The 15-member Charter Review Commission has an important task: advise the Dallas City Council on what changes to the city’s charter it should put before voters. And they are extending their deadline for public input on what those changes should be.
The implications of what the council ultimately decides to put forward to voters could affect all Dallas residents. So far, the commission has received proposals that deal with council member term lengths, elected official compensation — and who can serve on city boards and commissions.
The opportunity to weigh in on how the city is structured only happens once every decade. Elected officials and city staff say this is a chance for changes to be made and outdated policies to be corrected.
But since early December, only around 50 proposals have been submitted — and they’re nearly all from City Hall insiders. Some say the process needs more community members to weigh in.
“I think Dallas residents should be paying attention,” District 1 Commissioner David de la Fuente told KERA. “This is a process by which our commission is determining and trying to figure out how to give Dallas residents a greater say in how our city government operates.”
De la Fuente says there are always competing interests — like the city’s $1.1 billion dollar bond capacity.
There is a tangible output with bond discussions. Debt issued will go toward projects around the city — like street repairs, housing and parks and recreation.
City officials have extended the public submittal deadline until mid-January to give community members time to give their recommendations for how the charter could be improved.
Pay raises
The commission has received around 50 proposals so far. They range from when city elections are held to completely changing the way Dallas’ government is set up.
District 9 Commissioner Michael Jung recently briefed the commission on a proposal to increase council members and mayor compensation.
“The subject of mayor and council compensation has been a contentious one since I have been coming to city hall,” Jung said during a December commission meeting.
“I was on the 2004 charter commission and couldn’t drum up any interest in changing the provision that was adopted in 2001 which gave the mayor $60,000 a year and the council members [$37,5000],” Jung said.
Jung also served on the 2004 charter commission. He said during the meeting he tried to get support to change the compensation back then, but that amendment failed.
The 2014 charter commission approved the compensation the council and mayor have now. That is $60,000 a year for council members and $80,000 for the mayor.
Jung said the mayor and council’s salaries have been “eroded” by inflation — but he has a possible solution that could fix that.
“Which is to tie council and mayor salaries to the median household income as adjusted annual, that is determined by the government,” Jung said during the meeting.
Jung said the current fixed salaries leave no room for periodic adjustments — instead the change to increase elected officials’ pay comes once a decade and requires voters to weigh in.
A system tied to an annual income adjustment would mean the council’s compensation would reflect the current market given inflation — but could remove Dallas’ residents ability to vote on pay increases.
Jung said the proposed system only allows for a pay raise when the city is thriving.
“It allows the council and the mayor to prosper as the citizens prosper,” Jung said. “If they want to give themselves a pay increase, one way to do that is to govern the city in such a way that the city residents and voters prosper and households prosper.”
Aside from possibly removing public input from elected official’s compensation, Jung said Dallas voters may see the increases as “unwarranted.”
De la Fuente says it may be hard to sell voters on upping elected officials’ salaries — but could have a positive impact on who ends up running the city.
“It is kind of counterintuitive. It feels like politicians enriching themselves…but what it means is more everyday people realistically can hold the office of council member in Dallas,” De la Fuente told KERA.
Other amendments
KERA has previously reported on an amendment submitted by De la Fuente that would change Dallas’ election date to November of odd-numbered years. Currently along with Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio are the of the largest Texas cities that hold elections in May.
“They are usually the lowest voter turnout…of any major city,” De la Fuente said during an early November commission meeting. “Houston doubles voter turnout and holds their elections in November of odd numbered years.”
In addition, two amendments have been submitted that could either eliminate council officer positions — or leave those appointments to the mayor.
Those positions include Mayor Pro Tem and Deputy Mayor Pro Tem — which council members vote on. District 12 Council Member Cara Mendelsohn submitted a proposal to remove that power and leave the decision up to the mayor.
“City Council elections of these officer positions are divisive and dictated by demographics. The current system allows for members to be selected that may not work in harmony with the mayor or each other,” Mendelsohn listed as her proposals rational.
“Allowing a mayor to select the officer positions would allow for trust and communication between these members, leading to more delegation of initiatives and public appearance duties, as well as policy consensus-building among councilmembers.”
In addition, Mendelsohn submitted a proposal that requires the City Manager to incorporate funding for the city’s two pension systems. The Dallas Police and Fire pension system has nearly $3 billion of unfunded liability, after risky real estate investments brought the fund to the brink of collapse.
And proposals recommend drastic changes to the way Dallas city government is set up.
One proposal from a resident calls for the elimination of the City Manager position and the budget be directed by the mayor and council. The proposal’s rationale claims the office “produces nothing of benefit and is a hinderance to the operation of the city.”
And one proposal is centered on a strong mayor form of government. That would be a significant change that leaves most of the decision making up to the mayor — not the City Manager.
'Unseen'
The new deadline for the public to submit charter amendments is January 19 at 5:00p.m. Anyone looking to weigh in on how the city’s charter may change or be updated can submit a recommendation using the city’s charter form.
The commission will discuss possible amendments in early 2024 – and deliver a final report to the council no later than May 21, 2024. The council will take the recommendations and decide what will ultimately be put in front of Dallas voters during an election.
Right now, it may not be until 2033 that Dallas residents get another opportunity to weigh in on the foundation of city government.
“I think the genuine desire of all 15 people on the commission, of the staff working on it, is for this to be an open transparent process, but I think because of the nature of the work, it is going unseen by most people,” De la Fuente said.
Current proposed amendments can be viewed on the city’s commission website.
Got a tip? Email Nathan Collins at ncollins@kera.org. You can follow Nathan on Twitter @nathannotforyou.
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