Meetings of Interest: Hot or Cold 🔥 🧊

Good evening:

The closest thing to the Dallas mayor making his own “hot or cold” list on how he feels about his City Council colleagues is the biennial committee assignments.

Appointing members and chairs is one of the few exclusive powers of the Dallas mayor. Almost every major policy item is vetted by a committee before it comes to the full City Council for a vote. Committees can pause, modify, or kill proposals without them reaching the full body.

That is why most mayors appoint their most trusted colleagues as chairs and vice chairs. Since mayors rarely sit on committees themselves, these are the folks who he positions to carry out his priorities.

For the 2025-27 term, Mayor Eric L. Johnson announced his committee lineup on Friday afternoon. Only Council Member Cara Mendelsohn was appointed chair of two of the eight standing committees — Public Safety and Housing and Homelessness Solutions — signaling that she remains one of his most trusted allies heading into their final two years together.

The other six committees will be chaired by Mayor Pro Tem Jesse Moreno, and Council Members Kathy Stewart, Chad West, Zarin D. Gracey, Paul E. Ridley, and Maxie Johnson.

Chair Maxie Johnson, a former Dallas ISD trustee, is the only freshman council member to be appointed chair of a standing committee. The other three new council members — Laura Cadena, Lorie Blair, and Bill Roth — made out just fine. Each of them nabbed vice chair nods.

Mayor Johnson also appointed Moreno, Ridley, Stewart, West, and Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Gay Donnell Willis as chairs of five ad hoc committees. Mendelsohn was previously appointed chair of a sixth ad hoc committee. Mayors have the power to create and disband ad hoc committees as they wish.

Below is the complete list of chairs and vice chairs of the eight standing committees. It is followed by a link to the mayor’s memo listing full committee membership and his priorities for each committee.

• Economic Development:

  • Chair Jesse Moreno and Vice Chair Paul E. Ridley

• Parks, Trails, and the Environment:

  • Chair Kathy Stewart and Vice Chair Chad West

• Finance:

  • Chair Chad West and Vice Chair Kathy Stewart

• Housing and Homelessness Solutions:

  • Chair Cara Mendelsohn and Vice Chair Lorie Blair

• Public Safety:

  • Chair Cara Mendelsohn and Vice Chair Jesse Moreno

• Quality of Life, Arts, and Culture:

  • Chair Zarin D. Gracey and Vice Chair Laura Cadena

• Transportation and Infrastructure:

  • Chair Paul E. Ridley and Vice Chair Bill Roth

• Government Efficiency:

  • Chair Maxie Johnson and Vice Chair Cara Mendelsohn

📖 Table of Contents

• 📰 Highlights From Last Week's Meetings

• 📝 Memos of Interest

• 🤝 Meetings of Interest: September 2 - 5, 2025

  • Tuesday, September 2

    • Dallas Landmark Commission

    • Dallas Economic Development Corporation Board

  • Wednesday, September 3

    • Dallas City Council Briefing & Budget Workshop

  • Thursday, September 4

    • Dallas Park & Recreation Board

    • Dallas City Plan Commission

📰 Highlights From Last Week’s Meetings of Interest

• Dallas City Council members on last Wednesday:

  • Sent back to City Plan Commission (CPC) for further review a portion of Item 11 that proposed deleting a requirement that a quorum of the CPC be present in person. CPC has allowed for attendance by video conference since the pandemic, but this would have made the change permanent. Council Member Paul E. Ridley suggested CPC ought to consider requiring at last a majority of members to be present in person instead of allowing for virtual attendance for members besides the chair.

  • Approved an amended version of Item 27, authorizing a public hearing to be held on Sept. 17 on a proposed tax rate of up to $0.7022 per $100 valuation or a lower rate. That is a slightly higher rate than the $0.6997 per $100 valuation rate that City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert proposed for next year’s budget. It would result in about $5.5 million in additional revenues over the proposed budget, while still lowering the tax rate as compared to the current fiscal year. City Council members can ultimately still decide on a lower rate at the Sept. 17 meeting. Read more from The Dallas Morning News.

  • Deferred to the Sept. 10 meeting Item 59, a 10-year beverage services contract with PepsiCo to serve their drinks at 54 Dallas Park & Recreation facilities, including recreation centers, and golf and aquatics facilities. Estimated revenue for the City from the deal is around $1 million. The Dallas Park Board (on which I serve) previously approved the deal. Read more.

  • Approved Item 60, an economic development incentives deal with Scotiabank to woo them to plant a large-scale regional office in Victory Park. The deal includes a tax abatement and up to $2.7 million in grants. No official word yet from Scotiabank on whether they are headed this way. Read more from The Dallas Morning News.

