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[Charter Review Commission]
LET'S GO.UH, I WOULD LIKE TO CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER.
THIS IS THE MEETING OF THE CITY OF DALLAS, DALLAS CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION.
IT IS 6 33 ON OCTOBER 24TH, 2023.
AND NOW THIS MEETING IS CALLED TO ORDER TO ORDER.
DO WE HAVE ANY, UM, PUBLIC SPEAKERS? DO WE KNOW STAFF? ANYBODY ON? NO, SIR.
WE DON'T HAVE ANY, UH, MEMBERS ONLINE, I DON'T BELIEVE.
UH, WE'LL GO TO OUR NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS, UH, WHICH IS THE APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR OCTOBER 12TH MEETING.
DO I HAVE A MOTION MOVE FROM COMMISSIONER HUNT AND A SECOND BY, UH, COMMISSIONER KU.
UH, ANY DISCUSSION ON YOUR MINUTES? NO DISCUSSION.
SO I THINK MR. CHAIR, WHAT WE WERE GONNA DO IS, MR. CHAIR, ARE WE GONNA DO TOWNHOUSE FIRST, MR. CHAIR? YES.
JUST AS A PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRY, CAN I BE MARKED AS HAVING VOTED YES ON WHAT YOU JUST CALLED FOR? WHAT DID YOU SAY? CAN I BE MARKED AS VOTING? YES.
THANK YOU, MISS, I JUST DON'T WANNA RUIN YOUR REPUTATION AS THE VICE CHAIR OF AND HAVE MISSED MY VOTE.
OKAY, SO WE WERE ON DISCUSSION ITEMS. WE HAVE A FORMAT OF COMMUNITY TOWN HALL MEETINGS.
I THINK WE'RE GOING TO KIND OF MOVE SOMETHING OUT OF ORDER REAL QUICK.
IS THAT WHAT WE'RE DOING, Y'ALL? YES.
SO WE'RE GONNA GO TO OUR BRIEFING ITEM FIRST, BECAUSE WE THINK THAT'LL CLEAR UP SOME QUESTIONS THAT WE MIGHT HAVE WHEN WE GET TO THE OTHER ITEMS. SO IF WE CAN START OFF WITH, I MESSED MINE UP NOW.
COMMUNICATIONS AND ENGAGEMENT.
SO WE WILL HEAR FROM JAKE ANDERSON, UH, CHARTER REVIEW, COMMISSION, COMMUNICATIONS AND ENGAGEMENT OPTIONS.
UM, I'M JAKE ANDERSON WITH THE OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS, UM, AND MY COLLEAGUES CAN INTRODUCE THEMSELVES.
I'M WITH THE OFFICE OF EQUITY AND INCLUSION, WELCOMING COMMUNITIES AT IMMIGRANT AFFAIRS DIVISION.
HELLO, MY NAME IS JENNIFER BROWN.
I'M THE MANAGER OF PUBLIC INFORMATION FOR THE COMMUNICATIONS, OUTREACH AND MARKETING DEPARTMENT.
ALRIGHT, AND SO TONIGHT, UM, THE OFFICE OF EQUITY INCLUSION, UM, AND COMMUNICATIONS OUTREACH AND MARKETING, UM, ARE GOING TO PRESENT JOINTLY TO YOU A, UM, SOME, SOME OPTIONS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER, UM, FOR THE COMMUNICATIONS AND ENGAGEMENT AROUND THE CHARTER REVIEW.
UM, AND SO JUST KINDA GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF WHAT THIS IS GONNA LOOK LIKE.
WE'RE JUST BRIEF BACKGROUND OF WHAT, WHAT WE, WHERE WE'VE BEEN IN THE LAST TWO MEETINGS, UM, WHY WE'RE HERE, UM, TALK ABOUT A FEW CONCERNS TO KEEP IN MIND BEFORE WE MOVE FORWARD.
AND THEN I WILL TURN IT OVER TO ADRIANA TO TALK ABOUT SOME OF WHAT OFFICE OF EQUITY AND INCLUSION DOES AND, UH, CAN PROVIDE THIS BODY.
UM, AND THEN JENNIFER WILL TALK ABOUT THE COMMUNICATIONS MENU OF OPTIONS, UM, AND THEN WE'LL DISCUSS PROPOSED ACTIONS, NEXT STEPS AND OPEN IT UP TO THE BODY FOR, UH, FEEDBACK.
UM, SO AS I MENTIONED, UH, THE PURPOSE HERE IS TO KIND OF PREVENT PRESENT THE COMMUNICATIONS AND OUTREACH OPTIONS TO YOU, UM, AS A BODY AND TO RECEIVE YOUR FEEDBACK AND DIRECTION.
SO, MOVING FORWARD, UM, WE KNOW WHERE WE'RE GOING.
UM, SO AS PART OF THE OCTOBER 12TH BRIEFING ON THE SUGGESTED AMENDMENT SUBMISSION PROCESS, UM, THIS BODY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT COMMUNICATIONS AND OUTREACH TO THE PUBLIC.
UM, MORE SPECIFICALLY, YOU WERE INTERESTED IN HOW THE WORK OF THIS COMMISSION WOULD REACH RESIDENTS OF DALLAS, WHO OTHERWISE MIGHT NOT BE ENGAGED IN GOVERNMENTAL PROCESSES.
UM, STAFF WAS DIRECTED TO PREPARE A PRESENTATION, UM, DISCUSSING THE OPTIONS AVAILABLE TO YOU.
AND SO TONIGHT, ALONG WITH THE, ALONG WITH THE OFFICE OF EQUITY INCLUSION AND THE OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS OUTREACH AND MARKETING, UM, WE'VE PREPARED THIS DECK FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION.
NOW, UM, BEFORE I TURN IT OVER TO MY COLLEAGUES, I DO WANNA JUST FRAME UP KIND OF THE, THE ISSUES AND CONSIDERATIONS THAT THIS BODY SHOULD BE AWARE OF.
UM, WE'VE TOLD YOU IN PRIOR PRESENTATIONS THAT THE BUDGET FOR THE WORK THAT, UM, THE CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION IS, IS DOING, UM, IS ABOUT $25,000.
SO THAT INCLUDES PAYING FOR SECURITY THAT YOU SEE TONIGHT.
UM, IT INCLUDES AV AND TECH FOR EACH MEETING.
UM, FOOD THAT'S MADE AVAILABLE FOR, FOR YOU ALL, UM, AT SIX O'CLOCK.
AND SO A ROUGH ESTIMATE PUTS THE COST OF RUNNING, YOU KNOW, ACHAR CHARTER REVIEW, COMMISSION MEETING, ONE OF THESE, AND PROBABLY THE, THE $800 RANGE.
UM, SO IF YOU'RE PLANNING 15 MEETINGS, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HALF OF THE $25,000 RIGHT THERE BEING, UH, BEING TAKEN UP BY THESE MEETINGS.
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LEAST IN THE EARLY GOING, WE'VE UM, HEARD THAT YOU GUYS HAVE SEVERAL PRIORITIES THAT CONTINUE TO COME UP.UM, AND THAT'S WHY WE'RE HERE TONIGHT.
WE WANNA GET FEEDBACK ON THOSE COMMISSIONERS.
YOU'VE MADE A FEW THINGS CLEAR.
UM, YOU WANNA SEE MULTILINGUAL ENGAGEMENT, ESPECIALLY WITH SPANISH SPEAKING COMMUNITIES HERE IN DALLAS.
UH, YOU WANNA SEE ACCESSIBILITY FOR ALL RESIDENTS.
UM, YOU WANT TO SEE BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE, UM, WHICH IN OTHER WORDS, YOU WANNA SEE RESIDENTS WHO DO NOT ALWAYS HAVE THE SAME ACCESS TO THE INTERNET, UM, AND MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE STILL COMMUNICATED WITH AND ENGAGED IN THIS PROCESS.
UM, SO, UH, ON THE SLIDE YOU'LL SEE THAT THE, WHAT THE COMMS DEPARTMENT HAS COME UP WITH.
IT'S THE, THE DRAFT FRAMEWORK, UM, FOR EQUITABLE ENGAGEMENT.
WAS IT NOT MOVING
JAKE, DO THEY HAVE THE HANDOUTS AT THEIR PLACE? THEY SHOULD HAVE HANDOUTS AT THEIR PLACE SO YOU CAN FOLLOW ALONG.
AND IF LIKE, THANK YOU SO MUCH, JENNIFER CAN GO INTO THIS PORTION HERE.
FOR THE EQUITABLE ENGAGEMENT FRAMEWORK.
WE HAVE COME UP WITH THE ACRONYM HERE IN ORDER TO HIGHLIGHT MOBILITY, UNIVERSALITY, LANGUAGE ACCESS, TIMELINESS AND INTERACTION.
AND WHAT THAT STANDS FOR IS MOBILITY MEETING RESIDENTS WHERE THEY ARE UNIVERSALITY INFORMATION ON DEMAND AROUND THE CLOCK LANGUAGE ACCESS, BILINGUAL ENGLISH, SPANISH AT A MINIMUM.
BUT WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO TRANSLATE AND INTERPRET, INTERPRET IN ALL LANGUAGES, TIMELINESS, ENSURING THAT THE DEADLINE FOR PUBLIC INPUT IS PROVIDED TO THE PUBLIC IN ADVANCE, NOTIFYING THEM ABOUT DECEMBER AND INTERACTION LISTENING TO SUPPORT AS PART OF OUR ENGAGEMENT VALUE OF SERVICE.
WE'LL MOVE ON FROM THERE TO SLIDE SIX.
MY NAME IS ADRIANA PORTILLO AND I'M THE LANGUAGE ACCESS COORDINATOR FOR THE CITY OF DALLAS.
I WORK AGAIN FOR THE OFFICE OF EQUITY AND INCLUSION, AND OUR MISSION IS TO ADVANCE EQUITY, INCLUSION AND SOCIAL JUSTICE SO THAT ALL DALLAS SITES CAN THRIVE.
THERE ARE FOUR DIVISIONS IN OUR DEPARTMENT.
OUR EQUITY DIVISION WORKS WITH DEPARTMENTS IN THE CITY TO HELP CO-DEVELOP PROGRAMS TO CREATE A CITY WHERE EVERY RESIDENT HAS THE RESOURCES AND SERVICES TO THRIVE.
OUR FAIR HOUSING DIVISION WORKS TO ENSURE THAT FAIR AND EQUAL HOUSING CAN BE ACHIEVED FOR ALL.
IN DALLAS, THEY RESPOND TO HOUSING DISCRIMINATION COMPLAINTS BY INDIVIDUALS WHO BELIEVE THEY WERE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST BASED ON RACE, COLOR, RELIGION, SEX, NATIONAL ORIGIN, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, OR GENDER IDENTITY.
OUR HUMAN RIGHTS DIVISION WORKS TO ADVANCE EQUITABLE SERVICES WITH THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT, KNOWN AS THE ADA INFRASTRUCTURE COMPLAINTS AND OTHER L-G-B-T-Q COMMUNITY EFFORTS.
AND THEN LAST BUT NOT LEAST, THE WELCOMING COMMUNITIES AND IMMIGRANT AFFAIRS DIVISION, WHICH IS THE DIVISION THAT I AM IN.
WE WORK TO CREATE A WELCOMING SPACE FOR ALL WITH A SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE POPULATIONS.
AS A COLLECTIVE, THE OFFICE OF EQUITY AND INCLUSION IS READY TO SUPPORT THE CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION IN CREATING AN EQUITABLE AND INCLUSIVE ENGAGEMENT PROCESS UTILIZING DATA-DRIVEN AND INTERSECTIONAL LENS.
THAT SAID, TODAY WE WILL ZONE IN ON LANGUAGE ACCESS AS A KEY ELEMENT AMONG VARIOUS CONSIDERATIONS THAT OUR OFFICE EXPLORES WHEN DESIGNING APPROACHES TO ENGAGE DIVERSE COMMUNITIES.
IN THIS PRESENTATION, I'LL HIGHLIGHT LOCAL DEMOGRAPHIC DATA OF OUR IMMIGRANT POPULATION HERE IN DALLAS.
WE'LL DISCUSS LANGUAGE ACCESS, RESOURCES AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS FOR YOUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT APPROACH.
SO WE CAN GO TO SLIDE SEVEN, EITHER IN YOUR HANDOUTS OR ONLINE.
UM, AND WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT THE CITY OF DALLAS DEMOGRAPHICS.
IN FACT, WHEN SPEAKING SPECIFICALLY ABOUT OUR IMMIGRANT POPULATION, WE KNOW THAT ONE IN FOUR DALLAS RESIDENTS ARE BORN OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES.
ADDITIONALLY, 42% OF OUR RESIDENTS SPEAK A LANGUAGE OTHER THAN ENGLISH AT HOME WITH 36% OF RESIDENTS OVERALL INDICATING THAT THEY SPEAK SPANISH.
AND WHEN YOU COMPARE THAT TO THE POPULATION SIZE OF DALLAS, DALLAS HAS AROUND 1.3 MILLION RESIDENTS.
SO 36 IS AROUND 350,000 PEOPLE.
UH, WE ALSO HAVE 2.3% RESIDENTS THAT ARE DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING.
AND AGAIN, WHEN YOU'RE COMPARING THAT TO THE POPULATION SIZE OF DALLAS, IT'S AROUND 30,000 RESIDENTS.
AND THERE ARE OVER 90 LANGUAGES SPOKEN IN THE CITY OF DALLAS.
SO WE'LL GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
THE TOP LANGUAGES SPOKEN IN DALLAS OTHER THAN ENGLISH PER THE 2020 US CENSUS IS SPANISH, VIETNAMESE, MANDARIN, KOREAN, AMHARIC, FRENCH, ARABIC, SWAHILI, BURMESE, AND HINDI.
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SO LOOKING AT THAT LIST OF LANGUAGES AND RECOGNIZING HOW LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE OUR CITY IS, WE KNOW THAT THE RESIDENTS HERE ARE EAGER TO CONNECT WITH CITY SERVICES.AND A KEY PART OF THAT IS THE CITY CREATING LANGUAGE INCLUSIVE SPACES TO REALLY SET UP OUR RESIDENTS FOR SUCCESS.
FIRST, WE SHOULD ENSURE THAT ALL MATERIAL PRESENT PRESENTED ARE THE HANDOUTS.
THE PRESENTATIONS ARE IN PLAIN LANGUAGE, WHICH MAKE IT EASY FOR ANYONE TO UNDERSTAND THE CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION EFFORTS.
WHEN I SAY PLAIN LANGUAGE, I'M REFERENCING WRITING OR SPEAKING IN A WAY THAT YOUR AUDIENCE CAN UNDERSTAND THE FIRST TIME THEY HEAR OR READ IT, THEY DON'T HAVE TO REREAD IT MULTIPLE TIMES, THEY READ IT THE FIRST TIME AND UNDERSTAND CLEARLY THE INTENT OF WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO COMMUNICATE.
THIS MAKES IT EASIER FOR OUR ENGLISH SPEAKING AUDIENCES TO UNDERSTAND, BUT ALSO MAKES IT EASIER FOR DOCUMENTS TO BE TRANSLATED INTO THE LANGUAGES THAT YOU DESIRE.
WE ALSO HAVE SIMULTANEOUS INTERPRETATION THAT WE MANAGE THROUGH A TRAINED CERTIFIED INTERPRETER TO PROVIDE REAL LIFETIME INTERPRETATION THROUGH A HEADSET EQUIPMENT THAT THE OFFICE OF EQUITY AND INCLUSION CAN PROVIDE FOR YOU.
THIS PROVIDES THE OPPORTUNITY FOR BOTH ENGLISH AND SPANISH SPEAKING RESIDENTS TO RECEIVE INFORMATION AT THE SAME TIME.
BUT TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL MEETING, WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE CONNECTING WITH THE RIGHT GROUPS TO HAVE A TARGETED MARKETING RESPONSE EARLIER IN THE PLANNING STAGES.
THAT WAY COMMUNITIES CAN GIVE THEIR INPUT AND BUY-IN.
SOME EXAMPLES OF SUCCESSFUL MARKETING WOULD BE PARTNERING UP WITH NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS, LOCAL ESL CLASSES, FAITH-BASED INSTITUTIONS SUCH AS CHURCHES, TEMPLES, AND MOSQUES, AND LOOKING AT SCHOOLS LOCATED IN TARGET AREAS THAT COULD ASSIST BY EITHER HOSTING OR PROMOTING.
SECONDLY, LEVERAGING LEVERAGING DATA IS CRUCIAL FOR INFORMED DECISION MAKING IN IDENTIFYING THE NECESSARY RESOURCES AND LANGUAGES, REQUIRING SUPPORT AND TO OPTIMIZE EVERYONE'S TIME AND ENERGY.
THE OFFICE OF EQUITY AND INCLUSION HAS DEVELOPED A LANGUAGE MAP AS AN INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL RESOURCE FOR STAKEHOLDERS.
THIS MAP SHOWS BY ZIP CODE, THE TOP LANGUAGE IS SPOKEN AND THE PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATION OF PEOPLE BORN OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES.
THIS CAN REALLY HELP WITH OUR TARGETED OUTREACH SO THAT THE RIGHT PEOPLE AND MATERIALS ARE PRESENT TO EFFECTIVELY ENGAGE WITH OUR LANGUAGE DIVERSE RESIDENTS.
ALSO, RECOGNIZING THAT SPANISH IS THE SECOND MOST SPOKEN LANGUAGE THROUGHOUT THE CITY OF DALLAS.
THE CITY HAS STARTED EFFORTS TO CENTER THIS AS PART OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT EFFORTS.
TO THE RIGHT ON THE SLIDE, YOU CAN SEE AN ARTICLE FRESH OFF THE PRESSES FROM THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS LAST WEEK ON A SPANISH ONLY BOND TOWN HALL MEETING THAT WE HOSTED HERE IN THIS IN TOWN HALL HERE IN THE CITY OF DALLAS.
THIS TOWN HALL WAS A HUNDRED PERCENT IN SPANISH WITH EVERYTHING FROM THE MATERIALS BEING TRANSLATED AND THE PRESENT PRESENTATION DONE BY CITY STAFF, 100% IN SPANISH.
WE HAD GREAT SUCCESS IN THIS MEETING AND THE RESIDENTS WERE SO APPRECIATIVE AND WE'RE QUOTED SAYING, INE FINALLY THE CITY IS LISTENING TO US.
HAVING LANGUAGE SPECIFIC SESSIONS IS SO MEANINGFUL AND HAS THE RESIDENTS FEEL COMFORTABLE VERSUS USING AN INTERPRETATION SERVICE, WHICH SOMETIMES CAN HAVE THEM FEEL THAT THEIR ACCESSIBILITY WAS MORE OF AN AFTERTHOUGHT VERSUS WANTING TO AUTHENTICALLY CONNECT WITH THEM.
THIS TOWN HALL WAS MADE POSSIBLE BECAUSE OF COLLABORATION WITH CITY DEPARTMENTS AND WITH OUR COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS.
SO I THINK WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE IN YOUR PACKET.
UM, IN ADDITION TO TOWN HALLS, IT IS KEY TO AMPLIFY DIFFERENT WAYS TO ENGAGE OUR DALLAS RESIDENTS.
CONSIDER HOW WE ACTIVELY MEET THE RESIDENTS WHERE THEY LIVE, WORK, AND PLAY.
AND THIS INVOLVES PROVIDING DIVERSE PARTICIPATION OPTIONS IN COMMUNITY INSTITUTIONS, PLACES THAT YOU REGULARLY GO TO, SUPERMARKETS, LAUNDRY MATS, BARBER SHOPS AND RESTAURANTS TO COLLECT THAT FEEDBACK.
ANOTHER STRATEGY IS BRINGING IN SOMETHING EXCITING TO DRAW PEOPLE IN.
THERE ARE MANY ARTS AND CULTURE ORGANIZATIONS IN THE DALLAS AREA THAT HAVE SHOWS AND RECITALS.
PARENTS ALWAYS LOVE GOING, SEEING THEIR KIDS PERFORM.
SO MAYBE PARTNERING WITH ONE OF THEM TO HAVE A SHORT PRESENTATION RIGHT BEFORE THIS RECITAL CAN HELP ENSURE THAT YOU HAVE THAT CAPTIVE AUDIENCE READY TO GO.
WE ALSO WANNA MAKE SURE THAT OUR SPACES ARE ADA ACCESSIBLE AND HAVE THE APPROPRIATE PARKING SPACES AND ARE EASY TO NAVIGATE THROUGH FOR OUR, UH, RESIDENTS WHO MIGHT HAVE ISSUES WITH MOBILITY.
FINALLY, CONSIDERING HAVING THE TOWN HALLS BE FAMILY FRIENDLY, MANY PARTICIPANTS, MANY RESIDENTS WANNA PARTICIPATE IN CITY FEEDBACK SESSIONS, BUT FACE THE CHALLENGES OF CARING FOR CHILDREN.
BRINGING KIDS TO A LENGTHY PRESENTATION CAN BE UNCOMFORTABLE.
KIDS DON'T REALLY LIKE TO SIT FOR HOURS AND LISTEN TO PRESENTATIONS.
UH, WE CAN IMAGINE MEETINGS THAT WELCOME THESE CHILDRENS, THAT WAY THE
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PARENTS CAN FULLY ENGAGE AND BE PRESENT IN THE SESSIONS.UH, TO YOUR RIGHT ON THE SLIDE, I'D LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT AN EVENT THAT THE OFFICE OF EQUITY AND INCLUSION DID IN COLLABORATION WITH DISTRICT 11 COUNCIL MEMBER JANIE SCHULTZ, UH, TO COLLECT AND SHARE FEEDBACK FOR THE RESIDENTS IN THE ESPERANZA AREA.
THIS EVENT WAS AT THE LOS NINOS, A DAY OF THE CHILD EVENT.
WE HAD PERFORMANCES, PAINTING GAMES, GIVEAWAY MUSIC AND INFORMATIONAL TABLES IN THE PLAYGROUND OF A LOCAL SCHOOL THAT'S CRUCIAL TO THE FABRIC OF THAT COMMUNITY.
WE ALSO HAD A TABLE WHERE ONE OF OUR PARTNERS GATHERED INFORMATION FROM THE COMMUNITY AND SHARED OUT ON WORK THAT HAD ALREADY BEEN DONE.
THIS ALLOWED ALL GENERATIONS OF DALLAS SITES THE OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE AND ALLOWED THE CITY AND OPPORTUNITY TO CONTINUE FOSTERING A RELATIONSHIP OF TRUST WITH OUR CITY.
IN SUMMARY, I'VE PRESENTED SEVERAL STRATEGIES FOR THE CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION TO EXPLORE WHILE ADOPTING AN INTERSECTIONAL APPROACH TO COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PLANNING.
THE OFFICE OF EQUITY AND INCLUSION IS PLEASED TO CONTRIBUTE TO THIS EFFORT BY OFFERING DATA TOOLS FOR INFORMED DECISION MAKING, FACILITATING CERTIFIED INTERPRETATION SERVICES, AND FOSTERING CONNECTIONS WITH COMMUNITY PARTNERS TO AID IN PLANNING AND PROMOTION.
WE VALUE YOUR COMMITMENT TO PRIORITIZING EQUITY IN THE FOREFRONT OF THESE COMMUNITY COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROCESS.
AND WITH THAT, I'LL PASS IT OVER TO JENNIFER FROM OUR COMMS TEAM TO PROVIDE MORE INFORMATION ON WHAT THE COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE CAN PROVIDE.
SO THE COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT ACTUALLY CONSISTS OF FOUR INTERNAL UNITS.
