The Dallas City Council’s first pass at proposing charter amendments was a swing and a miss.

From an unnecessary “preamble” that reads as a parody of progressive priorities to big raises and longer terms for council members, residents should be wondering what their City Council is up to.

We hope the July break put some council members in a better mind to actually focus on charter amendments that help the city run more efficiently while delivering excellent service.

Today, the council gets a second chance to do just that. And as much as we would like to encourage them to focus their energy there, we are worried that a more serious problem has taken precedence.

There are four proposed amendments to the charter that came not from the City Council but from petitions passed around by two interest groups. All of these amendments, if passed and placed in the charter, would represent serious dangers to our city. The council must focus its political efforts now on ensuring these proposals fail.

The first amendment would “legalize” possession of up to 4 ounces of marijuana. If you don’t know how much marijuana 4 ounces is, it means you’re in business. Police Chief Eddie García has strongly warned that passing this referendum would be bad public policy that would make Dallas less safe.

But the pro-legalization group Ground Game Texas is trying to use Dallas’ charter amendment process to score some political points. “Legalize” is a loaded term here. State law trumps city ordinance, and possession is illegal in Texas. But even as a symbol, such an amendment could prove problematic for police trying to do their jobs.

As worrisome as that is, there are three amendments put forward by the group Dallas HERO that might be worse. These could actually do major damage to the city’s budget and its representative government.

The amendments are complex but would (a) require Dallas to hire 1,000 more police officers by charter, (b) set up the city manager to either double her salary or be fired based on a public survey, and (c) permit residents to sue the city based on failure to comply with its own charter.

If any of those sound reasonable to you, dig into the details.

Dallas already budgets to hire more than 200 cops each year. The problem is actually filling the jobs. There just aren’t enough recruits. And even if there were, there is no way the city could add 1,000 officers immediately without shuttering parks and libraries and letting potholes bloom.

A public survey to either overly reward or outright fire the city manager would be a disaster — so subject to political manipulation that it would leave the city facing ugly annual campaigns over how to fill out the survey.

Finally, the idea that any resident could sue the city for any perceived failure to comply with the charter would lead to massive legal costs for no purpose at all.

None of these amendments should be part of our city charter. They are each so legally dubious that we hope they wouldn’t survive a challenge.

But even the outside possibility that they might become part of the charter should focus the mind of City Council members and civic leaders against them.

We need a lot of political energy aimed at explaining to voters why these proposals would be a train wreck for the city.

Given that, the council needs to narrow its own focus on proposed charter amendments to the absolutely essential. Because come November, voters need to be fully informed about things that could really hurt Dallas.

We welcome your thoughts in a letter to the editor. See the guidelines and submit your letter here. If you have problems with the form, you can submit via email at letters@dallasnews.com

The NBA released its schedule for the 2024 Emirates NBA Cup with the Dallas Mavericks getting a tough draw, hosting the New Orleans Pelicans and Memphis Grizzlies while traveling to play the Golden State Warriors and Denver Nuggets. The Warriors game is garnering a lot of attention as that will be Klay Thompson’s first time back in Golden State since leaving the team.

Brian Martin of NBA.com compiled a list of the 12 “must-watch” matchups in the NBA Cup and included the Mavericks at Warriors as one of them.

“In one of the biggest moves of the offseason,” Martin said, “Klay Thompson left Golden State in a sign-and-trade deal with Dallas. After 11 years and four championships with Steph Curry, Draymond Green and the Warriors, Thompson starts a new chapter with Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and the Mavs. The Emirates NBA Cup will provide a stage for the first Klay-Warriors reunion game.

“After watching the Splash Bros rain 3s on opponents for more than a decade, now we get to see them do so against one another.”

READ MORE: Dallas Mavericks Center Is Potential Early 2028 Team USA Olympic Candidate

The matchup between the Mavs and Warriors is part of opening night for the Emirates NBA Cup and fans will be tuned in to see what kind of game Thompson has against his former team and what kind of tributes the Warriors give to their former superstar. Thompson was a key component of a dynasty that won four championships and made five All-Star games in the process.

Thompson signed a 3-year, $50 million contract with the Mavericks this offseason as part of a sign-and-trade and he’s hoping to prove he can be a valuable asset to a championship team. Dallas got to the NBA Finals last season but lost to the Boston Celtics in five games.

The Warriors used the money freed by letting Thompson walk and waiving Chris Paul to bring in Buddy Hield, De’Anthony Melton, and Kyle Anderson. Whether that will be enough to make up for the loss of Thompson, who averaged 18 PPG last season while shooting 38% from three-point range, will be an intriguing storyline.

READ MORE: Games Announced For Dallas Mavericks, Boston Celtics in NBA Finals Rematches

Stick with MavericksGameday for more FREE coverage of the Dallas Mavericks throughout the NBA Offseason

Follow MavericksGameday on Twitter and Austin Veazey on Twitter

The Dallas Cowboys may be America’s Team, but they certainly aren’t getting the love from most of the nation when it comes to the betting market.

Dallas it he most polarizing organization in the NFL, and they’ve won 12 games in each of the last three seasons under head coach Mike McCarthy.

So, when oddsmakers set them at 10.5 wins for the 2024 season, one would expect some people to take the OVER, right?

Wrong.

Dallas has the most money wagered on the UNDER for its win total at Fanatics Sportsbook, with 93 percent of the money on the UNDER. Dallas would need to finish 10-7 or worse for that bet to hit.

Fanatics isn’t the only place where bettors are fading the Cowboys.

Earlier this offseason, it was reported that Dallas was the most bet team to go under its win total at BetMGM. Dallas has win total projection of 9.5 games at BetMGM Sportsbook, but bettors are hammering the under.

The Cowboys did lose in the first round of the playoffs as the No. 2 seed last season, but they’ve been a dominant regular season team as of late. The contract issues with star receiver CeeDee Lamb could be a reason why the public isn’t high on Dallas, but it’s hard to see the Cowboys not coming to an agreement with him by the start of the regular season.

After winning the NFC East last season, Dallas could be in line for a small step back as no team has repeated as the NFC East division champ since the Philadelphia Eagles did it from 2001 through 2004.

Dak Prescott and company will look to prove these bettors wrong in the 2024 season, but it’s shocking that both at 9.5 and 10.5 bettors are still all over the UNDER.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.