.
Council Member Adam Bazaldua (District 7) introduced an amendment to grant immunity to City officials, which would override Dallas HERO’s amendment granting citizens legal standing to sue City leaders, as reported by DX.
“Shall Chapter II of the Dallas City Charter be amended by adding a section that states 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?” the ballot language reads.
Council Member Gay Donnell Willis (District 13) introduced an amendment to ensure the council has authority over the city manager’s compensation. This amendment would override the Dallas HERO amendment on the annual performance survey.
“Shall Chapter VI, Section 1 of the Dallas City Charter be amended by adding a provision that states that the section authorizing the city council to have final decision-making authority regarding the appointment, removal, and compensation of the city manager controls over any other conflicting provision of the city charter?” the ballot language reads.
None of the council members responded to a request for comment.
Pete Marocco, the executive director of Dallas HERO, said his team will file lawsuits to stop each amendment.
“Several council members have clearly violated the law in abusing their public pedestal, public resources, and facilities to campaign against the citizen petitions and deliberately mislead voters with capricious language,” he told DX.
“The city council members who did this should go to jail and we expect if they try to put these on the ballot, the Texas Supreme Court will throw their belligerent fraud off the ballot,” he continued.