WE HAVE OUR PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICERS THAT HANDLE ALL OF OUR COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING PLANNING AND OUR MEDIA RELATIONS.
OUR SECOND UNIT IS OUR LANGUAGE ACCESS TEAM.
THESE ARE THE INDIVIDUALS THAT WORK ON OUR TRANSLATIONS AND COORDINATE WITH THE CITY'S CONTRACT VENDOR THAT PROVIDES TRANSLATIONS IN ALL LANGUAGES.
AND WE HAVE OUR THIRD UNIT, WHICH IS DESIGN AND SOCIAL MEDIA.
THAT'S OUR TEAM OF GRAPHIC DESIGNERS AND OUR DIGITAL CONTENT SPECIALIST.
THEY ARE THE ONES THAT ENSURE ALL OF THE HANDOUTS THAT WE GIVE TO OUR RESIDENTS, OUR BEAUTIFUL AND MEET THE CITY STANDARDS.
AND OUR DIGITAL CONTENT SPECIALIST HANDLES OUR SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS.
CITY OF DALLAS IS ON ALL SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS EXCEPT FOR TIKTOK OF COURSE, AND I DO HAVE SOME FLYERS AVAILABLE THAT LIST EVERYWHERE THAT THE CITY OF DALLAS COMMUNICATES WITH THE RESIDENTS THAT I'LL LEAVE HERE JUST FOR YOUR INFORMATION.
THE FOURTH UNIT IS OUR BROADCAST AND AV UNIT ON ANY BIG CAMPAIGN AND ONE THAT WE ARE SO PLEASED TO BE WORKING ON SUCH AS THIS, ALL OF OUR UNITS WILL COLLABORATE IN ORDER TO MAXIMIZE THE AWARENESS THAT WE ARE RAISING FOR OUR RESIDENTS AND TO ENSURE THAT THE MESSAGING IS PROVIDED EXACTLY AS PLANNED.
WHEN WE STRATEGIZE FOR THE COMMISSION TODAY, WE HAVE PREPARED THREE DIFFERENT COLUMNS OF COMMUNICATIONS, OUTREACH AND MENU SERVICES THAT ARE AVAILABLE BASED ON THE COST FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH THEM.
SO THE FIRST SLIDE THAT I'LL BE REFERRING TO IS SLIDE 11, AND IT ENCOMPASSES OUR IN KIND AND NOCO SERVICES.
THE FIRST THING THAT COMMUNICATIONS ENSURES IS THAT ALL OF THE EVENTS THAT ARE GONNA BE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC ARE LISTED ON THE DALLAS.GOV CITY CALENDAR.
IT'S A PRIMARY POINT OF FOCUS AND INFORMATION FOR NOT JUST OUR RESIDENTS, BUT ALSO A LOT OF OUR MEDIA CONTACTS AND OUR INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS.
OF COURSE, THERE'S NO COST FOR THAT.
WE ALSO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEND OUT TEXT NOTIFICATIONS TO ALL OF THE CITY OF DALLAS SUBSCRIBERS THAT HAS OPT THAT HAVE OPTED IN TO RECEIVE THOSE FROM THE COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT.
AGAIN, MENTIONING THAT ALL OF THIS, UH, ALWAYS OCCURS BILINGUALLY AND CAN BE DONE IN ANY LANGUAGE THAT'S REQUESTED.
WE'RE GENERALLY FOCUSED ON THE TOP FIVE LANGUAGES THAT WERE ADDRESSED EARLIER.
THE TEXT NOTIFICATION CAN LINK TO A BLOG PAGE LIKE DALLAS NEWS.NET, WHICH IS WHERE WE STORE A LOT OF OUR HISTORIC ARTICLES AND ANOTHER PLATFORM FOR SHARING INFORMATION VIA SHORT LINKS TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR PEOPLE TO VIEW ON THEIR PHONES.
IT'S ALSO A CHANCE IN ADDITION TO ALL OF THE PLATFORMS THAT WE ARE ON FOR SOCIAL MEDIA, TO UTILIZE OUR TEAM TO CREATE IMPACTFUL GRAPHICS AS WE HAVE DONE ALREADY IN PREPARATION FOR THE PAST FEW MEETINGS OF THE COMMISSION AND WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE PROCESS.
THE CITY OF DALLAS SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS ARE REACHING NEARLY HALF A MILLION INDIVIDUALS.
WE ALSO HAVE AN IN-KIND CONTRACT ESTABLISHED WITH TWO LOCAL VENDORS THAT ALLOWS THE COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT TO POST BILLBOARDS AROUND DALLAS.
THOSE BILLBOARDS ARE AS AVAILABLE, YOU KNOW, UH, WITH NO COST.
THE ONLY, UM, DISCLAIMER IS THAT WE CANNOT DICTATE EXACTLY WHERE THE BILLBOARDS ARE POSTED BECAUSE
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OF THE IN-KIND CONTRACT.IT'S BASED ON AVAILABLE SPACE, BUT WE CAN POST AS MANY BILLBOARDS AS WE WOULD LIKE AND ALSO WE CAN EXTEND THOSE FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME THAT WOULD BE APPROPRIATE FOR THE BILLBOARD PROCESS.
THE ONLY CHALLENGE THAT WE'VE ENCOUNTERED IS TRYING TO ENSURE THAT YOUR MESSAGE IS LESS THAN EIGHT WORDS AND NOT INCLUDING A CALL TO ACTION IN ORDER TO ENSURE WE ALIGN WITH OUR VISION ZERO VALUES AS WELL.
THE LAST REPORT THAT WE SAW ON A CAMPAIGN WAS 500 MILLION IMPRESSIONS, THINKING ABOUT ALL OF THE INDIVIDUALS THAT DRIVE BY THOSE.
WE ALSO HAVE CONDUCTED AND CAN SPEAK FURTHER ABOUT, UM, THE SETUP FOR THE TELEPHONE FOR VOICEMAIL COMMENTS.
THIS WAS ESTABLISHED, IT'S BEEN ESTABLISHED FOR A LOT OF MAJOR CAMPAIGNS, BUT IT WAS ESTABLISHED RECENTLY FOR THE CHARTER REVISION COMMISSION IN OR REVIEW COMMISSION IN ORDER TO ENSURE THAT RESIDENTS HAVE A DIRECT LOCAL NUMBER TO CALL AND THEY'RE ABLE TO REACH DICK.
WE ALSO HAVE THE ABILITY TO RECORD AND BROADCAST BILINGUAL PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS ON THE CITY'S, UM, CABLE CHANNELS, WHICH ARE LISTED ON HERE.
SPECTRUM 95, AT AND T UNIVERSE 99, AND THE CITY OF DALLAS YOUTUBE PAGE.
AND OUR WEBSITE ALLOWS US TO BROADCAST THOSE.
THAT'S IT FOR THE IN KIND OF NO COST OPTIONS.
NOW I'M GOING TO MOVE ON TO OUR LOW COST AND OUR EARNED OPTIONS THAT ARE OUTLINED ON SLIDE 12.
THE LOW COST AND THE EARNED OPTIONS ARE REALLY BASED ON THE MEDIA RELATIONS THAT THE COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT HAS BEEN FOSTERING AND THAT ALL OF OUR STAKEHOLDERS HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO.
WE HAVE THE SYSTEM SET UP IN ORDER TO DISSEMINATE MEDIA ADVISORIES REQUEST FOR COVERAGE PRESS RELEASES TO OVER 1500, MOSTLY LOCAL CONTEXTS, BUT ALSO A LOT OF NATIONAL CONTEXTS.
THIS IS A ROBUST LIST OF NOT JUST ENGLISH MEDIA CONTEXT, BUT ALSO SPANISH MEDIA CONTEXTS.
AND WE KNOW THAT, UH, WE HAD A VERY GOOD OPENING RATE REPORTED FROM THE PRESS RELEASE THAT WE DISSEMINATED PROMOTING TONIGHT'S, OR I'M SORRY, TO PROMOTING THE OPPORTUNITY TO SUBMIT AMENDMENTS THAT WE, UM, DISSEMINATED ON THE 16TH, OCTOBER 16TH.
THE COMMUNICATION DEPARTMENT WORKS REALLY HARD TO PREPARE OUR SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS WITH APPROPRIATE MEDIA TRAINING IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH EARNED MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES.
THIS IS JUST A CHANCE FOR US TO WORK WITH A CONTACT THAT IS INTERESTED IN THE TOPIC IN ORDER TO CONDUCT INTERVIEWS AND ENSURE THAT OUR KEY MESSAGING IS SHARED.
IT'S REALLY A GREAT WAY TO HIGHLIGHT THE WORK THAT'S BEING DONE AND TO MAINTAIN THE MESSAGING.
IT'S ALSO A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR OUR COMMUNITY LEADERS AND OUR NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS OR PARTNERS TO CONTRIBUTE TO AND SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE DEVELOPED, WHICH WE CALL A SPEAKERS BUREAU.
SO HAVING A COALITION OF FOLKS READY IN ORDER TO MAKE THOSE CONNECTIONS FOR THE MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES.
THE COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT DOES HANDLE ALL OF THE MEDIA INQUIRIES FOR ALL DEPARTMENTS AND WILL CONTINUE TO LEAD FOR THIS CAMPAIGN AND WILL DIRECT ALL OF OUR CONTACTS TO COLLABORATE OR SUBMIT THEIR REQUEST TO US@MEDIAATDALLAS.GOV.
ONE OF THE GREAT THINGS ABOUT OUR MEDIA RELATIONS STRATEGY IS THAT WE ARE ABLE TO QUANTIFY IT.
SO THROUGH OUR MEDIA MONITORING SYSTEM CRITICAL MENTION, WE TRACK ALL OF THE MEDIA MENTIONS ACCORDING TO OUR, UH, KEYWORDS AND CAMPAIGNS AND CAN PRODUCE REPORTS THAT WOULD DEMONSTRATE HOW MANY PEOPLE THIS IS, IS ESTIMATED TO REACH AND A SIGN OF VALUE TO IT.
ALRIGHT, AND THEN LOOKING AT THE NEXT SLIDE HERE, SLIDE 13.
AND THESE OPTIONS HERE ARE LISTED IN ORDER FROM POTENTIALLY THE MOST TO THE LEAST ENGAGING.
THEY ALL COST APPROXIMATELY $8,000 EACH.
SO FOR THE FIRST ONE, THE TELE-TOWN HALL MEETING, TELE-TOWN HALLS ARE EXCEPTIONAL AT BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE.
WE HAVE SEEN A HIGHER TURNOUT FOR TELE-TOWN HALLS THAN ANY OTHER ENGAGEMENT PLATFORM THAT THE COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT HAS PARTICIPATED IN.
IT DOESN'T REQUIRE A SMARTPHONE.
AND, UH, WE ALREADY HAVE AN ESTABLISHED VENDOR THAT CALLS TO PRIOR PARTICIPANTS, THOUSANDS OF INDIVIDUALS THAT WILL GET ON THE LINE SIMULTANEOUSLY AS DEMONSTRATED THROUGH OUR BUDGET TOWN HALLS THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS.
AND NOT ONLY DO THEY HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO OPT INTO THE MEETING OR TO NOT, THEY ALSO ARE ABLE TO HEAR THE INFORMATION THROUGH
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LIVE INTERPRETATION, SPANISH INTERPRETATION DURING THE TOWN HALL.AND THERE IS A FEATURE THAT ALLOWS THEM TO CONDUCT POLLS OR RESPOND TO POLLS THROUGH THE TOUCH TONE POLLING.
WE WOULD SAY THAT IT'S THE MOST EQUITABLE AND ENGAGING OPTION, AND WE CAN PROVIDE DETAILED DATA ON EXACTLY HOW MANY MINUTES PARTICIPANTS STAY ON IN EACH LANGUAGE, AS WELL AS THE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS AND THE ABILITY TO OPT IN AND RECEIVE UPDATES THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS.
A ONE HOUR MEETING COST ABOUT $8,000 DEPENDING ON HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE CALLED.
THE NEXT POINT THAT WE CAN REVIEW HERE ARE THE PAID, MULTILINGUAL, DIGITAL AND PRINT ADS.
WE DO HAVE RATE SHEETS AVAILABLE FOR DIGITAL AND PRINT, MULTICULTURAL AND MULTILINGUAL LOCALLY OWNED SMALL BUSINESSES.
WE HAVE FOSTERED RELATIONSHIPS WITH THESE ORGANIZATIONS FOR YEARS AS WELL AND ESTABLISHED CONTRACTS WITH A NUMBER OF THEM.
DIGITAL ADS CAN PROVIDE IMPRESSION AND ENGAGEMENT DATA, SO THERE'S ALWAYS A WAY TO ASSESS THAT.
AND MULTILINGUAL ADS CAN INCLUDE INSTRUCTIONS TO REQUEST ORAL INTERPRETATION.
THE COMMISSIONERS MAY ADVISE OF HOW THEY WISH TO SPEND THE BUDGET AND WHICH LANGUAGES THEY WISH TO ADVERTISE IN.
AND WHETHER DIG DIGITAL OR PRINT ADVERTISING IS PREFERRED.
WE WILL SAY THAT PRINT PUBLICATIONS HAVE LONGER LEAD TIMES, OBVIOUSLY, AND DIGITAL ADS CAN BE TURNED AROUND QUICKLY IN ABOUT A WEEK.
BROADCAST ADVERTISING IS DISCOURAGED.
THIS INCLUDES RADIO AND THAT IS DUE TO IT BEING THE MOST EXPENSIVE AND WITH THE LOWEST ABILITY TO HAVE IT GEO-TARGETED TO THE PROPER POPULATION.
WE'LL SPEAK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT ORAL INTERPRETATION FOR AN EIGHT HOUR MEETING.
IT IS RECOMMENDED UPON REQUEST.
WE HAVE ASSESSED RECENTLY THAT ALTHOUGH IT'S BEEN PROVIDED AT THE COUNCIL BRIEFINGS THROUGHOUT THE PAST FISCAL YEAR, THE CITY SECRETARY HAS NOT RECEIVED REQUESTS FROM SPEAKERS TO PROVIDE INTERPRETERS.
SO WE ARE ENSURING THAT THERE IS INTERPRETATION AVAILABLE ON REQUEST AND WANTING TO MAKE THE MATCH FOR THE BEST RETURN ON THE INVESTMENT.
WE ARE PLEASED THAT WE GET TO COLLABORATE WITH DALLAS WATER UTILITIES, DWU ON THE WATER BILL INSERT PROCESS COMMUNICATIONS IS THE FINAL REVIEWER OF THOSE INSERTS ISSUES, THE PUBLICATION NUMBER.
AND OFTEN WE ARE WORKING WITH THE DEPARTMENT UP FRONT IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH THE CREATION OF THE WATER BILL.
THE WATER BILL INSERT REACHES OVER 200,000 RESIDENTS IN PRINT.
IT'S ONLY AVAILABLE TO THOSE THAT RECEIVE THEIR WATER BILLS IN PRINT, NOT ONLINE.
AND WE DO HAVE TO RESERVE A SLOT RELATIVELY FAR IN ADVANCE, BUT WE FEEL CONFIDENT THAT WE WOULD BE ABLE TO DO SO.
AGAIN, THAT WOULD BE APPROXIMATELY $8,000 FOR ONE INSERT.
THE FINAL OPTION WE WANTED TO DISCUSS IS ANOTHER INTERNAL SERVICE.
THROUGH THE EXPRESS BUSINESS CENTER.
IT HAS THE ABILITY TO PRINT AND DISTRIBUTE DIRECT MAIL PIECES.
THIS COULD ALSO INCLUDE DESIGNS, UH, REC CARDS.
IT COULD INCLUDE, UM, ANYTHING THAT WOULD BE A GREAT HANDOUT FOR DIFFERENT CITY OF DALLAS FACILITIES, INCLUDING THE OFFICE OF COMMUNITY CARE CLINICS, THE LIBRARIES, AND THE REC CENTERS.
SO ANYTHING THAT WE WANTED TO DESIGN WITHIN THE COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT, WE CAN ALSO GET PRINTED HERE AT CITY HALL AT THE EXPRESS BUSINESS CENTER AND ESTABLISH A DIRECT MAIL SYSTEM WITH THEM IF DESIRED.
THE COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT WELCOMES THE COMMISSIONER'S GUIDANCE ON WHETHER YOUR PRIORITY IS REACH OR ENGAGEMENT AND ON HIGH COST OR LOW TECH OPTIONS LIKE PRINT RACK CARDS, DIRECT MAIL PIECES, WATER BILL INSERTS, PRINT ADVERTISING, KNOWING THAT THEY MAY HAVE A LARGE POTENTIAL AUDIENCE BUT ARE LESS TRACKABLE OR ENGAGING THAN TELE TOWN HALLS AND MULTILINGUAL DIGITAL ADS.
AND THEN ON SLIDE 14, WE'RE JUST GONNA RECAP KIND OF THE PROS AND CONS OF EACH OF THE OPTIONS HERE.
TELL THE TOWN HALL MEETING AS JUST A NOTED, AGAIN, IT'S THE MOST EQUITABLE ENGAGING.
IT'S ALSO THE MOST EXPENSIVE PAID MULTICULTURAL ADVERTISING, AND IT CAN INFORM STAKEHOLDERS ON HOW TO REQUEST ORAL INTERPRETATION AND PROVIDE DATA.
PRINT ADS HAVE A LONGER LEAD TIME IN-PERSON SPANISH EVENTS BRIDGES THE DIGITAL DIVIDE AND ADDRESSES LANGUAGE ACCESS, LIMITED AUDIENCE CAPACITY, AND THE WATER BILL INSERTS.
WE KNOW THAT IT REACHES A LARGE, UH, PORTION OF THE POPULATION, BUT IT NEEDS PLENTY OF LEAD TIME FOR PROPER PREPARATION.
AND THEN THE FINAL, UM, OPTION MENTIONED AGAIN, IS THE DIRECT MAIL AND OR RACK CARDS.
[00:30:01]
FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE PRESENTATION.UM, WITH THAT STAFF IS PROPOSING THAT THE COMMISSION EVALUATES THESE OPTIONS THAT, THAT HAVE BEEN PRESENTED TO YOU, UM, AND SELECTS SOME FROM THE MENU, UM, OF OPTIONS SO THAT WE CAN IMPLEMENT THEM AS PART OF THE COMMUNICATIONS AND OUTREACH PLAN.
UM, SO WE'RE SEEKING YOUR GUIDANCE ON HOW TO ALLOCATE A PORTION OF THE CHARTER, UH, CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION BUDGET, UM, SHOULD THE COMMISSION WISH TO PURSUE ANY OF THE PAID COMMUNICATION OPTIONS AS WELL.
UM, AND NOW WE'LL OPEN UP THE FLOOR.
WE'RE ASKING, LIKE I SAID, FOR INPUT, UM, ON YOUR COMMUNICATION OUTREACH PRIORITIES, UM, SO THAT WE CAN THEN MOVE FORWARD BY STRATEGICALLY INVESTING OUR BUDGET AND REACHING AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE.
ALRIGHT, THANK YOU FOR THAT VERY DETAILED COMMUNICATION AND ENGAGEMENT OPTIONS.
UM, AS A FORMER, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER, UM, I'M GONNA, I'M GONNA GO TO MS. LARRY FIRST 'CAUSE I SAW HER AND THEN, THEN I HAVE A SUGGESTION, UM, OF WHAT WE SHOULD DO.
AND, AND IT'S BEEN SUCCESSFUL.
WE'RE NOT, WE DON'T WANNA REINVENT THE WHEEL.
WE'VE DONE THIS OVER AND OVER AGAIN AND HAVE SO MANY MEETINGS AND YOU DO, GUYS DO DO A GREAT JOB WITH GETTING THAT INFORMATION OUT.
UH, UH, COMMISSIONER LOWRY, THANK YOU.
UH, THE, UH, YOU MENTIONED $800 PER MEETING FOR THE 15 MEETINGS, BUT THERE'S ALSO THE COST OF THE TOWN HALL MEETINGS, RIGHT? AND THAT'S CORRECT.
ARE THOSE ALSO 800 OR IN THAT RANGE? THOSE, THOSE MIGHT END UP BEING MORE AS WE, UH, INCLUDE TRANSLATION SERVICES OR IF WE'RE DOING A SPANISH LANGUAGE TOWN HALL.
UM, ALL OF THE, THE LEGWORK THAT WOULD NEED NEEDED TO, TO TRANSLATE EVERYTHING INTO SPANISH.
UM, IF WE WANNA PROVIDE FOOD AND THINGS LIKE THAT, THOSE, THERE WOULD BE A LOT OF CONSIDERATIONS THAT WOULD DEFINITELY DRIVE THAT UP.
SO, SO IF IT, EVEN IF IT WAS JUST 800, I COUNTED UP THE TOWN HALL MEETINGS WHERE IT'S 17 FIVE WITH NOTHING ELSE ADDED ON.
SO THAT PRETTY MUCH DOES A LOT OF OUR BUDGET.
UH, JUST ONE THING ABOUT THE WATER BILL INSERTS, THEY ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE, SO PEOPLE THAT DO NOT GET THE HARD COPY, THEY HAVE ACCESS THROUGH THEIR ONLINE BILL PAY.
UM, SO I HAVE A SUGGESTION AND, AND I DON'T KNOW IF COUNCIL MEMBERS WOULD, UM, FORMER COUNCIL MEMBERS WOULD AGREE.
I THINK WE JUST DO THE WAY THAT WE DO THE BUDGET TOWN HALL MEETINGS, THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT WE DO.
YOU GET ALL YOUR INFORMATION OUT.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS CAN, I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE MY COUNCIL MEMBER THERE.
I KNOW MY COUNCIL MEMBER ALREADY TOLD ME HE WANTS TO BE PRESENT WHEN I HAVE MINE.
UH, SOMETIMES THEY PARTNER UP, YOU KNOW, THE COUNCIL MEMBERS PARTNER UP.
WE CAN LET THEM DECIDE ON THOSE AND THE DATES AND THEN GO FROM THERE.
THAT'S, THAT'S PROBABLY EASIEST.
WE SEND THAT OUT ALL OVER THE PLACE.
BUT I DON'T THINK WE SHOULD JUST REINVENT THE WHEEL ON THAT.
IF ANOTHER, IF A COMMISSIONER WANTS TO HAVE ANOTHER MEETING IN THEIR DISTRICT, BY ALL MEANS GO AHEAD.
BUT I THINK YOU SHOULD AT LEAST, UH, PARTNER THE COUNCIL MEMBERS, UH, DECIDE WHAT DATE YOU CAN BE THERE WITH THEM AND HAVE STAFF THERE AND DO IT JUST THE WAY WE DID WITH THE BUDGET TOWN ON MEANS.
I DON'T KNOW IF ANYBODY, UM, HAS ANOTHER COMMENT.
I SEE COMMISSIONER, UH, MAGEE, UH, YEAH, I KNOW THAT'S NOT A MOTION, BUT I WOULD SECOND IT.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE, THE, THE PROCESS WORKS PRETTY GOOD WITH OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS AND TO DO THAT AT THE SAME TIME AND PEOPLE KIND OF ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE PROCESS.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE TRYING TO GET ATTENDANCE IS THE MAIN PIECE OF THIS AND THEN GETTING THE INFORMATION OUT AS MUCH AS WE CAN.
AND SO WE CAN, WE CAN DO ALL THAT WE WANT TO.
AND THEN I WOULD JUST SAY THE COMMISSIONERS, ALL OF US SHOULD FEEL FREE TO, YOU KNOW, HOLD OTHER MEETINGS AND OTHER MECHANISMS FOR GETTING THE WORD OUT AND THAT KIND OF THING AS WELL AS WE'RE, AS WE'RE TAKING IN INFORMATION AND AMENDMENTS AND DATA AND WHATEVER ELSE.
