City Hall Roundup: Consolidation, Litigation, and Frustration
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Lots of things are cooking at Dallas City Hall, not least of which is the coming fiscal year’s budget. Sick of hearing about it yet? Well, there’s only another five weeks or so to go.
Speaking of the budget, a touchstone of the city manager’s fiscal plan is efficiency in the delivery of services. We’ll be taking a look at a departmental shakeup at City Hall that promises to save many taxpayer dollars. That’s more than enough to cover what the city’s spent defending its ordinance banning the vast majority of short-term rentals. You can read the latest on that saga below, too.
Departmental Consolidation Could Save Millions
City Manager Kimberly Tolbert provided a preview of how a new Office of Housing and Community Empowerment (OHCE) would operate if the city council approves of her plan to consolidate the Offices of Community Care & Empowerment; Homelessness Solutions; Equity & Inclusion; and Housing & Community Development.
The consolidation is part of Tolbert’s proposed balanced budget for FY 2025-2026.
In a memo posted on Friday, the city manager said that the merger would save taxpayers $6.2 million this coming fiscal year. OHCE would have four divisions: Affordable Housing; Homelessness & Supportive Human Services; Community Empowerment, Opportunity & Impact; and Budget & Finance.
She outlined some of the divisions’ key responsibilities:
Her memo also included answers to some FAQs. Here’s some of those:
“Together, the operational changes mark a significant step forward in aligning the City’s housing, homelessness, and community empowerment under a single, coordinated structure,” Tolbert wrote. “By streamlining processes, fostering cross-sector collaboration, and employing a data-driven approach, the OHCE will strengthen housing security, expand opportunities and improve the quality of life for all Dallas residents.”
STR Owners Clock Another Legal Win
A state appellate court dealt the City of Dallas another blow in its bid to ban most short-term rentals, deciding against granting officials’ request for the entire Fifth District Court of Appeals to hear its motion to lift an injunction on the ordinance.
This marks the third time this year that the appellate court opted to leave the injunction in place as a lawsuit filed by STR owners makes its way through the legal system.
“We would welcome moving past lawsuits and getting to the serious business of putting a reasonable ordinance in place that represents the interests of our membership as well as the neighborhoods in which we live,” Dallas Short-term Rental Alliance (DSTRA) said in a statement.
It’s unclear whether the city will stick to defending the current ordinance in light of the World Cup coming to Dallas next summer. Back in February, it had already clocked $3.5 million in taxpayer spending as a result of the litigation.
When CandysDirt.com reached out to the city for comment last month after the appellate court shot down a previous request for the injunction to be lifted, a member of the city’s communication team said the city was “considering its options.”
“In the meantime, the city will continue enforcement of its existing ordinances governing minimum property standards, disturbing noises, and private nuisances, etc,” they said.
The whole STR saga was kicked off a few years ago when angry residents living near STRs started raising their concerns with officials about some properties being used as party houses. For its part, DSTRA has pointed out that only a small fraction of STR operators in the city are derelict in their property management and that the vast majority are responsible property owners just trying to make a living.
Whatever the city decides to do with regards to the lawsuit, in the short term, it seems officials will have to play ball with STR owners, especially with the World Cup on the horizon. In a memo to council members earlier this month, Assistant City Manager Robin Bentley wrote that “engagement with hotels, short-term rental operators, and event housing providers” was part of the city’s planning framework for the tournament.
Unsanctioned ‘Street Feeding’ Costing Downtown Property Owners
Downtown Dallas Inc. (DDI) sent out an email blast to its subscriber list this past week discouraging the practice of handing out food to people experiencing homelessness in the city center. More specifically, the group pointed to organized “street feedings” carried out by local churches and other charitable organizations.
The email claimed that unauthorized food distribution downtown ultimately undermines organized efforts to provide pathways out of homelessness, suggesting it enables people sleeping outside and results in a significant amount of litter in the neighborhood.
“These feedings come with serious public health and quality-of-life costs, many of which fall on the nonprofit I lead, DDI,” wrote DDI president and CEO Jennifer Scripps. “Members of our Clean Team are routinely diverted from other duties to clean up waste and debris left behind by the feedings.”
“That work is likely to cost our organization — funded primarily by downtown property owners — more than $100,000 this year alone,” she added.
DDI advised that those who want to make a difference in the lives of people experiencing homelessness should reach out to “established shelters and service providers” like Austin Street Center, OurCalling, and The Bridge.
