Good evening:
I come to you tonight not to rehash the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week we just lived through in Dallas.
For that, I recommend reading any of the excellent takes from The Dallas Morning News, especially this piece by Brian Womack and Nick Wooten, “How Dallas lost its grip on North Texas’ biggest wins.” Or this Tim Cowlishaw column explaining why the Mavericks and Stars fleeing Downtown “is going to be a regrettable mistake and one that a lot of sports fans younger than myself will loathe as time goes by.”
I also recommend you give a listen to Downtown Dallas, Inc. (DDI) President & CEO Jennifer Scripps (a GoldHam Group client), who joined the Y’all-itics political podcast with WFAA’s Jason Whitely and Jason Wheeler to discuss the future of Downtown. Spoiler alert: We’re not giving up or shutting this ole girl down just yet.
I am also not here to opine (again) about the historic City Council decision now set for Wednesday to determine the future of City Hall, the building (more on that below).
I am here for the conversation about whether and how we, the people, should reform our local government structure.
Dallas is one of the biggest cities in America, but it gives the mayor one of the shortest lists of formal powers. In my 20-plus years in Dallas, the “strong mayor” conversation has lingered in the background of almost every major political debate.
In our council-manager system, the City Council, as a 15-member body, has the power to hire and fire (and convince to retire) five key officials: the city manager, secretary, auditor, attorney, and inspector general (the latter three of whom are currently serving in interim roles). The body also amends and approves the annual budget, which is drafted every year by the city manager and her staff.
Nearly all day-to-day City operations — police, fire, water, sanitation, streets — run through the city manager on the org chart. “Policy direction,” the overarching goals and vision for our city, is supposed to be set exclusively by the mayor and city council members. It is designed to mirror a corporate board, with part-time elected officials who are supposed to hand off the real work to the professionals. But the reality is far more complex — and not well understood by voters who may think they’re sending someone to City Hall to do the work for them.
There are many practical challenges with our current structure. For the sake of time, I'll note one simple, consistent one: No single elected leader has both the authority to get big things done and the responsibility to answer for the results. If someone — perhaps a mayor — has real authority, the thinking goes, we can hold them accountable for how they use it. That’s how big cities learn from weeks like the one we just had and come back stronger.
For these and other reasons, former mayors Laura Miller and Mike Rawlings, along with some business leaders and consultants, are talking more openly about their belief that our form of government needs an overhaul.
WFAA’s Whitely asked Rawlings on today’s episode of Inside Texas Politics if there is a move afoot to change our form of government to “strong mayor.”
“There is a move afoot to re-examine what we’re doing,” Rawlings said. “I think the public needs to be engaged in this. This is the sort of thing you do need a lot of opinions.”
Pressed by Whitely on what that means, Rawlings explained that there are changes that could be made short of a traditional “strong mayor.” That could include new hiring/firing and budget powers for the mayor, with oversight by a City Council that could veto mayoral decisions with a specified number of votes.
It could also include a number of “at-large” City Council seats so that more members are elected to represent the whole City, rather than strictly single-member districts, as we currently have. And it could include retaining the city manager — or a comparable role — to continue overseeing day-to-day City operations.
Miller, the only sitting mayor in modern times to campaign for strong-mayor ballot initiatives, argues in a piece she authored for this month’s D Magazine that our form of government no longer works. She admits she made a mistake backing a citizen-initiated “strong mayor” push in 2005 rather than seeking a compromise that her council colleagues and voters might have been more likely to support.
Ultimately, any change to our form of government must be approved by voters in a November or May election. The question for our voters is whether you believe our losses and our challenges ahead are a problem of people (to be fixed at the ballot box every two years) or a problem of structure. If it’s the latter, no election will fix it, and the conversation Dallas is starting to have deserves more than an eye roll.
But here’s one lesson from the prior strong-mayor defeats: they likely failed in part because they were crafted for voters rather than with them.
If this is going to be different, it should start with a genuinely independent charter review process — public meetings, input, and options on the table, including keeping what works.
This conversation has hummed in the background for years. It tends to surface in tough times or toward the end of mayoral terms. It usually fades.
Whether this time is different depends less on any current or former politician than on whether the rest of us decide that staying competitive is worth re-examining how we govern ourselves.
📖 Table of Contents
🗞️ Highlights From Last Week: Meetings, Memos, and Media of Interest
DDI President & CEO Jennifer Scripps joins the Y’all-itics podcast to talk about the planning process for the future of Downtown and why she’s betting on the evolution of a vibrant “central social district.” Check out the clip above or listen to the full episode here.
Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) is expanding service frequency and security for FIFA World Cup games, KERA reports. “This is the defining moment for our region,” Chief Communications Officer Jeamy Molina said. “The world is coming to North Texas, and DART is proud to tell that story.”
Here’s some good news for City Hall’s balance sheet: Moody’s revised Dallas’ credit outlook from negative to stable, affirming the City’s A1 rating and crediting the police and fire pension funding agreement council adopted in December with materially reducing solvency risk that had dogged the fund for a decade.
Dallas is down to its list of 42 census tracts to nominate for the rebooted federal Opportunity Zone program, which Congress made permanent in 2025. Economic Development Committee members signed off on June 1, but with a motion allowing any council member to pull a tract from their own district before the package goes to the Governor’s Office, as noted in this memo.
In this follow-up to a May 6 budget briefing, Chief Financial Officer Jack Ireland gives council members a price list for some of the more painful cuts they’ve been asking about: capping civilian pension COLAs at 3% would save a projected $338 million over 30 years (with each additional 1% step-down worth $700–800 million more), a 1% across-the-board pay cut would save about $11.2 million a year, and the City’s various tax abatement and exemption programs together forgo roughly $9.8 million annually.
Here’s the complete city manager memo packet for Friday, June 5, 2026.
🔢 Number of Interest
27,793
Reports of suspected abuse and neglect in Dallas County last year, as noted in this briefing from the Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center to the City Council Public Safety Committee.
🤝 Meetings of Interest: June 8 - 12, 2026
Monday, June 8
👮🏻♂️ Dallas City Council Public Safety Committee, 1 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
Backed by DDI and the public-private Downtown Safe in the City initiative, crime and homelessness are down, and policing is at historic highs in the City’s core, this memo notes. A privately-funded Downtown law enforcement command center is also set to open this month at Radiance Plaza, across from City Hall.
Dallas police officers’ average response times to 911 calls are improving significantly on Chief Daniel C. Comeaux’s watch, according to this memo. But not yet enough to meet any of the department response time goals set by call priority.
🐺 Plano City Council Meeting, 7 p.m., Senator Florence Shapiro Council Chambers, 1520 K Avenue, Plano TX 75074
City Council members will consider four agenda items tied to the deal to bring the Dallas Stars to a new arena to be developed where The Shops at Willow Bend now stands. The items are:
A public hearing to consider an ordinance establishing a Tax Reinvestment Zone in an area that includes the future arena site.
A $15 million economic incentive agreement between the City of Plano and the owner of The Shops at Willow Bend for demolition of the mall and delivery of a new visitors center shell space.
A non-binding letter of intent between the City of Plano and the Dallas Stars, including the development of a minimum $1 billion arena with $700 million in public funding.
A “Venue Project Resolution,” the precursor to calling an upcoming election for Plano voters to decide whether to partially fund a new Stars arena with taxes on rental cars, hotel stays, parking, tickets, and professional sports teams using the new arena.
Tuesday, June 9
🚌 Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Committee-of-the-Whole, 11:30 a.m., Board Room, DART HQ, 1401 Pacific Ave., Dallas, TX 75202
Briefing: Approval of Four Interlocal Agreements for FIFA World Cup
Board members will consider four interlocal agreements to shore up World Cup security and service: deals with Dallas ISD and Dallas College for additional law enforcement support, plus North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) agreements covering security services and Sunday service on the Trinity Railway Express. The briefing notes DART’s total World Cup tab is an estimated $20.3 million, but 87% is externally funded (mostly FTA and FEMA), leaving the agency (a GoldHam Group client) on the hook for just $2.6 million.
637.72 KB • PDF File
A fiscal 2027 budget outlook, as well as ridership and route performance updates, are also on this agenda.
💼 Dallas City Council Ad Hoc Committee on Administrative Affairs, 1 p.m., Council Briefing Room, 6ES, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
An outside consultant will walk committee members through its recommended framework for evaluating the five council-appointed officials — the city manager, attorney, auditor, secretary, and inspector general. The benchmarking is notable: San Antonio, Austin, Fort Worth, and El Paso all use written evaluation forms, while Dallas conducts ad hoc closed-session reviews without a rubric.
Wednesday, June 10
🗣️ City Council Meeting, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
Item 2 is an agreement to accept up to $24.6 million in reimbursements through NCTCOG's 2026 FIFA World Cup Grant Program, covering personnel, equipment, and vehicle costs tied to World Cup security and preparedness.
