Mayor Mike Makes His Council Committee Appointments. Now, With “Initiatives”!

On the other side is a memo from Mayor Mike Rawlings that just arrived in the in-box in which he tells the council members who’ll serve on which committee. And, no, Angela Hunt did not get the Trinity River Corridor Project Committee chair — that went to Vonciel Jones Hill. But Hunt did land on the Trinity committee, as did newcomers Scott Griggs and Monica Alonzo, no easy feat given the fact the mayor shrunk the size of most committees, based, he writes, on input from council members who deemed them too large and unwieldy. Hunt will also chair Quality of Life.

Other chairs include Tennell Atkins over Economic Development, Pauline Medrano over Public Safety and Carolyn Davis over Housing. We will now never, ever miss a Housing Committee meeting. Ever. Ann Margolin is over the newly formed Arts, Culture & Libraries Committee, tasked with “develop[ing] a plan for alternative funding sources for arts, culture and libraries.” Council members serve on three committees, except for Dwaine Caraway, who’ll be working with Rawlings on “efforts to improve the education product for our Dallas youth,” including serving as what appears to be a liaison of sorts between the council and Dallas ISD’s board of trustees.

The mayor has also tasked each existing committee with an “initiative,” which is below the new roster. Such as: “While safety must be our top priority and transportation and economic development must be addressed,” he writes about the Trinity River Corridor Project, “the short term question is how do we get some recreational projects moving as soon as possible?”

He also addressed something Schutze is writing about for tomorrow, following his chat with the mayor, beneath the Jerry Allen-chaired Budget, Finance & Audit Committee assignments:

One of the most important things the city does is purchase millions of dollars of goods and services. We need to be assured that we do it in a fair and transparent manner that provides our taxpayers the best value possible while ensuring 1) we never compromise our minority purchasing program, 2) we can easily and fairly get goods and services donated to the city by companies wanting to help, and 3) that no lobbyist has an advantage at City Hall.

No. 2 there refers to this, in case you forgot. Now, jump for the whole thing.

Date: August 23, 2011
To: The members of the Dallas City Council

From: The Honorable Michael S. Rawlings

Subject: City Council Committee appointments

Thank you for your partnership and support over these past couple of months. Each of you brought forth unique ideas about how to better organize our committee structure while addressing the future needs of our city and how we will work together to meet those needs. I appreciate your thoughtfulness and passion during our conversations.

Many of you indicated the committees were too large and that some members sat on too many of them. Therefore, committee size will be 5 members on all but a few committees. Most members will be serving on 3 committees. This will allow each of you to dig deeper into the subject matter on each committee you serve. Plus, all committees will remain intact with one additional committee that will focus on the Arts, Culture & Libraries.

In addition, I am asking Councilman Caraway to serve on 2 committees and assist me in addressing our efforts to improve the education product for our Dallas youth. He will focus on two things:

1) Maximizing the role of communities and families to support our students; and,

2) How the city council can work closer with and give support to Dallas ISD’s Board of Trustees.

After careful thought and consideration, the following are the committee assignments as well as an initiative that’s important to me for each committee to address:

Public Safety

Chair – Pauline Medrano

Vice Chair – Sheffie Kadane

Members – Delia Jasso, Carolyn Davis, Sandy Greyson

Mayor’s Initiative: The City of Dallas must be in the top 5 large cities for fewest crimes. Currently, we are ranked 7th and working with Chief Brown and DPD create a plan to accomplish this.

Quality of Life
Chair – Angela Hunt

Vice Chair – Sandy Greyson

Members – Dwaine Caraway, Monica Alonzo, Carolyn Davis

Mayor’s Initiative: How do we have more fun and enjoy our city?

Economic Development

Chair- Tennell Atkins

Vice Chair – Ann Margolin

Members – Monica Alonzo, Sheffie Kadane, Jerry Allen

Mayor’s Initiative: Southern Dallas needs to be turned into a growth engine for Dallas and the region. Let’s push the right initiatives to accomplish this goal.

Budget, Finance & Audit

Chair – Jerry Allen

Vice Chair – Tennell Atkins

Members – Scott Griggs, Monica Alonzo, Ann Margolin

Mayor’s Initiative: One of the most important things the city does is purchase millions of dollars of goods and services. We need to be assured that we do it in a fair and transparent manner that provides our taxpayers the best value possible while ensuring 1) we never compromise our minority purchasing program, 2) we can easily and fairly get goods and services donated to the city by companies wanting to help, and 3) that no lobbyist has an advantage at City Hall.

Housing

Chair – Carolyn Davis

Vice Chair – Scott Griggs

Members – Pauline Medrano, Dwaine Caraway, Linda Koop

Mayor’s Initiative: We must have safe, quality, multi-unit dwellings that help build our economy, not hinder it.

Transportation & Environment

Chair – Linda Koop

Vice Chair – Sheffie Kadane

Members – Pauline Medrano, Vonciel Jones Hill, Sandy Greyson

Mayor’s Initiative: How can our vision of complete streets becomes a reality?

Arts, Culture & Libraries

Chair – Ann Margolin

Vice Chair – Delia Jasso

Members – Tennell Atkins, Vonciel Jones Hill, Jerry Allen


Mayor’s Initiative: Develop a plan for alternative funding sources for arts, culture and libraries.

Trinity River Corridor Project

Chair – Vonciel Jones Hill

Vice Chair – Linda Koop

Members – Delia Jasso, Scott Griggs, Monica Alonzo, Angela Hunt

Mayor’s Initiative: While safety must be our top priority and transportation and economic development must be addressed, the short term question is how do we get some recreational projects moving as soon as possible?

Ad Hoc Legislative Committee

Chair – Vonciel Jones Hill

Members – Pauline Medrano, Angela Hunt, Tennell Atkins, Jerry Allen, Carolyn Davis, Linda Koop, Ann Margolin

Ad Hoc Committee for Judicial Appointments

Chair – Angela Hunt

Members -Jerry Allen, Vonciel Jones Hill, Delia Jasso, Linda Koop, Sheffie Kadane

To reiterate, each committee should establish the top 5 priorities that the committee will work on for the next two years and present to the city council during our fall planning retreat. Lastly, I don’t expect all committees to meet on the same schedule, so feel free to meet as often or as little as necessary in accordance with the open meetings act. I look forward to working with each of you in creating the best urban city.