Local Politics
  1. Home
  2. US
  3. Texas
  4. Dallas
  5. Meetings

2026-10-14 - City Council

Summary

Built from the official minutes (voting agenda meeting, with action sheets) and the posted agenda. No video is posted, so there is no transcript or timing.

  • Voting agenda meeting, 9:20 a.m. to 5:13 p.m. All 15 members were present at the start; Gracey gave the invocation. Closed session ran from 12:10 to 1:17 p.m. for an attorney briefing in Trinity Bible Church of Dallas v. City of Dallas (Item 29); recess 3:27 to 3:48 p.m.
  • Open-microphone speakers addressed the Pettis Norman street naming, Preston Royal development, safety and homelessness, a call for action against violence by immigration enforcement, accessibility, and pyrotechnic permit costs for an art collective. Stewart moved to suspend the speaker rule so remaining residents could speak.
  • The September 23 minutes were adopted. The consent agenda (Items 2 to 23, less the pulled items) passed unanimously on Blackmon's motion, Blair seconding, with Johnson and Mendelsohn absent.
  • A $350 million general obligation commercial paper program passed 11 to 3.
  • The 2027 City Calendar was adopted as amended; the State and federal legislative programs were deferred to October 28.
  • The Exchange Place street rename was held under advisement to October 28; the church alcohol variance was denied.

Extendable Commercial Paper Program

  • Item 30: Series A program of up to $350,000,000 outstanding, issuance cost up to $855,000. West moved, Blackmon seconded. Mendelsohn's motion to cap it at $100,000,000 (Ridley seconded) failed, as did West's motion for $250,000,000 (Willis seconded). The program passed 11 to 3 (no: Roth, Mendelsohn, Ridley; Bazaldua absent).

Dallas County Jail Payments

  • Item 4 (carried from the September 23 consent agenda, where it was deleted): payments to Dallas County for jail services at Lew Sterrett. Pulled for individual consideration; the $9,323,285 shown in the heading was reduced to not more than $8,500,000 on Willis's motion, West seconding, unanimous (Johnson and Moreno absent).
  • Item 3 (also carried from September 23): the Dallas County highway traffic program agreement was cut from $4,374,000 to $1,100,000, term October 1, 2025 to August 28, 2026, on consent.

University Hills Public Facility Corporation Project

  • Item 5: the Dallas Public Facility Corporation will own a mixed-income multifamily project on East Wheatland Road and lease it for 75 years to UH Multifamily Development 1, LLC, an affiliate of Hoque Global Partnership and Anchor Capital Partners; revenue foregone is about $3,657,529.91 over 60 years. Pulled by Moreno and Mendelsohn; one developer representative spoke. Passed 14 to 1 (Mendelsohn no).

Furniture Master Agreement

  • Item 18: five-year furniture, flooring and related master agreement through BuyBoard with eight vendors, about $11,911,628.28. Mendelsohn's motion to defer to January 13, 2027 (Roth seconded) failed. Blackmon moved adoption, Resendez seconded. Passed 9 to 5 (no: Cadena, Bazaldua, Blackmon, Roth, Mendelsohn; Moreno absent).

Aviation Janitorial Contract

  • Item 19: rescind the Midwest Maintenance contract (Resolution 25-1686, $13,841,207.52) and award UBM Enterprise Inc. a three-year contract of $11,928,560.04 (renewals $8,190,944.40; total $20,119,504.44), as next most advantageous of 29 proposers. Pulled by Gracey; Blackmon moved, Gracey seconded. Johnson moved to hold the item until later in the meeting (Cadena seconded; divided vote, Bazaldua no). Adopted on a divided vote with Johnson voting no (Bazaldua absent).

Airport Board Actions

  • Item 28: Vector Airport Systems five-year aircraft landing fee collection at Love Field, estimated annual gross revenue $9,776,565 (deferred from August 25). Moreno moved, Gracey seconded; unanimous.
  • Item 22: Nu-Way Construction airport pavement maintenance, $2,173,860, on consent.

Homeless Assistance Contracts

  • Item 6: second renewal option for Bridge Steps (The Bridge) Rapid Re-housing, up to $119,549 (total $394,458.44) from the Emergency Solutions Grant, on consent; a Bridge representative spoke.

Legislative Programs

  • Items 25 and 26: the State legislative program for the 90th Texas Legislature and the federal program for the 120th Congress were deferred by Bazaldua to October 28 under Section 7.11.

City Election Date Move

  • Item 27, 2027 City Calendar (26-2883A): adopted as amended. West moved cancellations, moves and new Finance Committee dates (Bazaldua seconded). Mendelsohn's subsidiary motion corrected Passover to April 20, and Ridley's moved the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to December 7 at 3 p.m.; the calendar was unanimously amended. The minutes do not mention the election date.

