“Let’s not let the headline be, ‘Only Dallas can mess up a $17 million donation.’”
Those are the words of veteran Oak Cliff City Council member Chad West during last Wednesday’s council meeting. West was warning his colleagues about potential consequences of their drawn-out discussion over the terms for accepting private dollars for the under-development Dallas police training academy at the University of North Texas at Dallas.
Generally speaking, when you are openly warning of a bad headline to come, you have already lost the plot.
Wednesday could easily have been a celebratory vote to accept big dollars from QuikTrip Corporation and the W.W. Caruth, Jr. Fund of the Communities Foundation of Texas. Instead, confusion and frustration reigned over a last-minute amendment to limit academy donor naming-rights deals to a term of “up to 20 years.”
That limited timeframe on naming agreements, it appears, was not previously shared with the donors.
“There was no specific timeframe provided during the discussions,” Assistant City Manager Dev Rastogi said in response to a question from Council member Cara Mendelsohn about whether the donors knew a time limit was being imposed on their naming rights.
“We weren’t aware about the timeframe until yesterday,” said Jennifer Staubach Gates, one of the lead fundraisers for the academy project and a former North Dallas council member.
But City attorneys said a timeframe was necessary to finalize the agreements.
It is unclear how the donors feel about this twist, but Gates said she did not expect it to be a problem. We could find out for sure soon enough. Final donor agreements must still come back to City Council members for approval. That may happen as soon as the next voting agenda meeting on Tuesday, November 10.
Meanwhile, Dallas voters are being asked on Tuesday to approve a public safety bond package, City of Dallas Proposition A, that includes another $82 million for the badly needed academy at UNT Dallas. The donations are a critical part of the $70 million private fundraising effort — about $31 million has been raised thus far — to finish the project.
At least now we know any future funder naming agreements may be limited to “up to 20 years.”
For more on this and other hot topics, join me over on the new Meetings of Interest Community Page. I’ll be posting updates, videos, GIFs, and more throughout the week. It’s like a Facebook page, but (hopefully) without all the personal attacks and misinformation.
📖 Table of Contents
🗞️ ICYMI: Highlights From Last Week
On Wednesday, October 28, Dallas City Council members voted to:
Approve Item 19 authorizing the City to pay DART $2.8 million to run the Dallas Streetcar for another year. The city owns the six-stop, 2.45-mile line from Union Station to Bishop Arts, which was built with $81 million in state and federal grants and still charges $1. A study of other funding options is due in early 2027.
Approve Item 20 authorizing the hiring of AECOM for $1.1 million to plan and do early design work on connecting the streetcar’s northern end near the Omni Dallas Hotel to the McKinney Avenue Trolley that runs through Uptown and into Downtown.
Approve Item 25 to adopt this “Sponsorship Toolkit,” which puts naming rights for the new police training center at UNT Dallas up for sale, with the added caveat that those deals can be for “up to 20 years.” The item also moved $17.5 million in private funds from the W.W. Caruth, Jr. Fund of the Communities Foundation of Texas and QuikTrip into the project.
Defer Item 49 and Item 50, the state and federal legislative priorities, respectively. Both packages will now be briefed this Wednesday ahead of a likely vote the following week. Review the draft state legislative wish list here and the federal legislative program here.
Approve Item 52, accepting a $10 million state grant from the governor’s office to build the new police training center at UNT Dallas.
Approve Item 53, accepting another $5 million state grant for the police training center.
Approve Item 56, appointing John Provan as the next City Auditor, and Item 57, naming interim Inspector General Baron Eliason to a full two-year term, The Dallas Morning News reports.
Approve Z6 to allow Dallas ISD to build a new elementary school at Cortland Avenue, between Bombay Avenue and Anson Road.
Deny Z8, which would have allowed for a vehicle storage lot for towed and repossessed cars on C.F. Hawn Freeway in Council member Lorie Blair’s district.
Approve PH1, granting honorary “Dr. Curtis W. Wallace” street sign toppers on Roseland Avenue between Washington Avenue and McCoy Street. Wallace was pastor of Pilgrim Rest Missionary Baptist Church for 30 years and led construction of its subsidized senior housing complex.
