My view from the hall outside the Lakewood Branch Library room where the budget town hall meeting was being held. (I was eventually able to get a standing space on the other side.) Photo by Madelyn Edwards.

Another budget town hall season has come to a close. Now, City staff and our council representatives will make the final call on how to spend our tax dollars. First reading adoption is scheduled for Sept. 2 while final adoption is Sept. 16. 

East Dallasites seem to be particularly engaged civically. Public meetings that I’ve attended always draw at least a moderate crowd or larger. But if you’re someone who missed your chance to attend one of these meetings, here’s a breakdown of some of the topics covered at the District 9 and 14 town hall at Lakewood Branch Library. 

Who was there? 

A lot of people. The parking lot was full, and neighborhood streets were congested with parked cars. There was only standing room left when I arrived at the town hall at 6 p.m. last Thursday, Aug. 20. Some were stuck in the hall outside the meeting room as well. 

The town hall was led by Assistant City Manager Alina Ciocan, who called upon department heads to answer audience questions as needed. District 9 and 14 Council members Paula Blackmon and Paul Ridley, respectively, also attended and gave their thoughts occasionally throughout the meeting.

Is the budget in a deficit?

The proposed budget is balanced. 

“The budget did have a $51 million gap,” Blackmon said in the meeting. “There’s no gap anymore. It is balanced. That gap that was talked about in May and June has been closed. This budget is balanced. We have to balance. Hence the cuts. Hence where things are being shifted between departments.”

You can read the look over the full budget here. 

Libraries: 

Library Director Manya Shorr reported that no public libraries will be closing in this budget, but cuts are still needed.  

“Due to overwhelming community support and council support, all Dallas Public Library locations are staying open,” Shorr said as the audience applauded. “However, we are still needing to reach a $2.6 million budget reduction, and so because of that, unfortunately, we have had to eliminate 72 positions at the library, and 35 people receive reduction in force notices. And because of that, we are having to make several changes at the Dallas Public Library.”

This includes reducing hours at all libraries, except flagship locations (ie — Vickery Park Branch Library was proposed for this in our neck of the woods), from being open six days a week to five days a week. Neighborhood libraries are expected to continue offering the programs they do now. 

“However, we will be moving to a standardized schedule, and we will be increasing the number of evening hours,” Shorr said at the meeting. “Currently, we offer two. We will move to offering three. We will open five flagship libraries. Those are five libraries across the city that will be open seven days a week, and they will be open every evening until 8 o’clock Monday through Thursday. So this is an attempt to give Dallas residents something they do not have right now, which is seven-day-a-week libraries and open in the evenings when families, working families, working people need us open.”

Another big change across all Dallas libraries is ending the adult learning department, which offers English as a second language and GED classes. 

“We are working with Dallas College and Workforce Solutions and other partners to continue offering some level of classes in our libraries,” Shorr said. “It will not be at the same level, but some level in our libraries.”

Shorr acknowledged that this change is sad. The entities that could continue the program would have to require students to prove they are legally allowed to work in the U.S. because they receive federal and state dollars, which was not in the city’s program. But she also said that the program costs almost as much as it does to operate a branch, and if it didn’t close, then more hours reductions would be needed. 

“We are at a point where we can only offer what I would consider basic library services, and that is books, buildings and branch-level programs,” Shorr said. 

Dallas City Hall: 

As of last week’s meeting, Blackmon clarified that there is no money in the proposed budget for City Hall, nor is it an item to be funded by the November bond. 

“There’s no ability to repair City Hall,” Blackmon said about the current circumstances, to which some in the audience booed (in the style of The Princess Bride, I might add). 

There’s still unanswered questions and data that the council is waiting to hear more about, she said.

“All I can say is hang tight,” Blackmon said. She and Ridley have been critical of the process and discussions of moving City Hall. “We’re not giving up. We’re going to do every avenue. Right now, there’s a lawsuit, and we are committed to this. … We’ve been in the trenches. We have a strategy, and we’re working to make sure that we don’t go down without a fight.”

Some in the audience shouted, “Don’t go down.”  

Flock cameras: 

These read license plates for police to track vehicles and have received backlash across the U.S. Neighbors at the Lakewood budget town hall meeting were not happy about them either and let out a chorus of boos when the topic was introduced. 

William Griffith, Dallas Police Department deputy chief, said there are about 670 cameras, about 200 of which come from state grants. They are placed in main thoroughfares based on time, data and investigative abilities.

“Right now in 2026, year to date, we have solved about 18% of our homicides based on the information we have received from Flock, that if we had not had Flock information, we may not have solved those crimes,” Griffith said.

The technology has also helped officers solve robberies in hours and allow detectives more efficiency, he said. 

The argument against Flock is that officers around the country could and have used it for nefarious purposes, like stalking ex-girlfriends and to follow a woman who may have had an abortion. Griffith said there are safeguards in place to protect private information.

“Detectives have to give a specific reason for the use of the Flock and the case number that’s assigned to that case,” he said. “We have an audit process … and basically, if there’s something through the audit that doesn’t look right, that information is sent to the commander of that investigative commission to look into it to make sure it’s alright.” 

Out of about 4,000 DPD employees, Griffith said about half have access to Flock data, and most are detectives.