Street Renaming Proposals

  • Item PH3: ceremonial street name "Pettis Norman" as a street topper on the Houston Street Viaduct ($130). About 20 speakers. Gracey moved, Blackmon seconded; passed 15 to 0.
  • Item PH4: renaming the Houston Street Bridge the Pettis Norman Bridge was denied unanimously on Gracey's motion, Ridley seconding (Cadena absent); no speakers.
  • Item PH5: North Harwood Street to "Exchange Place" was held under advisement to October 28 on Moreno's motion, Johnson seconding, unanimous (Blackmon and Cadena absent). Speakers were representatives of Friends of State Thomas, Uptown Dallas Inc. (two) and a law firm.

Church Alcohol Spacing Variance

  • Item PH7: variance for La Reyna's Micheladas near Steven Temple Church denied unanimously (Johnson moved, Ridley seconded; Cadena absent). Three church representatives and one other speaker addressed the Council.

Affordable Housing Approvals

  • Item PH6: no-objection resolution for the Carpenter's Point 150-unit senior housing development (4 percent tax credits), unanimous (Blackmon moved, Blair seconded; Cadena absent).

Preston Royal Rezoning

  • Z1 (Z-26-000007): deferred to November 10 on Willis's motion, Roth seconding, unanimous.

Zoning docket and hearings

  • Z4 (Samuell Boulevard, PD 605): remanded to the City Plan Commission to re-notice for an auto service center specific use permit (Bazaldua moved, Resendez seconded; Cadena and Willis absent).
  • Z7 (Pacific Avenue, SUP 2576, bar and dance hall in the Harwood Historic District, two years): removed from consent at Gracey's request over an objection; adopted unanimously on Ridley's motion, Moreno seconding (Ordinance 33588; Cadena absent). A club representative and two others spoke.
  • Z2, Z3, Z5, Z6, Z8 and Z9 were adopted on Ridley's motion, West seconding (Cadena and Bazaldua absent): a mini warehouse SUP (Ordinance 33584), a Gillespie Street subdistrict change in Oak Lawn (33585), self-service storage on Montfort Drive (33586), a private school SUP (33587), Fellows Lane SUP terminations and a new SUP (33589 and 33590) and a live music venue SUP on Elm Street (33591).
  • PH1 and PH2: sign district subdistricts on McKinney Avenue and Oak Grove were adopted unanimously (Ordinances 33592 and 33593); Philip Kingston spoke on one of them.
  • Item 2: Internet Crimes Against Children grant, $284,969.84. Item 7: five park and recreation equipment contracts through BuyBoard, $20,926,500 total (Kompan, Parkscapes Texas, GameTime, Webuildfun, Whirlix). Item 8: correction to Ordinance 33439 for Historic Overlay District 159 (Ordinance 33582).
  • Item 9: Black & Veatch Supplemental Agreement 3 for the Mill Creek, Peaks Branch and State-Thomas drainage relief tunnel, $5,555,000 (to $37,856,000); pulled by Mendelsohn, unanimous.
  • Items 10 to 14: design of three streets ($628,588.70); 2024 bond Traffic Signal Group 6 (EARTC, $1,522,225.10, pulled by West, one speaker, unanimous) and Group 7 ($709,126.18); de-scoping the Whitehurst Way signal at Ferris Branch Boulevard because it no longer meets the federal warrant (minus $409,984); roofs at the Bath House and South Dallas cultural centers ($396,576).
  • Items 15 to 17, 20 to 23: annual memberships ($1,159,814); grant resolution amendments; the annual Investment Policy (pulled, unanimous); interior landscape maintenance extension to April 12, 2027; Good Earth Corporation median and grounds maintenance (about $22,498,940); a lawsuit settlement of up to $140,000.
  • Item 24, appointments: Willis moved to waive the Youth Commission district residence requirement, which passed 12 to 3 (no: Mayor Johnson, Roth, Mendelsohn). Britton V. Williams was appointed to the Community Police Oversight Board, Brett A. Johansson to the Reinvestment Zone Nineteen Board (Cypress Waters), and three Youth Commission members were also appointed; unanimous.

Notes on the printed record

  • The September 23 consent Items 6 and 8, which were deleted that day, returned on October 14 as Items 3 and 4.
  • Exchange Place and the church variance, both held from September 23, were taken up here (see 2026-09-23 - City Council).

Agenda

Agenda item 26-2883A: adoption of the 2027 City Calendar, which for the first time moves the Mayoral/Council general election to Nov 2, 2027. The minutes record the calendar as adopted as amended but do not mention the election date.

Sources