AND SO, UM, I JUST, I LIKE THE IDEA OF, OF REDUCING THOSE MEETINGS TO THE SAME PROCESS THAT WE'VE USED DURING THE BUDGET PROCESS.
I'LL GO WITH COMMISSIONER CLAP AND THEN COMMISSIONER HUNT.
I ALSO LIKE USING THE COUNCIL PEOPLE AND THEIR WAY OF COMMUNICATING THAT THEY ALREADY HAVE.
UH, IT SEEMS TO ME LOOKING AT THAT, THAT'S PROBABLY ONE OF THE BEST WAYS TO, UM, CON TO CONTACT AND HAVE MORE PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT THE COMMISSION.
UM, I THINK ALSO USING THE COMMUNICATIONS DEVICES THAT THE COUNCIL MEMBERS HAVE, WHICH IS THE NEIGHBORHOOD LEADERS, THEY'RE THE ONES WHO GET THE WORD OUT.
UM, AND THEY'RE THE OPINION LEADERS MANY TIMES AND THEY'RE THE MOST ACTIVELY ENGAGED.
SO, UH, I THINK THAT'S RIGHT ON TARGET.
ONE THING I, I DO THINK IT WOULD BE HELPFUL FOR US TO DO IS, UM, YOU KNOW, THE CHARTER IS A DENSE DOCUMENT.
IT'S, UM, IT'S DIFFERENT FROM THE BUDGET IN THAT THERE AREN'T LIBRARIES THAT ARE IMPACTED AND PARKS THAT ARE IMPACTED STREETS.
AND SO IT'S, IT'S KIND OF A, A DIFFERENT ANIMAL IN A LOT OF WAYS THAT ISN'T QUITE AS APPEALING TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC, I WOULD THINK.
AND SO IT, IT MIGHT BE HELPFUL FOR US IN ADDITION TO, TO ENGAGING THE PUBLIC THROUGH OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS, THE SAME BUDGET PROCESS
[00:35:01]
TO RE BE REACHING OUT, UH, TO DIFFERENT GROUPS ACROSS THE CITY.I'M THINKING, UM, THE REAL ESTATE COUNCIL CAME TO MIND, THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS CAME TO MIND, DALLAS CHAMBER, UM, SOME OF THESE GROUPS THAT HOLD FORUMS FOR, UM, THOUGHTFUL DISCUSSIONS OF, OF, UM, COMMUNITY TOPICS.
THEY MAY BE IDEAL TO HELP, UM, BOTH GET THE WORD OUT TO FOLKS WHO MAY BE INTERESTED IN THIS AND ALSO TO GIVE US THOUGHTS.
UH, AND THANKS FOR A VERY THOROUGH SUMMARY OF CAPABILITIES.
UM, HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT, AND MAYBE THIS IS SOMETHING FOR THE COMMISSION TO THINK ABOUT HOW MUCH, I MEAN, WHAT IS IT, WHAT, WHAT'S THE OBJECTIVE? WHAT'S THE GOAL OF WHAT, OF ALL THIS AND HOW MUCH COVERAGE? HOW MUCH DO WE, DO WE WANNA PACKED HOUSE WHILE WE'RE DOING OUR BUSINESS? UH, IT'S, UH, I MEAN, THERE ARE WAYS YOU COULD PACK THE HOUSE IF YOU WANTED.
AND THAT'S MY QUESTION REALLY BACK TO THE, BACK TO THE GROUP.
YOU KNOW, I COULD THINK OF, UH, NEWS PEGS.
I MEAN, WE GOT AN ELECTION COMING UP, RIGHT? SO I COULD HAVE, YOU COULD PROBABLY MAKE A STORY OUTTA THE FACT THAT WE'RE GONNA BE TALKING ABOUT MOVING THE ELECTION DAY.
THAT WOULD BE A NEWS BAG, RIGHT? UH, BUT IT REALLY, I THINK, COMES BACK TO US TO HOW MUCH COVERAGE DO WE WANT? HOW MUCH, I MEAN, I THINK THE BEST THING IS FOR PEOPLE TO BE ENGAGED.
NOW WHAT'S THE PROCESS OF HOW WE WANT TO DO THAT? COMMISSIONER KERRY ROGERS, UM, DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS.
I THINK THAT YOU ARE RIGHT ON THAT.
OUR PRIMARY GOAL IS ENGAGEMENT.
UM, WE DON'T WANNA LOOK BACK AT THIS PROCESS, UM, NEXT YEAR WHENEVER WE'RE GOING TO PRESENT IT TO THE PUBLIC.
AND THESE DISCUSSIONS HAVE HAPPENED IN A DARK ROOM OR THAT OUR PUBLIC DIDN'T KNOW THAT THEY HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK, WEIGH IN OR SUBMIT PROPOSED AMENDMENTS.
SO I, I THINK ENGAGEMENT IS OUR, IS OUR PRIMARY GOAL.
THE OTHER THING TOO, UM, SORT OF WHAT YOU SPOKE TO AND THEN ALSO THE DISCUSSION ABOUT THE TOWN HALLS AND ENGAGING THROUGH THE COUNCIL MEMBERS, HAVING FORMALLY RUN THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OFFICE.
AND I THINK IT'S A PRETTY TIGHT TIGHTLY RUN SHOP.
UM, I DO THINK THE PROCESS THAT THEY HAVE IS THEY KNOW THEIR COMMUNITIES BETTER THAN ANYONE.
THEY KNOW THE RIGHT WAY TO COMMUNICATE WITH THEM.
THEY KNOW THIS NEIGHBORHOOD LIKES MAIL OUTS, BUT THIS NEIGHBORHOOD, UM, PREFERS TO GET THEIR STUFF THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA.
AND SO I THINK WHEN WE'RE LOOKING ON HOW WE ENGAGE THEM, IT REALLY GETS GRANULAR, UM, WORKING SPECIFICALLY WITH THE COUNCIL MEMBERS.
SO IT'S, IT'S SORT OF LIKE US TAKING THIS MENU THAT THE COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE HAS GIVEN US AND THEN PIVOTING TO THE COUNCIL MEMBERS AND THE COMMISSIONERS AND SAYING, WHICH WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO? DO YOU WANNA DO A TELE TOWN HALL? DO YOU WANNA DO A SPANISH ONLY TOWN HALL? DO YOU WANNA DO MAILERS? THAT SORT OF THING.
UM, BUT I WOULD JUST ECHO THE SENTIMENT OF THE FORMER COUNCIL MEMBERS AND THE OTHER COMMISSIONERS UP HERE THAT I THINK ARE BEST COURSE OF ACTION THAT, THAT STAFF WOULD RECOMMEND TO YOU WOULD TO, WOULD BE TO, UM, WORK DIRECTLY WITH THE COUNCIL OFFICES TO SET A SCHEDULE AND TO DETERMINE WHICH OF THE COMMUNICATIONS TOOLS AND LEVERS WE WANT TO PULL ON TO BEST MEET THE NEEDS OF THEIR PARTICULAR COMMUNITIES.
I, I, I DO ENDORSE, UH, THANKS.
I MEAN, I DO ENDORSE THE IDEA OF USING COUNCIL OFFICES 'CAUSE THEY'VE GOT THEIR HANDS ON, ON THE COMMUNITY MUCH BETTER THAN WE DO.
I, UH, I FORGOT WHAT I WAS GONNA SAY.
IT WAS SOMETHING REALLY PITHY, BUT, UH, WELL, WE ARE HERE
UH, OH, I KNOW WHAT I WAS GONNA SAY.
I DON'T KNOW HOW, IF ANY OF YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED THIS, BUT IF YOU'VE TOLD ANYBODY THAT YOU'RE SERVING ON THE CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION, THEY GO, HUH, WHAT IS THAT? AND IT SEEMS TO BE THAT A FIRST COMPONENT OF ANYTHING THAT IS DONE ON OUTREACH NEEDS TO BE AN EDUCATION CAMPAIGN ABOUT WHAT THE HECK IT IS THAT WE COULD BE DOING DOWN HERE.
SO THAT'S, THAT WAS THE INPUT I HAD.
UH, CHAIRMAN, IF I CAN, UM, SPEAK TO THAT.
AND IT GOES TO THE SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS.
I THINK THE COMM, UM, COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE HAD MENTIONED, UM, SORT OF A SPEAKER'S BUREAU IN PREPARING OUR COMMISSIONERS TO GO OUT AND DO THAT OUTREACH TO STAKEHOLDERS.
UM, WE HAVE GOTTEN A COUPLE OF THOSE CALLS ALREADY THAT, UM, I SPOKE TO THE NORTH DALLAS CHAMBER BOARD LAST WEEK, JUST 'CAUSE THEY ASKED ME TWO MONTHS AGO,
BUT I THINK THAT THE GOAL IS THAT WE WOULD, UM, BE PUSHING OUR COMMISSIONERS OUT THERE TO THESE VARIOUS SPEAKING OPPORTUNITIES, YOU KNOW, BASED ON THE PARTICULAR STAKEHOLDER GROUP OR THE DISTRICT, UM, IN WHICH THAT, THAT PARTICULAR STAKEHOLDER WOULD BE.
UM, AND PREPARING YOU OF COURSE FOR THOSE, UM, MOST OF YOU, IF NOT ALL OF YOU, ARE ON, UM, THE OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS DISTRIBUTION LIST.
SO YOU GET OUR COMMUNICATIONS THAT WE SEND OUT ABOUT UPCOMING EVENTS AND THE CHARTER REVIEW ITEMS AND COUNCIL AGENDAS.
[00:40:02]
UM, SO THOSE SAME STAKEHOLDERS THAT YOU MENTIONED, TREK, OUR CHAMBER ORGANIZATIONS, OUR REALTOR ORGANIZATIONS, ALL OF THOSE FOLKS ARE ON THAT SAME DISTRIBUTION GROUP OUT OF THE OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS.AND THEY'RE GETTING NOTIFIED OF EVERY TWIST AND TURN, UM, THAT'S HAPPENING HERE AT THE, UM, AMONG THE CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION.
SO I WOULDN'T, I'D SAY THERE'S A LOT OF OPPORTUNITY AND INFORMATION THAT'S BEING PUSHED OUT THERE NOW.
AND WHEN THOSE SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS COME UP, I WOULD IMAGINE THAT WE WOULD PIVOT TO THE COMMISSIONERS AND WORK WITH YOU ALL TO ASSIGN, UM, WHO'S THE BEST, YOU KNOW, COMMISSIONER DISTRICT OR WHAT HAVE YOU FOR THAT PARTICULAR GROUP.
COMMISSIONER STEAM, I, I AGREE WITH THE, UH, THE CHAIRMAN, THE VICE CHAIRMAN, UH, I THINK WE NEED TO LET EACH COUNCILPERSON HANDLE THEIR COMMUNITY.
THEY KNOW THEY PEOPLE, THEY KNOW THE VOTERS, THEY KNOW WHERE MONEY IS WASTED ON TOWN, HOW MEANS AND WHERE IT'S EFFECTIVE AT.
BECAUSE I WAS LISTENING, IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, I THINK WE MENTIONED RADIO WAS KIND OF LIKE A WASTE OF, IT WAS NOT THAT EQUITABLE OR WHATEVER, BUT IN OUR COMMUNITY IT'S VERY EQUITABLE.
YOU KNOW, UH, PEOPLE LISTENING THAT TALK RADIO, WE GOT ONE PARTICULAR SHOW THAT COMES ON SATURDAY MORNING THAT PEOPLE GET UP AND LISTEN TO.
AND I THINK YOU HAVE SPOKEN ON THAT PROGRAM BEFORE AND IT'S A GREAT WAY OF GETTING OUT INFORMATION AND IT COSTS NOTHING.
SO WE ARE NOT SPENDING ANY MONEY OUT OF THE BUDGET TO ANNOUNCE ON CERTAIN RADIO TALK SHOWS THAT WE ARE HAVING THIS CHARTER REVIEW BOARD AND THE CHARTER IS DONE, THE REVIEW.
SO I THINK THAT'S A GREAT IDEA.
LET EACH COUNCIL PERSON HANDLE THEIR PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, WITH TIMING AND SCHEDULING THE WHOLE SHENANIGANS.
COMMISSIONER FRANKLIN, I, I, I DO APPRECIATE THIS COMMISSION'S, UH, YOU KNOW, WANTING TO BE GREAT STEWARDS OF THE PEOPLE'S MONEY AND TRYING TO SAVE ON COSTS.
AND I, I, I, SO IN TERMS OF, OF VIABILITY, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT I UNDERSTAND YOU, MS. BROWN, CORRECTLY ON THE PAID OPTIONS.
DID I UNDERSTAND THAT FOR YOU TO SAY THAT EACH OF THESE OPTIONS WERE $8,000 EACH AND THAT WOULD COME OUT OF THE SUB BUDGET OF, WAS IT 12, 13,000 OR 17,000 WE HAVE REMAINING AFTER WE PAY FOR OPERATIONS OF JUST HOSTING THESE MEETINGS.
IS THAT CORRECT AS WELL? THAT IS CORRECT.
AND THANK YOU FOR THAT POINT OF CLARIFICATION.
ANY OTHER DISCUSSION? I SEE NONE.
SO CHAIR, I JUST, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE, WE THEN HAVE A, A DIRECTIVE, AN IDEA.
UM, IT SOUNDS LIKE THAT THE, THE COMMISSION IS SAYING, UM, COMMUNICATIONS IS, IS BETTER DONE ON A, A, A KIND OF CASE BY CASE BASIS, UM, BASED ON DIFFERENT COUNCIL DISTRICTS, DIFFERENT POPULATIONS, RATHER THAN HAVING A ONE SIZE FITS ALL APPROACH, UM, TO, TO SPENDING OUR BUDGET OR TO USING OUR, OR TO BUILDING A COMMUNICATIONS PLAN.
UH, WE NEED TO BE WORKING WITH THE COUNCIL, COUNCIL PEOPLE AND THEIR DISTRICTS, UM, CONNECTING COMMISSIONERS WITH COUNCIL PEOPLE AND WORKING WITH THEM TO SCHEDULE ANY SORT OF TOWN HALLS, ANY SORT OF OUTREACH THAT THEY WANT TO DO ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS.
IS THAT CORRECT? IS THAT WHAT EVERYONE'S SAYING? OKAY.
I, I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO ADD THAT I, I BELIEVE, AT LEAST I DO BELIEVE THAT THE SOCIAL MEDIA, THE OPTIONS THAT WE HAVE THROUGH THE CITY TO PUT THE WORD OUT, UM, THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA IS ALSO, THAT'S DOESN'T COST ANYTHING.
AND I, I BELIEVE ALL THAT IS PART OF THAT TOWN HALL.
AT BUDGET TOWN HALLS, THERE'S PRESENTATION EXPLAINING THE BUDGET, AND THEN FOLKS CAN GET UP AND SAY, I WANT MORE MONEY FOR THE STREETS, I WANT MORE MONEY FOR THE LIBRARIES.
UM, AND MAYBE THIS ISN'T THE, THE RIGHT TIME TO, TO TALK ABOUT THIS, BUT WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO EXACTLY AT THE CHARTER TOWN HALLS? BECAUSE IT ALMOST SEEMS LIKE WE CAN JUST ASK FOR FEEDBACK FROM THE GENERAL PUBLIC, YOU KNOW, EDUCATE THEM ABOUT WHAT THE CHARTER IS, AND IF YOU HAVE PARTICULAR CHARTER AMENDMENTS YOU'D LIKE TO PROPOSE, PLEASE GET THEM TO US.
WHAT ARE WE DOING BEYOND THAT? AND, AND AGAIN, MR. CHAIR, IF THIS ISN'T THE RIGHT TIME FOR THAT, I CAN TAKE THIS QUESTION AND ANSWER OFFLINE, BUT THANK YOU COMMISSIONER.
UM, DURING THE BUDGET TOWN OR WELL DURING THE TOWN HALLS, SIMILAR TO WHAT WE DO FOR BUDGET TOWN HALLS, WHAT I WOULD ENVISION IS THAT WE WOULD HAVE A POWERPOINT PRESENTATION OF SOME SORT THAT WOULD GIVE A HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW OF WHAT THE CHARTER IS
[00:45:01]
AND WHAT IT DOES.UM, AND THEN ALLOW FOR SOME Q AND A, UM, WITH THE RESIDENTS, UM, ULTIMATELY WITH THEM LEAVING THEIR, UM, HAVING A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THE CHARTER IS, BUT ALSO KNOW THAT THEIR INPUT WAS IMPORTANT AND HERE'S HOW THEY COULD SUBMIT COMMENTS, UM, EITHER BACK TO THEIR COMMISSIONER OR THE COUNCIL MEMBER.
SO AGAIN, FOLLOWING THE BUDGET TOWN HALL MODEL, I WOULD SEE POWERPOINT Q AND A AFTER ACTION THAT RESULTED FROM EACH OF THOSE TOWN HALLS, I WOULD THINK AT THE TIME, WHICH, UM, ITEMS WE'VE, WE'VE DISCUSSED AS WELL.
I THINK LIKE, PUT IT ON THERE, SAY, HEY, THESE HAVE BEEN SUBMITTED BY, I DON'T SEE WHY IT'S ALREADY, UM, AN PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE ALREADY.
YEAH, WE'VE DONE, YOU KNOW, WE'VE HANDOUTS FOR TOWN HALLS AND SOMETIMES, AND AGAIN, IT GOES TO THE COUNCIL MEMBERS.
SOME WANT, YOU KNOW, THE FULL POWERPOINT HANDOUTS.
SOME JUST WANT A ONE SHEETER THAT THEY, YOU KNOW, THAT SOMEONE CAN LEAVE WITH.
AND SO I THINK WHAT THE COMMUNICATIONS TEAM DOES WELL IS PREPARE A SUITE OF A SUITE OF MATERIALS THAT COUNCIL MEMBERS CAN PICK AND CHOOSE FROM.
I MEAN, THE COMMUNICATIONS THAT YOU ALL SEE NOW, WHETHER IT'S THE CHARTER REVIEW, SOCIAL MEDIA, INFOGRAPHICS, ALL OF THAT STUFF COMES FROM THE COMMUNICATION SHOP.
AND THAT IS THE ONE SIZE FITS ALL THAT WE THEN TURN AND CAN PIVOT AND PROVIDE TO EACH OF THE COUNCIL MEMBERS, DEPENDING ON WHAT THEIR NEED IS.
UH, I THINK THAT THE FOCUS OF THE TOWN HALLS WILL BE VERY MUCH DEPENDENT ON WHEN THEY OCCUR.
WE HAVE GOT A VERY, VERY SHORT DEADLINE, DECEMBER 15, IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, FOR SUBMISSION OF CHARTER AMENDMENT PROPOSALS.
SO UNLESS THE TOWN HALL MEETING IS HELD VERY QUICKLY, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET MUCH INPUT FROM THE PUBLIC ON THAT SUBJECT IN TIME, UH, TO MAKE THAT DEADLINE.
MEETINGS THAT ARE HELD AFTER THAT DATE WILL STILL BE VALUABLE, BUT THEY WILL BE MORE IN THE NATURE OF WHAT DO THE CITIZENS THINK ABOUT THE PROPOSALS THAT ARE ON OUR TABLE.
UH, THE, THE OPPORTUNITY TO SUBMIT NEW PROPOSALS WILL HAVE PASSED.
AND COMMISSIONER, UH, YOU BRING UP A GOOD POINT.
UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE HEARD FROM, FROM THIS BODY AT THE LAST MEETING WAS A, A REQUEST WHEN WE WERE LOOKING AT THE CALENDAR, UM, TO HAVE SOME, SOME DATES FOR BUDGET, OR EXCUSE ME, FOR COMM OR FOR CHARTER TOWN HALLS, UM, BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER THOSE DATES BECAUSE, UH, TO YOUR POINT, UM, THEY WOULD, THEY WOULD BE FOCUSED DIFFERENTLY.
UM, AND SO WHEN, WHEN YOU GET TO THE NEXT ITEMS, THAT'S, THAT'S PART OF THE DISCUSSION IS, IS WHAT WILL THOSE LOOK LIKE, UM, AND WHEN DO THEY NEED TO BE HELD? IF, IF WE'RE DOING THEM THROUGH MCC AND THROUGH THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL'S OFFICE, UM, AND AT THE, AT THE, UH, DIRECTION OF THE COUNCIL MEMBERS, UH, THAT ADDS A, A LAYER OF FLEXIBILITY THAT'S NOT THERE.
IF WE'RE, IF WE'RE TRYING TO, TO COORDINATE A, YOU KNOW, CITYWIDE TOWN HALL, UM, RATHER IT COULD BE COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, YOU KNOW, A DOES IT ON NOVEMBER 25TH AND, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER B CAN DO ONE NOVE DECEMBER 1ST, AND THERE CAN BE MORE OPPORTUNITIES AS WELL IF WE GO THROUGH THEM, UM, TO, TO KIND OF, UM, BUILD IN THAT FLEXIBILITY.
ANYONE ELSE? I DON'T SEE ANYONE.
SO YOU KIND OF HAVE WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR.
SO WE WILL GO ONTO OUR ACTION ITEM THAT WE HAVE, WHICH IS THE CALENDAR.
UM, UM, I GUESS WE CAN, WE ALL HAVE LOOKED AT THE CALENDAR BEFORE.
MAYBE WE SHOULD REMOVE THE COMMUNITY MEETINGS FOR NOW AND VOTE ON OUR MEETING CALENDAR AND THEN GET WITH THE COUNCIL MEMBERS AND DECIDE ON WHEN WE'RE GONNA HAVE THE, UH, TOWN HALL MEETINGS.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT, THAT WE NEED TO DO.
COMMISSIONER HUNT, UH, IS THE PLAN THOUGH TO HAVE 15 DIFFERENT TOWN HALLS? WELL, WE HAVE DONE THAT, UM, AND THEN SOME FOR THE BUDGET TOWN HALL MEETINGS, AND SO IT COULD OCCUR LIKE THAT.
THE CALENDAR THAT YOU HAVE IN FRONT OF YOU TODAY FOR ACTION DOES INCLUDE FOUR COMMUNITY TOWN HALL MEETINGS.
AND I THINK WHAT WE'RE HEARING FROM THE DISCUSSION OF THE COMMISSIONERS IS TO REMOVE THOSE DATES, ADOPT THE MEETING CALENDAR, AND INSTEAD WORK DIRECTLY WITH THE COUNCIL MEMBERS FOR THEM TO HOST AT LEAST ONE MEETING IN THEIR RESPECTIVE DISTRICT.
SIMILAR TO WHAT WE DO AT THE BUDGET TOWN HALL MEETINGS.
AND WE CAN AFFORD TO DO THAT BUDGET-WISE.
I, YOU KNOW, ON A SHOESTRING BUDGET, I THINK FOR SURE, YES.
AND, AND I WILL SAY IF WE'RE DOING PARTNERING WITH THE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, YOU KNOW, UH, I I WORKED IN THE CITY COUNCIL OFFICE, UH, SOME OF THAT WAS,
[00:50:01]
UM, I MEAN, IT IS VERY CHEAP BECAUSE THE, THE MCC OFFICE COULD COORDINATE SPACE, UM, IN THE DISTRICT OFTENTIMES FOR FREE.MM-HMM,
UM, AND SO THAT, SO THAT CAN KINDA HELP DEF FRAY THE COST FROM BEING JUST OUT OF THE, THE CHARTER BUDGET.
EVEN LIKE SOME COUNCIL MEMBERS, THEY ACTUALLY DO LIKE EACH OTHER AND THEY MIGHT PARTNER UP AND DO ONE.
