Dallas leaders seek removal of statues
Four City Council members say move will allow city to heal.
The four black members of the Dallas City Council called for the city’s Confederate statues to be removed Friday, saying it will allow the community to start healing from its racist past.
Dwaine Caraway, a council member who serves as mayor pro tem, held a news conference Friday afternoon with the other three black City Council members to “present a unified statement” on the statues. Council Member Kevin Felder called the monuments “symbols of racism” and says he has talked with Mayor Mike Rawlings about speeding up a proposed 90-day study by a task force to decide what to do with the statues.
“Taxpayer dollars should not support vestiges of racism, white supremacy and oppression,” Felder said. “I also support the opportunity for the chance for dialogue and action to address the continued discrimination in the city of Dallas in housing, employment, lending institutions — discrimination in contracting opportunities against black contractors.”
Earlier this week, Rawlings proposed forming a task force that would report back to the city’s Office of Cultural Affairs and make a recommendation to the City Council around Nov. 8 regarding the future of the statues.
The four council members said removing the statues will not be a permanent fix to Dallas’ racial issues, but they hope it would lead to a larger conversation about the city’s racial climate.
Organizers of a rally against white supremacy said they expect thousands to show up for the event Saturday at Dallas City Hall plaza, a short distance from the city’s Confederate War Memorial.
The monument has a large stone pillar with an anonymous Confederate soldier on top. Stone statues of four leaders of the Confederacy sit at each of the pillar’s four corners.
The statues are of Jefferson Davis, Gen. Robert E. Lee, Gen. Stonewall Jackson and Gen. Albert Johnston.
The monument was dedicated in 1896 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Supporters of keeping the Confederate monuments have posted that they plan to be at the rally Saturday. It’s not clear whether an organized counterprotest is expected.
The council members said Friday that the city is prepared to “shut it down” if any violence erupts. he said. “Despite growth, increased violent crime and slower response times, public safety spending as a total of the budget will decrease.”
Ken Casaday, president of the Austin Police Association, said in an emailed statement that local officers put their lives on the line every day in an environment of explosive population growth, rising violent crime and a proposed budget with no new dollars for additional officers.
“We understand some of the community’s frustration,” he said. “However, we are committed to ensuring our (contract) agreement will maintain our standing as one of the most transparent police departments in the country.”
Overall, the council heard 2½ hours of testimony from the public on the budget Thursday. Aside from policing, Austinites asked to increase public health funding, contribute more money to city equity efforts and to up services for low-income residents.
Even with a substantial tax increase on the table, Austin’s 2018 budget is tight. Already approved spending increases, such as body cameras for police officers and the opening of a new Central Library, will eat up new funding.
The staff ’s proposed budget didn’t increase social services funding as much as some council members would have liked, and left just $5 million for council additions.
City leaders set the maximum proposed tax rate for next year at 46.5 cents per $100 of property value — a 14.4 percent increase in revenue that could trigger an election — in order to consider a potential tax swap with the Austin school district. If the city and school district don’t decide to pursue a deal for the city to raise taxes and the school district to lower them, the city is expected to raise its tax revenue 8 percent.
Two people turned out to lodge concerns about the tax rate Thursday.
Supporters of the Austin Commission on Women called on the council to add a $50,000 allocation to help train sexual assault counselors and to put more police resources into victims services.
Last year, sexual assault services became a flashpoint in the city budget as victims begged for funding to test rape kits.
One woman cried before the council Thursday as she recounted her rape and insensitive handling of it, she said, by authorities.
“I tell people I’m too cold to go out in the winter, but I’m not, I’m just afraid of the dark,” she said.
“I lie awake thinking ... I know he’s doing it to someone else. Because, statistically, he is. I urge you to take this small step to help women that have reported these crimes,” the woman said.
Others asked for more funding for parks and community centers and, especially, asked that parks and community centers in overlooked areas of the city be brought up to par. Several children from the Montopolis swim team turned out with a slick documentary-style video saying their neighborhood pool is in poor condition.
“Montopolis doesn’t have the flag that you use to indicate where you’re going, so ... I’d like, hit my head on the wall, or hit my hand or bump into people,” a child in the video said. “But then at all the pools we competed at, that was something they had.”