Former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert writes that he'll be voting for the upcoming bond package, but voters are right to have reservations about how the process was handled.On May 4, Dallas voters will be asked to approve a $1.25 billion bond proposal. This will be an investment in our city. As a businessman, I understand the importance of investing and maintaining critical assets.
More important, I, along with many in city government and the business community, am concerned with recent fiscal and management trends in Dallas. To be successful, we need fiscal policies that focus on our taxpayers and businesses and, like every person, family, and business, show practicality for the resources available and the longer-term implications of our policies.
At the core of city services are streets, sanitation, water and, most important, public safety. That is the primary role of municipal government.In this 13-year period, the size of our police force has decreased by approximately 20% and the proportion of the budget going to public safety has declined. This means slower response times, less flexibility in staffing and proactive policing and fewer opportunities to build bridges with the community.
Unfortunately, I am hearing individuals and businesses often lament how difficult it is to do business with our city. They relate the difficult and time-consuming process to even generate fundamental needs like building permits. One individual who is heading up a large project for the city told me it is arduous and grueling to work with the city bureaucracy.
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