What are the Dallas HERO amendments? Here's what voters need to know.
Early voting for the 2024 election kicks off on Monday, and in Dallas, voters will decide on 18 proposed amendments to the city charter, outlining the structure of the municipal government.
Three of the amendments are called HERO amendments. They were added to the ballot after Dallas HERO, a bipartisan group, collected more than 169,000 signatures to do so. The amendments are on the ballot as Proposition S, Proposition T and Proposition U and have been hotly contested among current and former Dallas city leaders.
Council members sought to add three other amendments aimed at nullifying the HERO-supported additions, but the Texas Supreme Court sided with the group, stating the council's amendments would "confuse and mislead voters" if they were included on the ballot.
What are the HERO amendments?
The three proposed initiatives would increase the total number of Dallas police officers and guarantee a competitive starting salary for DPD employees. They would also subject the Dallas city manager to a performance-based pay and allow citizens to sue government officials who don't follow the law.
- Proposition S would remove governmental immunity and allow any resident to sue the City of Dallas if it doesn't comply with charter amendments and local ordinances.
- Proposition T would mandate an annual quality-of-life survey. With as few as 1,400 responses, the city manager could receive a performance bonus equal to a year's salary or be fired.
- Proposition U would force the city to maintain a minimum police force of 4,000 officers, which is almost 900 more than the city has right now. The charter amendment would also mandate that at least 50% of any additional revenue the city receives from any source would be directed to the police and fire pension fund and higher salaries for police.
Who has spoken out against the HERO amendments?
Earlier this month, several current and former political leaders gathered to kick off their campaign against the amendments, including county Democrats. Among them were former Dallas mayors Ronald Kirk, Tom Leppert, Mike Rawlings and Laura Miller, along with former Dallas Police Chief David Brown.
"As tempting as it sounds to have 4,000 Dallas police officers … this amendment spells doom for spending on street code compliance, library services, parks, economic development, and other vital city services," Brown said at the event.
Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price and others warned voters that the ballot is long and they should not overlook the final three proposals. A sample Dallas County ballot shows the three propositions on page three.
Some Dallas city council members even blamed the HERO Initiative for the reason former Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia left the city. Councilmembers Paula Blackmon and Adam Bazaldua told CBS News Texas they blame HERO for Garcia's departure.
Bazaldua said Garcia was likely undermined and micromanaged from billionaires with a political agenda. He also said the level of talent and officers DPD can recruit will reflect on government functions.
Blackmon said the timing is interesting. "Now these measures are on the ballot and [Garcia] is leaving," she said.
On Oct. 21, the first day of early voting, the Dallas Police Association came out against the amendments, saying Proposition U is damaging to the police department.
"[DPA] is strongly opposed to all three of these amendments - which 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," DPA President Jaime Castro said. "It's easy to look at this amendment and think more police officers is a good idea, but the truth is that this amendment could result in lowering the current standards for our recruits and making it more difficult to keep our good officers because we lose the ability to control our salaries and benefits for the officers we want to keep and incentivize."
Who supports the HERO amendments?
Pete Marocco, the executive director of the HERO Initiative, told CBS News Texas in September that "there is clearly a complete lack of leadership on city council and in the city manager's office."
He continued to say that the three amendments would benefit residents because they need more security and police and that people advocating against them are putting out misinformation.
"Our elected officials posture, fundraise, and bicker instead of bringing solutions for the police and fire pension problems. The bottom line is this: The city's $5 billion budget can afford more officers and must prioritize over these grifters' pet projects for their friends. We need accountability at City Hall," Marocco said in a statement in October.
Marocco has declined to identify the donors who are backing the project, but critics like former Mayor Kirk say it is being funded by wealthy non-residents.
The HERO Initiative is a bipartisan organization that seeks to introduce citizen-powered amendments to the Dallas City Charter, according to its website. The proposed amendments are focused on improving public safety and measures to hold city leaders and city government accountable, the website says. Other supporters of the amendments include members of the Dallas County GOP.