SO IT MIGHT NOT BE 15, IT COULD BE 10 11.
UM, BUT, UM, WE'LL LET THEM DECIDE ON THAT AND HOW THEY WANT TO DO IT.
UH, COMMISSIONER SLIS, MR. CHAIR.
I'D MOVE ADOPTION OF THE CALENDAR WITH THE EXTRACTION OF THE COMMUNITY MEETINGS AS THEY STAND ON THE CALENDAR.
SECOND, THAT'S A MOTION I, MR. SLI AND A SECOND BY COMMISSIONER HUNT DISCUSSION? NO.
OKAY, WE ARE ON BRIEFING ITEM B.
THIS IS OUR FIRST CHARTER AMENDMENT PROPOSAL FROM COMMISSIONER DE LA FUENTE.
COMMISSIONER, YOU HAVE THE FLOOR.
AND JUST TO CONFIRM, UH, THE POWERPOINT SYSTEM IS NOT WORKING CURRENTLY.
IS THE POWERPOINT SYSTEM WORKING CURRENTLY OR NOT? UM, CURRENTLY, NO.
UH, WELL, I, BEFORE I BEGIN, THEN I WOULD ASK, UH, MY FELLOW COMMISSIONERS TO PULL UP THE POWERPOINT PRESENTATION THAT BEGINS WITH MAY VERSUS NOVEMBER ELECTIONS.
UH, AND I WILL, UH, SPEAK CLEARLY AS TO WHEN WE MOVE PAGES LIKE STAFF JUST DID.
UH, THANK YOU EVERYONE, UH, FOR YOUR TIME TONIGHT.
UM, I, EARLIER TODAY TOOK, UH, MY FAMILY, MY WIFE, MY 13 MONTH OLD SON TO GO VOTE, UH, IN THIS TEXAS CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ELECTIONS THAT THE STATE IS CURRENTLY HOLDING.
UH, I THINK WE CAN ALL AGREE IT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD IN EVERY ELECTION THAT OUR GOVERNMENTS FROM FEDERAL DOWN TO SCHOOL BOARD DECIDE TO HOLD.
UM, AND IT'S SOMETHING THAT I WANT TO INSTILL IN MY SON.
UH, AS WE DO THIS, I DO ASK AS WE MOVE FORWARD, UH, IN CONSIDERATION OF THIS AMENDMENT THAT WE REMEMBER THAT THOSE OF US HERE ARE MEANT TO REPRESENT OUR DISTRICTS, BUT IN A WAY WE ARE NOT TRULY REPRESENTATIVE OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC.
I'M SURE ALL 15 OF US ON THIS COMMISSION ALMOST CERTAINLY VOTED IN THE CITY COUNCIL ELECTIONS THAT OCCURRED THIS MAY PROBABLY 15 OUTTA 15 OF US.
IF WE WERE A RANDOM COLLECTION OF CITY OF DALLAS VOTERS, THAT NUMBER WOULD BE ONE OF 1514 OF US WOULD NOT HAVE VOTED IN THE CITY COUNCIL ELECTIONS THIS PAST MAY.
AND TO ME, THAT IS SOMEWHAT OF AN EMBARRASSMENT.
I THINK IT'S AN APPALLING STATISTIC, AND IT IS UP TO THE CITY GOVERNMENT TO TRY TO MAKE THAT BETTER.
AND WE ARE THE PEOPLE, WE ARE THE 15 PEOPLE SERVING IN A ROLE THAT CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ON THIS.
SO THEREFORE, I HAVE SUBMITTED A CHARTER AMENDMENT IDEA TO MOVE THE CITY OF DALLAS ELECTIONS FROM MAY TO NOVEMBER OF THESE ODD NUMBERED YEARS.
SO WE WOULD BE HOLDING OUR CITY COUNCIL ELECTIONS ESSENTIALLY.
NOW, IF THIS AMENDMENT HAD BEEN ENACTED SEVERAL YEARS AGO IN THE PRESENTATION, UH, I HAVE A ROADMAP ON SLIDE TWO, I GO OVER THE STATE LAW BASELINE, GO INTO THE PROBLEM OF LOW TURNOUT, DISCUSS THE SOLUTION, PROVIDE A CASE STUDY, SPEAK ABOUT A FEW BENEFITS, ADDRESS SOME CONCERNS I'VE HEARD AS I'VE PREPPED THIS PROPOSAL OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, AND, UM, HAVE PROVIDED SOME PUBLIC COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS THAT, UM, WERE MADE AVAILABLE BY THE LEGAL WOMEN VOTERS THIS PAST MAY.
UH, ON THE RIGHT OF THIS SLIDE, IF YOU'RE LOOKING AT IT, YOU CAN SEE A CHART THAT SHOWS VO VOTER TURNOUT IN, UH, MAYORAL ELECTIONS.
UM, UH, IN, IN A STUDY THAT WAS PUBLISHED IN 2017, UH, YOU'LL SEE IT GOES FROM THE HIGHEST TURNOUT ON THE LEFT TO THE LOWEST TURNOUT ON THE RIGHT.
WHAT CITY IS THE FARTHEST ON THE RIGHT IN THIS CHART, AND IT'S THE CITY OF DALLAS.
THE STATE LAW BASELINE THINGS THAT, UM, WHEN WE'RE CONDUCTING AN ELECTION SYSTEM, UH, OR CREATING AN ELECTION SYSTEM, I I IF WE WANTED TO BLOW UP THE SYSTEM AND START FROM SCRATCH, THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO MAINTAIN
[00:55:01]
REQUIRED.WE HAVE TO HOLD NONPARTISAN ELECTIONS IN THE STATE OF TEXAS.
WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SWITCH TO A PARTISAN, UH, ELECTION, UH, UH, CONTEST IN THE, IN A CITY IN TEXAS REQUIRED WE HAVE TO HAVE MAJORITARIAN RULE.
WHEN WE ELECT A MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL, THEY HAVE TO RECEIVE OVER 50% OF THE VOTE IN THE FINAL ELECTION.
WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO HOLD PLURALITY.
THE GENERAL ELECTION MUST OCCUR FIRST.
WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DO A PRIMARY AND THEN ELECT AND THEN GENERAL ELECTION SYSTEM.
IT IS GENERAL ELECTION FOLLOWED BY A POTENTIAL RUNOFF REQUIRED.
THE STATE OF TEXAS SETS UNIFORM ELECTION DATES.
ANY OTHER ELECTION DATE WOULD NOT BE ALLOWED UNDER STATE LAW TERM LENGTH.
IN THE STATE OF TEXAS, A CITY COUNCIL MAY CHOOSE TO HAVE TERM LENGTHS OF TWO, THREE OR FOUR YEARS.
ANYTHING LESS OR ANYTHING MORE IS NOT CURRENTLY ALLOWED.
SO MOVING ON TO THE PROBLEM, DALLAS MUNICIPAL TURNOUT IS AMONG THE LOWEST IN THE COUNTRY.
UM, IF YOU LOOK AT TURNOUT IN RECENT ELECTIONS, 2011, 13%, 2013, 7%, 2015, 7%, 2017, 7% 2019, 12%, 2021, 10%, 2023, THE ONE WE JUST HAD 8%.
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS D MAGAZINE AND OTHERS HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT THIS PROBLEM FOR YEARS.
WE HAVE PERSISTED WITH THIS PROBLEM OF LOW VOTER VOTER TURNOUT IN THE CITY OF DALLAS.
NO, NOTHING THAT WE HAVE TRIED ON ENGAGEMENT WITH INDIVIDUALS THROUGH, UM, IN, UH, ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CURRENT SYSTEM HAS MADE, HAS HAD A MEANINGFUL IMPACT, UM, ON, ON INCREASING VOTER TURNOUT IN OUR CITY.
ON SLIDE FIVE, I GO OVER THE SOLUTION.
I'M PROPOSING MOVING THE ELECTION BACK TO NOVEMBER OF ODD NUMBERED YEARS, AND I PROVIDE A COMPARATIVE OF SOME OF THE LARGEST CITIES IN THE STATE OF TEXAS.
DALLAS FORT WORTH AND SAN ANTONIO ARE THE THREE LARGEST CITIES THAT IN THE STATE OF TEXAS THAT HOLD THEIR ELECTIONS IN MAY.
THEY ARE USUALLY THE LOWEST VOTER TURNOUT MAJOR CITIES IN THE COUNTRY, UM, OF, OF ANY MAJOR CITY.
UH, IN THAT 2017 STUDY, THE THREE OF THEM WERE RANKED 27TH, 29TH AND 30TH.
IN VOTER TURNOUT ONLY LAS VEGAS, NEVADA BROKE US FROM BEING IN THE BOTTOM THREE TOGETHER.
HOUSTON DOUBLES VOTER TURNOUT AND HOLDS THEIR ELECTIONS IN NOVEMBER OF ODD NUMBERED YEARS.
IN 2015, FOR EXAMPLE, IN A BIG OPEN MAYORAL CONTEST THAT WAS HOTLY CONTESTED, THEIR VOTER TURNOUT GOT A LITTLE BIT ABOVE 27%.
NOW, I KNOW 27% SOUNDS VERY LOW WHEN YOU COMPARE IT TO A PRESIDENTIAL CONTEST, A GUBERNATORIAL CONTEST.
BUT WHERE THE CITY OF DALLAS, WHERE 12% IN AN OPEN MERRILL CONTEST IS WHAT WE ARE, UH, HAVE COME TO EXPECT, 27% SOUNDS LIKE A GODSEND TO ME IN TERMS OF PEOPLE PARTICIPATING.
THEREFORE, I THINK THAT THIS IS A REASONABLE SOLUTION FOR THE CITY OF DALLAS TO CONSIDER.
ON SLIDE SIX, IF YOU LOOK TO THE RIGHT, THERE'S AN ARTICLE FROM HOUSTON PUBLIC MEDIA WHERE A RICE UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR IS WARNING ABOUT HOW THE ELECTIONS FOR HOUSTON MAYOR THAT ARE OCCURRING RIGHT NOW IN EARLY VOTE COULD SEE HISTORICALLY LOW TURNOUT.
THE RICE PROFESSOR WARNED THAT TURNOUT COULD BE AS LOW AS 2220 3%, WHICH AGAIN WOULD SHATTER RECORDS HERE IN THE CITY OF DALLAS.
THE REASON THE NOVEMBER OF ODD NUMBERED YEARS ELECTION DATE WORKS SO WELL IN MY MIND IS THE ELECTION DATE ALREADY MUST HAPPEN.
THE STATEWIDE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS THAT I TOOK MY SON TO VOTE IN THIS MORNING OCCUR EVERY TWO YEARS.
IF WE WANT TO BE SUPER, SUPER TECHNICAL, THEY DON'T HAVE TO HAPPEN.
IT'S JUST I CANNOT FIND A TIME IN ANY, UH, IN, IN ANY RECENT HISTORY.
AND BY RECENT, I DECIDED, LET'S GO BACK TO WHEN I WAS BORN.
NO TIME IN THE PAST 30 YEARS HAS THE STATE NOT SENT STATEWIDE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS TO THE NOVEMBER OF ODD NUMBERED YEARS BALLOT.
THEREFORE, I THINK IT'S SAFE TO PRESUME IT'S GONNA KEEP OCCURRING EVERY TWO YEARS.
I THINK THIS WORKS, AND I, IT'S NOT THAT THE STATEWIDE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS ARE BIG VOTE DRIVERS, THEY'RE NOT, THEY'RE GONNA BE LOWER TURNOUT THAN OUR MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.
BUT IF WE PUT SOMETHING IMPORTANT LIKE MAYOR OR CITY COUNCIL ON THAT BALLOT, PEOPLE
[01:00:01]
WILL PAY MORE ATTENTION.THE REASON I THINK THIS IS, IS THAT PEOPLE ASSOCIATE VOTING WITH THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER.
IF YOU ASK THEM WHEN IS ELECTION DAY A NORMAL PERSON ON THE STREET, THEY'RE GONNA TELL YOU, OH YEAH, IT HAPPENS IN NOVEMBER BECAUSE THEY'RE THINKING ABOUT WHEN WE ELECT PRESIDENT, WHEN WE ELECT GOVERNOR, THINGS LIKE THAT.
THERE ARE SOME OTHER STRUCTURAL ADVANTAGES.
WHAT I HAVE FOUND IS THAT, UM, FOR A MAY ELECTION, THE DALLAS COUNTY ELECTIONS DEPARTMENT HOLDS 83 HOURS OF EARLY VOTING FOR A NOVEMBER ELECTION, EVEN FOR A STATEWIDE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT, UH, THAT INCREASES TO 110 HOURS OF EARLY VOTING.
SO YOU ESSENTIALLY GET ANOTHER 27 FREE HOURS OF VOTING BY MOVING THE ELECTION BACK TO NOVEMBER.
UM, THESE ARE JUST MY THEORIES, BUT THE DATA ITSELF IS VERY CLEAR IN TERMS OF HOW IT INCREASES TURNOUT.
AND TO THAT, I LOOK AT A CASE STUDY RIGHT NEXT DOOR IN MESQUITE, UM, MESQUITE SWITCHED FROM MAY TO NOVEMBER OF ODD NUMBERED ELECTIONS IN A 2018 CHARTER AMENDMENT, UH, THAT WAS ENACTED IN 2019.
THEY AVERAGED 5.6% VOTER TURNOUT IN EVERY CITY ELECTION FROM 2009 TO 2017 WHEN THEIR ELECTIONS WERE HELD IN MAY, THEY PUT A CHARTER AMENDMENT ON THE BALLOT.
IN 2018, THEIR VOTERS PASSED IT BY A FOUR TO ONE MARGIN, UH, BECAUSE IT WAS SEEN AS UNCONTROVERSIAL AND COMMON SENSE.
I WENT BACK AND LOOKED THROUGH OLD FOOTAGE OF THEIR CHARTER REVIEW MEETINGS AND THEIR COUNCIL MEMBERS, THEIR, UH, RESIDENTS THAT SHOWED UP JUST VIEWED IT AS A WAY TO MAKE THEIR LIVES EASIER.
IN THE TWO ELECTIONS THAT HAVE OCCURRED IN MESQUITE SINCE THEN, VOTER TURNOUT HAS GONE UP TO 10.5%.
I KNOW 10.5% IS NOT, UH, A NUMBER TO HANG YOUR HAT ON, BUT WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE FACT THAT IT JUMPED FIVE PERCENTAGE POINTS, ALMOST DOUBLED.
THAT IS SOMETHING TO COMMEND AND LOOK AT AS ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL THINGS ANYONE IN NORTH TEXAS HAS DONE TO INCREASE MUNICIPAL VOTER TURNOUT, UM, THAT I'VE SEEN.
UM, MESQUITE IS THE FOURTH LARGEST CITY IN DALLAS COUNTY AFTER DALLAS, IRVING AND GARLAND.
AND I DO WANT TO NOTE THAT OVER 53% OF DALLAS, DALLAS COUNTY'S POPULATION LIVES IN EITHER THE CITY OF DALLAS OR MESQUITE.
UH, AND I BRING UP THAT NUMBER TO TALK ABOUT A LITTLE BIT LATER.
UM, MOVING ON TO SLIDE EIGHT, UM, I START TO TALK ABOUT BENEFITS, UM, FOR THIS POTENTIAL NEW SYSTEM.
IT'S TRIPS TO THE POLLS SUPER VOTERS.
UM, ESSENTIALLY THE LOVABLE, UH, UH, PEOPLE THAT SHOW UP TO EVERY ELECTION, NO MATTER WHAT, UH, WOULD HAVE TO VOTE.
UH, THEY CURRENTLY HAVE TO VOTE TWO TO THREE TIMES IN ODD NUMBERED YEARS.
IF YOU LIVE IN DISTRICT THREE IN THE CITY OF DALLAS, THIS IS YOUR THIRD ELECTION THIS YEAR.
IF YOU LIVE IN DISD DISTRICT TWO, THIS ELECTION RIGHT NOW FOR, UH, STATE STATEWIDE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS IS ALSO YOUR THIRD ELECTION THIS YEAR.
NEXT YEAR, YOU'RE GONNA BE ASKED TO GO VOTE THREE TO FIVE TIMES, DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU LIVE IN THE CITY OF DALLAS.
UM, I THINK THAT'S A STRAIN ON OUR ELECTION SYSTEM, AND IT'S A STRAIN ON OUR VOTERS, AND IT'S ASKING TOO MUCH OF THEM.
UM, MOVING THE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS TO NOVEMBER MEANS IN A SIX YEAR PERIOD, A SUPER VOTER WOULD ONLY HAVE TO VOTE IN NOVEMBER PLUS A POTENTIAL DECEMBER RUNOFF IN TWO OF THE THREE CYCLES.
THE THIRD CYCLE COULD INVOLVE A MAY DISD RACE, UH, FOR THE MAJORITY OF DALLAS RESIDENTS WHO LIVE IN DISD BOUNDARIES, OR ANOTHER SIMILAR ISD.
UM, HOWEVER, UNLIKE CITY OF DALLAS, DISD CAN COUNT, CANCEL THEIR ELECTIONS IF IT GOES UNCONTESTED.
UM, THAT IS ALSO TRUE OF DALLAS COLLEGE AS WELL.
UM, SECOND BENEFIT VOTER TURNOUT.
I THINK BASED ON WHAT WE'VE SEEN IN HOUSTON IN MESQUITE, UM, IT COULD BE REASONABLY ASSUMED THAT TURNOUT COULD GO UP 50 TO A HUNDRED PERCENT, BUT I DO WANT TO NOTE THAT FURTHER CONSOLIDATION IS KEY.
UM, I THINK VOTER TURNOUT COULD GET UP INTO THE 15 TO 25% RANGE HERE IN SAN DALLAS, WHICH IS OBVIOUSLY ABOUT DOUBLE OF OUR CURRENT SEVEN TO 12% AVERAGE.
ONE NOTE ABOUT HOUSTON, AND I DO THINK THIS WOULD BE AN ULTIMATE GOAL FOR NORTH TEXAS, IS THAT HOUSTON HAS A, WHAT I LIKE TO CALL A SUPER NON-PARTISAN ELECTION ELECTION DAY IN NOVEMBER OF ODD NUMBER OF YEARS, UH, WHEN HOUSTON VOTERS GO TO VOTE.
UH, RIGHT NOW THEY'RE ELECTING THEIR CITY COUNCIL, THEIR SCHOOL BOARD, AND THE HOUSTON COLLEGE, UH, TRUSTEES.
UM, SOMETHING I LIKE TO REMIND FOLKS AS I'M TALKING ABOUT THIS IS HERE IN DALLAS,
[01:05:01]
WE ESSENTIALLY HAVE SIX, UM, GOVERNMENT ENTITIES WHERE WE PARTICIPATE IN REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY.THERE'S THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, THE STATE GOVERNMENT, THE COUNTY GOVERNMENT, THE CITY GOVERNMENT, UH, ISDS AND JUNIOR COLLEGE.
THE FEDS, THE STATE AND THE COUNTY ARE ALL PARTISAN ENTITIES, AND THEY HAVE CREATED A SUPER PARTISAN ELECTION DAY.
THAT'S THE ONE THAT WE ALL THINK OF THAT OCCURS EVERY NOVEMBER OF EVEN NUMBER OF YEARS.
IF YOU EVER GO TO VOTE IN NOVEMBER OF EVEN NUMBERED YEARS, YOU'RE ELECTING YOUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, YOUR STATE GOVERNMENT, AND YOUR COUNTY GOVERNMENT.
THE BALLOT CAN GET PRETTY LONG, ESPECIALLY WITH THE COUNTY, UM, WITH ALL THE JUDGES WE ELECT.
BUT IF YOU JUST SHOW UP ONCE EVERY TWO YEARS, YOU'RE DONE WITH THOSE THREE LEVELS.
THE NONPARTISAN ENTITIES, WHICH ARE THE CITY, THE ISD AND DALLAS COLLEGE, UM, CURRENTLY DON'T REALLY, UH, ELECTORAL THE ELECT.
THE ELECTION SYSTEM IS ONE THAT NOT, DOES NOT PLAY NICE, UH, WITH EACH OTHER.
UM, THE CITY CONDUCTS ITS ELECTIONS MAY OF ODD NUMBERED YEARS.
DALLAS COLLEGE IS MAY OF EVEN NUMBERED YEARS, SO THEY NEVER HIT AT THE SAME TIME.
AND THEN DISD IS MAY OF BOTH, AND IT FLIP FLOPS BETWEEN CONSOLIDATION WITH THE CITY AND WITH WITH DALLAS COLLEGE.
I THINK I, I OBVIOUSLY WANT TO, UH, KEEP US GROUNDED AND RECOGNIZE WE ONLY CONTROL THE CITY OF DALLAS'S ELECTION, UH, SYSTEM, UH, HERE.
BUT AN ULTIMATE GOAL WOULD BE TO TRY TO ALSO CREATE A SUPER NON-PARTISAN ELECTION DAY LIKE HOUSTON.
AND THAT CONSOLIDATION IS THE KEY, I THINK, TO GETTING HOUSTON'S VOTER TURNOUT IN THAT 27% RANGE THAT THEY CAN SEE IN, IN, BECAUSE SOME OF THEIR MOST COMPETITIVE ELECTION CYCLES.
A THIRD BENEFIT IS COST SAVINGS.
A CITYWIDE ELECTION IN MAY CAN COST AROUND A MILLION DOLLARS.
UM, FOR INSTANCE, IN 2017 AND 2021, THE COST WENT OVER A MILLION DOLLARS.
UM, I CAN ONLY DO BACK LOOKING DATA ON THIS, THOUGH I DO HAVE AN OUTSTANDING REQUEST TO DALLAS COUNTY ELECTIONS, UM, IN TERMS OF HELPING ME FIGURE OUT AN EXACT FORMULA TO PROVE THIS.
BUT I DO WANNA NOTE, IN 2017, THE CITY OF DALLAS DECIDED TO PUT CITY BOND ELECTIONS ON THE NOV ON THE NOVEMBER, 2017 BALLOT, AND THE COUNTY CHARGED THE CITY $245,000 TO CONDUCT THAT CITYWIDE ELECTION.
UH, ESSENTIALLY A QUARTER OF WHAT THEY CHARGED THE CITY SIX MONTHS PRIOR TO CONDUCT CITY COUNCIL ELECTIONS.
UM, I DO KNOW BASED ON MY CONVERSATIONS WITH DALLAS COUNTY ELECTIONS, THAT IF A FEDERAL, STATE, OR COUNTY ELECTION OCCURS, THE STATE AND COUNTY MUST PAY A PORTION OF THAT ELECTION.
BUT IF ONLY CITIES, ISDS AND COLLEGES HOLD AN ELECTION LIKE WE SEE IN MAY, ALL COSTS ARE BORN BY PARTICIPATING ENTITIES, AND THE STATE AND COUNTY DO NOT HAVE TO BEAR ANY OF THAT COST.
SO IF YOU ACTUALLY LOOK OVER, UM, UH, ELECTION, UH, COST DATA FROM DALLAS COUNTY, AND YOU LOOK AT MAY AND NOVEMBER REPORTS IN MAY, IT SHOWS THE TOTAL COST OF THE ELECTION AND THEN HOW THAT TOTAL COST WAS DISTRIBUTED TO OUR VARIOUS CITIES, ISDS, ET CETERA, ACROSS DALLAS COUNTY.
BUT IF YOU LOOK AT A NOVEMBER REPORT, UH, IN A LOT OF CASES, THE COUNTY, IT'S BILLED AS THE COUNTY, UM, TO BE CLEAR, BUT THE COUNTY IS PAYING SOMETIMES 80% OF THE TOTAL ELECTION COST.
