Dallas City Council members and other top city officials expressed trepidation about four citizen-led charter amendment proposals likely heading to the...
Four citizen-led charter amendment proposals that include changes to enforcement of low-level marijuana possession and police staffing were panned by city officials ahead of being put on the November election ballot.Mandate Dallas hire around 1,000 more police officers and sharply raise starting salaries
City leaders also are considering several of their own proposed charter amendments. Among the ideas on the table are extending City Council member terms from two to four years and lowering the threshold for citizens to successfully petition to have city legislation repealed or submitted to residents for a vote at an election.The City Council did signal support for raising council member salaries from $60,000 yearly to $90,000 and the mayor’s from $80,000 to $110,000.
The chief said marijuana, at times, could be tied to violence. He said 17 of 28 killings related to drugs last year involved some amount of marijuana. There were 246 homicides in Dallas in 2023.García detailed four shootings this year where he said people, two of them teens, were killed while trying to buy or sell small amounts of marijuana.
City officials painted a grim picture for Dallas if it rapidly expanded its nearly 3,100 police force. “You don’t order Dallas police officers off of Amazon,” said council member Gay Donnell Willis, who added while the increase looked good on paper, “it may not manifest itself into the best police force in the country on the streets.”
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