Texas Supreme Court rules in favor of HERO; Dallas City Council ordered to remove 3 charter amendments from Nov. ballot

DALLAS — The Texas Supreme Court ordered the Dallas City Council to remove three charter amendments from the Nov. ballot, ruling in favor of the Dallas HERO Initiative.

The citizen-led bipartisan initiative claimed the council’s amendments were meant to nullify their amendments. The court agreed, saying the propositions contradict each other and the language would “confuse and mislead voters.”

In June, the Dallas HERO Initiative successfully petitioned to have three amendments added to the November ballot, submitting over 169,000 signatures. HERO said those signatures exceeded the city’s requirement of at least 20,000 signatures for each of the three proposed amendments.

The city secretary certified HERO’s petitions.

HERO’s three proposed amendments would:

• Increase the total number of Dallas police officers and guarantee that the starting salary of DPD officers is on par with the top five of all major city police departments in North Texas. 
• It also calls for a portion of annual excess revenue to be allocated to the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System.
• Subject the city manager to performance-based pay
• Allow citizens to sue government officials who don’t follow the law 

In August, the Dallas City Council held several meetings to discuss a special election on proposed amendments. 

Several council members did not approve of HERO’s proposed amendments, the Supreme Court documents state, and moved to include three additional proposed amendments. 

The council’s proposed amendments gave the council the final say in all city funds and would ensure the city’s government immunity and prevent residents from filing suit, according to the court’s ruling.

HERO and a Dallas resident who signed petitions to get the HERO proposals on the ballot filed suit to block the council’s proposed charter amendments. 

On Sept. 11, the Texas Supreme Court issued its ruling and directed the council not to include its propositions on the Nov. ballot.