PART I: The Letter
Breakdown:
- DART Chair Gary Slagel urges mayors to halt reform legislation for General Mobility Program (GMP) funds.
- GMP allocates 5% of DART’s sales tax revenue ($42–43M) to seven suburban cities, triggering major service cuts.
- Five mayors push for DART reform via Senate Bill 2118 and House Bill 3187, threatening agency viability.
- Carrollton Mayor Steve Babick refutes Slagel’s claim of no local solutions, criticizes Dallas-dominated board.
- DART board members — including Chair Gary Slagel, Vice Chair Randall Bryant, and long-serving director Mark C. Enoch — did not respond to allegations of coercion, financial mismanagement, and worsening public safety. None of the 15 board members replied to comment requests.
- Cities may reconsider DART membership in 2026 without governance reforms.
The chair of Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) asked member cities to accept funding in exchange for backing down from proposed legislation to reform the agency, according to a letter obtained by The Dallas Express.
In the letter dated July 17, DART Chair Gary Slagel urged several mayors to formally commit to halting legislative efforts aimed at restructuring DART’s governance in exchange for receiving funds through the agency’s new General Mobility Program (GMP).
“We ask you to clarify your position on receiving the G[eneral] M[obility] P[rogram] by committing not to pursue any further legislation against DART,” Slagel wrote.
The GMP, approved by the DART board in March, sends 5% of the agency’s annual sales tax revenue back to seven suburban cities — Plano, Carrollton, Farmers Branch, Highland Park, University Park, Addison, and Richardson. This will likely reduce DART’s revenue by approximately $42–43 million, and, according to agency officials, trigger the largest service cuts in the agency’s history.
“There is little, if any, support within DART for the proposed cuts,” Slagel wrote. “The Board is only acting to avoid an existential, legislative threat.”
In the same letter, Slagel asked mayors to “formally adopt a city council resolution” by the end of August, requesting GMP funds and committing to cease support for legislation that could reduce or divert DART funding.
The Dallas Express contacted all 15 DART board members for comment on allegations of political coercion, financial mismanagement, and worsening public safety along the transit system. None responded by the deadline.
DART Chief Communications Officer Jeamy Molina did respond, saying the board works “diligently” to address concerns raised by member cities.
Who’s on the DART Board?
These are the 15 current board members overseeing the agency as of July 2025:
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Gary A. Slagel – Chair; represents Richardson, Addison, Highland Park, and University Park (since 2011)
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Randall B. Bryant – Vice Chair; represents Dallas (since 2024)
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M. Nathan Barbera – Secretary; represents Plano and Farmers Branch (since 2022)
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Mark C. Enoch – Represents Garland, Glenn Heights, and Rowlett (since 1997)
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Richard H. Stopfer – Represents Irving (since 2013)
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Michele Wong Krause – Represents Dallas (since 2014)
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Patrick J. Kennedy – Represents Dallas (since 2016)
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Doug S. Hrbacek – Represents Carrollton and Irving (since 2019)
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Carmen Garcia – Represents Dallas (since 2022)
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Marc C. Abraham – Represents Garland (since 2023)
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Enrique A. MacGregor – Represents Cockrell Hill and Dallas (since 2023)
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Anthony Ricciardelli – Represents Plano (since 2025)
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Maureen Milligan – Represents Dallas (since 2025)
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D’Andrala D. Alexander – Dallas (since 2025)
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Flora M. Hernandez – Dallas (since 2025)
Mayor Rejects Claim He Never Proposed ‘Solutions’
Slagel’s letter came weeks after five North Texas mayors sent a joint letter to Gov. Greg Abbott on June 25, urging the governor to include DART reform in the upcoming special session. The letter was signed by Plano Mayor John Muns, Irving Mayor Rick Stopfer, Carrollton Mayor Steve Babick, Highland Park Mayor Will Beecherl, and Farmers Branch Mayor Terry Lynne.
