The hearing before Judge Eric Moyé at 3 p.m. comes before a scheduled meeting for the council to consider proposals that would advance plans to relocate City Hall, redevelop the downtown property and continue exploring repairs to the aging building.
Three council members, Paula Blackmon, Adam Bazaldua and Cara Mendelsohn, sued the city, its city manager and city secretary on Monday, alleging Dallas failed to provide adequate public notice and didn’t comply with its financial policies before asking the council to vote.
A city spokesman declined to comment.
It’s not immediately clear whether Moyé would rule Tuesday or take the matter under advisement before Wednesday’s meeting.
Attorney John S. Adams, who represents Blackmon, Bazaldua and Mendelsohn, told The Dallas Morning News on Monday that the lawsuit is intended to ensure council members have enough information before voting.
Among other assertions, the council members said the city hasn’t provided a required five-year financial forecast, hasn’t complied with a policy requiring a supermajority vote for new or reopened facilities and hasn’t given the public enough information about next steps.
At the center of the debate is whether Dallas should spend hundreds of millions of dollars repairing City Hall or pursue alternatives that could move city operations elsewhere and redevelop that downtown property.
The latest estimates from consultants say repairs and upgrades for Dallas City Hall would cost between $532 million and $611 million over the next decade.