Dallas city attorneys respond to legal challenge over charter amendments

A federal court should reject a group’s request to stop Dallas voters from weighing in on a series of charter amendment proposals because there isn’t legal justification, city lawyers say.
Dallas City Attorney Tammy Palomino and other city legal representatives told the state Supreme Court in filings this week they disagree with arguments that voters are being misled or having their rights violated by being allowed in November to vote on three proposals introduced by the City Council to cancel out charter propositions backed by nonprofit Dallas Hero.
Voters will decide on nearly two dozen propositions for charter updates on Nov. 5.
The city attorneys say they believe the purpose and impact of the counterproposals are written clearly and don’t warrant being changed or dropped from the ballot.
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“Any issue that Hero has with the merits or ultimate effect of the measures if adopted are premature,” city attorneys said in response to Hero’s legal petition. “By asking the court to remove three propositions from the ballot altogether, it is Hero who seeks to deprive voters of a voice on the matter, not the city.”
Dallas Hero led a summer campaign to get three charter amendments on the election ballot that would require the city to have a minimum of 4,000 police officers and devote excess city revenue to public safety, tie the city manager’s job status and pay bonuses to an annual community survey, and force the city to waive its governmental immunity to allow lawsuits over not following local and state laws.
Dallas Hero has cited its trio of amendments as necessary tools to improve safety and hold government officials accountable, but city leaders have largely panned the ideas as fiscally irresponsible and detrimental to nearly all city services.
In addition to greenlighting the Dallas Hero proposals on Aug. 14, the City Council approved three charter amendments that would make clear that the council has the final say in how city funds are appropriated, the council has the final say in the job status and compensation of the city manager, and that nothing written in the charter is intended to waive the city’s governmental immunity from legal action.
Cathy Cortina Arvizu, a voter who signed petitions to get all three Dallas Hero proposals on the ballot, sued the city and most of the City Council last month alleging the latter proposals were unconstitutional, would confuse voters and shouldn’t be allowed on the ballot.
Arvizu and Dallas Hero filed similar complaints with the Texas Supreme Court and the 5th District Court of Appeals in Dallas, seeking judges’ orders to stop the charter amendment ballots from printing as-is and force the city to remove the counterproposals.
The appeals court dismissed the group’s petition, saying it didn’t have the jurisdiction to grant such an order. Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a brief with the state Supreme Court last week supporting the legal challenge by Arvizu and Dallas Hero.
Even changing the ballot propositions to directly reference one another and explain how they would impact each other would lead to more confusion for voters, the city asserts.
“There are twenty-one ballot measures concerning proposed charter amendments on the November ballot,” the city’s response said. “Must each proposition explain its relation and impact, if any, on the other twenty? Of course not.”
Dallas’ charter defines the powers, functions and structure of municipal government. The city typically reviews the charter once every 10 years, and any change requires voter approval.
Other propositions include raises for the council members and banning police officers from arresting or citing people accused of carrying 4 ounces or less of marijuana.
Early voting runs from Oct. 21 to Nov. 1. Election Day is Nov. 5.
Here is the language of the six ballot propositions:
Proposition K: Requiring City Council to make final determinations regarding appropriations of city funds and approval of city employee wages
Shall Chapter XI, Section 3 and Chapter XXIV, Section 18 of the Dallas City Charter be amended to state that city council shall make the final determinations regarding appropriations of city funds, that instructions regarding the approval of city employee wages or adjustments to city employee wages outlined in the charter serve only as recommendations for city council’s consideration, and that these provisions control over other provisions in the city charter?
Proposition M: Asserting no waiver of immunity
Shall Chapter II of the Dallas City Charter be amended by adding a section that states that nothing in the city charter is intended to waive the city’s governmental immunity from suit, liability, or damages, or to grant standing to residents to bring suit against the city, its employees, or officials?
Proposition N: Clarifying final decision-making authority regarding the appointment, removal, and compensation of the city manager
Shall Chapter VI, Section 1 of the Dallas City Charter be amended by adding a provision that states that the section authorizing the city council to have final decision-making authority regarding the appointment, removal, and compensation of the city manager controls over any other conflicting provision of the city charter?
Proposition S: Granting standing to residents and waiving governmental immunity
Shall the Dallas City Charter be amended by adding a new chapter that grants standing to any resident of Dallas to bring a lawsuit against the city to require the city to comply with provisions of the city charter, city ordinances, and state law; entitles claimants to seek declaratory and injunctive relief against the city and recover costs and reasonable attorney’s fees; and waives the city’s governmental immunity from suit and liability in claims brought under this amendment?
Proposition T: Annual community survey
Shall Chapter VI of the Dallas City Charter be amended by adding a new section compelling the city to conduct the city-commissioned Community Survey on an annual basis, to be completed by a minimum of 1,400 Dallas residents on their satisfaction on quality of life issues, the results of which will result in the city manager earning additional performance compensation (between 0 percent and 100 percent of the city manager’s annual base salary) or the termination of the city manager?
Proposition U: Police and fire funding appropriation
Shall Chapter XI of the Dallas City Charter be amended by adding a new section compelling city council to appropriate no less than 50 percent of annual revenue that exceeds the total annual revenue of the previous year to fund the Dallas Police and Fire Pension, with any monies remaining of that 50% to be appropriated to increasing the starting compensation of officers of the Dallas Police Department and to increase the number of police officers to a minimum of 4,000, and to maintain that ratio of officers to the City of Dallas population as of the date of passage of this amendment?