A Tale of 14 Districts: Equity in Infrastructure is Contentious Among Dallas City Council Members

As the Dallas City Council attempts to allocate funding based on racial equity and historically underserved areas, the city’s downtown is last on the list when it comes to pavement condition, council members pointed out during a recent briefing. 

Maneuvering the roads in District 14 is like driving around in a third-world country, according to District 12 Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn. 

“The roads are shameful [in District 14] and they need to be fixed,” Mendelsohn said. “They should be prioritized. Businesses are going to choose not to come here when they see it’s like a third-world country, driving around. We are not properly funding the [Public Works] department and this road work. We need to be doing better at this. Right behind public safety, this is No. 2.” 

The council was briefed on Dec. 7 on its five-year infrastructure management plan (IMP), a key component for economic development. 

Director of Public Works Ali Hatefi and Assistant Director Jennifer Nicewander presented an overview of the city’s IMP and how the city’s 14 council districts are ranked in terms of street performance and pavement condition index (PCI). 

Infrastructure in Underserved Areas

The 2023 budget includes a $158.6 million IMP allocation for streets, sidewalks, alleys, and bridges. That’s not enough to fund all the projects, which total more than $3.5 billion, so a debate ensued about how to distribute the funds. The entire City of Dallas budget is $4.75 billion. 

“Public Works has invested almost $30 million for underserved areas,” Hatefi said. 

Allocating funds for underserved areas is a point of contention among council members who advocate for “one Dallas,” but also represent constituents in a particular geographic area. 

“Everyone here should be all in for making sure our streets, alleys, sidewalks, and bridges are taken care of because they’re failing,” Mendelsohn said. “When you look at the map and the funding based on equity, we seem to be targeting the areas [that are highly ranked in PCI]. The truth is, that money should be going to District 14. Every single person in the city plus all our visitors use it.”

Nicewander said her team is collecting data and will present new information to the council in spring 2023 based on redistricting, which will alter council district boundaries. 

“For two years in a row, District 3 is No. 1 when it comes to grade on streets,” said Councilman Casey Thomas. “We need to make sure we keep the funding to stay No. 1.”

But District 14 Councilman Paul Ridley reiterated that the area he represents is last on the list. 

“One thing that I think would potentially affect the deterioration curves and longevity of our streets is quality control on the street-paving contractors,” Ridley said. “I’ve heard many complaints from constituents who say that projects are left at completion in poor condition, that they have rough, uneven surfaces. They question whether the city is enforcing any quality control acceptance of these projects.” 

A team of inspectors is assigned to every project, Hatefi said. A one-year warranty is in place so contractors have to fix problems within a certain time frame at their own cost. 

Council Feedback on Infrastructure Funding

Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Omar Narvaez, who represents District 6, said some of his constituents don’t have sidewalks. 

“The term equity refers to fairness and justice and is distinguished from equality,” Narvaez said. “Equity means recognizing we do not all start from the same place. The word equity gets misused on this dais daily. We have some data here that shows some districts are improving at a faster rate than others. That’s the equity component, fairness, and justice. That doesn’t mean that we leave behind another district. The equity component is that these other districts that were far behind are catching up in order to get us all to equality.” 

District 6 has the most lane miles — about 1,100 — in the city.

“You have to put more money into District 6,” Narvaez said. 

Some council members appeared confused at how priorities are set. 

“If the areas that are historically underserved have the best roads and streets, why are we putting more money there?” District 11 Councilwoman Jaynie Schultz asked. 

Every part of the city needs infrastructure, District 8 Councilman Tennell Atkins added. 

“We’re going to make sure that every district gets the best infrastructure improvements,” he said. “Every district needs help. Let us be one city and work together.” 

District 9 Councilwoman Paula Blackmon said people who are upset that their street is messed up aren’t particularly concerned with what district it’s in. 

“What needs to happen? What is the right balance?” Blackmon said. “What does the consumer want and how do we get there? In D9, less than two-thirds of the streets [are just] OK.”

Nicewander suggested that each district could have a baseline budget allocation, with remaining funds allocated to bringing up areas with the greatest need. It’s also important to look at how the backlog is affected when prioritization is given to the PCI, she said. 

District 13 Councilwoman Gay Donnell Willis said the data points to “not being equitable.”

“This tells me the deck needs to be reshuffled,” she said. “I’m thinking about factors like the volume of use and travel on these roads. While we focus on a district level and where people live, there’s also work, entertainment, shopping, and moving throughout the city, where these roads and their condition is important to every resident.” 

Assistant City Manager Majed Al-Ghafry said the city needs to focus on a system-wide look at infrastructure rather than by district. 

“That’s something we did in the bond program and something we should continue to do,” he said .”You don’t want to penalize a specific district for a project that could cost $15 [million] or $20 million. Instead, you want to really carve it out to be system-wide that several districts can benefit from. That’s something we will continue to look at.”