The Winners

The 2025-27 Dallas City Council is set, with Lorie Blair and Bill Roth claiming the final two seats in runoff elections last night.

Blair, a former City Plan Commissioner, edged out former Council member Erik Wilson in the race to replace Mayor Pro Tem Tennell Atkins, who has represented District 8 in southern Dallas for 16 of the past 18 years. Under new voter-approved term limits, Atkins cannot hold the seat again, but his influence remains strong. Atkins backed Blair and campaigned for her.

Roth, an attorney and commercial realtor, defeated former Park Board member Jeff Kitner to claim North Dallas’ District 11 seat. Outgoing Council member Jaynie Schultz, a Kitner ally, opted not to run for a third term. Several sitting Dallas City Council members campaigned for Kitner, while Council Member Cara Mendelsohn endorsed Roth.

Blair and Roth join former City Hall staffer Laura Cadena and former Dallas ISD Trustee Maxie Johnson in the new freshman class of the Dallas City Council. Like Blair, Cadena was strongly supported by the outgoing council member in her district, Omar Narvaez. Johnson was not supported by his South Oak Cliff District 4 predecessor, Carolyn King Arnold, who endorsed one of his opponents.

Roth and Johnson are safe bets to offer the greatest contrast from their respective predecessors, in both style and substance.

In my Meetings of Interest candidate questionnaire, Roth, 71, focused on public safety, infrastructure, homelessness, and business growth as key priorities.

“Neighbors feel ignored - potholes linger, zoning changes disrupt lives, and tax spending lacks transparency,” Roth wrote. “I want to change that by advocating for balanced growth, protecting residential integrity, and ensuring fair resource distribution.”

Johnson, 47, a pastor and long-time community advocate, said he is proudly pro-business and identified high quality affordable housing stock as the greatest challenge for his district.

“High-quality, to me, means constructed out of sturdy, long-lasting materials, not the cheapest possible materials,” he wrote. “It means safe, accessible, and near green space. It means mixed-use so it can generate revenue, provide employment opportunities, and improve the surrounding neighborhood. Affordable means people of all income levels can live there while meeting their other obligations.”

The new City Council will be sworn in next Monday, June 16, at 10 a.m., at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center.

Table of Contents

• 📰 Highlights From Last Week's Meetings

• 📝 Memos of Interest

• 🤝 Meetings of Interest: June 9 - 13

  • Monday, June 9

    • Quality of Life, Arts, and Culture Committee

    • Special City Council Meeting

    • Transportation and Infrastructure Committee

  • Tuesday, June 10

    • Housing and Homelessness Solutions Committee

    • Special Called City Council Meeting

    • Government Performance and Financial Management Committee

    • DART Committee-of-the-Whole

  • Wednesday, June 11

    • Dallas City Council Meeting

  • Thursday, June 12

    • City Plan Commission

    • Regional Transportation Council (RTC)

📰 Highlights From Last Week’s Meetings of Interest

• The planned Dallas Police training academy at the University of North Texas at Dallas campus and a separate public safety complex could cost $275 million to build, substantially more than initial estimates, The Dallas Morning News reports. Read more in this City Council briefing.

• Violent crime continues to trend down in Dallas, but officers are still struggling with response times, KERA reports.

📝 Memos of Interest

• Dallas City Council members will have the chance to move low-turnout May elections to November of odd-numbered years if the governor signs off on legislation passed during the 89th Texas Legislative Session. That is one of many updates on priority bills the City tracked here.

• A smart trash bin pilot in Downtown is aimed at lowering costs and increasing efficiency of sanitation pick-ups. The initiative with Big Belly Smart Bins is a collaboration of the City of Dallas, Downtown Dallas, Inc. (DDI), and the Child Poverty Action Lab (CPAL). Read more.

• One month after the launch of DallasNow, the City’s new online permitting and land management system, here’s a handy list of answers to some of the most common customer questions and concerns.

• President Donald Trump’s plan to terminate the Digital Equity Act will cost the City of Dallas an $11.1 million grant that “would have supported numerous projects to help advance the City’s Digital Inclusion programming,” according to this memo. The federal program was part of the $1 trillion infrastructure law approved by Congress in 2021. It “gave states and tribes flexibility to deliver high-speed internet access to families that could not afford it, computers to kids who did not have them, telehealth access to older adults in rural areas, and training and job skills to veterans,” the Associated Press reports.

• The City’s Planning & Development Department (PDD) is starting a series of public meetings to update the Dallas Development Code. The first meetings are Thursday evening and Friday afternoon. Learn more.

• Here’s the complete City Manager memo packet for Friday, June 6, 2025

🤝 Meetings of Interest: June 9 - 13

Monday, June 9

City Council Quality of Life, Arts, and Culture Committee, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

• AURORA Dallas is a public arts organization working at the intersection of art, technology, and community, including signature events in Downtown. Learn more in this briefing.

Special Called Dallas City Council Meeting, 11 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

• One of two planned special meetings this week to interview candidates for the new voter-approved inspector general position that will report directly to City Council members. The interviews will be conducted in closed session.

City Council Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, 1 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

• Committee members are poised to nerd out on the history and future of Dallas Floodway projects in and along the Trinity River with this briefing from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Dallas Water Utilities.

• Committee Chair Omar Narvaez proposes naming three West Dallas lakes along the Trinity River in honor of Native American tribes historically associated with the region. Read more.

Tuesday, June 10

City Council Housing and Homelessness Solutions Committee, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

• More than 250 people experiencing homelessness in Downtown have been rehoused since last summer and Downtown is now closed to encampments and sleeping, according to this quarterly update from nonprofit Housing Forward. Overall homelessness in Dallas and Collin counties also continues trending down for the fourth consecutive year.

