Monty Bennett, the hotelier and donor behind the Dallas HERO initiative, said the organization may sue to force Dallas to raise police pay and hire more cops.
DALLAS — How a voter-approved ballot measure will affect the city Dallas apparently depends on when you ask the city about it.
Before voters passed Proposition U, one of three so-called “HERO amendments” that garnered enough signatures to appear on the November ballot, Dallas city leaders warned implementation could cause “drastic cuts” across every city department.
However on Tuesday, the City Attorney’s office and the Chief Financial Officer told councilmembers the city is already in compliance with the ballot measure’s requirements and no budget changes are needed.
Proposition U requires Dallas to devote a portion of revenue to the Dallas Police and Fire Pension fund, increase starting salaries for new officers and hire 900 more cops to reach a minimum staffing level of about 4,000 officers.
In a memo just before Christmas, Dallas Interim Chief of Strategy, Engagement, and Alignment Elizabeth Saab said the city is “dedicated to being one of the safest large cities in the country” and outlined a slew of previously approved increases to the city’s police and fire funding, officer pay and pension allocations.
“We are confident that these investments align with the priorities of the city of Dallas residents as expressed in the November election,” Saab’s memo concluded.
Chief Financial Officer Jack Ireland explained to councilmembers Tuesday that the city attorney’s interpretation of Proposition U is that funds left over after the pension allocation are required to be used to increase pay and hire more officers, but no additional money existed.
“There are no funds remaining after that commitment to immediately begin the process of increasing the staffing level,” Ireland said.
This assertion represents a remarkable change in tune from before the November election, when Interim City Manager Kimberly Tolbert told council members passing Proposition U would devastate the city’s bottom line.
“You would be looking at drastic, very extreme cuts that we would have to make across the board,” Tolbert said in August. “A drastic cut in every single service that we provide in the city in order to be able to assume that additional number [of officers].”
Contacted by WFAA, the city declined to comment beyond the December memo and the remarks at Tuesday’s committee meeting.
“At first they said this will bankrupt the city, the sky is falling, and then they said ‘Oh we’re doing it already.’ So which is it?” said Monty Bennett, the hotelier and GOP donor behind the HERO initiative. “It’s nonsensical.”
He said the HERO group may sue the city to force it to comply with Proposition U.
“I hope it doesn’t come to it, but they might have to be forced in court to do it,” he said.
Bennett is also the publisher of the Dallas Express, which, before the November election, published no fewer than 20 articles on Dallas HERO’s proposals since mid-July.
“I was surprised by the city’s statement and city attorney’s assertation that we already meet the requirements of Dallas HERO’s Proposition U,” said Public Safety Committee chairperson Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn in a statement.
Mendelsohn said she’s “certain” the voters of Dallas expect to see the city make the changes outlined in the proposition.
“I will be bringing forward a resolution to the [Public Safety] Committee next month to direct the interim city manager to change the police hiring goal from 250 to 400, and make the appropriate financial adjustments for that mandate,” she said.
Proposition U was one of three so-called “HERO amendments,” listed on the November ballot. It passed by a narrow margin of less than half a percent. Proposition S, which makes it easier for residents to sue the city, also gained voter approval. Proposition T to tie the city manager’s pay to a survey of Dallas residents failed to pass.