UM, SO I DO THINK COST SAVINGS WOULD OCCUR, UM, ADDRESSING SOME CONCERNS.
I'VE HEARD AS I'VE TALKED TO, UH, FOLKS OVER, UM, OVER, UH, PREVIOUSLY ABOUT THIS PARTISANSHIP.
UH, I THINK A LOT OF FOLKS CHERISH THE FACT THAT DALLAS CITY COUNCIL AS A NON-PARTISAN ENTITY, UM, THIS HORSESHOE IS NOT DIVIDED BY PARTY, BY IDEOLOGY, UH, OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
UM, SO AVOIDING NOVEMBER OF EVEN NUMBERED YEARS I THINK WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO STAKEHOLDERS THAT I'VE TALKED TO OVER THE CITY, AROUND THE CITY.
I SPECIFICALLY CHOSE NOVEMBER OF ODD NUMBERED YEARS TO MAXIMIZE VOTER TURNOUT, VOTER CONVENIENCE AND COST SAVINGS WHILE PREVENTING MIXING PARTISAN AND NON-PARTISAN ELECTIONS.
THERE ARE NEVER REGULARLY SCHEDULED PARTISAN ELECTIONS OUTSIDE OF NOVEMBER.
AVIVA NUMBERED YEARS OF ALL THE TIMES THE STATE ALLOWS A MUNICIPALITY TO CONDUCT ITS ELECTIONS.
I FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT NOVEMBER OF ODD NUMBERED YEARS IS GONNA GIVE US THE HIGHEST VOTER TURNOUT POSSIBLE WITHOUT COMBINING WITH PARTISAN ELECTIONS.
A SECOND CONCERN THAT I'VE HEARD IS
[01:10:01]
THE NOTION OF A DECEMBER RUNOFF.UM, I ACTUALLY HAD THIS CONCERN AS WELL WHEN I WAS FIRST PUTTING TOGETHER THIS PROPOSAL, BECAUSE I THOUGHT WE WERE ESSENTIALLY GONNA BE OPERATING IN A SITUATION WHERE WE WERE GONNA HAVE A TRADE OFF WHERE NOVEMBER WAS GONNA BE HIGHER TURNOUT THAN MAY, DECEMBER WOULD BE LOWER TURNOUT THAN JUNE, AND WE'D SEE IF IT WAS WORTH IT.
WHAT I HAVE FOUND STUDYING, UH, ELECTIONS AROUND THE STATE IS THAT DECEMBER RUNOFFS ARE ACTUALLY NO WORSE THAN JUNE RUNOFFS, AND IN SOME CASES IT COULD EVEN BE ARGUED THAT THEY'RE BETTER.
UM, AND THAT IS JUST FROM THE DATA.
THERE'S ACTUALLY A GOOD CASE STUDY HERE IN THE CITY OF DALLAS.
IN 2018, THE CITY COUNCIL MEMBER FOR DISTRICT FOUR HAD TO LEAVE HIS SEAT.
THERE WAS A SPECIAL ELECTION HELD THAT HAD TO COINCIDE WITH THE NOVEMBER OF 2018 ELECTION.
THAT ELECTION WENT TO A RUNOFF THAT COUNCILWOMAN CAROLYN KING ARNOLD WON, UM, THAT DECEMBER RUNOFF HAD 5.5% VOTER TURNOUT.
UH, COUNCILWOMAN ARNOLD WOULD LATER FACE A 2021 JUNE RUNOFF THAT RUNOFF HAD 5.9% VOTER TURNOUT.
AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 5.5 AND 5.9, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU ACCOUNT FOR, UH, THE STATE MANDATED VOTER, UH, ROLE, UH, CONSOLIDATION THAT OCCURS, UH, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A HUNDRED VOTE DIFFERENCE HERE.
UM, AND I DO WANT TO NOTE THAT IN SOME OF THESE BIG MAYOR CONTESTS THAT WE SEE AROUND THE STATE, THE CITY OF DALLAS IN OUR JUNE, 2021 MAYORAL RUNOFF, UH, AGAIN, HOTLY CONTESTED, 11% TURNOUT IN JUNE IN PLACES LIKE AUSTIN AND HOUSTON THAT CONDUCT NOVEMBER ELECTIONS.
THEREFORE DECEMBER RUNOFFS, UH, THE LAST OPEN AUSTIN MAYORAL ELECTION, THEIR DECEMBER RUNOFF 18% TURNOUT HIGHER THAN 11 HOUSTON 2021.
THEIR TURNOUT 19%, MUCH HIGHER THAN 11%.
UM, IN SLIDES 12 AND 13, I'M NOT GONNA GO OVER THEM, BUT THE LEGAL WOMEN VOTERS DALLAS, HAS BEEN KIND ENOUGH TO WORK WITH ME ON THIS, UH, RECENTLY AND ASK THIS QUESTION IN THEIR, UM, MAY, UH, 2023 VOTER GUIDE.
AND YOU SEE THAT THE IDEA OF MOVING ELECTIONS BACK TO NOVEMBER OF ODD NUMBER OF YEARS IS ONE THAT, UM, SEVERAL COUNCIL MEMBERS VIEW FAVORABLY OR, UM, ONE THAT THEY ARE INTERESTED IN EXPLORING.
UM, AND YOU CAN READ THOSE ON YOUR OWN TIME.
LASTLY, ON SLIDE 14, I WANNA CLOSE ON AN ARTICLE FROM D MAGAZINE FROM 2021, THE VOTER SUPPRESSION IN DALLAS THAT NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT.
THE SUB, UH, TITLE, THIS ONE WEIRD TRICK COULD DOUBLE DALLAS'S LOW VOTER TURNOUT.
SO WHY DON'T CITY LEADERS WANT TO TRY IT? THIS IS ONE, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS, GOING AROUND THE CITY, TALKING TO COUNCIL MEMBERS, TALKING WITH MEDIA, WITH COMMUNITY GROUPS, UM, UH, ANYONE THAT'LL LISTEN, UM, ABOUT THIS.
AND IT IS ONE THAT I'M VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT.
I THINK THIS IS A RARE EXAMPLE IN CITY GOVERNMENT WHERE WE CAN MAKE EVERYONE'S LIFE IN THE CITY A LITTLE BIT BETTER, AND BY DOING SO, WE CAN ALSO SAVE THE CITY MONEY.
AND HOW OFTEN DO WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY LIKE THAT IN THIS CITY? UM, WITH THAT, I WILL END MY PRESENTATION AND WE'LL GLADLY ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
UM, AND I CAN LEMME BACK IT UP THAT YOU HAVE BEEN NO, I'M JUST JUMPING
WE TALKED ABOUT IT FOR QUITE A FEW TIMES, SO HE IS PASSIONATE ABOUT IT.
THEY'RE MORE SORT OF IN THE PHILOSOPHICAL BENT.
I'M GONNA ASK THESE QUESTIONS.
I'M GONNA STOP SO THAT EVERYBODY ELSE HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO ASK THEIR QUESTIONS.
I'VE GOT SOME OTHER TECHNICAL QUESTIONS, BUT I MAY WAIT FOR A SECOND ROUND IF, IF YOU'LL OFFER IT FIRST.
CHAIRMAN, EXTREMELY IMPRESSIVE WORK, AND IT'S CLEAR THAT YOU'RE EXTREMELY PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS.
SO THANK YOU FOR ALL THE WORK THAT YOU PUT IN AND FOR THE, THE REALLY THOUGHTFUL PRESENTATION THAT YOU'VE PRESENTED ALL OF US TO KIND OF HELP US HAVE THE CONTEXT.
SO THESE QUESTIONS MAY SOUND PERHAPS REDUNDANT, BUT I JUST WANT TO TEASE OUT THE PHILOSOPHY HERE.
SO THE FIRST QUESTION IS, BY SHIFTING THIS ELECTION TO NOVA NOVEMBER OF ODD NUMBER OF YEARS, THE PROBLEM THAT WE ARE ATTEMPTING TO SOLVE IS LOW VOTER TURNOUT.
AND SO WE THINK MORE VOTER TURNOUT IN THESE ELECTIONS IS A GOOD THING.
I, I THINK, YOU KNOW, THIS IS VERY HIGH LEVEL, BUT YOU KNOW, WE LIVE IN A REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY.
WE, WE, WE HAVE SET UP A SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT BY WHICH WE THINK THAT OUR CITIZENRY DESERVES A SAY IN
[01:15:01]
HOW THINGS OPERATE.UM, THE MORE CITIZENS REGISTERED VOTERS THAT PARTICIPATE, THE BETTER THE GOVERNMENT CAN SERVE ITS PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY UNDERSTAND WHAT THEIR PEOPLE WANT.
UM, I THINK, YOU KNOW, I IDEALISTICALLY WE WOULD WANT VOTER TURN OUT TO BE A HUNDRED PERCENT.
I AM TRYING TO SET A REALISTIC GOAL, UM, THAT I THINK THE CITY COULD ACHIEVE AND, AND MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE IN.
OKAY, SO MY SECOND QUESTION IS, WE HAVE ELECTIONS NOW IN MAY.
UH, AND CLEARLY THERE WAS A REASON WHY WE HAD ELECTIONS IN MAY WHENEVER WHOMEVER IT IS WITHIN THE CITY CHARTER DECIDED THAT WE WOULD HOST ELECTIONS IN MAY.
WHAT'S YOUR HYPOTHESIS AS TO WHY MAY WAS CHOSEN? YEAH, AND I WANNA BE CLEAR HERE.
IT IT, ANYONE THAT YOU KNOW, CAN LOOK THROUGH DALLAS COUNTY ELECTIONS AND SEE THE FACT THAT WE'VE BEEN HOLDING MAY ELECTIONS FOREVER KNOWS THAT THIS IS NOT THE FAULT OF THE CURRENT COUNCIL.
THIS IS NOT THE FAULT OF CURRENT LEADERS AROUND THE CITY.
THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS CHOSEN FOR US DECADES AGO.
UM, BASED ON, UH, MY READING OF HISTORY, I BELIEVE THAT THE MAY ELECTION DATE WAS CHOSEN TO ENSURE THAT VOTER TURNOUT WAS AS LOW AS POSSIBLE BY PREVIOUS, UM, LEADERS WHO GOT TO MAKE THAT CHOICE.
AND THE ASSUMPTION THEN WOULD BE THAT ANY OTHER CITY THAT HOSTED MAY ELECTIONS, THAT THE, THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE MOTIVATING FACTOR AS WELL ACROSS THE UNITED STATES? YES.
UH, DID, I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN KNOWING, AND THIS IS PERHAPS A STAFF REQUEST, UM, IF WE COULD GO BACK INTO SORT OF THE CITY ARCHIVES TO TRY TO, AND THIS PERHAPS IS FAR TOO ESOTERIC OF PRACTICE TO KIND OF GO THROUGH, BUT I THINK WE HAVE AN ARCHIVIST, IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, AND IF WE MIGHT TRY TO FIND THE RECORDS ABOUT WHY IN FACT, WE HAVE ELECTIONS IN MAY GOING WAY BACK WHEN, IF WE CAN'T FIND THAT, THAT PERSON SHOULDN'T SPEND A LOT OF TIME ON IT, I'D JUST BE INTERESTED IN UNDERSTANDING WHY, BECAUSE THERE WAS CLEARLY A REASON WHY WE, WE CAN INVESTIGATE.
AND SO MY THIRD QUESTION AGAIN, ALONG SORT OF THIS PHILOSOPHICAL LINES, YOU COULD HAVE MADE A PRESENTATION AS, UM, SOME CITIES HAVE DECIDED TO DO THAT WE WOULD HAVE ELECTIONS IN NOVEMBER OF EVEN NUMBER OF YEARS.
AND YET I GET A SENSE IS YOU MAY BE HESITANT TO DO THAT.
CAN YOU EXPRESS WHY? AND THEN I'LL MAYBE ASK A SUB-QUESTION TO THAT.
UM, WHEN I STARTED THIS PROJECT, I WENT TO KEY STAKEHOLDERS, UM, AROUND THE CITY AND OTHER GOVERNMENT ENTITIES, UM, THAT CURRENTLY DO NONPARTISAN ELECTIONS.
UM, SPOKE TO PEOPLE THAT HAVE WORKED AT CITY HALL, HAVE DONE ELECTIONS FOR SOME OF THESE NONPARTISAN ENTITIES.
THERE WAS A DEEP, UM, HESITANCY IN THE IDEA OF PERMANENTLY SWITCHING OUR ELECTIONS DATE TO NOVEMBER OF EVEN NUMBERED YEARS.
UM, I'M SURE MOST PEOPLE REMEMBER, BUT IN 2020 WITH THE PANDEMIC, UM, GOVERNOR ABBOTT CANCELED THE MAY, 2020 ELECTIONS.
UM, AND SO THEY DID NOT OCCUR.
AND EVERY ELECTION THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO OCCUR, THAT MAY GOT SHIFTED TO NOVEMBER, THAT DID NOT IMPACT THE CITY OF DALLAS.
BUT IT IMPACTED A LOT OF ENTITIES AROUND NORTH TEXAS, INCLUDING DISD AND DALLAS COLLEGE.
UM, I THINK THAT EXPERIENCE OF TRYING TO RUN AN ELECTION ABOUT HOW TO BEST SERVE, YOU KNOW, OUR STUDENTS, HOW TO BEST SERVE, UM, OUR COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS, UM, DURING A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, WHICH IS DEEPLY PARTISAN, DEEPLY CONTENTIOUS, RUBBED A LOT OF PEOPLE, UM, THE WRONG WAY.
UM, I THINK, UH, THE DESIRE TO KEEP OUR PARTISAN AND NON-PARTISAN ELECTIONS AS SEPARATE ENTITIES WAS A VALID ONE.
BUT THEN WHEN I HEARD THOSE CONCERNS, UM, MY THOUGHT BECAME, WELL, WE HAVE A PARTISAN ELECTION DAY.
WE SHOULD CREATE A NONPARTISAN ELECTION DAY IN THE CITY.
THE ISD AND THE JUNIOR COLLEGE SHOULD WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE IT WHERE WE SHOW UP ONCE EVERY TWO YEARS, AND DEPENDING ON THEIR TERM LENGTHS, WE ELECT ALL OF THEM AT ONE TIME.
UM, AND WE MAKE IT AS EASY FOR PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE.
UM, SO THAT IS WHERE THIS NOTION OF NOVEMBER OF ODD NUMBERED YEARS CAME FROM.
IT HELPED THAT THE CITY OF HOUSTON HAS BEEN DOING THIS FOR DECADES NOW, UM, AND HAS SEEN HIGHER VOTER TURNOUT THAN PLACES LIKE DALLAS, FORT WORTH, SAN ANTONIO, UM, FOR, FOR QUITE A LONG TIME.
BUT I GUESS I, UH, AND THIS IS IS NOT A QUESTION, IT'S MORE OF A STATEMENT.
[01:20:01]
REALLY THINK YOU'RE GETTING AT, AND I THINK YOU STATED A LITTLE EARLIER, BUT JUST FOR THE RECORD, IT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE YOU'D BE IN FAVOR OF MOVING FORWARD AN IDEA WHERE WE WOULD HAVE NOVEMBER ELECTIONS IN EVEN NUMBERED YEARS BECAUSE OF THE FEAR OF, UH, PARTISANSHIP.UM, AND, AND WHERE PARTISANSHIP COULD POTENTIALLY, UH, COMPLICATE THINGS FOR NON-PARTISAN LOCAL ELECTIONS.
THAT IS, THAT IS THE VERY REASON I DID NOT SUBMIT THAT PROPOSAL.
ANYONE ELSE? ALRIGHT, COMMISSIONER CLAP.
I HAVE A QUESTION, AND I KNOW WE KIND OF TALKED ABOUT IT BY STATE LAW.
CAN WE DO THIS TODAY? I THOUGHT MY UNDERSTANDING, UH, THAT THERE HAD BEEN A LAW PASSED THAT SAID WE NEEDED TO DO IT BY DECEMBER OF 2016, UH, OR THAT WE DIDN'T HAVE BY STATE LAW THE AUTHORITY TO DO IT TODAY.
UM, ALSO ATTACHED IN HERE IS A WHITE PAPER THAT I WROTE THAT SHOULD BE IN YOUR CITY EMAIL AS WELL AS THIS HARD DOCUMENT HERE.
UM, AND THEN THE CITY EMAIL CAME FROM JAKE ANDERSON, UH, AS OPPOSED TO MYSELF.
UM, IN HERE I TALK ABOUT THE FACT THAT, UH, STATE ELECTION, TEXAS ELECTION CODE TITLE IV SAYS CLEARLY THAT, UH, A GOVERNMENT LIKE THIS CAN CONDUCT THEIR ELECTIONS IN THE FIRST SATURDAY IN MAY OF ODD NUMBERED YEARS, FIRST SATURDAY IN MAY OF EVEN NUMBERED YEARS, OR THE FIRST TUESDAY AFTER THE FIRST MONDAY IN NOVEMBER.
HOWEVER, IN SECTION 41 0 0 5 2, UM, IT SAYS, JUST LIKE YOU SAID, THAT THE GOVERNING POLITICAL, UH, THE GOVERNING BODY OF ANY POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OTHER THAN A COUNTY OR MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT THAT HOLDS ITS GENERAL ELECTION FOR OFFICERS ON A DATE OTHER THAN THE NOVEMBER UNIFORM ELECTION DATE, MAY NOT LATER THAN DECEMBER 31ST, 2016, CHANGE THE DATE ON WHICH IT HOLDS ITS GENERAL ELECTION FOR OFFICERS TO THE NOVEMBER UNIFORM ELECTION DATE, I AM ASKING THIS COMMISSION TO LET US EXPLORE THIS OPTION.
I DO NOT THINK IT WOULD BE, UM, UH, UH, I I I DON'T THINK IT WOULD BE UNREASONABLE FOR US TO LOOK AT PASSING THIS CHARTER AMENDMENT, UH, OR, OR SENDING THIS TO COUNCIL, COUNCIL, POTENTIALLY SENDING IT TO VOTERS, VOTERS PASSING IT WITH AN UNDERSTANDING THAT WE WOULD NOT IMPLEMENT THIS CHANGE UNTIL WE GET OFFICIAL STATE SIGN OFF.
UM, I DO WANT TO NOTE THAT, YOU KNOW, IT'S A 2016 DATE.
UM, THE CASE STUDY I GAVE EARLIER WAS AFTER 2016.
SO THERE'S, THERE'S, I THINK, SOME CONFUSION IN, IN HOW THE STATE IS LOOKING AT THIS.
I DO WANT TO NOTE THOUGH, THAT, UM, STATE REPRESENTATIVE MIKE SCHOFIELD, A REPUBLICAN OUT OF HARRIS COUNTY, HAS BEEN LEADING THE EFFORT TO SCRAP THE KNOT LATER THAN DECEMBER 31ST, 2016, LANGUAGE FROM THAT SECTION.
I HAVE BEEN IN COMMUNICATION WITH HIS OFFICE SINCE 2021.
UM, IN THAT YEAR, UM, HE SERVED ON THE ELECTIONS COMMITTEE IN THE STATE HOUSE.
UM, SO HE HAD GREATER SWAY ON THESE THINGS.
HE WAS ABLE TO GET IT TO A VOTE ON THE ELECTIONS COMMITTEE.
IT PASSED NINE ZERO, HE GOT IT TO THE FLOOR OF THE TEXAS HOUSE.
IT PASSED UNANIMOUSLY, GOT SHOT OVER TO THE SENATE AND IT DIED IN THE SENATE.
AND WHAT I'VE BEEN TOLD FROM, UH, STATE SENATE OFFICES, IS IT, THE REASON IT DIED WASN'T DUE TO CONTROVERSY, BUT RATHER DUE TO THE FACT THAT NO MUNICIPALITY WAS ASKING FOR IT.
AND AS WE ALL KNOW, THE STATE ALLEGED, THEY HAVE A VERY CONDENSED CALENDAR.
IF THERE'S NOT A REASON TO TAKE SOMETHING UP, THEY'RE NOT GONNA DO IT.
UM, SCHOFIELD INTRODUCED THIS BILL AGAIN IN 2023, UM, AND IT WAS INTRODUCED IN THE SENATE BY DREW SPRINGER, A REPUBLICAN OUT OF COOK COUNTY.
UM, I THINK IN THE STATE LEGISLATURE, THIS IS GONNA BE SEEN AS A NON-PARTISAN FIX TO A QUIRK IN THE ELECTION CODE.
SOMETHING THAT I THINK PEOPLE FORGET A LOT IS THE TEXAS CONSTITUTION IS THE SECOND LONGEST IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY.
THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS IN IT THAT, UM, DON'T MAKE A LOT OF SENSE, BUT BECAUSE THEY DON'T NEGATIVELY AFFECT PEOPLE IN THE IMMEDIACY, THE STATE ALLEGED DOESN'T TAKE IT UP.
I THINK IF THE CITY OF DALLAS CAME TO THE STATE ASKED FOR A FIX, ESPECIALLY IF WE WERE ABLE TO SHOW THAT WE ARE BEING, I'LL COLLOQUIALLY SAY WE'RE BEING THE GROWNUPS IN THE ROOM, WE'RE KEEPING OUR ELECTIONS NON-PARTISAN, AND WE JUST WANT TO INCREASE VOTER TURNOUT A LITTLE BIT, CUT SOME, UH,
[01:25:01]
EXCESS, UH, SPENDING, UM, AND SAVE A LITTLE BOND OF MONEY.MY PERSONAL OPINION, UM, IS THAT THE STATE WOULD MOST LIKELY LET US IF WE WENT TO THEM IN 2025 AND ASK FOR THAT PERMISSION, YOU KNOW, COMMISSIONER STEEN, UM, BACK TO COMMISSIONER CLAP, AND THEN THE MASTER.
OKAY, I HAVE, I HAVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS.
UH, WHEN YOU MENTIONED A DECEMBER RUNOFF BETWEEN COUNCILWOMAN ARNOLD, UH, AND YOU SAID THAT IT WAS 5.5% IN, UH, 2021, IS THAT 5.5% OF DISTRICT FOUR YES, THAT'S THE, OF THE VOTERS THAT'S EXACTLY COULD VOTE IN THAT ELECTION, YES.
UH, MY OTHER THING IS MOVING THE ELECTION FROM MAY TO DECEMBER, I MEAN TO NOVEMBER, I THINK IT WOULD TAKE AWAY FOCUS ON THE CITY ITSELF.
YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M SAYING? WELL, WE'LL BE FOCUSING ON OTHER ELECTIONS INSTEAD OF JUST THE DALLAS ELECTION BECAUSE THE SCHOOL BOARD, THEY, WE, WE CAN'T VOTE TO MOVE THEIR ELECTIONS TO MAY, I MEAN, TO, UH, NOVEMBER, WE ONLY CAN VOTE FOR THE CITY.
SO WHY DON'T WE JUST STAY WHERE WE ARE WITH THE SCHOOL BOARD TRUSTEES BOARD? AND YOU ALSO MENTIONED THAT, UH, HOUSTON IS HAVING THEIR SCHOOL BOARD, UH, ELECTION AT THIS POINT RIGHT NOW, AND I, I DON'T KNOW, UH, THAT TEA TOOK OVER THE HOUSTON SCHOOL DISTRICT, SO THEY STILL HAVE AN ELECTION AND THEY DONE TOOK OVER THE TEA TOOK IT OVER, AND THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE SCHOOL BOARD TRUSTEES.
THEY ARE STILL HAVING A TRUSTEE ELECTION.
SO HOUSTON IS STILL HOLDING TRUSTEE ELECTIONS.
