Dallas City Hall redevelopment vote delayed after judge grants temporary restraining order
A judge has ruled that the Dallas City Council cannot address city hall matters in their Wednesday meeting.
The ruling comes after three council members filed a lawsuit on Monday, claiming the city rushed a special meeting to decide whether to repair Dallas City Hall or relocate.
In the lawsuit, council members Adam Bazaldua, Paula Blackmon, and Cara Mendelsohn say the city manager, Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, and city secretary, Bilierae Johnson, violated the Texas Open Meetings Act, the city charter, and the city's requirements for a transparent government.
According to councilman Bazaldua, Mendelsohn has withdrawn herself as a plaintiff in the lawsuit. CBS News Texas has reached out to Mendelsohn to ask why.
"The City is attempting to ram through this momentous decision at a special meeting called on short notice, without proper briefing of all City Council members", the lawsuit alleged.
Attorney Leon Carter, for the city of Dallas, argued before the judge that Bazaldua's claim was "a lawsuit in search of a problem", stating the city has adequately discussed the matter for weeks.
For months, there have been meetings, appraisals, and campaigns over the future of the I.M. Pei-designed city government structure. Preservationists have called for spending millions to repair the building, while former Mayor Mike Rawlings and others have promoted using the Marilla Street location for future development in downtown.
Judge Moyé stated a two-week window for the restraining order and plans to revisit the matter in late June.
The special-called Dallas City Council meeting has not been canceled. It remains set for Wednesday morning, with the city hall items blocked by a court ruling.
Former Dallas Mayors weigh in
Former Dallas Mayor Laura Miller also commented on the "rush" to make a decision in an interview with Eye on Politics reporter Jack Fink earlier this week. "What is really strange to me is that they would have a vote on this when we just heard that their hopeful tenant, the Mavs, wants to go to Valley View," said Miller. "So why the rush? There's no plan for the building. There are no cost estimates and we're just going to cost to demolish it."
Former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert rejected the idea of fixing City Hall. "It's almost a crime to the taxpayers of this city to put that much money into a building," Leppert said. "The reality is, if you make the renovations to the buildings, you're going to have to move those people anyway."
Mayor Johnson wants to move Dallas City Hall
Current Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said he wants the city to move out of Dallas City Hall because the latest cost estimates are too expensive for taxpayers.
Johnson said the land could be sold to a private developer for a new development.
"The numbers have now been proven multiple times to be accurate, and it would be very costly to stay, and so I would be in favor, for sure, of us saving the taxpayers considerable money by leaving this obsolete building," Johnson said.