When we first saw that the city intends to roll out something called "Dallas City Hall To Go," frankly, we imagined something else. Maybe the city would bring Vonciel Jones Hill to your neighborhood to check your pool chlorine levels or maybe Sheffie Kadane to test your tap water for excess fluoride. Alas, City Hall to Go is something a lot less fun, but a lot more useful.
Taking a cue from a similar Boston program, the city is retrofitting a Chevrolet Express Commercial Cutaway 3500 Van to provide city services in areas where residents might be unlikely to visit Dallas City Hall proper.
The City Hall on wheels will accept payments for traffic tickets, pet registration and water bills in addition to doing things like issuing garage sale permits and distributing information about pet adoptions. Visitors can also file open records requests with the van staff, like "Why on earth to the city choose to make City Hall mobile?"
"City Hall To Go" will operate Wednesday through Sunday at special events and in targeted neighborhoods. The program is being developed in response to the city's 2014 TalkDallas survey. Dallas residents satisfaction with the type of city services to be provided by "City Hall To Go" decreased significantly from 2013 to 2014, the city says.
The city of Dallas has yet to install the vehicles technology, train those who will staff it or wrap the van with graphics, but expects a potential soft launch in late May or early June.