Held until December PH2, the third attempt to vote on renaming North Harwood Street between Woodall Rodgers and Harry Hines to “Exchange Place,” for the Texas Stock Exchange’s new headquarters. Council member Jesse Moreno held it under advisement twice before because it was clear the 12 votes needed for approval were not there. Harwood was named in 1872 for early civic leader Alexander Harwood and is protected as a historic street name, so the change needs a three-quarters vote to waive that rule.
🔢 Number of Interest
2041
The year the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System is projected to reach 70% funded, the level at which officials say they can consider cost-of-living raises for members. Read more in this briefing delivered to the Committee on Finance last week.
🤝 Meetings of Interest: November 2 - 6, 2026
Monday, November 2
🌳 City Council Parks, Trails, and the Environment Committee, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
Briefing: Leveraging External Funding to Advance Dallas Parks
Park Department officials will report $76.9 million awarded across 12 projects, most of it ($49 million) for trails, plus a pipeline that includes a pending $1.5 million state grant for Fair Oaks Park and a request of up to $15 million for green space in the Southwestern Medical District.
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This agenda also includes briefings on conservation management and solar canopies.
🕋 Dallas Landmark Commission, 9:30 a.m. Briefing, 1 p.m. Public Hearing, 6ES Briefing Room, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
Item C2: Commissioners will consider a 10-by-20-foot digital LED display on the Fair Park Music Hall, mounted to its non-historic 1970s addition. Staff supports it with brightness caps at night.
Item D20: The owner of the Stanley Marcus House on Nonesuch Road is seeking after-the-fact approval for some unauthorized work on the home’s non-original library addition. Staff recommends approval, with conditions down to the windowsills.
💼 City Council Economic Development Committee, 1 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
Briefing: Data Centers in Dallas: Research, Best Practices, and Preliminary Recommendations
Planning staff will deliver a first draft of data center rules, in response to a memo request from five City Council members earlier this year. Dallas code has no category for data centers, so they’re lumped in with “communication exchange facilities,” a type of local utility, and are allowed by right across a long list of districts. Staff proposes a new land use (crypto mining expressly excluded) with size tiers: bigger or greenfield projects would need before-and-after noise studies, closed-loop or water-free cooling, a 30-foot landscape buffer next to homes, and sound enclosures around outdoor equipment. These rules will move separately from the ongoing citywide zoning rewrite, which leaves a “Reserved” placeholder where data centers will go.
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Staff will make the case for the City’s historic preservation tax exemption, opening with a slide that asks, “Tax expenditure or economic development investment?” (They probably want us to land on the latter). Since 1993, more than 300 properties have used the program and 52 exemptions are active; only 10 ever topped the $50,000 threshold that sends them to council. Staff says participating properties rose in value about 4.25 times from 2010 to 2024, compared with 2.6 times citywide.
Committee members will also get a preview of Draft 1 of the Dallas Zoning Reform, the long-promised rewrite of the city’s 60-plus years of patchwork zoning code, which is also set for public discussion at Thursday’s City Plan Commission meeting. The new code would automatically move every property to the closest new zoning category, leave planned developments alone, allow smaller homes on smaller lots, and shift more approvals from hearings to staff using objective standards. Open houses are expected in December, with public input incorporated for Draft 2.
The city’s New Markets Tax Credit nonprofit will commit up to $11 million to Cartamundi, which prints trading cards for Pokémon, Wizards of the Coast, and others at its plant on Highland Place Drive in southern Dallas. The expansion promises 120 retained and 130 new jobs averaging $29.44 an hour. The deal is subject to City Council approval on November 10.
Tuesday, November 3
🗳️ Election Day, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Find your nearest Dallas County vote center here
Dallas County Proposition A: Countywide voters will decide whether to approve a property tax hike that would generate about $100 million in the first year alone to scale up the coordinated homelessness response that has helped more than 25,000 people off the streets since 2021. The fund would cover emergency services, mental health and addiction treatment, short-term job help, and supportive housing. It would cost about $5.36 a month on a median-valued home. I voted for it, and here’s why. Learn more about it here. I work for the campaign backing this measure.
