DALTX Real EstateDALTX Real EstateDALTX Real Estate
  • Home
  • Guest Post
  • Agents
  • Contact Us
  • About
  • Advertise With Us
Reading: Dallas Council Moves Forward With $310.5M For Parks, $61M For Housing in May 4 Bond Election
Share
Font ResizerAa
DALTX Real EstateDALTX Real Estate
Font ResizerAa
  • Home
  • Guest Post
  • Agents
  • Contact Us
  • About
  • Advertise With Us
  • Home
  • Guest Post
  • Agents
  • Contact Us
  • About
  • Advertise With Us
Follow US
© DALTX. All Rights Reserved.
DALTX Real Estate > DFW Real Estate News > Dallas Council Moves Forward With $310.5M For Parks, $61M For Housing in May 4 Bond Election
DFW Real Estate NewsElections

Dallas Council Moves Forward With $310.5M For Parks, $61M For Housing in May 4 Bond Election

9 Min Read
SHARE
Contents
Housing Could Get $61M in Bond Funds Parks Could Get $310.5M in Bond FundsMendelsohn’s Proposal And Talking Points
(Photo: Mimi Perez for CandyDirt.com)
Dallas City Council Chambers (Photo Credit: Mimi Perez/daltxrealestate.com)

A May 4 Dallas bond election is imminent, and Dallas City Council members unofficially agreed Wednesday to designate about $310.5 million for parks and $61 million for housing. 

The Dallas City Council was operating as a “Committee of the Whole” during Wednesday’s meeting and took straw votes on the bond allocations, therefore no binding decisions were made. The proposal they ultimately voted on, brought forward by Mayor Pro Tem Tennell Atkins and read into the record by District 12 Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn, was approved in a 9-6 vote. 

Dallas City Council members voted 9-6 Wednesday to support this proposal as a framework for the 2024 bond election.

Elected officials voting in favor of the proposal included Atkins, Mendelsohn, Mayor Eric Johnson, Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Carolyn King Arnold, District 2 Councilman Jesse Moreno, District 3 Councilman Zarin Gracey, District 6 Councilman Omar Narvaez, District 10 Councilman Kathy Stewart, and District 14 Councilman Paul Ridley. 

Those voting against the proposal included District 1 Councilman Chad West, District 5 Councilman Jaime Resendez, District 7 Councilman Adam Bazaldua, District 9 Councilwoman Paula Blackmon, District 11 Councilwoman Jaynie Schultz, and District 13 Councilwoman Gay Donnell Willis, 

A series of town hall meetings will be scheduled in April. 

https://daltxrealestate.com/2024/01/19/council-informally-agrees-to-increase-bond-capacity-to-1-25-billion-may-election-date/

In a staff memorandum issued Friday, a variety of bond allocations were proposed by council members but none of those got off the ground during a lengthy meeting Wednesday.

“It’s very clear that no one is going to walk away 100 percent happy,” Bazaldua said. “I think it’s important to make sure that compromises have been felt across the board. Across the board is not just within the allocation buckets but also in individual council members’ priorities.”  

A total of $75 million in “discretionary funds” has been allocated to the mayor and all 14 council members to distribute as they choose within their respective districts. Mendelsohn confirmed to daltxrealestate.com late Wednesday that “the full $5M for D12 will go to parks and has been submitted to the bond office.”

Watch the Jan. 31 special-called Dallas City Council bond meeting here. 

Housing Could Get $61M in Bond Funds 

Councilman West said he was disappointed housing didn’t get a larger piece of the pie but noted that the allocations for economic development and homelessness could also help with providing local shelter. 

“Some of the other categories, I foresee us being able to use toward housing,” he said, referencing a plan to advocate for a mixed-use housing project on top of a library in District 1. “Economic development dollars and also the homelessness category, when you add all those up, we do get closer to $150 [million] or even more toward housing.” 

In the unofficially approved proposal, about $43.5 million was pledged to libraries, $29.2 million to economic development, and $8.5 million to homelessness. 

Interim Director of Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization Cynthia Rogers-Ellickson said if the bond is approved by voters in May, staff plans to funnel those funds to projects in the three Southern Dallas “target areas” identified in Dallas Housing Policy 2033. 

“The housing bond that’s now here is for infrastructure that is tied to development projects,” Ellickson said. “We’ve never had that separated before. We’ve always worked out of Economic Development’s bond … to do both activities — construction and development of units as well as infrastructure. This is just separating out the infrastructure piece from economic development activity.” 