Item 6 is a 10-year business personal property tax abatement for Amarumayu, LLC, U.S. subsidiary of Peruvian beverage giant Aje Group, which plans a $69.5 million beverage manufacturing facility in the Inland Port in southern Dallas — its first major U.S. investment. The deal requires 150+ jobs averaging $51,000, a $ 23.31-per-hour wage floor, and 25% Dallas-resident hiring; the City forgoes an estimated $1.38 million over 10 years.
Item 16 authorizes up to a $1.4 million settlement in a long-running lawsuit from Corsicana, Navarro County, and Navarro College, which sued Dallas over damages from the relocation of a Home Depot distribution center from Corsicana to Dallas.
Item 25 is a closed-door discussion of four letters received from the Save Dallas City Hall coalition. Probably not love letters.
Item 26 is the annual election of a Mayor Pro Tem and Deputy Mayor Pro Tem, positions currently held by Council Members Jesse Moreno and Gay Donnell Willis, respectively.
Z1 is a public hearing on a sweeping update to PD 595, the South Dallas/Fair Park Special Purpose District — roughly 3,336 acres. Both staff and CPC recommend approval.
Z3 is a proposed 185-foot residential tower on Newton Avenue in Oak Lawn, replacing a 1967 garden-style complex, with height granted via a mixed-income housing bonus. CPC approved 13-0, but the neighborhood is split right down the middle: 70 replies for, 70 against.
🚚 Special Called City Council Meeting, 10 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
Council members are expected to deliberate on the following:
Briefing (Item A): Real estate, financial, and debt analysis covering public safety facility needs, potential relocation of 911 and the Emergency Operations Center, potential relocation of City Hall, and potential repair plans for City Hall. This briefing is not posted online.
Item 1: Authorizes advance work toward relocating City Hall staff and functions — pre-development agreements, due diligence on prospective sites, and an appropriation that’s left blank.
Item 2: The same authorization structure for relocating 911 and emergency operations, also with a blank dollar amount.
Item 3: Authorizes a phased repair strategy for 1500 Marilla, which was briefed to council members last week.
Item 4: Authorizes the City Manager to pursue redevelopment opportunities for the 1500 Marilla property itself.
Items 5 and 6 (closed session): Real estate deliberations on specific sites for both the 311/911/EOC relocation and the City Hall relocation.
Thursday, June 11
📑 City Plan Commission, 10 a.m. Briefing, 12:30 p.m. Public Hearing, Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
Item 5 is a City-driven rezoning to allow a 4,500-square-foot expansion of the Preston Royal Branch Library on Royal Lane.
Item 6 is asking to fold another 2.5 acres at W. Main Street and N. Beckley Avenue into the special park project subdistrict City Council created last June for the development of Harold Simmons Park in West Dallas.
Item 22 is a code amendment to move “tattoo or body piercing” from the prohibited list to the permitted list of personal service uses in the city’s form-based zoning districts.
Item 33 is a council-initiated request to rename Woodbine Avenue between Morrell Avenue and Renner Road as "Dr. David Henderson Jr. Avenue” in honor of the former longtime pastor of Greater Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church.
⚽️ Regional Transportation Council (RTC), 1 p.m., Transportation Council Room, North Central Texas Council of Governments, 616 Six Flags Dr., Arlington, TX 70611
The RTC/NCTCOG governance fight keeps simmering. RTC members will discuss a proposed agreement that would cement its status as the region’s Metropolitan Planning Organization (with NCTCOG’s Executive Board relegated to “fiscal agent”). Read more on the backstory from the Fort Worth Report.
Friday, June 12
🤑 Special Called Dallas City Council Committee on Finance, 10 a.m., Council Chambers, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
Committee members are expected to be briefed on the City’s living wage policy for general services contracts, including any potential changes. The current policy, approved in 2015, requires an annual adjustment based on the MIT Living Wage Calculator. That means City contractors on all general services contracts issued on or after Oct. 1, 2025, must pay at least $23.06 per hour. Briefing materials are not yet posted online.
📆 Community Meetings of Interest
Not all meetings of interest are posted on the public agenda pages. Here’s a look at upcoming meetings hosted by Dallas City Council members to gather constituent feedback.
Mayor Pro Tem Jesse Moreno is hosting a town hall to discuss and gather feedback on the future of City Hall.
🗣️ Quote of Interest
The wolf is up the tollway.
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.
Want to work with The GoldHam Group? Reach out to us directly.
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.
