DALLAS – A second Dallas city council meeting on homelessness was cut short as concerns over World Cup preparations in the city rise.
What we know:
The Dallas Committee on Housing and Homeless Solutions committee meeting was canceled for the second time in a row.
The specially-called meeting lasted only 15 minutes after four of the committee members were absent.
The cancellations come at a time when Dallas residents are worried that homelessness in the city will have an effect on the FIFA World Cup, which will kick off in June.
The event’s International Broadcast Center will be hosted in downtown Dallas for the duration of the tournament.
The backstory:
The Dec. 9 meeting began 18 minutes late. When it did start, only four of the seven members were present.
Dr. Allen Gwinn, a clinical professor of IT and Data Analytics at SMU, presented a heat map of homeless encampments merged with a heat map of deaths reported in outdoor locations.
“As we zoom in, we see the data is beginning to tell us a story,” Gwinn said. “There seems to be visually a correlation between reports to 311 of homeless encampments and people found expired in an outdoor setting. Changes the narrative a little, doesn’t it?”
(Max Faulkner/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Councilman Adam Bazaldua questioned the objectivity of the data, and wanted an audience member with Housing Forward to weigh in.Â
Committee chair Cara Mendelsohn ended the briefing. That’s when councilmen Bazaldua and Zarin Gracey left and the quorum was broken with multiple other council members already missing.
What they’re saying:
With or without the World Cup, these are urgent questions and policies, and it’s why it’s a standing committee for the city council,” Mendelsohn told FOX 4. “It’s something we work on every single month.”
The Source: Information in this story came from FOX 4 reporting.