  • Approved Item 62 to “discharge” the recently hired Inspector General Timothy J. Menke, addressing one of the more embarrassing mistakes by City Council in recent memory. Voters last November approved creation of the independent position reporting directly to the City Council. But the City Charter measure says the person leading the office must be “a competent practicing attorney of recognized ability,” The Dallas Morning News reports. Though he does have an impressive resume, Menke is not an attorney. Read more from WFAA.

  • Approved Item 63, Mayor Eric L. Johnson’s proposal to require City Council members to attend committee meetings in person and no longer allow attendance by video conference. The item also changed the name of the Committee on Government Performance and Financial Management to the Committee on Finance, and changed the name of the Committee on Workforce, Education, and Equity to the Committee on Government Efficiency. Read more from The Dallas Morning News.

  • Approved service plans and assessment rates for the 15 Public Improvement Districts (PIDs) operating in Dallas, including the Downtown PID, managed by Downtown Dallas, Inc. (DDI).

• Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) board members delayed a vote on possible service changes until Sept. 9, KERA reports.

📝 Memos of Interest

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• Dallas Love Field contributed an estimated $6.2 billion to the city’s economy and $33.7 million in tax-related revenues to city coffers in fiscal 2024, according to this economic impact report on our bustling City airport. City officials are working on a new airport master plan for how to handle increasing passenger growth, without adding any new gates. The above linked Dallas Love Field conceptual video shows some potential options for how the airport could change in coming years.

• New Council Member Bill Roth did not submit any budget amendments as of midday Friday, but he caused a handful of social media heart attacks by suggesting via memo that he and his colleagues consider eliminating what he called “non-essential programs” to save more than $13 million in the next fiscal year budget. His cuts would hit arts, social services, wellness, ethics, affordable housing, and police oversight. Longtime City Hall observers might get a chuckle out of all the fuss, considering these suggested cuts pale in comparison to a lot of what former North Dallas council member Lee Kleinman typically proposed every year when he was in office. Maybe save the outrage for when Roth starts throwing M&Ms inside City Hall.

• Waymo self-driving ride-hailing service is coming to Dallas in 2026. Dallas City Council members are invited to an exclusive static “vehicle showcase” on City Hall Plaza on Monday, Sept. 15, according to this memo.

• Drone delivery company Zipline launched operations from the Walmart Supercenter near Buckner Boulevard and Interstate 30 last week, with plans to expand to the Walmart near Abrams Road and Interstate 635 in late September, according to this memo. Walmart customers within six miles of eligible drone delivery stores may receive select items with a total weight between 2.4 and 10 pounds by air, according to Walmart’s website.

• Did you have a question that went unanswered at a recent budget town hall meeting? You might find the answer in this memo.

• If you’re a City Council member with an unanswered budget question, check out this memo with 30 budget Q&As.

• Here’s the complete City Manager memo packet for Friday, August 29, 2025.

🤝 Meetings of Interest: September 2 - 5, 2025

Tuesday, September 2

Landmark Commission, 9 a.m. Briefing, 1 p.m. Public Hearing, 6ES Briefing Room, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St., Dallas, TX

City of Dallas Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors, 9 a.m., Downtown Dallas, Inc. (DDI), 1401 Elm St. #500, Dallas, TX

• The nonprofit board is scheduled to hear from City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert for a “City of Dallas Update” and from an official with the Texas Economic Development and Tourism Office.

Wednesday, September 3

Dallas City Council Briefing and Budget Workshop, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St., Dallas, TX

• City Council members will discuss and take non-binding votes on at least eight proposed budget amendments submitted through midday Friday. Read the proposals here. Amendments can be made up to and including the day of the final budget vote on Sept. 17.

• City Council members will also take an initial budget approval vote as required by City Charter.

• This briefing recaps highlights and lowlights from the 89th State Legislative Session, including the latest laws that further erode local control. Plus, more challenging items coming out of the ongoing special session.

• City Council members will discuss a proposed single ordinance updating, repealing, or clarifying sections of city laws. The “Omnibus Ordinance” has been the subject of City Council deliberations since May (“Omnibusted”)

Thursday, September 4

Dallas Park & Recreation Board, 10 a.m., 6FN Conference Room, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St., Dallas, TX

Dallas City Plan Commission, 10 a.m. Briefing, 12:30 p.m. Public Hearing, Council Chambers, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St., Dallas, TX

🗣️ Quote of Interest

Did I miss anything? Do you have any questions? Just want to talk about meetings and memos and other fun stuff? Hit me up.