DeSoto City Council Handles Business This Week’s Council Meeting

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DESOTO – Place 6 Crystal Chism and Place 7 Letitia Hughes were not in attendance at Tuesday night’s city council meeting. Hughes was on a virtual call and able to comment and vote as necessary.

At the opening, Place 2 councilmember Pierette Parker wanted residents to be aware of a virtual public meeting on August 22 to discuss road construction off Parkerville and Hampton Road in the southern part of the city.

Resident Arthur Anderson spoke in public comment and said he had appeared before the council several times and was still waiting on answers he asked on April 16 and May 7. He said he has documented written correspondence “which has been routinely ignored.”

Anderson said, “We have a pattern of injustices being committed in DeSoto now with accountability and the lack of integrity on full display for the entire city. The officials who are responsible for serving the people ignore and deflect with no commitment to justice. Too many people in DeSoto have experienced injustices, and one of them is Dr. Dinah Marks, who is the rightful mayor pro tem.”

Anderson said, “Today, though, I want to address a repeated issue of people in this city being above the law and weaponizing the police.”

Anderson held up a document that was a police case where police were called for an allegation of assault that was listed as harassment. Names were not called, but Anderson said the document reported the incident was unfounded and the incident did not occur, and it appeared there was a false police report filed to have someone in the neighborhood arrested. He went on to explain this was similar to another case brought to the council based on a person who was claiming to be the victim of an assault with a gun, which was based on a false report on someone in the neighborhood to have them arrested after losing the election to the HOA Board of Directors.

“There was no evidence of any crime,” Anderson explained, as well as no motive, witness, or weapon, and the police report stated when they arrived at her 911 call, she was in the front yard watering her flowers. There was also another person in the neighborhood who said he had reported this same woman’s harassment on city property and at his home, and he was told he could not file a report against her and the police would “talk to her because they knew her.”

Anderson then asked why people with relationships with the chief of police, the mayor, and Councilmember Chism can make false reports, have people arrested, and not be held accountable?”  He wanted to know what steps would be taken on this matter.

Tracy Nelson spoke during public comment and said she was discussing the possibility of the city partnering with Vesper to affect an energy storage facility at the corner of Eagle Drive and Westmoreland. “We are extremely opposed, so we have to speak to you and let you know we are going to do that at every opportunity.”

Bernadine Harrison spoke and mentioned she would be referring to Councilmember Place 5 Dr. Marks as the mayor pro tem “because you are the mayor pro tem under Roberts Rules of Order, and what I don’t quite understand is we have a city attorney here and I am sure we the people pay his salary and I do not understand why, if there is an issue, the attorney does not clarify that issue and share with us where we have gone wrong or perhaps where the mayor has gone wrong. As I said, this issue is not going to go away. We are still very upset about it, we followed the rules, came to a conclusion and then certain members of this body chose to change those rules at will. Again, I say you cannot do that.”

Harrison said she did not want to be negative, and she said some good things are going on in the city. Still, she said she intends to continue to speak on this and added, “nothing beats a failure but a try” she noted at the next meeting, she is hoping the city attorney will say something while also commending the new city manager who she said has “made an effort to address some of our concerns and don’t think for one minute that we don’t appreciate that effort.”

She added, though, “The issue with Dinah Marks is not going to go away. We are not going to have people sit here, make decisions, and then decide to change them at will. We run this city, not the mayor, not the city manager, not you. You are our representatives, and I have to say that some of you are doing a very poor job of representing us, and I would like to see you do a better job.”

She said some residents are working diligently to get rid of a few people on the council. “We are not going to allow you to sit here and make decisions on your own, and I noticed at the last meeting Mayor Proctor, at the end, mouthing that I was out of order and was mistaken. I did give Representative Hughes the opportunity to correct me if I was wrong…” At this point, Harrison’s three minutes ran out for public comment.

Keisha Nixon spoke and read an email she sent to the mayor, council, and city manager on August 16, opening with the following: It has come to her attention that a city staff member could be involved in selling city trademark items on Amazon for personal profit.

She said this was troubling given a recent request for city items for charity, and she was informed the city had a limited supply of such items and she, “as a taxpayer,” was denied. She said the perception of the situation “raises questions about the ethical management of city resources and transparency. There is a concern that the funds generated from these sales may not be appropriately allocated or used for the benefit of the community. Are city staff members permitted to sell city trademark items? How are the funds from these sales managed, and where do they ultimately go? It is crucial for public trust that such matters are handled with utmost transparency and integrity.”

Nixon did receive a message from the city manager telling her there were no sales of these items and that no departments were generating revenue from such items. It was also noted why the city chose Amazon for products being sold. Nixon said she placed an order for a notebook that day and received the item from Esther William’s store for $9.99. She said to the city manager, “I don’t know if you were relying on third-party information or you investigated, but I am giving you the benefit of the doubt,” and she added this is part of the “lack of transparency and corruption I see in the city of DeSoto.”

City Manager Majed Al-Ghafry spoke in regard to a citizen comment from the August 6 meeting about a November 16 item by council regarding a façade improvement grant. Matt Carlson made the presentation. He is the DDC Director. A synopsis was given of the events leading to the grant that began in March 2022. Items had been listed for improvements needed and it fell in line with development improvements in that DeSoto area. There was a discussion regarding a $50,000 matching grant, and in May 2022, a formal application was submitted and approved. There was a policy that needed to be looked at concerning the grant, and in September, a revised policy was approved, in November 2022, it was brought before the council again, and the item was passed for the approval of the grant with one absent for the vote and one voting no.

