Dallas voters will have the opportunity to vote on four citizen-driven ballot initiatives in November.
The Dallas City Council on Wednesday discussed all four and, as required by state law, will vote to place them on the ballot in one week.
Each initiative received the required 20,000 valid signatures from Dallas residents during a petition drive to appear on the ballot.
Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia told the council he has concerns about two of the initiatives, including one that would decriminalize possession of marijuana under four ounces in the city.
“Two to four ounces of marijuana is definitely worth our time to investigate,” Garcia told the city council. “I do feel other cities might be different, but in ours, I do believe this will have negative public safety impacts.”
Garcia’s comments came as the Dallas City Council reviewed the four citizen, signature-led charter amendments, which the council will vote on Aug. 14 and which will all appear on the general election ballot in November.
District 12 councilmember Cara Mendelsohn asked Garcia to address the council on potential impacts if voters approve the marijuana charter amendment November 5.
“You are doing such a great job at reducing violent crime in our city,” Mendelsohn told Garcia. “And I’m very fearful that should this pass that it will have some kind of negative impact on that.”
Garcia also voiced concerns about another ballot initiative that would require Dallas PD to increase its sworn officers to 4000 in the next year.
Dallas HERO successfully submitted signatures for three ballot initiatives, including the one dealing with minimum Dallas police staffing.
Garcia told the council that the department has just below 3100 officers but is encouraged by having as many as five graduating academies this year, which would add 250 officers.
“Acclimating 900 police officers in one year is very difficult—I would say close to impossible—with all the administrative issues that it takes,” Garcia said.
Dallas Interim City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert told the council that adding 900 officers would impact the budget by $175 million and result in drastic cuts throughout several departments.
By contrast, Tolbert said plans to add 250 officers in 2025 and 2026 are part of the balanced budget she will release publicly on Friday.
Ground Game Texas, which helped in pot legalization efforts in Austin and Denton, told NBC 5 in June that Dallas is the largest city it has worked to pass an amendment.
A spokesperson for the group said late Wednesday that they were unable to comment on Garcia’s criticism because they had not had the opportunity to review it.
“However, we would like to reiterate that our marijuana decriminalization policy is sound, popular, and legal under Texas law,” a spokesperson said.
