I want your input on next year’s budget, and would like you to get involved in the process as soon as possible.

Because of the dire state of next year’s budget, the city is holding early meetings to give a budget overview:

Tuesday, June 9
6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Goodwill Industries
3020 N. Westmoreland Rd.
Dallas, TX 75212

Monday, June 22
6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Jewish Community Center
7900 Northaven Rd
Dallas, TX 75230

Thursday, June 25
6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Winfrey Point at White Rock Lake
950 E. Lawther Dr.
Dallas, TX 75218

Take a look at the city’s budget presentation and the draft budget.

If there is a service that’s being cut that you would like to keep in the budget, please tell me how you propose to fund the service (is there something else you propose to cut?). I hope you will attend one of these meetings and let me know your thoughts.

Neighborhood leaders, please pass on this info to your neighborhood residents.

I won’t use the word “sham” because it’s loaded and a little heavy-handed. But here’s what happened:

There was an open house from 4pm – 7pm, when the public could wander around inside the Dallas Convention Center Arena, gander at maps and charts and such, and ask questions of NTTA and TXDOT staff.

At 7pm, the public hearing portion of the evening was to begin. Well, that’s what the flyer said, but that’s not exactly what happened. From 7pm-8:40pm, we were treated to a mind-numbing barrage of slides and information presented by staff, none of which was new to anyone who’s been watching this issue.

After the slideshow, there was a 20 minute intermission.

After that, elected and appointed officials got to speak (I spoke and so did Michael Morris of the North Central Texas Council of Governments).

THEN, finally, at about 9:15 or so, the public got to speak. By this time, more than half the crowd had left, exhausted and drained.

The night was best summed up by former Councilmember John Loza, who so eloquently explains:

“[A]s one who attended last night, the arena wasn’t the only Soviet-style aspect. The whole meeting itself was like a Soviet version of “letting the people speak”. Two and a half hours of eye-glazing, ass-numbing bureaucratic speak followed by a chance for us poor plebes to speak for three minutes while being glared at by one of the bureaucrats herself.

This is the type of thing that turns people off to government. This seemed like such a sham (yeah, I said it). Just going through the motions to be able to tick off the “held public hearing” box on the federal government’s transportation application.

If the goal was to get as much public input as possible, here’s what should have happened: They should have done the slidewhow from 5pm to 6:30pm so that the people who wanted that info could have gotten it. The public hearing, where actual, public comment was taken, should have started at 6:30pm so those of us who just wanted to put our comment into the public record could do so some time before midnight. Most importantly, they should have publicized the agenda and explained ahead of time how the meeting was going to work.

First, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that Dallas’ levees failed to meet their new, post-Katrina safety standards. The Corps also discovered sand in our levees, which presents a problem for toll road construction. Further, the Corps indicated concerns about allowing the toll road’s large concrete piers to pierce the levees, which could weaken them.

In addition, the North Texas Tollway Authority acknowledged that there is a billion dollar funding gap for the toll road. No additional funding sources have been identified.

Despite these serious problems, the city refuses to consider other locations for the toll road that would allow us to move forward on other long-delayed aspects of the Trinity Project, including critical levee improvements, the highly anticipated Trinity Park, and the desperately-needed reconstruction of S.M. Wright Freeway.

If you are concerned about the city’s decision to construct the Trinity Toll Road in our floodway, you will have the opportunity to make your voice heard. The federal government has yet to sign off on this location, and part of their analysis includes public input.

At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 5, the North Texas Tollway Authority and the Texas Department of Transportation will hold a public hearing at the Dallas Convention Center Arena (650 S. Griffin St., Dallas, 75202). I hope you will plan to attend and speak on this issue. (There is no need to sign up ahead of time.)

You’re invited to help chart the future of the City of Dallas. Please attend the open house for citizens and stakeholders to visit with city staff and help shape long-term goals and strategies for success. The format will be “open house,” with the program repeating every 20 minutes.

Map to Convention Center.
Free parking: Convention Center lot “C” located at Griffin & Lamar.
** Participants are encouraged to use DART**