Marks interjected that just as this messaging was relayed at this meeting, to be equal across the board, “if we are going to answer one, I think as we move forward if that is going to be the standard practice, then it should be the practice for all and not just for one particular situation.”

The city manager said that moving forward, this would be the standard practice.

The consent agenda items approved at the council meeting passed 5 – 1, with Marks voting no after it was explained to her that the consent agenda vote also included all the backlogged meeting minutes dating back to 2021.

Additional backlogged city council special and regular meeting minutes not on this list for approval will be brought back in a second batch to be approved at another meeting.

Al-Ghafry spoke about these backlogged minutes still appearing for approval on 2024 city council meeting agendas, stating he believes the City Secretary has done a good job making headway with all these backlogged minutes.

The minutes that passed with the one 5 -1 vote included the Regular meeting minutes for April 16, and May 7, 2024 and the Special City Council meeting minutes from April 16, 2024 as well as minutes from July 8, 19, 22, August 5, 13, 16, 17, 19, 30, September 7, 20, 21, October 18, 19, November 2, 5 16, 2021 and March 1, 15, and 23, 2022. Under the other consent agenda items passing a recognition proclamation honoring Never Give Up Day and a proclamation honoring Small Business Administration Day passed. Also a resolution in support of Councilwoman Chism’s National League of Cities (NLC) Leadership Application to the Board of Directors and REAL Vice Chair seat, a resolution designating bank signatories to all City of Desoto accounts at Plains Capital bank, an ordinance amending the Fiscal Year 23/24 adopted budget to install 628 LED lights, an ordinance amending the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Adopted Budget for the Parks and Recreation Department, an ordinance adopting the City of DeSoto’s Drought Contingency and Water Conservation Plans, approval to authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a professional services agreement with Mas-Tek Engineering in an amount not to exceed $135,637 in order to provide construction materials testing and inspection services in association with the City’s Aquatic and Recreation Center (ARC) at McCowan Park Construction Project as well as also authorizing him to negotiate and execute Amendment No.4 for additional consulting services with Halff Associates in association with the Hampton Road Character Codes at a cost not to exceed $29,500, also to negotiate and execute a Gas Main Extension Agreement with Atmos Energy for an amount not to exceed $52,000, in association with the Aquatic and Recreation Center (ARC) at McCowan Park Construction Project and to execute a Professional Services Agreement with Halff Associates, Inc. for a not-to-exceed amount of $455,000 for developing a new Drainage Master Plan for the City of DeSoto.

In that same vote, a preliminary plat was approved titled “Parkerville Villas, Lots 1-X, 2-23, 33X, 34 Block A; Lots 1X, 2-18 Block B; Lots 1-16 Block C; Lots 1-16 Block D and Lots 1-9, 10X, 11 Block E” located at 900 E. Parkerville Road, 1100 Sherry Lane consisting of 29.33 acres.

One public hearing was heard regarding a beauty school at 1700 N. Hampton Road. The school was asking for a Specific Use Permit to operate at this location and this was specifically for a change in location since SUPs are not transferable and stay only with the property.

A parking issue question came up; the owner provided a parking analysis, and there are 66 car parks on the property, with 64 being required. The school believes they will need no more than eight parking spots. The item passed unanimously.

On the regular agenda items council said yes to authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a Memorandum of Understanding between the cities of DeSoto, Cedar Hill, and Duncanville for Computer-Aided Dispatch System procurement, implementation, project management for licensing for the Southwest Regional Communications Center.

Also passing unanimously was authorizing the City Manager to negotiate and execute a purchase agreement with Tyler Technologies for the purchase of Computer-Aided Dispatch and Records Management System software. The city manager was also given the green light to negotiate and execute an agreement with BerryDunn for project management services for the implementation of Tyler Technologies Computer Aided Dispatch and Records Management System software, also to be a shared cost with Cedar Hill and Duncanville.

An ordinance also passed amending the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Adopted Budget related to utilizing excess reserve funds as identified by DeSoto’s Fund Balance Policy and transferring funds with the recommendation being $1,500,000 be transferred from the General Fund for one-time use for future vehicles and electronic equipment. Staff notes indicated this transfer will be used to replace the City’s Enterprise Microsoft Email and Office systems and replacement vehicles. Staff also recommended that $1,500,000 be transferred from the Public Utility Fund. This transfer would be used to pay for allowed water and sewer utility improvements that are included in the road improvement at Westmoreland Road, Pleasant Run Road, and Danieldale Road. No amendments were recommended for the Drainage Fund, Sanitation Fund, or the SWRCC Fund; however, staff indicated it was anticipated utilizing reserve Drainage Fund dollars as part of the FY 2025 Budget that will be recommended to the City Council. This item was passed 6 – 0.

A resolution passed accepting the 2024 Tax Year Appraisal Roll submitted by the Dallas Central Appraisal District and was formally accepted by the City Council with the tax roll’s Certified Estimated Taxable Value (CTV) provided by DCAD is $7,728,606,954, not including the $208,372,036 under protest as claimed by property owners or estimated by DCAD. CTV is the appraised value of property minus exemptions and abatements, such as the over-65 exemption. The taxable value utilized to build the Fiscal Year 2024-25 budget is $7,750,000,000, which is the 2024 certified taxable value of $7,728,606,954 plus 10% of disputed values for the amount of property taxes the city is projecting to collect during Fiscal Year 2024-25.

A record vote was also taken and unanimously approved on the proposed tax rate of $0.684934 (68.4934 cents per $100 of valuation) for FY 2024-2025 with a Public Hearing on the Budget to be held on September 3, 2024, a Public Hearing on the Tax Rate to be held on September 17, 2024.

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