DALLAS — A large group of former Dallas City leaders have banded together to fight three proposed changes to the city charter they say would cripple the city for years, if not decades.
And the language they use to describe propositions S, T and U, which will be at the bottom of the ballot, gives a true glimpse of their feelings.
Former Mayor Ron Kirk said it would be like rolling a hand grenade into City Hall and destroying it.
And former Mayor Mike Rawlings calls it chocolate-covered rat poison.
“There’s not one public official that I know that’s come out for these things, okay. Everybody says this is terrible,” Rawlings told us on Inside Texas Politics. “So, you have a ‘we are the world’ moment of political leaders, that, they ran against each other, they didn’t like each other, but they all say for the good of the city, we think voting no on these things is the right thing to do.”
The nonprofit group Dallas HERO gathered enough signatures to place the three proposed charter amendments on the November 5 ballot in the first place.
Dallas HERO argues the propositions are for the good of the city and its residents, as they will increase public safety and accountability.
But the former city leaders fighting the proposals say they would fundamentally alter the way business is done at Dallas City Hall, including a handcuff on city spending which would lead to cuts in services.
Proposition S would allow citizens to sue city officials if they’re not following the law, whether that be a state law, city ordinance or even the city charter, by waiving the city’s governmental immunity from lawsuits.
Proposition T would make the pay for the City Manager performance-based. The City Manager could receive a bonus, or be terminated, depending on the results of a community survey that the proposition says at least 1,400 Dallas residents would have to complete.
The final Dallas HERO charter amendment, Proposition U, would force the city to hire hundreds more police officers and put at least half of its revenue surplus each year towards the police and fire pension. It would also require the city to raise officer pay to a level that would place DPD among the top five of all departments in the North Texas region.
“The way these amendments are written, it’s going to destroy City Hall. It’s going to open up for lawsuits. Anybody can sue anybody. If you trip over a curb, or your trash is not picked up. We’re going to be full of lawsuits. Well, that’s going to cost a lot of money. And the city’s going to start to grind to a halt, okay,” argued Rawlings.
Rawlings says of course the city wants to hire more police officers and improve accountability, but this isn’t the way to do it.
He says the propositions offer no flexibility if anything changes, such as the city’s financial situation, and would steal money away from roads, parks, libraries and a host of other city services.
“Meanwhile, we’ve got problems over here, but we’re not able to solve those problems. That’s not the way you run a business. It’s not the way you run a city,” the former Mayor told us.
Rawlings says his group is organized, and well-funded and in the coming weeks, residents can expect to see a social media campaign, flyers and op-eds.
Early voting in Texas begins Oct. 21.
Election day is November 5 when polls will be open 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.