I hope everyone had themselves a nice Thanksgiving, including those at Dallas City Hall.
Council members, boards, and most commissions took the week off from meetings this past week, but there are some important items coming around the corner that are worth previewing:
Staff Has Some Fair Park Ops Recommendations
Dallas Park & Recreation staff will be going before the Parks, Trails & Environment Committee to pitch it on new operations strategies to revitalize Fair Park.
Staff’s presentation follows a city takeover of operations after the park’s management contract was scrapped over purported mismanagement and the alleged misuse of $5.7 million in restricted donor funds by the contractor Oak View Group.
A hybrid model involving city employees, private contractors, and nonprofits delivering services will be recommended, with the idea being that their respective strengths could be leveraged depending on the particular function.
Proposed objectives will be outlined under the banner of “5 Pillars for Fair Park”:
Maximize the benefit of having successful campus partners
Develop regularly-occurring community programs and events that include local and surrounding neighborhoods and small business opportunities
Aggressively pursue large scale campus activations
Aggressively pursue economic development opportunities on the campus
Develop and nurture nonprofits to benefit and leverage resources for the campus and key facilities that may evolve into operating partners over time
The committee meeting will be held on Monday, Dec. 1, at 9 a.m.
DART’s Numbers and Coming Headaches
A special joint meeting of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee and the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Board will be held for a quarterly briefing on DART operations in the city.
While ridership in Dallas continues to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, the transit system is deep into a systemwide push to improve public safety and service reliability, according to a presentation. A new unified dispatch and command center is now operational, 100 officers have been added to DART’s police force, and social workers are being deployed alongside police to assist “vulnerable populations” using the system.
Looking ahead, DART is making preparations for FIFA World Cup 2026. Some $20.4 million has been budgeted for expenses related to security, equipment upgrades, and leased rail cars to meet the increased demand that’s expected when millions of visitors descend on D-FW next summer.
There will also probably be a good deal of discussion on the economic uncertainty surrounding DART’s future. Several member cities are scheduled to hold withdrawal elections in May, the fallout from which could hypothetically force service reductions or network changes.
Officials for the special joint meeting will convene on Tuesday, Dec. 2, at 1 p.m.
Interested in Some City-Owned Property?
While it won’t be for the public’s ears, Dallas City Council will spend some time in closed session to discuss a couple city-owned properties staff’s been trying to offload.
Council members and the city attorney will deliberate the purchase, exchange, lease, or value of 7800 N Stemmons Fwy and 2929 S Hampton Rd.
Y’all remember the Lemon on Stemmons?
And, of course, 2929 S Hampton Rd. The property used to be the site of the old University General Hospital in Oak Cliff. The city bought it in 2022 for $6.5 million, intending to convert it for homeless housing and wraparound services. But after a few years of community pushback and no progress, officials decided to throw in the towel.
Maybe staff has something cooking.
Dallas City Council meets on Wednesday, Dec. 3, at 9 a.m.