• Dallas Street Response is the City’s coordinated approach to maintain safe and orderly public spaces. The strategy aims to keep homeless encampments permanently closed after people are engaged with housing and behavioral health services. This briefing explains how it all works.

Special Called Dallas City Council Meeting, 11 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

• The second of two planned special meetings this week to interview candidates for the new voter-approved inspector general position that will report directly to City Council members. The interviews will be conducted in closed session.

City Council Government Performance and Financial Management Committee, 1 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

• City Council members are expected to vote later this month on a 5-year, $4.2 million contract for a Professional Employer Organization to manage Human Resources, payroll, benefits, and compliance for temporary and specialized workers. Read more.

• Committee members will continue discussion on how the City sets and reviews user fees, including considerations for cost recovery needs, economic conditions, equity, transparency, and more. Read the briefing.

• The Dallas City Attorney’s Office is seeking a $25.2 million budget appropriation for the fiscal year that begins on October 1, according to this memo.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Board Committee-of-the-Whole, 2:30 p.m., DART Conference Room C - 1st Floor, DART HQ, 1401 Pacific Ave., Dallas

• Board members will discuss a proposal to require a two-thirds board vote to approve the agency’s annual budget. Currently, budget approval requires a simple majority vote of the 15-member board. The ongoing discussion is tied to suburban member cities’ concerns over Dallas’ majority control of the board. Read more.

• Future changes to how board seats are allocated and shared among member cities based on population changes are also up for discussion. Dallas could lose a seat in coming years. Read more.

Wednesday, June 11

Dallas City Council Meeting, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

• Item 4 authorizes an increase in the homestead property tax exemption for people who are disabled or age 65 or older from $153,400 to $175,000.

• Item 10 authorizes a $5.5 million City acquisition of key land for the Dallas Floodway Extension Project, including the long-promised Cadillac Heights Levee. Dallas Morning News columnist Robert Wilonsky explains it way better than I ever could.

• Item 14 authorizes nearly $6 million for renovations of the former Women’s Museum at Fair Park to serve as the temporary home of The Black Academy of Arts and Letters (TBAAL) during the ongoing redo of the Downtown convention center, where TBAAL is currently located.

• Item 16 expands a City lease agreement with the University of North Texas System to include 20 acres for a planned Dallas Police Department training facility. The accompanying resolution notes the expanded area “will now provide for the construction of law enforcement facilities equipped to serve both basic and in-service police training requirements.”

• Item 25 authorizes a boundary adjustment requested by the Town of Addison on Montfort Drive, from the current city limits south to Celestial Road. The change only applies to infrastructure. Addison officials say it will help them better manage traffic and infrastructure improvements. Here’s a map of the adjustment. A future ordinance will need approval to ratify the agreement.

• Item 35 reduces a City tax abatement and grant agreement with Digital Realty Trust after the company significantly scaled back data center and office renovation and expansion plans for its Downtown building at 2323 Bryan Street. Original plans called for a minimum $104 million investment, while the revised plans are for a $13 million renovation, according to agenda materials. Read more.

• Item 36 would amend the City’s Public Improvement District (PID) Policy to lower the petition signature thresholds for PID creation and renewal to match state minimum requirements. Current rules set a higher bar in Dallas than is required by the state. Read more.

• Item 47 is a 10-year contract with IKE Smart City to erect up to 150 digital advertising screens on public sidewalks primarily in Downtown, Uptown, and surrounding areas. A majority of City Council members have pushed for the plan despite concerns from most major stakeholder groups, including Downtown Dallas, Inc. (DDI). City officials estimate the contract could generate $67.4 million if extended to a total of 20 years. The new deal includes a payment to the City to cover a termination fee to remove the existing circular static kiosks that have obstructed Dallas sidewalks for much of the past 20 years. Read more.

• Item 56 is a three-year agreement with a new pro soccer team, Atlético Dallas, to play games at the Cotton Bowl and to manage the MoneyGarm Soccer Park Complex. The initial term runs from 2027-29.

• Item 62 is closed session to continue inspector general candidate interviews and deliberate who to hire for the new voter-approved post.

• Item 63 seeks approval to utilize a bridge loan up to $1 billion for interim financing of the Downtown convention center redevelopment. City Council members discussed this plan a few weeks ago, as reported by KERA.

• Item 64 would repeal and amend various sections of City Code as part of an “Omnibus Ordinance Review” discussed by City Council members last month. Read more.

• Item 66 will set a guaranteed maximum price of $259 million with Trinity Alliance Ventures, LLC, for construction services on component 1 of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas redo. Read more.

• Item 67 authorizes an agreement for the WNBA’s Dallas Wings to develop a practice facility at a Dallas park in West Oak Cliff. The Wings are expected to move to Downtown’s Dallas Memorial Auditorium for games beginning in 2027. Read more.

• Item 70 is the potential appointment of a new inspector general. Bart Bevers currently serves in an interim capacity.

• Item 71 is a resolution “directing the city manager to evaluate city programs and policies for compliance with federal directives” and authorizing her “to temporarily pause for operational purposes a city program or policy to ensure compliance with federal directives.” City Council members last week deliberated in closed session the implications of specific executive orders issued by President Trump and the implications for federal grant eligibility.

Thursday, June 12

Dallas City Plan Commission, 9 a.m. Briefing, 12:30 p.m. Public Hearing, Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

Regional Transportation Council (RTC), 1 p.m., Transportation Council Room, North Central Texas Council of Governments, 616 Six Flags Dr., Arlington, TX 76011

🗣️ 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.