Dallas City Council Passes $4 Billion Budget With 9-6 Vote. Last year’s vote was unanimous; this year’s was the closest since 2010. Mayor Eric Johnson, whose campaign to “defund the bureaucracy” never got any traction, was one of the nay votes. The police budget received an overall increase, although overtime was cut by about $7 million ($3.8 million of that will go toward hiring 95 civilians to cover desk jobs so officers can return to street patrols, and the rest will go toward street lighting and other alternative public safety measures). Of the 70 activists who spoke yesterday, many had been hoping for closer to $200 million in cuts to the police budget. (At one point, the budget debate had to be suspended due to Black Lives Matter protesters, who marched to City Hall after it was revealed that no police officers would be directly charged for the shooting of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky). Other provisions included a minuscule tax rate reduction of .02 cents. Council member Adam Bazaldua put an optimistic spin on things: “Incremental change now is monumental change,” he said.
Texas Tops 15,000 COVID-19 Deaths. Dallas Country reported 2 deaths and 346 new cases yesterday. County Judge Clay Jenkins said the numbers “have been largely flat over the last few days.”
Dallas Stars Lose 5-2. Tampa Bay Lightning currently leads the Stanley Cup finals 2-1.