UH, I I DO NOT WANT TO PRETEND THAT I'M A EXPERT, UH, WITH WHAT'S HAPPENING DOWN THERE.
OTHERS MIGHT BE ABLE TO SPEAK TO THAT BETTER THAN I CAN.
WELL, I WAS JUST ASKING BECAUSE I KNOW THAT, BUT BUT THEY'RE STILL ELECTING THEIR TRUSTEES.
WELL, I DO, YOU KNOW, THAT, AND, AND TO THAT POINT ABOUT THE MAY AND DISD CONSOLIDATION, AND AGAIN, UM, WELL, NOT AGAIN, ACTUALLY HAVEN'T BROUGHT THIS UP.
I DO HAVE AN OUTSTANDING REQUEST TO THE OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS TO FIND OUT, UM, WHAT IS THE EXACT POPULATION OVERLAP BETWEEN THE CITY OF DALLAS AND DALLAS, ISD, BECAUSE I WANT US TO BE VERY COGNIZANT OF THE FACT THAT IT'S NOT 100% OVERLAP.
I THINK OF PLACES LIKE DISTRICT 10, LIKE HIGHLANDS THAT ARE IN RICHARDSON, ISD.
AND SO I, I, I DO VIEW THIS AS A LONG-TERM REGIONAL PLAY.
UM, BUT I CAN ONLY CONTROL WHAT'S, YOU KNOW, IN MY CONTROL RIGHT NOW AS, AS YOU, AS YOU MENTIONED, WE'RE WE CAN ONLY CONTROL CITY OF DALLAS.
I DO WANT TO NOTE WITH, UM, CITY AND ISD CONSOLIDATION, THE ISD ELECTIONS CONSOLIDATED WITH CITY ELECTIONS ONE OUT OF EVERY THREE TIMES.
UM, THERE'S ALSO SOMETHING ELSE THAT, UM, WILL EVENTUALLY NEED TO BE CONSIDERED.
AND IT'S THAT, UM, THE, THE WAY CITY OR THE WAY SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS ARE SUPPOSED TO OCCUR, IF THE CITY WERE TO MOVE OUR ELECTION DATE, UM, DALLAS, ISD WOULD ARGUABLY EITHER NEED TO CHANGE THEIR GOVERNING DOCUMENTS OR NEED TO CHANGE THEIR ELECTION DATE, BECAUSE RIGHT NOW IT'S WRITTEN IN THEIR GOVERNING DOCUMENTS.
AN ELECTION MUST OCCUR WHEN A STATE, A STATE OR COUNTY IS HOLDING THEIR ELECTIONS.
A JUNIOR COLLEGE IS HOLDING ITS ELECTIONS OR THE CITY IS HOLDING ITS ELECTIONS.
UM, SO THIS IS SOMETHING THAT, UM, WOULD, WOULD POTENTIALLY NEED TO BE ADDRESSED, UH, AT THEIR LEVEL LATER ON.
HAVE YOU TALKED TO ANY OF THEM? BECAUSE, UH, WHAT WE, WHAT WE DOING IS ADDING A COULD BE ADDING ANOTHER ELECTION INSTEAD OF ELIMINATING IT.
IT ACTUALLY IS ELIMINATING IT, IT'S ELIMINATING AN ELECTION DATE.
UM, BECAUSE WE ALREADY HAVE THE NOVEMBER ELECTION DATE THAT THAT OCCURS EVERY TWO YEARS.
BECAUSE WE HAVE WHAT, 12, 14 PROPOSITIONS UP FOR VOTE RIGHT NOW AT STATE LEVEL? YEAH.
SO WHEN I GO TO THE POLLS, THIS IS 2023, WHICH IS AN ODD YEAR.
AND I GOT 14 PROPOSITIONS AND I GOTTA VOTE FOR CITY COUNCIL AND EVERYTHING.
THE PROPOSITIONS THAT THE CITY COUNCIL WOULD ADD INTO, IF YOU'VE GOT A BOND, YOU KNOW, YOU, ALL THAT HAS TO BE HAS TO TAKE, BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION BECAUSE WHEN YOU TAKE THE FOCUS JUST OFF OF DALLAS, YOU KNOW, IT'S TOO MUCH TO ME, YOU KNOW, PERSONALLY AS A VOTER WITH ALL THIS, UH, ELIMINATING BALLOT BOXES AND ELIMINATING MAIL-IN BALLOTS, YOU KNOW, WE GOT A
[01:30:01]
LOT GOING ON WITH ELECTIONS RIGHT NOW, AND I THINK WE ADDED MORE, YOU KNOW, LUGGAGE.SO I, I, I PERSONALLY DISAGREE WITH THAT.
I THINK IT IS A MUCH LARGER BURDEN TO ASK AN INDIVIDUAL TO GO TO THEIR POLLING LOCATION TWICE IN ONE YEAR, THE FIRST TIME VOTE ON TWO THINGS THE SECOND TIME VOTE ON 14 THINGS.
I THINK THE BURDEN WOULD BE REDUCED BY ASKING 'EM TO SHOW UP ONCE AND VOTING ON 16 THINGS.
THE OTHER THING I DO WANT TO NOTE IS THAT THESE STATEWIDE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS ARE BINARY CHOICES.
UM, YOU KNOW, YOU GET TO CHOOSE YES.
OR FOR OR AGAINST, UM, AND YOU DO IT, YOU KNOW, AS, AS MANY TIMES AS THE STATE ASKS YOU TO DO IT.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE ALREADY HAVE THESE NOVEMBER OF EVEN NUMBERED YEAR ELECTIONS THAT THE, THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, STATE GOVERNMENT AND COUNTY GOVERNMENT ASK US TO VOTE IN, WHERE OUR BALLOT CAN BE 40 THINGS DEEP.
SO TO ME, THE NOTION OF A BALLOT THAT'S GONNA BE 12 TO 16 THINGS DEEP ISN'T, YEAH.
I MEAN, SOMETIMES IT COULD BE 80, IT COULD BE 80 DEEP ON THESE PARTISAN ELECTION RIGHT.
ELECTION DAYS, A NONPARTISAN ELECTION DAY WHERE THE VAST MAJORITY OF THINGS ARE GONNA BE FOR OR AGAINST BALLOT PROPOSITIONS, TO ME, UM, ISN'T UNREASONABLE.
AND TO ME IT'S A, AND I KNOW I STATED THIS BEFORE, BUT I DO WANNA HARP ON IT.
I THINK THE ACTUAL TRIP TO THE POLL ITSELF AND THE ACT OF HAVING TO DO THE RESEARCH ON WHERE TO VOTE WHEN TO VOTE, UM, AND ALL THAT, HAVING TO DO THAT TWICE IS A BIGGER BURDEN THAN A BALLOT THAT IS JUST A SMIDGE BIGGER.
WE'LL BE ADDING ANOTHER SUPER TUESDAY.
THAT'S WHAT I'M GETTING AT, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE THE VOTING DATE IN NOVEMBER IS NORMALLY ON A TUESDAY.
UH, SORRY, I DON'T UNDERSTAND, SIR.
I, I, I DON'T, I CAN YOU, CAN YOU SAY THAT AGAIN? DON'T WE NORMALLY VOTE IN NOVEMBER ON TUESDAYS? YEAH, BUT THE ONE THING I DO HAVE TO GIVE THE STATE OF TEXAS A LOT OF CREDIT FOR IS WE DO HAVE ROBUST EARLY VOTING.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, I VOTED TODAY AND IT'S OCTOBER 24TH, AND THE ELECTION DAY IS OC IS NOVEMBER 7TH.
AND ELECTIONS THAT OCCUR IN NOVEMBER, AS I STATED PREVIOUSLY, HAVE, YOU KNOW, ABOUT 27 MORE HOURS OF VOTING IN PERSON.
SO BY MOVING THE MAY ELECTION DATE BACK TO NOVEMBER, WE WOULD GIVE OUR, OUR RESIDENTS 27 EXTRA HOURS TO VOTE THAT THEY DIDN'T HAVE.
IF, IF WE CONTINUE TO HOLD ELECTIONS IN MAY.
UM, BECAUSE EARL, I, I HAVE A CHART WITH THIS.
I DIDN'T PUT IT IN HERE, BUT TRY TO GO WITH ME HERE.
UM, WHEN AN ELECTION IS IN NOVEMBER, LIKE YOU SAID, IT'S ON TUESDAY EARLY VOTING STARTS THREE MONDAYS PROCEEDING THAT, AND YOU GET LIKE TWO WEEKS OF EARLY VOTING WHEN ELECTIONS ON A SATURDAY, IT'S TWO MONDAYS PROCEEDING.
YOU ONLY GET ONE WEEKEND OF EARLY VOTING.
YOU GET LIKE NINE DAYS IN A ROW OF VOTING AS A WHOLE.
I KNOW THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE TO FOLLOW.
I CAN SEND AROUND THE CHART LATER.
BUT IT'S, IT'S VERY CLEAR, LIKE YOU HAVE MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO VOTE IF THE ELECTION IS IN NOVEMBER THAN IN MAY.
WELL, MY LAST COMMENT IS WHEN YOU VOTE IN MAY, THE WHOLE, YOU KNOW, THE DAY THAT THE POLLS ARE OPEN, IT'S FROM DAYLIGHT, THE DAYLIGHT, BUT WHEN YOU VOTE IN NOVEMBER, IT'S FROM DAYLIGHT TO DARKNESS BECAUSE OF THE TIME SETTING, DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME.
BUT THANK YOU, UH, DAVID, I APPRECIATE THE COST ANALYSIS YOU'VE DONE, BUT I I DO HAVE A QUESTION ON IT.
THE CITY OF DALLAS AGREES TO THE CONTRACT FOR THE ELECTION.
UH, THEY AGREE TO THE NUMBER OF POLLING LOCATIONS THAT ARE GOING TO BE PART OF THEIR CONTRACT.
HAVE YOU LOOKED AT, IF THE CITY OF DALLAS WERE TO SAY, WE ONLY WANT 300 POLLING LOCATIONS, WHAT WOULD THE COST BE? BECAUSE WE BRING THAT LARGE COST ON OURSELVES IN A WAY WHEN WE AGREE TO THE CONTRACT THAT WE AGREE TO, AND I I SAY THAT WITH NOT WANTING TO NOT LET ANYONE HAVE A PLACE TO VOTE THAT'S NEAR THEM.
BUT I'LL USE LAKE HIGHLANDS AS AN EXAMPLE.
IF YOU TURN OFF A CHURCH ROAD, A TURN OFF OF SKILLMAN ONTO CHURCH ROAD, ON YOUR RIGHT IS THE LAKE HIGHLANDS REC CENTER.
ON YOUR IMMEDIATE LEFT IS THE LAKE HIGHLANDS HIGH SCHOOL.
ONE, ONE AND A HALF BLOCK DOWN IS NORTH LAKE ELEMENTARY.
UP A HILL IS THE AL DIGGA ROAD LIBRARY.
[01:35:01]
TWO BLOCKS AWAY FROM THAT IS LAKE HIGHLANDS JUNIOR HIGH.SO VERY EASILY IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD, WITHOUT INTRUDING ON ANYONE'S EASE OF VOTING, YOU COULD ELIMINATE THREE, THREE VOTING LOCATIONS.
SO, I MEAN, I DON'T KNOW IF YEAH, I I HAVEN'T LOOKED INTO THAT.
BUT YOUR POINT IS 100% TRUE, AND I'VE NOTICED THIS IN ELECTION COST DATA OVER THE CYCLES, THE COST TO ADMINISTER A STATE, A COUNTYWIDE ELECTION IS INCREASING AS WE HAVE IMPLEMENTED, UH, VOTING CENTERS THE, THE CONCEPT OF VOTING CENTERS AROUND THE COUNTY.
UM, WHILE I DON'T WANNA SPEAK TO THE DUPLICATIVE NATURES THAT YOU JUST SPOKE ABOUT, UM, I DO THINK, YOU KNOW, LIKE VOTING CENTERS OVERALL HAVE BEEN, UH, GOOD FOR, YOU KNOW, DEMOCRATIC ACCESS IN, IN OUR CITY.
NOW, IS IT IMPLEMENTED? WELL, I CANNOT SPEAK TO THAT.
UM, BUT, BUT THE IDEA IS, IS IS A GOOD ONE OF, AGAIN, VOTING CENTERS BEING THE NOTION THAT YOU CAN VOTE ANYWHERE IN THE COUNTY, UH, DURING EARLY VOTE AND ON ELECTION DAY.
UM, AND TO YOUR POINT, PATTY, UM, YOU KNOW, THE CITY OF DALLAS IS RIGHT NOW AROUND 47% OF THE COUNTY'S POPULATION.
UM, AND THAT'S NOT, AND AND THIS IS, THIS IS DATA I'VE GOTTEN FROM THE COUNTY WHERE I ASK THEM SPECIFICALLY, TAKE THE COUNTY POPULATION, GIVE IT TO ME BY CITY.
SO ANY PARTS OF DALLAS OR OTHER MUNICIPALITIES THAT ARE IN COLLIN OR TARRANT OR CUTOUT.
SO WE'RE ABOUT 47% OF THE COUNTY'S POPULATION.
SO WHEN ELECTION HAPPENS IN MAY, THE COUNTY ELECTION COST IS, LET'S SAY AROUND 2.3, 2.4 MILLION.
WE'RE PAYING A MILLION OF THAT.
UM, SO THE CITY RIGHT NOW IS PAYING FOR THE VAST IS BA IS IS CLOSE TO PAYING FOR 50% OF A COUNTYWIDE ELECTION HERE IN DALLAS COUNTY.
IF THE CITY WERE TO MOVE, IT COULD CREATE A FINANCIAL SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM BY WHICH OTHER ENTITIES, UM, WOULD NEED TO STRONGLY CONSIDER MAKING THE MOVE WITH US.
UM, BECAUSE OF, BECAUSE OF THE NATURE THAT YOU SPOKE TO OF SO MANY OF THESE POLLING LOCATIONS LIKE WE'RE PAYING FOR AS THE CITY OF DALLAS.
UH, I, I REALLY JUST HAVE, MY SIMPLE QUESTION IS, CAN WE HEAR FROM THE CITY ATTORNEYS ON WHETHER THIS IS ACTUALLY POSSIBLE TO DO? I MEAN, I, I MEAN, AUSTIN VOTED FOR A NEW WAY TO VOTE AND IT'S STILL NOT IMPLEMENTED, RIGHT? I MEAN, I, DAVID IS CORRECT.
THERE IS A PROVISION IN THE, UM, TEXAS ELECTION CODE RIGHT NOW THAT SAYS THAT, UM, A HOME RULE CITY IS ALLOWED TO CHANGE THEIR DATE OF ELECTION TO A NOVEMBER DATE, THE NOVEMBER UNIFORM DATE, IF THEY DO IT BY DECEMBER 31ST, 2016.
AND DALLAS IS INCLUDED IN THAT.
UH, COUPLE QUESTIONS IN YOUR, IN YOUR SLIDE 10, UH, WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE IN THE ELECTION, IN THE BOND ELECTION IN NOVEMBER VERSUS THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL ELECTION, THAT DISPARITIES QUITE A BIT, ALMOST $750,000.
UM, WHEN I HAVE BEEN IN CONTACT WITH DALLAS COUNTY ELECTIONS, UM, THE ONLY PARTIAL ANSWER I'VE RECEIVED IS, IS THAT ONE THAT IS IN THE, UM, POINT NEAR IT IN THAT BECAUSE THE STATE WAS CONDUCTING AN ELECTION, THE STATEWIDE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS, THE STATE AND COUNTY HAD TO PAY FOR THE MAJORITY OF THAT ELECTION.
AND THE ELECTION TO THE COUNTY IS A RELATIVELY, UH, STATIC ONE.
UH, YOU KNOW, IT FLUCTUATES A LITTLE, BUT YOU HAVE TO, UM, YOU KNOW, DO EARLY VOTING, DO ALL THE MAIL VOTING, DO THE ELECTION DAY, HIRE ALL THAT STAFF, UM, AND IT WAS GONNA COST THEM THAT 2.3 ISH 2 MILLION REGARDLESS.
UM, AND THE COUNTY WAS ON, THE COUNTY AND STATE WERE REQUIRED TO PAY MOST OF THAT.
SO THE CITY ESSENTIALLY GOT A DISCOUNT, UM, BY, UM, PUTTING THEIR ELECTION IN NOVEMBER.
LIKE, I, I DON'T WANT TO PRETEND LIKE I CAN PREDICT THE FUTURE WITHOUT ALL THE ANSWERS, BUT BASED ON MY PAST RESEARCH, MY GUESS IS THAT WITH THE CITY CONDUCTING A BOND ELECTION IN MAY OF NEXT YEAR, BUT THEN THESE CHARTER AMENDMENTS IN NOVEMBER OF NEXT YEAR, THE CITY'S GONNA BE CHARGED LESS FOR THE CHARTER AMENDMENTS THAN THE BOND ELECTIONS.
[01:40:01]
UM, ALMOST CERTAINLY BASED ON BASED IF HISTORICAL PRECEDENCES, UM, TRUTH FOR THE FUTURE.AND AS I THINK MOST PEOPLE ON THE COMMISSION WOULD KNOW, WE JUST HIRED THE, THE COUNTY JUST HIRED HEIDER GARCIA TO LEAD UP THE ELECTIONS HERE.
I, I ASSUME HE, I MEAN, I WOULD PERSONALLY LIKE TO HAVE HIM COME AND SPEAK TO THE BOARD, OR SORRY, OUR COMMISSION.
I, I WOULD ASSUME THAT OTHER PEOPLE WOULD LIKE THAT AS WELL.
UM, WOULD YOU BE OKAY WITH THAT? YEAH, HIM SPEAKING ON THIS? YEAH, AND I, I HAVE OTHER EXPERTS THAT WOULD BE MORE THAN WILLING TO COME IN, UH, PROFESSORS, UM, YOU KNOW, AND, AND FOLKS LIKE THAT, THAT COULD SPEAK TO SOME OF THE MORE PHILOSOPHICAL ASPECTS OF THIS AND TECHNICAL, BUT I WOULD WELCOME DALLAS COUNTY ELECTIONS TO, TO COME IN.
I DON'T WANNA SPEAK FOR THEM, BUT I PERSONALLY THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, THEY ARE CURRENTLY REQUIRED TO HOLD EIGHT ELECTIONS IN A BIENNIUM.
UM, WHICH TO ME IS A HUGE BURDEN ON THEM.
I THINK IT MAKES THEIR JOBS ALMOST CERTAINLY HARDER.
AND IF WE CAN MAKE OUR ELECTIONS AS A CITY BETTER WHILE, UH, MAKING IT EASIER FOR THE COUNTY TO DO THEIR JOB, I THINK THAT'S A WIN-WIN.
AND YOU, YOU, TWO MORE QUESTIONS.
YOU MENTIONED, UH, JUST A SECOND AGO IN THE, THE QUESTION BEFORE I STARTED, UH, A POINT THAT I'D, I'D, I'D LIKE YOU TO ARTICULATE A LITTLE BIT BETTER, BECAUSE IT WAS, IT WAS SAID VERY QUICKLY ABOUT HOW IF WE, IF THIS WERE TO BE ADOPTED AND GO TO CITY COUNCIL AND THEN, UH, APPROVED BY THE VOTERS, IT WOULD KIND OF FORCE SOME OF THE OTHER NON-PARTISAN ELECTIONS TO BE PUSHED AS WELL.
CAN YOU KIND OF EXPLAIN THAT IN GREATER DETAIL? YOU'RE ON MUTE.
TO BE CLEAR, NOT FORCED, NOT LITERALLY FORCED, BUT IT COULD PUT A FINANCIAL STRAIN ON THEM BECAUSE IF AN ELECTION, IF A COUNTY WIDE ELECTION HAS GENERALLY A SET COST, AND RIGHT NOW ARGUABLY CITY OF DALLAS IS KIND OF SUBSIDIZING EVERYONE ELSE.
SO IT'S LIKE A REVERSE INCENTIVE.
YOU MENTIONED YOU'VE SPOKEN TO A LOT OF STAKEHOLDERS ON THIS, AND AGAIN, GREAT WORK ON THE PRESENTATION AND THANK YOU FOR PRESENTING THIS.
UH, WHAT HAS BEEN ARTICULATED AS, FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE DOING THIS FOR THE LAST COUPLE YEARS? WHAT HAS BEEN ARTICULATED AS LIKE THE PROS TO KEEPING IT ON IN THE MAY ELECTION ON THE ODD YEARS? YEAH, I THINK INERTIA IS POSSIBLY THE BIGGEST THING.
UM, I, I HAVE JOKED WITH A FEW FOLKS THAT, UM, THIS IS ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT IS NOT GONNA GET PEOPLE UP IN THE MORNING, UM, IN TERMS OF HOW EXCITED THEY ARE.
THIS IS, THIS IS NOT LIKE THE BOND COMMISSION, LIKE BUILDING A PARK, YOU KNOW, UM, FOR INSTANCE, IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD, LIKE WE'RE, WE'RE HOPING THAT THE BOND PACKAGE IS GONNA BUILD THIS NEW BEAUTIFUL PARK WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE OF MY HOUSE, AND WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO TAKING OUR CHILDREN THERE OVER THE NEXT 10 YEARS.
THIS IS NOT THAT THIS IS, BUT THIS IS A CASE OF WE CAN MAKE EVERYONE'S, EVERY VOTER'S LIFE IN THE CITY OF DALLAS JUST A LITTLE BIT BETTER BY NOT REQUIRING THEM TO VOTE TWICE IN ONE YEAR, NOT MAKE THEM GIVE UP 30 MINUTES ON THAT SATURDAY IN MAY, THAT THEY COULD GO TO THEIR KIDS' SOCCER PRACTICE OR THEY COULD GO TO, UM, YOU KNOW, THE ARBORETUM OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, THAT THEY'RE, THAT WE ARE CURRENTLY ASKING 'EM TO GIVE UP BEFORE THE STATE, ASK 'EM TO GIVE UP ANOTHER 30 MINUTES IN NOVEMBER.
UM, AND SO WE'RE AT, WE'RE MAKING EVERYONE'S LIFE IN THE CITY OF DALLAS JUST A LITTLE BIT BETTER WHILE SPENDING LESS MONEY TO DO IT.
AND I DON'T THINK THE CITY GETS MANY OPPORTUNITIES LIKE THAT.
UH, COMMISSIONER, UH, CHAIRMAN, IF I CAN RESPOND JUST BRIEFLY ON THE, UM, ELECTIONS COST.
WHAT I MIGHT SUGGEST IS THAT WE GET WITH OUR CITY SECRETARY, WHO IS THE ELECTIONS ADMINISTRATOR FOR THE CITY OF DALLAS, TO GET HER INPUT AND HAVE HER HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR HER TO WEIGH IN BEFORE WE GO TO OUTSIDE FOLKS.
AND THEN I DO WANNA REMIND, AND THIS IS ESPECIALLY FOR MY COUNCIL MEMBER FROM DISTRICT 12, THE CITY OF DALLAS EXTENDS ALSO INTO COLLIN AND DENTON COUNTY.
SO THIS IS NOT JUST, UM, A DALLAS COUNTY MATTER AND OH, CAN I JUST RESPOND TO THAT REAL FAST? I, I HAVE PULLED THE DATE ON THAT.
AND AGAIN, YOU KNOW, I, I MADE IT CLEAR EARLIER, LIKE I'M THINKING ABOUT LAKE HIGHLANDS.
I'M THINKING ABOUT FAR NORTH DALLAS, BUT, UH, I DO HAVE THE DATA ON CITY OF DALLAS, INSIDE DALLAS COUNTY.
