Dallas City Council

City Hall Roundup: Dallas to Pay Out $55M to Trinity East Energy Over 2014 Lawsuit

By April Towery / February 4, 2024 /

The Dallas City Council approved last month a massive $55 million payment to settle a lawsuit with Trinity East Energy LLC natural gas company.  The oil and gas company filed suit in 2014 claiming that Dallas backed out of a deal to issue specialty permits after entering a lease with Trinity to drill on city-owned…

Podcast: Council Member Chad West ‘Our Lack of Housing Is the Crisis of the Future’

By Shelby Skrhak / February 1, 2024 /

When Dallas homeowners hear the words denser zoning, they get nervous. A towering apartment next to their single-family home? But Dallas City Council Member Chad West is asking the hypothetical question, What if we considered selectively denser zoning like Austin today, or interestingly, looked back to Highland Park’s solution to affordable housing in the 1920s…

Will Dallas Add Legalized Gambling, Casinos to Its 2025 Texas Legislative Priorities? 

By April Towery / January 29, 2024 /

Dallas leaders began a preliminary discussion last week on what it would look like locally if gambling, casinos, and game rooms were legalized during the 2025 Texas legislative session.  District 1 Councilman Chad West, who chairs the Government Performance and Financial Management Committee, said the matter isn’t currently listed among Dallas’ legislative priorities but he…

Mendelsohn: Why Should Dallas Taxpayers Pay For City-Issued Debt to Get Affordable Housing? 

By April Towery / January 22, 2024 /

Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn raised an interesting point during a discussion about affordable housing at Friday’s Dallas City Council meeting on the 2024 bond election. Why spend bond dollars — which require issuing debt and paying interest — on affordable housing when there are already more than a dozen mechanisms in place that could accomplish the…

Glencoe Project Scrapped, But Funding For Dallas Skate Parks Remains in Board’s Bond Proposal

By April Towery / January 15, 2024 /

It’s back to the drawing board for the Dallas Park and Recreation Department and council-appointed advisory board as they shuffle projects in anticipation of a bond issue in May or November. At least one project — an addition to the Dallas skate parks lineup near the Glencoe Park neighborhood — is off the table, board…