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Oct 18, 2006 7:02 pm US/Central
Dallas Council In Faceoff With DART
by Bud Gillett
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
Dallas' mayor and some council members are considering firing all of their DART board members over the transit agency's long-range rail plan.
City hall is worried its own appointees don't seem to be committed to the city's positions on two important rail projects.
Dallas wants to know how its board members will vote on DART's project for the year 2030. But 8 of the 15 DART board seats are from Dallas. That constitutes a quorum, so they can't legally meet with anyone unless the DART chairman calls for such a session… and he won't.
Council member Ron Natinsky said, "I'm really disappointed that we have to play this game of chicken or 'who blinks first' with DART."
The city claims it has compromised its desires for the plan down to two non-negotiable items: rail service south to the inland port of Dallas, and light rail—not diesel or a diesel hybrid—on the Cotton Belt route stretching through Dallas and on its way from Plano to DFW Airport. The mayor says the city doesn't know if its appointees are committed to the plan.
The worst-case scenario is that the council members will meet again on Monday, fire its DART board members, and appoint themselves to vote at Tuesday's pivotal DART meeting. But not every council member is on board.
Council member Maxine Thornton-Reese asks rhetorically, "Eight of our members are going to do this? Are we insane?" And councilman James Fantroy says there has to be another way to solve the problem besides firing board members.
DART chair Mark Enoch said Dallas should remember it is one player in a regional effort and should let its appointees do their work. He also wants the city to remember that those appointees "are part of a sovereign governmental entity."
There is a cooling-off opportunity. Officials from DART and the city have an informal meeting set for Friday in hopes of heading off next week's showdown.
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