On Thursday night, I attended the Dallas Regional Chamber’s exclusive forum at El Centro College on the citizen-proposed city charter amendments on this November’s ballot.
The event, open only to DRC members and invited media, provided a brief look at propositions R,S,T and U, each submitted to the city by citizen-led petitions.
As major city stakeholders, tens of thousands of citizens, and virtually every major media outlet in town have made clear, what Dallas’ voters are being asked to consider on November’s ballot will echo in the city in the years, maybe decades, to come.
Amendments S,T and U are known as the “HERO” amendments because they were put on the ballot after a successful petition drive signed by over 170,000 Dallas residents and taxpayers.
Among other things HERO would force the City of Dallas to finally address its crime problem by adding over 1,000 police officers in order to get to the minimum staffing level of three officers per every 1,000 residents, prescribed in a 1988 city ordinance when Dallas’ population was more than 20% smaller than it is today.
The current ratio is only 2.2 officers per 1,000 residents – well below that of other peer-sized cities– so the city is effectively violating its own law.
Having formerly been a city councilman and mayor pro tem of a DFW suburb myself, I’ve seen this before.
That city at the time was violating its own land development code by approving new developments that exceeded the maximum density in its own charter and ordinances. It wasn’t until the residents of that community became educated to the city breaking its own laws that change occurred. And that’s exactly what HERO is all about – real Dallas residents and taxpayers forcing their own politicians and city staff to follow their own laws.
Just a few weeks ago, two of my friends were randomly and violently physically assaulted near the Katy Trail. One was in dire need of medical attention. He was told that an ambulance couldn’t be sent until the police had arrived to assess the situation and take a report. It took well over an hour for the police to arrive at the scene.
My friend lay bleeding with his eye swollen shut in a high-rise lobby while he waited. This was weeks ago and he still hasn’t heard back from the detective assigned to the case.
There are stories like this all over town, our friends and family or someone we know. Each of us has that story.
Response to non-violent property crimes can take hours – and even days.
As for theft, good luck. I reported a firearm stolen from my own home recently and it took days to get a call back. The department simply doesn’t have the resources and manpower available to actually investigate some crimes.
To be clear: It’s not the officers’ fault. The department is wildly understaffed, as former Mayor Tom Leppert, who spoke in opposition to HERO, acknowledged at the DRC forum last night.
Mayor Leppert appeared visibly angered by the idea that over 170,000 Dallas residents are asking voters to do what its own city council will not – hire enough police officers to keep them safe and provide reasonable, responsible response times to reports of crime. He repeated the same scripted talking point over and over, “Good intentions produce bad outcomes,” while simultaneously acknowledging the officer shortage – but not providing a single solution to the current problem. These city leaders, those who have presided over the very conditions we now face, are paying lip service to wanting reform, but the outcome will be plain: they will not enact it unless forced.
Dallas HERO Executive Director Pete Marocco reminded Leppert that the Dallas City Council has taken zero action to address the officer shortage and crime problem, and that several prominent council members openly express disdain for law enforcement and marched in “Defund the Police” rallies.
He further reminded the audience that “we’re sitting on hallowed ground” referencing the proximity of the venue to where 11 Dallas police officers were shot and 5 murdered during a 2016 BLM protest.
Leppert continued to acknowledge the need for more officers (again offering no solutions) and stated that under his tenure as mayor no one grew the police force or focused on public safety more than he did. Morocco replied that it’s a different time, that Leppert is no longer mayor and “this isn’t your city council” implying the anti-law enforcement bias of many current council members.
Leppert also repeated another HERO opposition talking point that “no living Dallas mayor supported the HERO amendments.”
Marocco corrected him and made the point that the crime problem and staffing shortages literally occurred on most of the opposing former Mayor’s watches.
He then explained to the audience that the Texas Supreme Court recently found that the city council broke another law when they attempted to rush their own last minute charter amendments onto the ballot that would have effectively nullified the HERO amendments in order to purposefully confuse and deceive voters.
Marocco implored the audience to consider why they would continue to trust the very people who continue to do nothing to solve the crime problem while they also continue to break the law themselves. In the meantime, Dallas’ City Council continues to flout the law in other ways, for example by refusing to enforce the public camping ban passed by the citizens of Texas through their state legislature. Anyone’s who’s spent around the blocks surrounding City Hall recently knows the result.
At the end of the day Leppert’s arguments opposing HERO basically came down to a plea to trust the very politicians who continue to violate their own laws, and have effectively defunded the Dallas police department while creating the very officer shortage Leppert acknowledges and HERO addresses. These politicians have been the arsonists to the crime problem. They demand to be the firemen while still holding the matches, and we all know they aren’t interested in putting out the fire.
As Oliver Anthony sang is last year’s viral “Rich Men North of Richmond,” what the HERO opposition mostly seems to be about is our local politicians just “wanna have total control”, and they’re offended about the idea of ceding any of to their own constituents.
Not a single solution, process or even “Blue Ribbon Committee” to study the issue was ever suggested or proposed by former Mayor Leppert. His comments immediately brought to mind the legendary Reagan quip, “the most terrifying words in the English language are trust us, we’re from the government and here to help.”
Leppert’s remarks further reminded me of my own experience as a councilman when long-time incumbent politicians insisted they understood these issues better than their constituents and that they are the only people capable of solving these problems. But as Marocco rightly pointed out they haven’t in this case – at all – they have proven they aren’t going to (not a single council person was in attendance last night) and the only chance Dallas residents have to improve public safety and reduce crime is by voting for the HERO amendments.
Dallas’ crime problems are very real. We all see examples every single day. No amount of gaslighting by the establishment politician class is going to change that basic truth. What’s also true is that this city council has no interest in addressing the problem, nor have they suggested in any way that they have any plans to.
By voting for HERO, Dallas residents and taxpayers have a very rare opportunity to force its local government to finally prioritize public safety which should be the most single, most important and critical function of local government. So respectfully Mayor Leppert, “bad outcomes” like the crime, rampant homelessness, and panhandling epidemic Dallas residents are presently facing are the direct result of the abject failure of the very institution you defended last night.
Friends, remind the politicians and bureaucrats who refuse to solve these problems who they work for and demand a safer community for your families and loved ones when you head to the polls starting next week. Vote for S,T and U, a safer, cleaner Dallas and a more responsive, local government that serves its residents and taxpayers rather than itself.