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I’m back at City Hall this week, and we’re gearing up for an engaging 2024. Let’s get to it:
2024 Bond. In December, Arun Agarwal, Chair of the Bond Task Force, presented the Task Force’s recommendation for the $1.2B bond. The recommendation included funding for many of the projects that you have told me you prioritize, such as renovations to the Stevens Park Golf Course Clubhouse to Martin Weiss Recreation Center and to the North Oak Cliff Library, upgrades to Annie Stevens Park playground equipment, and traffic safety upgrades to the Sylvan-Colorado intersection and to Jefferson Blvd. The City Manager’s Office also presented its own recommendations, which removed many of these priorities. Along with many of my colleagues, I expressed my concern to both Mr. Agarwal and to the City Manager about the lack of meaningful funding for workforce housing, and I expressed my disappointment and concern to the City Manager for cutting many of District 1’s priority projects. Presently, the Park Board is reevaluating its funding recommendations. The City Manager was scheduled to brief Council again on Wednesday, Jan 17, 2024, but due to the Mayor’s travel plans, that briefing is cancelled. I have not learned about a new date for the briefing but expect for it to occur on January 31, 2024.
Housing Reform. Along with 4 of my colleagues, I recently proposed opening a discussion to expand housing development options, including gentle density and lot size reform. This discussion is a complicated and nuanced one. It’s important to note that the 5-signature memo I authorized only asks staff to OPEN the DISCUSSION on reviewing Dallas’ 1950- and 1960-area single family lot sizes and on how neighborhoods could be impacted (negatively or positively) by allowing gentle density such as duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes. Many of us in Oak Cliff (myself included) complain about how slow the city moves on pretty much everything. In this case, many will consider it a good thing that the wheels of change move slowly, as we will have years to consider any policy changes. But it’s a discussion that we need to begin having now, before our entire middle income workforce is priced out and into the suburbs. If we want our police and fire personnel, our teachers, our medical technicians, and our service workers, amongst others, to be able to live in our city and possibly even afford to buy a home, we must be open to discussions on best practices that are working in other cities.
Unattended Drop Box Ordinance. In mid-December, Council passed the Unattended Drop Box Ordinance, which I originally proposed last term upon the request of SPENA resident Jeff Herrington. In D1, like other districts, we have dozens of unattended drop (or donation) boxes. Many are operated by legitimate charity or for-profit organizations that maintain their boxes, but far too many are owned and operated in a negligent and uncaring fashion, creating blight and litter in neighborhoods. This ordinance imposes regulations and fees to properly manage this formerly unregulated business.
Regulated Card (“Poker”) Rooms. In early 2023, along with the vast majority of City Councilmembers, I asked city staff to find a path forward for legitimate, law-abiding card room owners to continue to operate. If we’re truly the business friendly city that we purport to be, it’s a no brainer for Dallas to design a new land use category that will survive state-driven penal code restrictions on “gambling”. Up through Dec 2023, planning staff had not begun any land use analyses, so I brought it to the committee that I chair, and it will be back again in February 2024. Read more about it in the Oak Cliff Advocate.
Cenzo’s Pizza Opens! Congrats to my friends and neighbors, Chad Dolezal and Vinnie Sherman on opening the doors to Cenzo’s in December! This is a win for pizza lovers and preservationists! https://candysdirt.com/2024/01/04/winnetka-heights-restaurants-adaptive-reuse-gives-dallas-a-much-needed-preservation-win/
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