Parks Could Get $310.5M in Bond Funds

Councilwoman Stewart, one of the newest elected officials, said she was a passionate supporter of parks. She said she attended a Park and Recreation Board meeting this week and was impressed with the time volunteer public servants put into the project list. 

The Community Bond Task Force recommended $350 million for parks.

“It wasn’t easy,” she said. “These people roll up their sleeves and they go around and around. They do it well and they do it with respect … I’m thinking about all of the work that went into these numbers and how difficult it has been.” 

Councilman Gracey expressed concern that if parks funding were to dip below $300 million, proposed cuts by the Park and Recreation Department appeared punitive and were unacceptable to long-neglected areas of Southern Dallas. Gracey emphasized a proposed reduction of funding for a project at Glendale Park.

“I think that’s absolutely unacceptable and it’s absolutely not equitable,” he said. “For me to be sitting up here this morning trying to go around lobbying, using political capital for $4 million for a park in Southern Dallas people have been asking for since 1980 is absolutely unacceptable.”

Park and Recreation Director John Jenkins said his staff and the parks advisory board were forced to make cuts based on different funding scenarios, not knowing where the council would land on funding. The department has faced heat from skate park advocates, fans of Old City Park, and White Rock Lake dredging supporters, all of whom stand to get less than they’ve asked for in the bond. 

“I would never be punitive toward any of you all or any community,” Jenkins said. “That’s not who I am.” 

Mendelsohn’s Proposal And Talking Points

Mendelsohn, who ultimately supported Atkins’ proposal, stated for the record that she prefers a November election rather than May and didn’t think the city should use its entire $1.25 billion bond capacity. She also repeatedly questioned why more funding wasn’t going toward information technology in light of a cyberattack that temporarily halted operations last year. 

District 12 Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn

“The bigger risk we have is to not invest in IT,” Mendelsohn said, repeating a statement from Chief Information Officer Bill Zielinski. “Every other thing we do does not matter if IT fails. If you guys haven’t learned that yet, if you do not include money for IT, when it goes down, it is your fault.”

City officials said they were cautious about allocating a small amount in bond dollars because their hands are tied for future expenditures if it’s not approved. The proposal ultimately approved included $5 million for Information Technology.

Mendelsohn said she supported the Atkins plan because of strong numbers for streets, parks, and public safety.

“I think we get closer to what was originally envisioned by our bond task force by saying housing at $61 million,” she said. “Again, we have more than a dozen ways to fund affordable housing in this city and taking out debt to do it is just a bad fiscal policy in my opinion.”

The proposal contained nothing for upgrades at the deteriorating Dallas City Hall. City Manager T.C. Broadnax said council members could continue submitting amendments until a binding vote on the ballot is taken later this month. A May election must be called by Feb. 14.

“At the end of the day, y’all have complete control over every proposition and every dollar,” Broadnax told the council.

Darlie Routier Home Is on The Market in Rowlett
Experience Limitless Luxury In This Love Field Custom Contemporary Masterpiece
This Wooded Winnsboro Lake House Could Be Your Own Personal Paradise
Dallas Resident’s Legal Battle With City Involves a ‘Bogus Lien’ And Lee Harvey Oswald
Just Take Meandering Way Alllll the Way to This Gated North Dallas Home
TAGGED:2024 bond electionAdam BazalduaAffordable housingCara MendelsohnChad WestKathy StewartPark and Recreation DepartmentZarin Gracey
Share This Article
Facebook Email Copy Link Print
Previous Article Phase Inspections Can Catch Construction Problems Before Things Get Serious
Next Article Michelle Nussbaumer Turns a Historic Westlake Tudor Into a Jewel Box of Color and Charm
Popular News
Diane Cheatham

Urban Reserve is For Architecture Lovers, And This Listing Has The Clean Lines You Crave

What North Texas City Has the Biggest Apartments?
Opinion: Election Night Promised Hope, Delivered Disappointment in The Short Term
Rest Up For The Black Tie Moving Country Concert!
Key Residential Marries Craftsmanship, Keen Attention to Detail, in Custom Remodeling
about us

DaltxRealEstate.com is the largest real estate blog and the only one in North Texas.

Links

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Contact Us
  • Paid Guest Post Submission

Categories

  • Wednesday WTF
  • East Dallas
  • Monday Morning Millionaire
  • Upon Closer Inspection

Get Involved

  • Advertise With Us
  • Write for Us: Submit Guest Post

Find Us on Socials

© DALTX. All Rights Reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?