Members of the Dallas City Council are now facing a number of lawsuits over proposed charter amendments some council members advanced that would allegedly undermine citizen-led reforms.
Dallas residents will vote on 21 proposed amendments to the Dallas City Charter in November. Six of these proposed amendments appear to conflict — three stemming from a citizen-led petition campaign organized by the nonprofit Dallas HERO and three proposed by council members.
One of Dallas HERO’s proposed amendments, which were required to be added to the November ballot since they were advanced through citizen initiative, would require the City to add roughly 1,000 police officers to the Dallas Police Department, increase police pay, and bolster the Dallas Police & Fire Pension System. The other proposed amendments, if approved by voters, would allow citizens to sue City leaders for failing to abide by the Dallas City Charter, Dallas City Code, and state law and tie the city manager’s bonus pay to an annual resident survey.
The three proposed charter amendments in question appear to have been advanced with the intention of undermining each of Dallas HERO’s propositions, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Council Member Omar Narvaez (District 6) introduced an amendment granting the Dallas City Council complete authority over the budget, essentially empowering it to overrule the Dallas HERO amendment requiring more spending on law enforcement.
Council Member Adam Bazaldua (District 7) introduced an amendment to grant legal immunity to Dallas City Council members and City officials, which would override the Dallas HERO amendment granting citizens standing to sue the City.
Council Member Gay Donnell Willis (District 13) introduced an amendment to grant the Dallas City Council sole control over the city manager’s salary, which would override the Dallas HERO amendment on city manager bonus pay.
These proposed amendments prompted Dallas HERO to file three lawsuits: two at the state level and one federal.
The federal lawsuit is joined by Cathy Cortina Arvizu, a Dallas resident who signed the three Dallas HERO petitions, as reported by The Dallas Morning News. The lawsuit names each member of the Dallas City Council, except Mayor Eric Johnson and Council Member Cara Mendelsohn (District 12), who opposed the council members’ three charter amendments.
The lawsuit alleges the council members’ amendments violate Arvizu’s civil rights.
“This grotesque action by the City Council was a desperate last-minute attempt to introduce separate ballot propositions designed and written to confuse, mislead, and disenfranchise the city of Dallas voters,” one of the lawsuit reads.
“The City Council intended to mislead and cause confusion among voters, diminish the ability of voters to discern and distinguish the city’s propositions from other propositions on the ballot, and nullify the will of voters,” it continues.
Dallas HERO filed similar lawsuits with the Texas Supreme Court and the Texas Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas, as reported by the Daily Caller.
“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,” it continues.