City of Dallas Proposition A: Voters will decide on a $443 million bond for five public safety projects, including the underway police training center at UNT Dallas and a planned training complex at Dallas Executive Airport. It would also fund a $150 million police property room and crime lab, a $22 million replacement for a 1950s-era Downtown fire station, and $40 million to move the city’s emergency operations and 911 center out of the City Hall basement. I voted for it, and here’s why. Learn more about the public safety bond program. The Dallas Citizens Council, a GoldHam Group client, is one of the organizations overseeing the campaign for this proposition.
Wednesday, November 4
🗣️ Dallas City Council Briefing, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
Two briefings are scheduled on the City’s legislative priorities for the 90th Texas Legislature and the 120th U.S. Congress. Neither briefing is posted online this evening, and staff appears to still be gathering input from council members.
Thursday, November 5
✈️ DFW Airport Board, 8:30 a.m. 2400 Aviation Drive, Board Room, DFW Airport HQ, 2400 Aviation Drive, DFW Airport, TX 75261
Item F-6: Board members will consider adding $660 million to its reimbursement agreement with American Airlines for fitting out Terminal F, bringing the total to $710 million.
Also on this agenda: A $479,745 SPOT robot for airport safety operations, a $9.7 million digital wayfinding sign contract, and a $10 million increase to the airport’s communications system contract. And because apparently nothing is too small for a board vote, a $48,500 bump to a flavored-water dispenser contract, and a new concept (Cinnabon 🤤) for the Peach Cobbler Factory at Gate D12.
📑 Dallas City Plan Commission, 9 a.m. Briefing, 12:30 p.m. Public Hearing, Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla Street
Consultant Camiros and planning staff will formally unveil Draft 1 of the Dallas Zoning Reform, the same day it posts online for public comment. Planning nerds, rejoice!
🏞️ Dallas Park & Recreation Board, 10 a.m., 6FN Conference Room, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
Briefing: Park Safety & Security Updates
Staff will brief the board on park safety, including early findings from consultant Guidepost’s review of six parks: Bachman Lake, Cottonwood Trail, Crawford, Fair Oaks, Kiest, and Samuell Grand. The recommendations so far will sound familiar: better lighting, more technology, more on-site staff, better training, and more consistent maintenance.
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Items 4 and 5: Board members will also consider buying two parcels on Cedar Crest Boulevard for Roland G. Parrish Park for about $328,000, funded with parkland dedication fees.
🚉 Regional Transportation Council, 1 p.m., Transportation Council Room, North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), 616 Six Flags Dr, Arlington, TX 76011; Watch live here
Item 3.1: The agency is working to close the books on its World Cup transportation support. Of the $20.7 million the RTC approved, it spent about $13.1 million.
Item 5: RTC members will discuss rewritten bylaws for the region’s transportation council, which stays at 45 seats. The rewrite cuts Dallas (grouped with Highland Park and University Park) from six to five seats based on population, removes citizen representation, and creates two new committees.
Item 6: Two area county leaders want the NCTCOG to form a regional task force on “high-impact industrial development,” meaning data centers, big battery storage sites, and similar projects.
🗣️ Quote of Interest
I don’t do dog and pony shows, and that’s exactly what this was.
A note to readers: Meetings of Interest is an independent newsletter curated and authored by The GoldHam Group Managing Partner Scott Goldstein and edited by GoldHam Managing Partners Sam Goldstein and Vana Hammond. The content, perspectives, or commentary presented herein reflect the views of the author alone and do not necessarily represent the views, policies, or positions of any other organization, institution, or individual, unless explicitly stated otherwise. Any affiliations are for identification purposes only and do not imply endorsement.
Thanks for reading.
Have a great week.
Best,
Scott Goldstein
Managing Partner
The GoldHam Group
Sam Goldstein, Scott Goldstein, and Vana Hammond are co-founders of The GoldHam Group, a southern Dallas-based boutique communications, events, and public affairs firm.
