Dallas councilmembers sue to delay City Hall redevelopment vote

Three councilmembers filed a lawsuit on Monday, claiming the city rushed a special meeting to decide if the city should repair City Hall or go somewhere else.

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. They're asking for the special meeting to be put on hold to allow time for a proper briefing or a clear redevelopment plan. As it stands now, that vote is still set for Wednesday.

They argue the city is trying to rush important actions, like studying a possible relocation or redevelopment of City Hall, without giving the public and council enough clear information or time to review them.

The lawsuit claims:

• The meeting agenda is too vague and doesn't clearly explain what the city plans to do or how much it will cost
• The city may be breaking Texas open meetings laws by not giving proper public notice
• Officials did not follow the required financial rules before considering major spending or development plans
• A council member's request to delay a key vote was unfairly denied
• Any redevelopment could permanently affect Dallas City Hall, a historic building

Dallas City Council meeting proposed agenda

According to the agenda, the Dallas City Council meeting is to talk about big changes to several city buildings and services.

They are considering:

• Moving City Hall to a new location or repairing the current building at 1500 Marilla Street
• Moving 911 emergency operations and related services to a new site
• Studying and planning possible new locations for these facilities
• Looking at redevelopment options for the current City Hall property

If approved, the city manager would be allowed to:

• Start planning and negotiations for new sites
• Do research and cost studies on possible locations
• Begin early work on moving offices and services

Dallas mayor wants to relocate City Hall, citing costs

Mayor Eric Johnson told CBS News Texas in an interview that he wants the city to move out of City Hall.

He said the latest cost estimates released last week for the major repairs to this 47-year-old building range from more than $531 million to nearly $611 million over 6 to 10 years — just too expensive for taxpayers. Johnson said the land could be sold to a private developer for something new and relocating to another downtown building would cost much less.

Former Dallas Mayor Laura Miller, who said the way this upcoming council vote was set isn't transparent.  

"There's no plan. So why are we rushing?" said Miller. "And what's very telling to me is that the city manager would put on the item late on a Friday night on a special agenda that you can't delay if you're council members. So, it's all very nontransparent."  

The city said it has no comment due to pending litigation.

On Monday, the Plano City Council will vote on an agreement for the Stars to build a new arena at the Willow Bend Mall site.