Dallas voters say ‘yes’ to marijuana decriminalization and more police on election night
KERA | By Nathan Collins, Ed Timms
Published November 6, 2024 at 3:26 AM CST
Dallas voters approved a marijuana decriminalization measure and two controversial city charter propositions that could significantly change how local government operates, according to unofficial election results.
Residents now have the power to sue the city of Dallas for violating the charter, city ordinances and state law. And it could lose its governmental immunity in those cases.
Another proposition passed narrowly by Dallas voters will require the city to hire hundreds of new police officers and can dictate where some excess revenue is spent.
Some elected officials told KERA Wednesday morning they were still trying to process the election results. Others had a different take.
District 12 Council Member Cara Mendelsohn said the approval of propositions that will change how Dallas operates, was a “powerful message from the people of Dallas who desperately want the city to enforce our ordinances and state laws and are focused on improving public safety.”
“Although I didn’t support the passage of these propositions because of concerns about the way they were written, I agree with the sentiments and hope this is a wake up call at city hall,” Mendelsohn told KERA over text message.
The two new charter amendments were part of a trio of initiatives added to the ballot by a group called Dallas HERO. The other measure — Proposition T — could have significantly affected how the city manager’s office operates. That measure failed to gain enough votes for approval.
Dallas HERO has said the propositions will keep elected officials accountable and strengthen the city’s police department.
But business leaders and elected officials have said if even one proposition’s approval would have drastic consequences for the city.
While the HERO propositions dominated the campaigning and media reports leading up to election, several other significant propositions — including the marijuana amendment — received less attention.
Proposition R will decriminalize up to four ounces of marijuana in the city and also mandate other changes in how Dallas police officers enforce and use cannabis as evidence for probable cause.
The proposition was approved with more than 65% of the vote, as of early-Wednesday election reports.
The measure was supported by some members of the Dallas City Council.
“For far too long, Dallas has poured police resources into enforcing laws criminalizing small amounts of marijuana, despite the overwhelming support of voters in rethinking our antiquated stance on this issue,” District 1 Council Member Chad West told KERA on election night. “I sincerely hope the State of Texas will listen to Dallas residents, who seem to be overwhelming supporting marijuana law reform, and refrain from interfering in this democratic process.”
The proposition was placed on the ballot by a group called Ground Game Texas and the group gained enough signatures earlier this year.
“This decisive victory is a repudiation of the state government’s outdated approach to marijuana regulation, which has unnecessarily criminalized countless Texans. The Dallas community has shown it’s time for a change — not just within the city, but throughout Texas,” the group’s Dallas Field Director Natalie Marquez said in a Wednesday morning press release.
Along with the city’s new marijuana policy, Proposition D — which removes May election dates from the charter and could pave the way for a November date — seemed poised for approval, with more than 65% of Dallas voters voting for its passage.
And in a close call, voters seemed ready to approve removing the citizenship requirement from some boards and commissions. The same measure was also before Dallas voters previously — and failed.
It looked like it would be approved with just over 50% of the votes, as of early Wednesday morning.
But there were also a handful of other amendments Dallas voters did not seem to approve on election night.
Most notably, Proposition C, which would increase mayor and council salaries, didn’t gain enough votes for approval. City officials have said the increase could have allowed a more diverse candidate pool to run for elected positions.
‘Contrived by a small group’
Proposition S gained 55% of votes as of early Wednesday morning.
The unofficial election totals came after a months-long campaign and petition process by Dallas HERO — and a campaign to oppose the group, which launched just weeks before Election Day.
The proposition is aimed at “citizen enforcement,” according to Dallas HERO. It said the change could empower people to bring legal action against the city and compel city leaders to “comply with any of the provisions” of the charter.
That includes getting injunctive relief against the city — and recovering attorney’s fees. It would also see that the city can’t defend against a lawsuit with “governmental immunity.”
“I can tell you from a business standpoint, the cost of that and the operational issues that will come about on that, it will paralyze the city,” former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert said at an early-October press conference.
Proposition U requires that the city increase the number of sworn police officers to “at least 4,000.” That means hiring around 900 more officers.
City officials, including former Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia and the Dallas Police Association — which represents thousands of DPD officers — have opposed Proposition U.
