Dallas City Council members Adam Bazaldua, Paula Blackmon, and Cara Mendelsohn have sought a temporary restraining order against the city to stop the deciding vote on the future of City Hall.
A special called meeting on City Hall is scheduled for Wednesday. It was scheduled less than a week after the City Council heard updated repair costs and plans for a possible phased approach.
The three council members announced on Monday they filed an emergency petition in a Dallas County district court.
“This is not about whether City Hall should be redeveloped,” Bazaldua said in a statement. “This is about whether the City of Dallas must follow its own rules.”
Bazaldua said the city secretary denied his request to defer the vote. He added that the agenda gives “no meaningful notice” of what will be authorized.
Bazaldua descrtibed city hall as "an I.M. Pei masterpiece and an irreplaceable civic landmark."
" A decision of this magnitude deserves full transparency, proper process, and genuine public participation, not a rushed vote at a specially called meeting with two days’ notice," he said. "We are asking the court simply to require the City to follow the law. Nothing more, nothing less.”
The voting agenda posted by the City Secretary's Office lists four items:
1. Authorize advance work towards the relocation of city hall staff and functions; authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute pre-development agreements and conduct due diligence for prospective sites
2. Authorize advance work towards the relocation of 911 and emergency operations
3. Authorize a phased city hall repair strategy for 1500 Marilla Street as presented on June 3, 2026, and authorize the City Manager to implement the selected phased city hall repair strategy
4. Authorize the City Manager to pursue opportunities for the redevelopment of the property located at 1500 Marilla Street
The meeting follows months of debate on whether to stay and repair years of deferred maintenance at the City Hall building, or to relocate and possibly sell the property.
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