You won’t see Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson at today’s marathon bond briefing. He notified the city secretary yesterday afternoon that he will be absent due to a “medical reason.” It’s the first time the City Council will get to debate how to spend $1.1 billion, and Johnson made his priority—parks—the center of last week’s State of the City address.
The mayor didn’t provide any other information in his explanation of absence, which his chief of staff emailed to his colleagues at 4:04 p.m. yesterday. The present “Council attendance year” began in June. Since then, the mayor has been present for 87 percent of the meetings, which is the lowest record among the City Council. An official is counted present if he or she stays for at least 50 percent of each meeting. The city charter determines that “good standing” is being present for 90 percent of the scheduled meetings. (Councilman Chad West is next lowest, at 93 percent.)
Johnson used the bond as the foundation for his State of the City address, urging Council to approve using $350 million to pay for parks. He’ll get another chance to ask questions next month.
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