Economic Growth & Efficient Use of Taxpayer Money
As Texans living in the city of Dallas, the DFW metroplex and statewide, we are very proud of our economic growth that leads the nation. More business, more jobs and more tax revenue are the results of this growth, and we need to ensure that we continue this trend so that we can continue improving our city for ALL residents of Dallas and surrounding cities.
This growth is essential if we are to keep pace with inflation, which has eroded our quality of life recently. And let’s be real, prices won’t be going down. We must be efficient, effective and respectful with the use of taxpayer dollars. No taxpayer is in favor of wasteful activities. We must communicate initiatives with the residents and ensure the benefits justify the use of those funds.
What is not a good use of taxpayer funds is excessive legal fees fighting established state law! Or, delaying permitting on projects that have already been approved causing further project delays and costing the city millions of dollars in lost revenue. We must fast track the opening of the DART Silver Line and the construction of the new convention center! These projects generate revenue for the city that can be used for hiring more police officers and maintaining roads.
To continue this exceptionalism, we must accept that we will attract more people. More people means more work hours which translates into economic growth.
Key Issues
Affordable Housing
As we attract more people to the city, we need to find ways to house them. Realistically, many jobs do not pay enough to justify purchasing homes that cost $500,000 and above. Most of the jobs that keep the city and economy ticking pay under $75,000 annually. As of 2023, the median household income in Dallas was under $68,000 per year - that means half make less than this. 79% of households make less than $100k annually.
No city can survive by catering to a small percentage of high-income residents. We MUST work with builders to develop more affordable housing. Almost two thirds of the city is south of downtown Dallas, but only a small percentage of the population lives there. We need to identify development opportunities in that area for homeowners and businesses alike.
Public Safety
As we grow, we need to ensure we continue to keep everyone safe! Economic growth and affordable housing go a long way to reducing crime. Increases in crime are directly correlated to increases in joblessness, so if we grow our economy and incomes, we will reduce crime.
In the meantime, we need to urgently address Proposition U, which requires Dallas to allocate 50% of new revenue to growing the police force to 4,000 officers. We must communicate with the residents how we are going to achieve this directive. We need to develop a detailed plan showing how much that 50% of additional revenue is projected to be and how it will be allocated to achieving the growth in officers. We also need to show how we will attract, train and pay new officers while also disclosing the related costs associated with those additional hires. Costs like training, pensions, vehicles, weapons, computers, support staff, etc. need to be considered as we ramp up the number of officers on our streets.
Dallasites are clearly concerned about crime, and we must listen to them! We need to work together to implement initiatives that will make everyone safer.
Infrastructure
Public transport is a key issue identified by Dallas residents. The city is largely reliant on motor vehicle transport which causes congestion, pollution and loss of productivity. Investing in public transport will bring relief in each of those areas. Continuing to fight and delay projects that have already been approved and funded by bond packages is costly to the city. Delaying projects postpones the collection of revenues that could be directed towards hiring more police officers, repaving roads, fixing potholes, installing speed bumps. etc.
We must also co-ordinate with public utilities like Atmos and garbage/waste services to maintain alleyways in a responsible and economically efficient manner. Tearing up the same alleyway multiple times in a year for different projects is wasteful. Many Dallas communities were designed specifically for alleyway access which keeps the streets and neighborhoods neat and trash-free. For this reason, we must maintain alleyways for utility, emergency and homeowner access as well as storm water run-off.
2023 Community Survey Results
What the People of Dallas Want and Need. We must listen to our community and work together to achieve our goals.
From the 2023 Community Survey findings report (1,475 household responses with a confidence level +- 2.5%) I would like to highlight a few findings:
What’s working:
● Dallas for business & to work (page 12)
● Arts & culture (page 13)
● Access to affordable, quality food (page 14)
What’s not working:
● Dallas as an equitable City (page 12)
● Dallas as a place to retire (page 12)
● Quality of public schools (page 12 - this is a county, not city, responsibility)
● Air quality (page 13)
● Affordable housing (pages 14 & 16)
● Transport other than air (page 15)
What the people want:
● Affordable quality housing (page 16)
● Access to living-wage jobs (page 16)
● Maintenance of infrastructure, including alleyways (pages 24 & 39)
● Police services / crime prevention (pages 24 & 27)
● Mental health programs (page 27)
What Dallasites are concerned about:
● Population growth (pages 17 & 63)
● Homelessness (pages 18 & 41)
● Crime & drugs (pages 18 & 26)
● Infrastructure (page 18)
● Violent crime, especially at night (page 20)
● Maintenance of infrastructure, including alleyways (pages 23 & 38)
● Land use, planning & zoning (page 23)
● Mental health programs (page 26)
Other interesting Data Points:
● 68% of Dallas residents have called it home for 20+ years (page 47)
● 79% of households earn less than $100k per year (page 53)
● 60% are home owners (page 54)