UM, RIGHT NOW, DEPENDING ON YOUR DATA SOURCE, IT'S AROUND 94 TO 90 PER 96%
[01:45:01]
OF CITY OF DALLAS RESIDENTS LIVE IN DALLAS COUNTY.UM, SO WE DON'T WANT TO FORGET THOSE 5%, BUT, UM, BUT AGAIN, COLLIN COUNTY AND DENTON COUNTY ARE ALSO HOLDING STATEWIDE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS RIGHT NOW, YOU KNOW.
COMMISSIONER HUNT FRANKLIN YOUNG.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SUCH A GREAT AND WELL-RESEARCHED PRESENTATION.
UM, YOU ANSWERED SO MANY OF THE QUESTIONS THAT I HAD INITIALLY A COUPLE YEARS AGO.
I REMEMBER THERE WAS JUST A, A COMMUNITY CONVERSATION ABOUT, UH, YOU KNOW, GETTING GREATER VOTER TURNOUT IN MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.
AND, UH, ONE OF THE, THE THOUGHTS WAS, WELL, LET'S HOLD THEM IN NOVEMBER, UH, ON EVEN NUMBERED YEARS.
AND MY VISCERAL REACTION WAS, PLEASE DON'T.
UM, BECAUSE WE, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I LOVED ABOUT SERVING ON THE CITY COUNCIL WAS THE FACT THAT IT WAS NONPARTISAN.
AND THERE WERE PEOPLE THAT I KNEW WHO ON FEDERAL OR STATE ISSUES MIGHT DIFFER FROM MY OWN, UH, POLITICALLY.
AND YET WE WERE IN HARMONY ON SO MANY COMMUNITY ISSUES AT THE LOCAL LEVEL.
AND I THINK THAT'S A BEAUTIFUL THING, AND I WOULD HATE TO ABANDON THAT.
UM, AND, AND YOU'VE ADDRESSED THAT BY SUGGESTING ODD NUMBERED YEARS.
UM, AND I, I HADN'T HEARD THE CONCEPT OF A SUPER NONPARTISAN ELECTION DAY, AND I LOVE IT.
UM, I THINK I, I SUSPECT, AND I'D LOVE TO SEE THE DATA ON IT, THAT IF WE OVERLAP, UM, THE SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION AND THE CITY COUNCIL ELECTION AND THE JUNIOR COLLEGE ELECTIONS, WE WOULD SEE A, A GREAT, MANY OF THOSE CURRENTLY, UH, VOTE TOGETHER.
I WOULD IMAGINE WE WOULD INCREASE THAT, THAT SAME GROUP IF WE HELD THEM ALL ON THE SAME DAY, AND THERE'S SOME, SOME ENTITY HAS TO BE THE FIRST, RIGHT.
UH, AND THE CITY OF DALLAS, I, I THINK, HAS THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITY HERE TO BE FIRST IN, UM, TO ENCOURAGE OUR LEGISLATURE.
I THINK THIS IS A GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO ENCOURAGE OUR LEGISLATURE TO MAKE THE CHANGE.
SO THE 2016 ISSUE, UM, FALLS AWAY.
I WOULD BE VERY INTERESTED TO UNDERSTAND HOW MESQUITE APPARENTLY GOT AROUND THIS.
UM, AND SO WE, YOU KNOW, I CARRY, UH, MAYBE OUR ATTORNEYS COULD TALK WITH THEIR CITY ATTORNEYS AND WE CAN GET SOME INSIGHT ON THAT.
AND IF WE NEED TO DO THAT IN EXECUTIVE SESSION, WE CAN.
UM, BUT I'D, I'D LIKE SOME INFORMATION ON THAT.
AND, AND I'LL NOTE ALSO, WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF, UM, RECEIVING SUGGESTED LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES FOR THE 2025 SESSION.
SO IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT, UM, YOU AS A COMMISSIONER OR A RESIDENT, UM, DESIRE TO SUBMIT TO YOUR PARTICULAR COUNCIL MEMBER, THAT WINDOW IS OPEN RIGHT NOW AS WELL.
UM, YOU'VE ADDRESSED MY CONCERNS THAT I HAD ABOUT, UH, A NOVEMBER, AND MORE THAN THAT, YOU'VE IDENTIFIED TO ME WHAT ARE KIND OF NO-BRAINERS, YOU KNOW, THE POSSIBILITY OF DRAMATICALLY INCREASING VOTER TURNOUT AND MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS, REDUCING COSTS FOR THE CITY.
TO ME, THE QUESTION IS SIMPLY WHY NOT DO IT? THANK YOU.
UM, AND ONE THING I DO WANT TO NOTE, YOU KNOW, 'CAUSE WE'RE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE CONSOLIDATION ASPECT, IT, IT, IT, IT SHOULD BE VIEWED AS SOMETHING LIKE EXPONENTIAL.
UM, YOU KNOW, UM, I, I EVEN THINK ABOUT LIKE THIS STATEWIDE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.
MY HOUSE HAS RECEIVED THREE, FOUR MAILERS ENCOURAGING ME TO GO VOTE ON THESE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS THIS PAST MAY.
I THINK I LIVE IN DISTRICT ONE.
UH, WE GOT A LOT OF MAIL THIS, THIS CYCLE.
UM, I GOT LIKE NINE MAILERS FOR THAT ONE.
I POLITICAL MAIL IS AN INTERESTING THING.
IT, IT, IT HONESTLY IS STILL ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE DIRECT VOTER CONTACT TOOLS.
UM, AND IF NOTHING ELSE, IT'S A REMINDER TO GO VOTE, GO VOTE.
IT USUALLY HAS THE ELECTION DATES ON IT.
SO EVEN THOUGH THE STATEWIDE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS ARE NOT GONNA BE THESE BIG DRIVERS, IF YOU HAVE MAYOR ON THE BALLOT, GETTING ONE MORE THING IN THE MAIL THAT YOU LOOK AT AND SAY, OH, EARLY VOTING HAS STARTED, I GOTTA GO OUT THERE TODAY.
IT COMPOUNDS LIKE IT, IT REALLY DOES.
UH, COMMISSIONER DELA FUENTE, AWESOME JOB WELL PRESENTED.
THE DATA THAT YOU PRESENTED IS VERY COMPELLING IN YOUR ARGUMENT, VERY PERSUASIVE.
I I DO HAVE A QUESTION WHETHER YOU'VE EXAMINED ANY OTHER FACTORS THAT COULD, THAT COULD CONTRIBUTE TO THE LOW VOTER TURNOUT IN THE CITY OF DALLAS BEYOND THE DATE OF VOTING? YEAH, NO, GREAT QUESTION.
[01:50:03]
I HAVE A BACKGROUND IN RESEARCH.I'M NOT A LAWYER, BUT, YOU KNOW, UM, LIKE PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH, THINGS LIKE THAT I, I HAVE DONE BEFORE.
PREVIOUSLY, I WANNA STRESS VERY CLEARLY THAT I CANNOT CREATE A TEST UNIVERSE.
I CAN ONLY USE WHAT WE SEE IN THE REAL WORLD.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WANNA ALWAYS CAUTION WITH THAT.
UM, AND IT'S, IT'S ACTUALLY IN THE WHITE PAPER WHERE I DISCUSS, YOU KNOW, WHEN COMPARING DALLAS FORT WORTH, SAN ANTONIO AND HOUSTON, ESPECIALLY DALLAS TO HOUSTON, UM, THE, THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF RESIDENTS AND VOTERS THAT WOULD NORMALLY INDICATE WHETHER SOMEBODY IS VERY LIKELY TO VOTE, USUALLY EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, WEALTH, UM, RACE, ETHNICITY, THINGS LIKE THAT.
DALLAS AND HOUSTON HAVE VERY SIMILAR DEMOGRAPHICS.
UM, AND WHEN YOU LOOK AT A PRESIDENTIAL OR GUBERNATORIAL CYCLE, UM, DALLAS, SAN ANTONIO, HOUSTON, FORT WORTH AND THEIR COUNTIES, THEIR RESPECTIVE COUNTIES HAVE VOTER TURNOUT IN PRESIDENTIAL AND GUBERNATORIAL CYCLES THAT ARE VERY, VERY SIMILAR, USUALLY WITHIN LIKE A POINT OR TWO OF EACH OTHER.
THEN YOU LOOK AT SOME PLACES LIKE COLLIN COUNTY, TRAVIS COUNTY, THE HOME OF AUSTIN AND PLANO.
UH, CONVERSELY, UM, UH, THOSE AREAS, YOU KNOW, COLLIN COUNTY HAS THE HIGHEST VOTER TURNOUT IN THE ENTIRE STATE WHEN IT COMES TO PRESIDENTIAL AND GUBERNATORIAL CYCLES.
UM, BUT PLANO IS LIKE DALLAS AND IT CONDUCTS MAY ALL ELECTIONS IN MAY.
UM, AND SO HOUSTON HAS HIGHER VOTER TURNOUT THAN PLANO DOES IN ITS MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS, DESPITE THE FACT THAT THAT PLANO WILL HAVE VOTER TURNOUT USUALLY AROUND EIGHT PERCENTAGE POINTS HIGHER THAN HOUSTON WHEN WE'RE ELECTING PRESIDENT AND GOVERNOR.
UM, TO ME THE CLEAREST CLEAN CUT REASON WHY IS THE CHANGE IN DATE.
SO IT'S NOT JUST AFFECTING PLACES LIKE DALLAS, IT'S AFFECTING PLACES LIKE PLANO.
UM, AUSTIN WAS SIMILAR, UM, BACK WHEN THEY USED TO DO ELECTIONS IN MAY, WHERE AN AUSTIN MAYORAL ELECTION WOULD HAVE LOWER VOTER TURNOUT THAN A HOUSTON MAYOR ELECTION.
UH, DESPITE THE FACT THAT AUSTIN WOULD OUTVOTE HOUSTON IN PRESIDENTIAL AND GUBERNATORIAL CYCLES, AUSTIN HAS SINCE SWITCHED TO NOVEMBER OF EVEN NUMBER YEARS.
SO AS EL PASO, UM, AND OTHER CITIES AROUND THE STATE ARE, ARE REALLY TAKING THE EFFORT TO SUPERCHARGE VOTER TURNOUT, UM, THEY GET IT AS HIGH AS POSSIBLE.
OBVIOUSLY, AS I SPOKE WITH COMMISSIONER SOLIS, I'M NOT SUGGESTING DOING THAT.
UM, BUT, UM, THESE PLACES THAT HAVE HIGHER TURNOUT NORMALLY HAVE LOWER TURNOUT IF THEY DO IT IN MAY, EVEN COMPARED TO CITIES THAT THEY OUTVOTE IN OTHER ELECTIONS.
UH, FIRST OF ALL, A TRIVIA POINT, UH, THE CITY OF DALLAS ALSO EXTENDS INTO KAUFMAN AND ROCKWALL COUNTIES, WHICH ARE IN DISTRICT NINE NOW.
UH, THEY HAVE NOTHING BUT, UH, FISH AND A TINY LITTLE STRIP OF LAND BEING LAKE RAY HUBBARD.
SO I DON'T THINK WE HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT VOTER TURNOUT IN THOSE COUNTIES.
UH, COMMISSIONER DE LA FUENTE, I WANT TO COMMEND YOU ON YOUR EXHAUSTIVE RESEARCH AND YOUR, UH, THOROUGH ANALYSIS OF THIS ISSUE.
AND, UH, I THINK WE ALL ARE IN YOUR DEBT FOR TAKING THE INITIATIVE ON THIS.
I HAVE JUST, UH, ONE SET OF QUESTIONS.
I REALIZE WE'RE APPROACHING THIS TONIGHT ON A CONCEPTUAL LEVEL, AND WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT SPECIFIC, UH, LANGUAGE FOR A CHARTER AMENDMENT, BUT, UH, I'D LIKE TO HEAR WHAT YOU, YOUR THOUGHT IS ABOUT THE BEST WAY TO BRIDGE THIS ISSUE OF, UH, WHETHER STATE LAW PERMITS THIS CHANGE, UH, AFTER 2016 OR NOT, WHETHER YOU WOULD, UH, PROPOSE AN, A CONTINGENT EFFECTIVE DATE UPON ACTION BY THE LEGISLATURE.
UH, I GUESS THAT'S MY FIRST QUESTION.
UM, I AGREE WITH WHAT, UH, YOUR QUESTION I THINK IS, IS INSINUATING, UM, 100%.
I THINK THE CITY OF DALLAS SHOULD NOT SERIOUSLY ENTERTAIN ANYTHING THAT WOULD GET US, UH, POTENTIALLY IN TROUBLE WITH THE STATE.
HOWEVER, I DO THINK THAT THERE IS AN AVENUE THAT WE CAN GO DOWN, UM, THAT WOULD ALLOW THIS COMMISSION TO MOVE THIS PROPOSAL FORWARD, ALLOW COUNSEL TO MOVE IT FORWARD, ALLOW VOTERS TO HAVE THEIR SAY ON IT.
AND IF WE MAKE AN ENACTMENT CONTINGENT UPON STATE ACTION, UM, I BELIEVE THAT THERE IS A CHANCE THAT WE COULD, UH, PULL THIS OFF AND DO IT IN A WAY THAT, UM, THE STATE WOULD VIEW FAVORABLY.
AND THAT'S, THAT'S THE ONLY ROUTE THAT I'M SUGGESTING.
[01:55:01]
IF THAT HAPPENED IN THE 2025 SESSION, IT PRESUMABLY WOULD TAKE EFFECT ON SEPTEMBER 1ST, 2025.UM, AND WOULD THAT THEN APPLY TO THE DECEMBER 20, THE, UH, NOVEMBER 20, 25 ELECTION DATE, OR WOULD THERE BE, BE TIME LEFT TO DO THAT? SO, UM, IN THE WHITE PAPER THAT I SENT AROUND, I HAVE ALMOST LIKE A MOCKUP CALENDAR AT THE END OF IT.
UM, I, I AM TENTATIVELY SUGGESTING THAT BASED ON MY PREDICTION OF HOW THE STATE WILL HANDLE THIS ISSUE, WE ENACT THIS, UH, FOR THE FIRST CYCLE IN 2027.
UM, I THINK THAT ALSO GIVES US A LITTLE BIT MORE, UM, CREDIBILITY WITH VOTERS IN THAT WHEN WE ELECT A COUNCIL IN MAY, 2025, IT'S CLEAR TO THEM THAT THIS IS A ONE OFF SITUATION WHERE THE COUNCIL WILL SERVE A 30 MONTH TERM AS OPPOSED TO A 24 MONTH TERM.
THAT LEADS STRAIGHT INTO MY LAST SET OF QUESTIONS, WHICH IS I ASSUME THAT THE COMPLETE PROPOSAL WILL INCLUDE THAT ONE TIME ADJUSTMENT TO COUNCIL TERMS, UH, AS WELL AS, UH, A PROVISION MAKING CLEAR THE EFFECT OF THAT ON TERM LIMITS.
YEAH, SO I ACTUALLY THINK THAT'S ALREADY ADDRESSED IN THE CHARTER, THOUGH I COULD BE WRONG.
I, I LOOK AT THE FACT THAT, UM, COUNCILMAN CAROLYN KING ARNOLD WAS ELECTED IN A DECEMBER, UH, 2018 SPECIAL ELECTION, AND MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT SIX MONTHS, UM, DOES NOT IMPACT, UH, HER FIRM TERM LIMITS.
SO IF THE VOTERS OF HER DISTRICT, UH, CONTINUE TO VIEW THEIR HER AS FAVORABLY AS THEY CURRENTLY DO, UH, COUNCILMAN ARNOLD WILL BE SERVING ESSENTIALLY EIGHT YEARS AND SIX MONTHS ON COUNCIL CON CONTIGUOUSLY.
UM, I DID LOOK IT UP IN THE CHARTER AT ONE POINT, I THINK, I THINK THERE'S, THERE'S A VERY, I THINK IT'S ALREADY WRITTEN IN THERE, LIKE HOW HOW LONG, UH, UH, AN UN EXPIRED TERM CAN BE BEFORE IT IMPACTS THE TERM LIMITS.
BUT, BUT I WOULD, I WOULD ASK CITY STAFF TO CONFIRM THAT.
UH, CO UM, COMMISSIONER FELIZ.
JUST A FEW TECHNICAL QUESTIONS.
THE FIRST, YOU'VE REFERENCED MULTIPLE TIMES THAT, WELL, ONE, I THINK WE, WE ALL KNOW THAT WE, WE DO HAVE NOVEMBER ODD NUMBER ODD YEAR ELECTIONS IN THE CITY OF DALLAS.
ONE OF THE PROCURER THINGS THAT I CAN'T FIGURE OUT IN THE PRESENTATION TO THIS POINT IS WHAT IS THE TURNOUT CURRENTLY IN DALLAS WHEN IT COMES TO NOVEMBER ODD NUMBER OF YEARS ON AVERAGE? IT, IT'S LIKE AROUND LIKE SIX ISH PERCENT.
SO IT'S, SO THE, THE, THE NOTION AT THE MOMENT OF INDUCING AN INCREASE IN VOTER TURNOUT IN NOVEMBER ODD NUMBER YEARS, UH, BY ADDING COUNCIL ELECTIONS WOULD MEAN THAT, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT YOU WOULD ASSUME THAT HAVING CITY COUNCIL ELECTIONS ON NOVEMBER ODD NUMBER YEARS IS ACTUALLY GONNA INCREASE A PERCENTAGE THAT'S ALREADY PRETTY POULTRY AT THE MOMENT WHEN IT COMES TO NOVEMBER ODD NUMBER YEARS.
AND THE SIX, IF, IF THE NUMBER IS ON AVERAGE 6%, WE'RE ACTUALLY OUTPERFORMING THAT ELECTION IN MAY CURRENTLY ON AVERAGE.
YEAH, NO, I, I THINK IT'S ACTUALLY, IT, IT'S KIND OF CONFUSING, I'M NOT GONNA LIE, UM, IN THAT MOVING OUR CITY COUNCIL ELECTION DATES TO A DATE THAT ALREADY EXISTS, THAT CURRENTLY HAS LOWER VOTER TURNOUT THAN OUR MAY ELECTIONS, IT, IT SOUNDS COUNTERINTUITIVE, BUT I THINK THE MESQUITE CASE STUDY KIND OF PROVES IT.
UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK IT'D BE ONE THING TO SAY, YOU KNOW, OH, HOUSTON CURRENTLY HAS, YOU KNOW, 25% TURNOUT, BUT HOUSTON'S BEEN DOING NOVEMBER OF ODD NUMBER OF YEARS FOR DECADES.
I ACTUALLY WENT IN LIKE THE HOUSTON ARCHIVES AND I JUST GAVE UP WHEN I HIT THE SEVENTIES.
UM, AND THE FACT THAT THEY WERE STILL DOING THEIR ELECTIONS IN NOVEMBER BY THE SEVENTIES IN, IN MY SEARCH, I JUST GAVE UP BECAUSE IT'S, IT'S BEEN OVER 50 YEARS.
UM, I I, I THINK IT GOES BACK TO THAT NOTION OF WHAT I SAID EARLIER OF IF YOU ASK THE DA, UH, AVERAGE DALLASITE, WHEN'S EASTER? THEY'RE GONNA TELL YOU APRIL IF YOU ASK 'EM, YOU KNOW, UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN DO, WHEN'S THE FIRST COWBOYS GAME? THEY'RE GONNA TELL YOU, UM, SEPTEMBER, IF YOU ASK 'EM WHEN'S ELECTION DAY, THEY'RE GONNA TELL YOU NOVEMBER.
UM, THEY JUST ASSOCIATE VOTING WITH NOVEMBER AVERAGE PEOPLE DUE.
UM, I WAS VOLUNTEERING FOR A CITY COUNCIL CAMPAIGN IN 2021, AND I REMEMBER KNOCKING ON A DOOR DURING EARLY
[02:00:01]
VOTE, EARLY VOTE HAD ALREADY STARTED, I KNOCKED ON A DOOR OF A VOTER AND ASKED THEM TO VOTE FOR THEIR CITY COUNCIL MEMBER.AND THEIR RESPONSE WAS THAT THEY LOVE THAT CITY COUNCIL MEMBER, BUT THEY HAD NO IDEA AN ELECTION WAS GOING ON.
I THINK THAT IDEA THAT AN ELECTION IS GO NOT, UH, NOT KNOWING THAT AN ELECTION GOING ON IS GONNA BE LESS OF A FACTOR IN A NOVEMBER ELECTION DATE, THAT'S HELP, THAT'S HELPFUL.
THE ANECDOTE IS, IS HELPFUL TO HEAR, AND I THINK I'M JUST PLAYING WITH THIS IN MY MIND, THAT IF YOU WERE TO ASK THEM WHEN IS ELECTION DAY, THEY TELL YOU NOVEMBER, BUT THEY'RE LIKELY GONNA TELL YOU BECAUSE THAT'S WHEN WE VOTE FOR PRESIDENT.
WHAT THEY'RE NOT GONNA TELL YOU IS IT'S IN NOVEMBER, BECAUSE THAT'S WHEN WE VOTE FOR CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS.
IS THAT, THAT'S KIND OF, SO I'M TRYING TO WRAP MY MIND AROUND THAT.
THE SECOND THING, AND IT SORT OF IS A, IS AN ADDENDUM TO THE QUESTION, IS YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT IN 2018, DISTRICT FOUR HAVING A NOVEMBER SPECIAL ELECTION, UH, THAT'S AN EVEN NUMBERED, THAT WOULD'VE BEEN AN EVEN NUMBERED YEAR.
SO ONE CAN ONLY ASSUME THAT THE TURNOUT IN 2018, IN THAT NOVEMBER SPECIAL ELECTION WOULD'VE BEEN HIGHER.
DO WE KNOW WHAT THAT TURNOUT THE PERCENTAGE WAS FOR DISTRICT FOUR IN NOVEMBER OF 2018? PRIOR TO THE RUNOFF? IF, IF YOU INCLUDE UNDER VOTES, IT WAS ABOVE 50%, OR NO, NO, UM, NO, SORRY.
IT WAS, UH, ABOVE 40%, ABOUT 40%, INCLUDING UNDER VOTES.
SO THAT, THAT'S RADICALLY DIFFERENT THAN 6% ON THE OFF NUMBERED YEARS.
BUT THEN IT'S INTERESTING BECAUSE THEN YOU'VE GOT THE RUNOFF AND YOU ONLY GOT, YOU WENT FROM 40 SOMETHING PERCENT TO 5%.
THAT WAS ALSO PART OF MY CONCERN WITH MOVING ELECTIONS TO NOVEMBER OF EVA NUMBERED YEARS, BECAUSE IF YOU LOOK AT PLACES LIKE AUSTIN THAT HAVE MADE THIS SWITCH, UM, THEY'RE SET TO ELECT, UH, OR THEY JUST ELECTED A NEW MAYOR IN, IN 2022.
UM, VOTER TURNOUT WAS INFINITELY HIGHER IN NOVEMBER THAN IT WASN'T A DECEMBER RUNOFF.
UM, AND, AND I THINK THAT KIND OF DROP OFF ISN'T GREAT FOR, UM, YOU KNOW, KIND OF THE MORE COLLOQUIAL, UM, LEGITIMACY OF THE ELECTION.
SO CHOOSING TWO DATES THAT SHOULD HAVE SIMILAR TURNOUT, I THINK IS, IS GOOD FOR THE LEGITIMACY OF THE ELECTION.
BUT FOR ME TO JUST LIKE MAKE THIS, WHAT I WOULD ASSUME WOULD BE THE LOGICAL LEAP WOULD BE DISTRICT FOUR IN A 2019 NOVEMBER RACE WOULD'VE PROBABLY LOOKED LIKE 6% TURNOUT, AND THEN THE RUNOFF POSSIBLY 5% IF THAT.