“Without legislative action, we anticipate that some cities may reconsider their membership in 2026,” the mayors wrote. “Our goal is to pursue thoughtful reform — not dismantle the system.”
They backed two pieces of legislation. Senate Bill 2118 would require an equal number of representatives on the DART board for each member city. House Bill 3187 would allow cities to allocate 25% of their sales tax revenue to “general mobility” programs instead of DART. Molina previously told The Dallas Express this “would have killed DART.”
In his recent letter, Slagel stated that the bills would have threatened DART “as a viable regional transit provider.” “Notably, at no point did the cities supporting the bills bring any solutions to the DART Board to resolve the issue locally,” he claimed.
However, Babick told The Dallas Express this is false.
“That is just an outright misrepresentation,” said the Carrollton mayor. “We absolutely bring solutions to the table. They have recommendations for how to get to a 25% reduction, from me personally.”
Babick also criticized Slagel’s testimony to state lawmakers.
“Slagel testified to the House Transportation Committee against Rep. Sheehan’s bill and held up a DART Board Resolution as their approach to solve locally — only to now hold it as a poison pill for local cities,” Babick said. “As written, it’s a mischaracterization and disrespectful at best — and potentially a deliberate misrepresentation.”
Molina told The Dallas Express that DART’s board members “work diligently to address concerns raised by some service area cities.”
Babick remarked that he made recommendations to strengthen cities’ voices in DART, but “the board — led by the Dallas representatives that have 50%, 60% voting power — denied that.”
“That’s on the table,” Babick said. “I’ve sent that, but there is no action.”
PART II: Funding, Crime, and Governance
Breakdown:
- Mayors criticize DART’s $3B debt, Dallas-dominated board, and lack of accountability.
- 2023 study shows Plano, Carrollton, Farmers Branch were shortchanged by millions in services.
- Low ridership, empty buses, crime, and homeless displacement reported.
- Board members’ personal trips, weak spending controls fuel mismanagement allegations.
- Mayors demand equal board representation; 2025 reapportionment may shift power.
The mayors expressed concerns about DART’s “governance, funding structure, and service delivery,” in the letter obtained by The Dallas Express. They said “billions” of public funds are being managed “not by elected officials, but by appointed board members.”
“DART is $3 billion in debt right now,” Lynne, the Farmers Branch mayor, told The Dallas Express. “That’s a huge liability hanging over the heads of taxpayers in every city.”
“Despite this significant investment, DART’s performance continues to fall short,” the mayors wrote.
The mayors cited “low ridership” on “many routes,” allegations that drivers sexually assaulted disabled passengers, and how the current service “disproportionately benefits Dallas at the expense of outlying member cities.” They said wasteful spending “often goes unnoticed in quasi-governmental agencies.”
Multiple DART board members — Wong Krause and Hernandez — took likely personal trips on the taxpayer dime, as KERA reported.
An internal audit found that spending controls could be “strengthened.”
DART is shortchanging some suburbs by tens of millions of dollars, The Dallas Express has learned. Meanwhile, it is providing substantial surpluses to Dallas, which has a majority on the board.
City officials pushed DART for four years to show the value of services provided in return for their contributions. After delays, the agency finally provided a study last year – obtained by The Dallas Express – showing it shortchanged suburbs like Plano, Carrollton, and Farmers Branch by tens of millions of dollars in fiscal year 2023.
“Plano and other cities had been asking for that study for four years,” said Plano Media Relations Director Steve Stoler to The Dallas Express. “DART has historically been slow to respond to member cities’ concerns.”
“All of our financial statements are online and made available to everyone,” Molina said, pointing to the agency’s “Financial Transparency” page online.
Plano gave $109.6 million in sales taxes to DART but received only $44.6 million in services, according to the study. This is an annual deficit of $65 million.
Carrollton gave DART $48.3 million, but received only $37.3 million in services in return. This is an $11 million deficit.