“It is controlled, meaning that there is a need to have it, and there is an approval process when you go through needing the Flock,” he said. “You have to give the commanders of the department a reason for it.”

Questions and comments were not taken from the audience. Ridley explained that extended conversations about Flock cameras were outside the scope of the budget meeting, but those with thoughts could contact himself or Blackmon. 

Transportation:

Auro Majumdar, assistant director within the Dallas Department of Transportation and Public Works, addressed a question about safety on Abrams Road in the wake of two middle schoolers being hit while traveling to school. 

“The transportation and public works staff are looking at additional improvements that we can do in the short term,” Majumdar said. 

DPD Deputy Chief Devon Palk confirmed that officers for extra traffic enforcement as well as the motors unit have been deployed. Palk and Blackmon urged drivers to slow down and ask their neighbors to do the same. 

“One thing that you can control when you’re driving is the amount of pressure on that pedal. Go the speed limit please,” Blackmon said. “Because it is somebody’s child.”

Majumdar mentioned the in-progress Abrams Road Corridor Study that will examine Richmond Avenue to Beacon Street. 

“We got your feedback, and our consultants are working on the feedback they received from you,” he said. “I am very sure we will have some very good projects when that study is completed that we will be able to work on.” 

Another Abrams corridor study was completed, and two new traffic signal projects are being designed, Majumdar said. He also spoke about the Dallas Bike Plan, which was updated and passed by council last year. Money for the projects is in a multi-year fund.

“We don’t lose it, and we actually got extra money in this budget for extra striping for the city,” he said. “So even though if you look at the budget, we have a $750,000 reduction in the bike lane money, bike lane work will still be funded through other funds. We receive money from DART. We have extra, over a million dollars for striping … and then we have enough money in the multi-year fund to work on bike lanes for the next five years.”

Trash service: 

The budget proposes rate changes for residential curbside and alley customers — a drop to $37.76 a month for curb and an increase to $45.22 a month for alley. This would be effective on Feb. 1 if there are no changes to this part of the budget. 

Also effective on Feb. 1 is about 2% of residential customers, or about 6,300, will transition from alley to curbside pickup, Ciocan said. 

Neighbors spoke out during the meeting about not wanting the transition to happen. Ciocan said there have been challenges with alley pickups and reminded the audience that the scope of this change is limited. 

“On a lot of these transitions, you’re looking at alleys that have an unimproved driving surface,” said Michael Springer, Sanitation Services interim assistant director. “You have limited movement areas for helpers for the trucks. This is what we’re faced with. We’re having employees getting injured. We had one here recently (who) had a very serious injury. We’re just trying to do the safest thing for our staff.”

To a question about alley repair, Ciocan mentioned the narrowness of the alleys but moved on in topics, explaining that (like the Flock cameras) an extended discussion was outside the scope of the meeting. She did say she would be available for questions after the town hall. 

Dallas Animal Services:

DAS is expected to receive an increase in funding, specifically for services regarding animal cruelty cases, Ciocan said.

DAS Assistant Director of Operations Amanda Earl mentioned that another veterinarian for surgeries has been hired recently.

“We’re working towards trying to cut down our surgical deficit,” Earl said in the meeting.

To a question about how people can support DAS, Ciocan suggested adopting an animal from the shelter. Earl said there’s lots of ways for the community to help in keeping animals in homes and out of the shelter, like supplying neighbors in need with pet food, hosting adoption events and advocating for property management companies to be pet inclusive instead of pet friendly. 

“We’ve had quite a challenge of being over capacity,” Ciocan said. “So even if you don’t need a friend, just spreading the word to your friends and team members, that would help us quite a bit.”

Were these town halls helpful?

Depends on who you ask and who attended which meetings. At the Lakewood town hall, attendees were asked to write down their questions on cards that were then sorted based on topic and then addressed by city staff. There was no open mic for neighbors to express their thoughts verbally, and the meeting was about an hour long.

District 14 Park and Recreation Board member Rudy Karimi was frustrated about this process after last week’s meeting and called it censorship. 

“I’m there to let you know what is on my mind, things that I have found that I either agree with or, in most cases, disagree with, because let’s be honest with one another, chances are you’re there because you disagree with something,” Karimi said to the Advocate. “I expect the City staff or City elected officials to take note of that, to listen to that and then go act on my behalf as my representative. I feel like a majority of that is simply eliminated by the fact that they come in and they have the nerve to say, ‘Everybody, write down your comments on an index card and keep your fingers and your toes crossed that we’ll read them,’ and then when they do read them, they’re very, very incomplete.”

He clarified that his criticisms weren’t directed toward any council members. He also said his wife attended the budget town hall at Samuell Grand Recreation Center and reportedly had a good experience. 

But what say you? If you would like to share your thoughts on budget town halls, please email me at medwards@advocatemag.com. 

Have more to say?

Contact your city council member. 

District 9: Paula Blackmon, district9@dallas.gov, 214-671-8916. Her staff includes Connie Avila (office: 469-992-5173, consuelo.avila@dallas.gov). 

District 14: Paul E. Ridley, paul.ridley@dallas.gov. His staff includes Max Sanchez (max.sanchez@dallas.gov, office: 214-670-5415, mobile: 214-316-9480) and Apryl Davis (apryl.davismaynard@dallas.gov, office: 214-670-5659). 

If you live in another district, your council member’s contact information can be found here.