SO THAT'S HELPFUL FOR ME TO UNDERSTAND.
UM, THE SECOND QUESTION IS, WHAT WE ARE DOING RIGHT NOW IS WE'RE OPERATING UNDER THE THEORY THAT THERE WOULD BE NO AMENDMENT THAT WOULD IMPACT ANY OTHER THING OUTSIDE OF THESE NOVEMBER ELECTIONS.
BUT I WANNA PUT A HYPOTHETICAL HERE.
WHAT IF THERE WAS AN AMENDMENT THAT CAME DOWN THAT PASSED BODY, WENT TO THE COUNCIL, WENT TO THE VOTERS, AND PASSED THAT STAGGERED COUNCIL TERMS AND MOVED THEM FROM TWO TO THREE, OR LET'S DO TWO TO THREE, HOW DOES THAT THEN IMPACT NOVEMBER OFF CYCLE ELECTIONS? YEAH, SO ANY MOVE TO EXPAND COUNCIL TERM LENGTHS, UH, TO BE, TO BE IN COMPLIANCE WITH MY AMENDMENT, WE WOULD HAVE TO CHOOSE FOUR YEAR TERMS AND WE COULD NOT CHOOSE THREE YEAR TERMS. UM, BECAUSE, BECAUSE OF THAT, UM, BECAUSE I MEAN, IT, IT'S LITERALLY MATH.
UM, YOU KNOW, UH, YOU TAKE 2025, YOU ADD THREE, WHAT DO YOU GET 20, 28? WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE NOT TRAINED TO COMBINE WITH THE, UH, PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AFTER THIS.
UM, AND YOU CAN STAGGER, UM, IF YOU DO TO, IF YOU MOVE TO FOUR YEAR TERMS. UM, BUT, UH, THAT, THAT'S THE ONLY OPTION UN UNDER THE EXPANSION, UH, POSSIBILITIES THAT, THAT'S HELPFUL.
AND, BUT I ALSO THINK THE NUANCE IS SORT OF HELPFUL TO UNDERSTAND THAT AS WE ARE TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION THE TOTALITY OF THINGS THAT COULD MANIFEST OVER THE COURSE OF THIS, THESE DISCUSSIONS.
AND SO IF WE WERE TO SAY THAT THIS IS WHERE WE WANTED TO GO, IT'S GONNA BEGIN TO ELIMINATE CERTAIN THINGS AND VICE VERSA.
AND I DO WANT TO NOTE THOUGH, THAT OTHER CITIES THAT HAVE DEALT WITH THE COUNCIL TERM LENGTH ISSUE, UM, HAVE GENERALLY BEEN MOVING AWAY FROM THREE YEAR TERMS. AUSTIN USED TO HAVE THREE YEAR TERMS, THEY MOVED, UM, AND EVEN HOUSTON USED TO HAVE TWO AND THEY'VE MOVED TO FOUR, UH, RECENTLY.
UM, BUT, BUT NOBODY IS REALLY PROACTIVELY CHOOSING THREE YEAR TERMS RIGHT NOW.
BUT IN THE CASE THAT WE, UH, TO COMMISSIONER CAMPBELL'S QUESTION AROUND, UM, INDUCING OTHER, OTHER SYSTEMS, OTHER MUNICIPAL ENTITIES TO PERHAPS FOLLOW USING THE POWER OF THE PURSE, YOU KNOW, IF WE MOVE THIS TO FOUR TO TWO OR FOUR YEAR TERMS, YOU STILL HAVE A CASE WHERE IN A
[02:05:01]
DALLAS ISD MM-HMM.AND SO NOW WE PUT THEM IN A QUANDARY PERHAPS BECAUSE THEY'RE GONNA HAVE TO HAVE CONVERSATIONS AS TO WHETHER THEY CONTINUE THEIR THREE YEAR TERMS OR IF THEY MOVE TO TWO OR FOUR YEAR TERMS AS WELL.
AND, AND, UH, STATE LAW IS A LITTLE BIT MORE UNFORGIVING ON ISDS THAN IT IS ON CITIES.
ISDS UNDER CURRENT STATE LAW MUST DO THREE YEAR TERMS STAGGERED, WHERE EVERY YEAR THEY ELECT A THIRD OF THEIR SCHOOL BOARD, OR THEY CAN CHOOSE FOUR YEAR TERMS WHERE EVERY TWO YEARS THEY ELECT HALF OF THEIR SCHOOL BOARD.
UM, YEAH, BUT I, LIKE I'VE MENTIONED, I'VE TALKED WITH, UM, FOLKS, UM, YOU KNOW, ACROSS VARIOUS GOV, NONPARTISAN GOVERNMENT ENTITIES, AND, UM, YOU KNOW, I'D BE INTERESTED TO SEE, UM, IF DISD WOULD BE INTERESTED IN THIS CONSOLIDATION AND, AND EVEN MOVING TO A FOUR YEAR TERM ON THEIR SIDE.
DALLAS COLLEGE, JUST FYI CURRENTLY DOES SIX YEAR TERMS, AND I COULD BE WRONG, BUT I THINK THEY'RE ACTUALLY REQUIRED TO KEEP SIX YEARS FOR WHAT, AGAIN, THIS IS AN INTRIGUING CONCEPT THAT, FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH, WHEN I GOT ELECTED TO THE DALLAS SCHOOL BOARD, I WAS 27 YEARS OLD WHEN I LEFT THE DALLAS SCHOOL BOARD.
I WAS 34 YEARS OLD WHEN I WAS 27, I HAD A FULL HEAD OF HAIR
THIS IS WHAT I LOOK LIKE AFTER SEVEN YEARS ON THE DALLAS SCHOOL.
NOTHING IS EASY IN THE DALLAS SCHOOL BOARD.
SO IT'LL BE INTERESTING TO SEE THEIR THOUGHTS AND THEIR, THEIR CONVERSATION AROUND THIS.
THIS IS THE PENULTIMATE QUESTION.
SO QUESTION THREE OF FOUR, AND IT'S AROUND RUNOFFS.
DO WE KNOW IF THEY, HAVE THEY HAD RUNOFFS IN ANY OF THE ELECTIONS THAT THEY'VE HELD? I ACTUALLY DON'T REMEMBER.
I'D BE INTERESTED TO SEE, JUST OBVIOUSLY THAT'S GONNA BE A, AS A RESEARCHER, A RADICALLY SMALL SAMPLE SIZE IF THEY HAD ONE, IF AT ALL.
BUT I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN JUST KNOWING, AND, AND I'M HAPPY TO DO THE RESEARCH ON MY OWN, BUT IF YOU, IT SEEMS ME, A PASSION OF YOURS, SO IF YOU WOULDN'T MIND TAKING A LOOK AT IT, I'D BE INTERESTED IN THAT.
YEAH, I THINK, I THINK THEY HAVE NOT HAD A CITYWIDE RUNOFF.
I THINK THEIR MAYORS HAVE WON ON THE FIRST, ON THE NOVEMBER BALLOT BOTH TIME, WHICH, WHICH MAKES IT DIFFICULT.
AND, AND, AND YOU MAY HAVE ADDRESSED THIS SOMEWHERE, SO MY APOLOGIES, IF YOU HAVE WHAT RUNOFFS LOOK LIKE IN HOUSTON, YOU MAY HAVE PUT THAT IN THE YEAH, SO THAT'S IN THERE.
UM, YEAH, I'LL GO, I'LL A HOUSTON, A HOUSTON DECEMBER RUNOFF HAS HIGHER TURNOUT, MUCH HIGHER TURNOUT THAN DALLAS IS MAY OR JUNE.
UM, SO THE LAST HOUSTON, DECEMBER RUNOFF WAS 19%.
VERSUS OUR 2019 MAY RUNOFF OR OUR 2019 JUNE RUNOFF WAS 11%, SO ALMOST DOUBLE.
AND THEN THE LAST ONE, IT, IT'S A VERY SPECIFIC, UH, QUESTION RELATED TO WHAT WE CAN AND WE CANNOT DO, AS YOU'VE LAID OUT BY THE STATE, AROUND NOT BEING ABLE TO HOLD PARTISAN ELECTIONS IN NOVEMBER OF ODD NUMBER YEARS.
SO IT'S NOT THAT IT'S EXPLICITLY BANNED, IT'S JUST, UM, THEY, UM, NONE OF NONE OF THEIR ELECTIONS LINE UP THAT WAY.
SO, FED, CAN I, CAN I DO A HYPOTHETICAL, OH, SORRY.
THAT, THAT ANSWERED MOST OF IT.
BUT HYPOTHETICALLY, LET'S SAY YOU HAVE A STATE REPRESENTATIVE WHO PASSES AWAY, WHICH TRIGGERS A SPECIAL ELECTION IN THE NEAREST ELECTION WHERE YOU COULD HAVE THAT SPECIAL ELECTION ENDS UP BEING IN A NOVEMBER OF AN ODD NUMBER YEAR ONE.
CAN THAT ELECTION BE HELD THEN? AND TWO, DOES THAT THEN IN PERHAPS INJECT PARTISANSHIP INTO WHATEVER CITY COUNCIL RACES ARE HAPPENING AT THAT POINT IN TIME? SO THE ANSWER IS YES, BUT THAT IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO MAY ELECTIONS.
UM, BECAUSE THE STATE SETS THESE UNIFORM, UH, ELECTION DATES IN TEXAS, MAY AND NOVEMBER, AND ANY TIME THIS, THE STATE NEEDS TO CONDUCT AN ELECTION, UH, IF IT'S A SPECIAL ELECTION, IT'S JUST PUT ON THE NEXT, UH, THE NEXT BALLOT.
SO, UM, THERE WAS A STATE REPRESENTATIVE OUT IN EAST TEXAS THIS PAST LEGISLATIVE SESSION THAT WAS EXPELLED FROM THE CHAMBER.
AND SO THEY'RE CONDUCTING A SPECIAL ELECTION RIGHT NOW FOR HIS REPLACEMENT.
UM, BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH HE WAS EXPELLED IN JUNE, MAYBE, UM, THE MAY, UM, UH, THIS NOVEMBER WAS THE NEXT REGULARLY SCHEDULED UNIFORM ELECTION.
UM, BUT AGAIN, LIKE IF A STATE REP DIED IN, UH, IT HAD TO BE SO DARK, MAYBE IF THEY JUST RESIGNED.
IF A STATE REP RESIGNED IN JANUARY OF 2025 HERE IN DALLAS, UH, THEIR REPLACEMENT WILL GET CHOSEN DURING OUR CITY COUNCIL ELECTIONS.
SO THERE TWO REQUESTS THAT I'D LIKE TO MAKE TO CITY STAFF.
I'M GONNA BUILD OFF OF A REQUEST THAT SEEMS TO BE THIS RUNNING REQUEST, BUT I HAVEN'T, UM, WHICH IS THE IDEA OF, UH, BETTER UNDERSTANDING SECTION 41.0052.
WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO REQUEST, AND IT IT COULD COME WITH A BRIEFING, IS I THINK, UM, COMMISSIONER
[02:10:01]
HUNT HAS, UH, REQUESTED, UM, PERHAPS AN EXECUTIVE SESSION.I'D LOVE TO SEE A MEMO DRAFTED ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHAT CITY ATTORNEYS OR PERHAPS STATE EXPERTS THINK ABOUT DOING THIS, THE CONSEQUENCES OF DOING THIS, JUST SO I CAN WRAP MY MIND AROUND IT ON PAPER.
UH, AND I'D LIKE, I'D LIKE FOR THERE TO BE, IF I CAN, OR IF THEY CAN SOME ELEMENT OF, UM, BECAUSE I THINK THIS IS LISTED IN THE CHARTER, IF WE PASS WHEN THE CITY CHARTER PASSES BY THE, BY THE VOTERS, THAT DOESN'T TECHNICALLY MEAN THAT WE, THE CITY COUNCIL COULDN'T STILL SEND SOMETHING TO THE VOTERS TO PERHAPS VOTE ON THAT WOULD AMEND THE CITY CHARTER.
IS THAT CORRECT? EVERY TWO YEARS.
I BELIEVE THERE'S THREE WAYS THAT YOU CAN, A CHARTER CAN BE AMENDED.
I'LL PASS IT OFF TO THE ATTORNEYS.
THERE'S A, THERE'S A PROHIBITION AGAINST CHANGING THE CHARTER MORE FREQUENTLY THAN EVERY TWO YEARS.
SO IT WOULDN'T PREVENT A FUTURE ACTION, BUT THERE WOULD BE THAT WINDOW WHERE THAT COULD NOT TAKE PLACE.
SO IN A HYPOTHETICAL, AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE LAWYERS WILL SAY, BUT IN A HYPOTHETICAL WHERE THE LAWYERS DID SAY THAT IN FACT THIS IS GONNA BE PROBLEMATIC FROM A STATE LEGISLATION STANDPOINT, UM, AND YET THE FIX TO THAT WOULD BE THE DALLAS DELEGATION GOING DOWN TO TRY TO CARVE OUT THIS TYPE OF AN ELECTION THAT ALLOWS US TO DO IT.
UM, IT WOULD BE HYPOTHETICALLY THAT COULD PERHAPS HAPPEN, THAT LEGISLATION COULD PERHAPS PASS AND WE COULD, OR THE CITY COUNCIL COULD SEND SOMETHING TO VOTERS TWO YEARS POST THAT LEGISLATIVE SESSION.
BUT WHAT I'D LIKE TO SEE IN THIS MEMO IS IF THAT, IF THAT SORT OF SET OF LOGICAL STEPS COULD PERHAPS ACTUALLY HAPPEN AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO US MOVING FORWARD WITHIN A CHARTER AMENDMENT MOVING TO NOVEMBER OF ODD NUMBER OF YEARS WITH THIS POSTSCRIPT OF, BUT THEN WE NEED LEGISLATIVE ACTION, AND THEN AFTER THAT, THEN THE ELECTIONS WOULD, I'M NOT PROPOSING THAT'S WHAT WE DO.
I JUST WANNA UNDERSTAND THE LEGAL THEORY BEHIND DOING IT THIS WAY VERSUS POSSIBLY DOING IT THAT WAY.
SO IF THAT COULD BE SOME ELEMENT OF THE LEGAL, UH, MEMO, THAT'D BE HELPFUL.
THE SECOND THING WAS, I'M INTRIGUED BY THE IDEA OF INCREASING VOTER TURNOUT.
WHAT ALSO IS INTRIGUING TO ME, IF IT'S ACTUALLY A PART OF THE, SORT OF, THE THEORY IS INCREASING THE DIVERSITY OF THOSE THAT SHOW UP TO THE BALLOT BOX AND INCREASING, UH, AND ULTIMATELY HA HAVING A MORE INFORMED, UH, AND DIVERSE REPRESENTATION.
SO I'D BE INTERESTED IN UNDERSTANDING AND PERHAPS AS REQUEST OF THE COUNTY, A DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN OF VOTERS WHO VOTE IN NOVEMBER OF ODD NUMBERED YEARS IN THE CITY OF DALLAS.
AND I'D ALSO BE INTERESTED IN SEEING A BREAKDOWN OF VOTERS DEMOGRAPHICALLY WHO VOTE IN MAY ELECTIONS.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO LONG ON THIS.
PERHAPS JUST GIVE ME A, A MAYBE A DECADE OF LONGITUDINAL DATA SO I CAN JUST BETTER UNDERSTAND SORT OF THE, THE DYNAMICS THERE.
CAN I OFFER AN AMENDMENT TO THAT, THAT, BECAUSE I ACTUALLY DON'T THINK THAT'S GONNA GET YOU THE DATA YOU WANT.
I THINK WHAT YOU COULD BE LOOKING FOR MIGHT BE BEST SERVED BY PULLING, UH, DEMOGRAPHIC DATA OF SUPER VOTERS VERSUS DEMOGRAPHIC DATA OF ANYONE THAT HAS VOTED IN ANY NONPARTISAN ELECTION DATE DURING THE SAME TIME PERIOD.
BECAUSE INSTINCTIVELY, I THINK THE, I'M TRYING TO THINK HOW TO, HOW TO SAY THIS.
UM, THE, THE INCREASE IN VOTER TURNOUT IS PROBABLY GONNA BE AMONG THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE LIKE VOTED.
THERE ARE INFREQUENT VOTERS, BUT DON'T VOTE EVERY TIME.
AND YOU'RE PROBABLY CONVERTING THEM INTO BEING MORE FREQUENT VOTERS ON THIS.
UM, DOES, DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? I THINK TO SOME, TO AN EXTENT IT DOES.
I'M HAPPY TO TAKE, WE CAN TAKE IT OFFLINE JUST TO RESPECT PEOPLE'S TIMES.
BUT, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE SOME BREAKDOWN THERE.
AND COMMISSIONER, UH, ONE, I WAS GONNA ASK ANNA HOLMES, OUR CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE TO RESPOND TO ONE OF YOUR QUESTIONS.
AND THEN TWO, I WAS GONNA SUGGEST TO THE CHAIRMAN THAT PERHAPS IF THERE WERE ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS THAT WE MIGHT SIMILAR TO WHAT WE DO IN COUNCIL COMMITTEES IS
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TO DIRECT THOSE QUESTIONS TO STAFF AND WE CAN PROVIDE THOSE, UM, TO, UM, THE FULL COMMISSION.UM, COMMISSIONER SOLIS, I THINK, I THINK I MIGHT UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU WERE GETTING TO ABOUT WHETHER THE COUNCIL COULD TAKE AN ACTION WITHIN TWO YEARS.
THE SAME STATE STATUTE THAT SAYS THAT YOU MUST HAVE CHANGED YOUR DATE BY DECEMBER 31ST, 2016, ALSO PROVIDES THAT THE COUNCIL COULD CHANGE THE DATE IF IT, IF IT MET THE TIMEFRAME, UM, BY A RESOLUTION.
SO YOU WOULD NOT NECESSARILY NEED TO WAIT FOR TWO YEARS TO DO SOMETHING SHOULD THE COUNCIL DECIDE TO TAKE THAT UP AND PASS, PASS AN ELECTION DATE CHANGE BY RESOLUTION, BY RESOLUTION AMONG THE BODY OR TO THE VOTERS AMONG THE BODY.
SO THE COUNCIL COULD, IF THEY WANTED TO, YES, JUST CHANGE THE ELECTION DATE PROVIDED THAT THE STATE LAW CHANGE TO, TO EXTEND THAT WINDOW PAST THE 2016 DATE.
SO WE NEED TO BE WITHIN THE TIMEFRAME, BUT YES, IT COULD BE DONE BY COUNCIL RESOLUTION OR YOU COULD SEND IT TO THE VOTERS.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR COMMISSIONER FUENTE? I WAS GONNA STAFF OKAY, YOU, I CAN, I THINK IT'S ALMOST GONNA BE NINE O'CLOCK.
WE HAD, THIS WAS A GREAT MEETING.
UM, SO YOU'RE GONNA GIVE US A RECAP, STAFF RECAP.
UH, BEFORE I DO THAT, UM, I WANNA MAKE A SUGGESTION YOU'LL TELL ME YES OR NO, BUT I KNOW THAT WE, OUR NEXT MEETING IS ON NOVEMBER 7TH, AND ONE OF THE, UM, ITEMS I THINK WE'VE ALL HEARD IS THAT A LOT OF FOLKS THERE IS APPETITE TO LOOK AT THREE A YEAR TERMS, FOUR YEAR TERMS, UH, IF, IF STAFF CAN COME BACK WITH DIFFERENT OPTIONS AND SCENARIOS FOR THAT, INCLUDING IF WE MOVED IT TO NOVEMBER OR KEPT IT IN MAY AND HOW IT WOULD ALSO AFFECT THE COUNCIL MEMBERS, UM, THAT TYPE OF STUFF.
SO IF YOU CAN DO THAT, I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE CAN JUST MOVE FORWARD WITH AS WELL, IF, IF Y'ALL ARE OKAY WITH THAT.
YOU WANNA GO AHEAD AND GIVE A RECAP? YES, SIR.
AND, AND I MIGHT ADD IF THERE ARE OTHER ITEMS, WHETHER IT'S AT THE NEXT MEETING OR, UM, A FUTURE MEETING DATE, IF THERE ARE ITEMS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE US TO BEGIN LOOKING AT.
SO I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE I HAVE, UM, OUR DIRECTIONS CLEAR.
ONE, WE'LL COMMUNICATE WITH THE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS TO OFFER UP, UM, HOSTING TOWN HALLS IN COORDINATION WITH THEIR RESPECTIVE COMMISSIONERS FOR OUTREACH TO THE PUBLIC AT DATES AND LOCATIONS TO BE DETERMINED BY THE COUNCIL MEMBERS.
UM, WE'LL SHARE THE FINAL ADOPTED CALENDAR AND GET THAT POSTED ONLINE.
THAT SPEAKS TO SOME OF THE OTHER MATERIALS AND TO OUR VIEWING PUBLIC AT HOME.
ONE, APOLOGIZE FOR ANY TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES THAT WE HAD.
ANY OF THESE MATERIALS, UM, THAT WERE DISCUSSED DURING THE MEETING TONIGHT ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE OR WILL BE SOON.
I THINK THERE WERE SOME ADDITIONAL MATERIALS THAT CAME IN LATE, BUT THOSE WILL ALL BE POSTED ON UM, DALLAS.GOV ON OUR CHARTER REVIEW PAGE.
UM, SO AGAIN, APOLOGIES TO OUR PUBLIC.
WE WILL, UM, PROVIDE AN AGENDA FORECAST THAT WILL, UM, BEGIN MAPPING OUT THESE ITEMS AS THEY'RE COMING IN SO YOU CAN PLAN AND SEE WHICH PARTICULAR ITEMS ARE GONNA BE TAKEN UP AT FUTURE MEETINGS.
UM, WE HEARD FROM THE CHAIRMAN TONIGHT FOR STAFF TO BEGIN, UM, LOOKING AT WHAT STAGGERED TERMS MIGHT LOOK LIKE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, UM, ANY POT POTENTIAL CHANGES IN THE ELECTION DATE.
THERE WAS A REQUEST FOR AN OPINION FROM THE CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE THAT MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE BEEN ANSWERED JUST NOW, UM, UH, BY MS. HOLMES, BUT RELATED TO COMMISSIONER DELA FUENTES PROPOSAL AND THE CHARTER REVIEW AND, UM, I THINK I HAD ONE MORE ITEM AND GETTING WITH THE, UM, ARCHIVES TO FIND OUT WHY THE MAY ELECTION DATE WAS PREVIOUSLY DETERMINED FOR CITY COUNCIL ELECTIONS.
AND THEN FINALLY, I THINK, UM, INVITING OUR CITY SECRETARY TO COME IN AND SPEAK DIRECTLY TO THE ELECTIONS PROCESS AND HOW THOSE COSTS WERE DETERMINED.
DID I MISS ANYTHING? JAKE? DID I MISS ANYTHING? OKAY.
IF THERE'S ANYTHING THAT WE MISSED FEEDBACK, ET CETERA FOR STAFF, PLEASE DO LET US KNOW THAT AT ANY TIME.
WE DID HAVE A BRIEFING BY MEMORANDUM AND IF ANYONE HAS ANY QUESTIONS ON THAT.
THAT'S JUST MAKING SURE THAT COMMISSIONERS KNOW THAT THE RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE ON OUR WEBSITE, UM, AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE POSTED REGULARLY AS THEY BECOME AVAILABLE.
SO THE NEXT REGULAR MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR NUMBER SEVENTH AT SIX 30.
UH, IT IS 8 53 AND WE ARE ADJOURNED.