Locals Call for Resignations of Termed-Out Board, Commission Appointees

A letter sent Thursday to the Dallas City Council and Mayor Eric Johnson calls for the immediate removal or resignation of members of boards and commission who have served more than four consecutive two-year terms – the term limit established by Dallas’ city charter and code. 

The letter was authored by Michael Northrup, an East Dallas resident and member of the Neighborhood Coalition of Dallas. Its nearly 90 signatories believe that the city’s compliance with basic laws like term limits is a necessary step toward building community trust in the governing body.

“If ordinary citizens are to have faith in their elected officials and trust in their City government, our elected and appointed officials must recognize that their failure to abide by the city’s own Charter and ordinances is a fundamental breach of the public trust,” the letter states. “Our city, including its elected and appointed leaders, must not be above the law.”

Northrup told the Observer that the letter is not meant to target any particular individual. He added that the Neighborhood Coalition of Dallas has not been able to create a complete list of the board or commission appointees who need to resign, because information about when certain individuals were appointed to their respective group is difficult to find on city websites. 

The letter does list the current chair of the City Plan Commission, Tony Shidid, as one example of an appointee who has remained on a commission past the city’s mandated term limit. Shidid joined the City Plan Commission in 2013 and was named to his fourth, two-year term in 2019 by council member Jamie Resendez.  

In a text message to NBC 5, Resendez gave a near verbatim response to the one the Observer received from some other council members: “I will defer to the city attorneys for any legal conclusions or guidance moving forward regarding the letter.”

Council members may be hesitant to speak about the letter’s demands because of the document’s first line, which references a controversial Dallas HERO charter amendment, Proposition S, that was approved by voters in November. The proposition opens the city up to citizen lawsuits over failed enforcement of state laws, the city charter and city ordinances. 

Northrup told us that he did not vote for Proposition S – in fact, he thinks it is “a bad idea to open the city up to every little complaint that somebody may have” – but that the amendment’s approval “speaks volumes about the mindset of the electorate.” He added that the Neighborhood Coalition of Dallas has attempted to flag over-termed officials to individual council members in the past, but the group never received a concrete response to its concerns. 

“It may seem small to some people, but when you’ve got people that are appearing in front of a board or commission for the first time, and maybe the only time ever, and they show up and find there’s somebody that’s deciding their case that’s not eligible to be there, how does that appear to the public?” Northrup said. “I decided now is the time for us to actually do something and get the city council to take notice of these illegal board and commission members.”

Another clear message, he believes, is Dallas voters’ approval of a charter amendment that bars council members from serving more than four nonconsecutive terms. Proposition E, which puts those stricter term limits for council members in writing, was approved by nearly 70% of Dallas voters in November. 

If the electorate overwhelmingly approved capping council members’ service at eight years, why would they be okay with board or commission members serving in excess of that? Northrup asks. 

Northrup said he does not want to open a lawsuit against the city himself, but the letter does reveal the latest way Proposition S could impact city hall. Last week, the Dallas HERO group threatened legal action against the city’s handling of homeless encampments, which are banned by the state. 

Officials and advocates for unhoused populations have stated that aiding Dallas’ homeless population is something that will take time – far longer than the 60 days Proposition S gives the city to respond to complaints before a legal avenue is opened – but ensuring boards and commissions are staffed by eligible individuals is an “easy fix,” Northrup says. 

“There’s some stuff that’s going to be coming down very quickly after the first of the new year, like the parking code amendment,” Northrup said. “I think we want to be sure that the people that are deciding those things are the people that should be deciding them.”