Farmers Branch provided $24.3 million to DART but received only $20.8 million in services, resulting in a $3.5 million deficit. Across its years of membership, the city has paid an estimated $300–$400 million, according to Lynne.
Crime, Safety, and Homelessness
DART brings an unexpected kind of passenger to Plano, according to Stoler.
“Many transient individuals exit the train system in Plano and remain in our city.”
The DART lines bring similar issues to Carrollton, according to Babick.
“While we have a good relationship with DART, here’s the deal – the DART focus on public safety does not match the level that we have in Carrollton.”
People experiencing homelessness ride the DART lines without paying fares, then get off in places like Carrollton, at the end of the Green Line, according to Babick.
“Those homeless who are just sitting on the train are cleared off at the end of the day, and displaced from where they can get services down in Dallas,” he said. “Now they park in our parks, and under the roadways, and elsewhere.”
Carrollton’s DART funding is growing faster than the city budget, even though ridership is down 33 percent, Babick explained.
“Generally, we have a great relationship with DART,” he said. “Our issue is not an anti-DART issue. Our issue is a governance issue, and ultimately, a funding issue.”
Lynne echoed similar points in Farmers Branch, saying the city has “empty buses running around the city all day long — empty.” He said DART could send them to South Dallas or another area in need.
“I got a train that runs through the city, but I don’t have ridership on the train,” he added. “The train brings in a lot of homeless individuals, but it’s not shuttling business people back and forth to downtown.”
Homeless people get on the DART line and end up in Farmers Branch, Lynne said, though he does not know where they come from.
Molina said DART’s website has the “most up-to-date information on safety data,” pointing to the “DART Scorecard.”
Damien LeVeck, Executive Director of Dallas HERO, told The Dallas Express he recently interviewed a mother of four who was visiting Dallas and was “viciously attacked by a vagrant at a downtown DART station.”
LeVeck said DART fails to keep its billion-dollar transit system safe, even “for the fewer than 5% of Dallas residents who use it.”
“DART stops are hives of violent crime and dens of homeless loitering and panhandling,” LeVeck added. “There is nobody to blame but the DART’s leadership, which has idly sat by and allowed this blight on our city to continue.”
“The DART board’s incompetence, apathy, and lack of accountability is an insult to every taxpayer funding this failed system and every rider who is exposed to the dystopian nightmare on every train and bus,” he continued.
‘Taxation Without Representation’
Lynne told The Dallas Express that under the current structure, Dallas dominates the DART board, while smaller cities like his are disenfranchised. He said officials cannot hold DART accountable because it is an “independent organization.”
“I am at a huge disadvantage for several reasons,” the Farmers Branch mayor said. “I don’t have a seat or a vote at DART board meetings.”
Some cities, like Farmers Branch and Plano, share a representative, which makes it difficult for constituents to have a voice, according to Lynne.
“We have a very good working relationship with Plano, and we have a very good working relationship with most of the other DART member cities,” he said. “But every city should have a representative seat at the table.”
Lynne pointed to Highland Park, which shares a DART representative – Slagel – with University Park, Addison, and Richardson. “You have one DART board representative that represents four cities … That’s not healthy.”
Carrollton shares a representative with Irving. In that situation, Babick cautioned that the larger city can override the smaller – “Irving can override us.”
“They’re not elected, right? So there’s no representation for the citizens,” Babick said. “What if the citizens, over time, feel like they’re not getting their fair share or value for what they’re paying for?”
“It’s just taxation without representation.”
Molina said DART is accountable to member cities since they appoint board members – “staff work closely with all our member cities and meet with them on a regular basis.”
Under Texas law, DART board seats must be reapportioned every five years in accordance with population changes. According to Molina, the agency began its latest reapportionment review in 2025.
“Per our statute, a reapportionment may occur every five years to adjust to population changes in each service area city,” Molina said.
With rapid suburban growth, Dallas could lose its long-held voting majority in the upcoming reapportionment — a potentially dramatic shift in the agency’s balance of power.