Garcia has said in the past trying to hire that many officers in one go would be like “robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
Jaime Castro, the DPA president, said in late-October the propositions were “contrived by a small group of people who do not live in Dallas, with no open dialogue, no experience on the subject matter and no communications with police association leaders that would be impacted by these amendments.”
The DPA formally opposed the HERO amendments on the first day of early voting in October.
The measure appeared to pass with 50.52% of the votes in favor.
Proposition T would have tied the city manager’s compensation to “citizen satisfaction” with city services.
The amendment would also have required the city to complete an “annual community survey” that focuses on crime, homelessness, litter, “aggressive solicitation [and] panhandling” and infrastructure and streets.
‘Without a doubt…’
The Dallas HERO propositions have created controversy since earlier this year when the group successfully gained enough signatures to have their measures placed on the ballot.
But the group has faced intense scrutiny by elected officials, the media — and residents. Its been accused of being run by people outside of the city for personal gain. Pete Marocco is Dallas HERO’s executive director and has previously listed a University Park address when registering to speak at city council meetings.
Marocco disputed the claims the group was being run and funded by “outsiders.”
“I can tell you, without a doubt, there is not one single donor that I have seen that is from outside the Dallas area,” Marocco told KERA in October. “When I say the Dallas area, you might have somebody that’s in Garland, you might have somebody that’s in Plano, you might have somebody that’s in University Park.”
Stefani Carter was an early Dallas HERO executive and serves as Dallas HERO’s “honorary chair.” Carter sits on the Braemar Hotels and Resorts board of directors.
Cathy Cortina Arvizu brought the original lawsuit against most of the city council — except Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson and District 12 Council Member Cara Mendelsohn — over the city’s attempts to essentially nullify the group’s amendments.
Arvizu is a paralegal at the asset management firm, Ashford Inc., according to LinkedIn. Ashford is run by Monty Bennett, who also serves as the publisher for the Dallas Express.
Bennett — who claims a homestead exemption at a Highland Park address, according to Dallas County Appraisal District documents — is also the founder and chairman of Braemar Hotels and Resorts, the same company’s board on which Carter sits.
Further connections
In late September, WFAA Bennett — who sat down with the outlet for a rare TV appearance — “admitted that he’d contributed his support, office space, and even cash to the initiative, although he wouldn’t say how much — just that it’s not as much as he’s donated to other GOP initiatives.”
And there are claims Bennett has used his publication to influence politics and try to discredit other established media outlets, according to an extensive investigation by independent journalist Steven Monacelli and published in the Texas Observer.
Monacelli has been chronicling possible ties between Bennett, Marocco, Dallas HERO and the charter election for months.
On Nov. 4, D Magazine reported Marocco had been accused of entering the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection in Washington D.C.
Matt Goodman, the magazine’s online editorial director, wrote “a group of semi-anonymous, volunteer sleuths that has become known as the Sedition Hunters identified” Marocco.
That includes sifting through social media profiles, “video footage, and by using facial recognition software, among other tools that have helped them identify more than 1,000 rioters,” according to Goodman.
When reached for comment about the article, Marocco told D Magazine:
“Petty smear tactics and desperate personal attacks by politicians with no solutions have no bearing on the urgency of voting in these charter amendments from 170,000 Dallas citizens for more accountability and public safety. Our commitment to strengthening our city through the will of the people is resolute.”
Beyond election night
Now that Dallas voters have approved to decriminalize larger amounts of marijuana, the city could likely face a lawsuit from the state.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued other Texas municipalities for similar attempts to make marijuana more readily available. That includes Denton, Austin and three other Texas cities.
“As exciting as tonight’s victory is, we know we have work to do in seeing that the policy is correctly implemented, as well as defending that implementation from baseless attacks by Attorney General Ken Paxton,” Ground Game Texas Executive Director Catina Voellinger said in a press release. “We look forward to continuing to work with our community partners in Dallas to ensure the Dallas Freedom Act goes into effect, as well as continuing to build our movement across the state.”
But city officials face a more difficult issue to navigate.
Approving Proposition S means Dallas could be one of few large cities to waive it’s governmental immunity in certain legal situations — if not the only one.
Former and current Dallas elected officials have previously said the proposition could leave the city vulnerable to hundreds — if not thousands — of lawsuits and tie up resources for litigation.
Proposition U could mean drastic cuts to city services. Elected officials have said that means at every level of city government — in every department.
The city can start looking at amending the charter again in a decade.