7 January 12–18, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents on deck if and when it appears to be some- thing like that.” In January, Thomas, Sowell and Hol- lowell said they were still homeless and waiting for housing assistance. Inclement weather shelters were opened in Dallas during December’s freezing tempera- tures, but the trio opted to stay in their tents. Recently, they had to move to other camps in the area. Thomas recently had his camp swept up again by the city, losing all of his belongings besides his ID and Social Security card. He may move into an apartment with his girlfriend in the near future. But life hasn’t changed much for him, Sowell and Hollowell since Novem- ber. “Same thing,” Hollowell said. “Still waiting.” ▼ LEGISLATURE CHILL BILL NEW LAW FROM LOCAL STATE SENATOR IS ABOUT MORE THAN AIR CONDITIONING AND BUILDING CODES. BY KELLY DEARMORE A lot of attention at the beginning of the new year is directed toward the bills that the Texas Legislature will consider in the upcoming legislative session. But what about the bills from past sessions that have finally become law? Jan. 1 wel- comed several new laws in Texas, the bills having made their way successfully through the arduous terrain from the floor of the leg- islature to the governor’s desk. One of the new Texas laws stems from Senate Bill 1210, from the 2021 session of the Legislature, authored by Sen. Nathan John- son, a Dallas Democrat, and Sen. Paul Bet- tencourt, a Harris County Republican. The law permits building codes to allow the use of refrigerants for air conditioning that aren’t hydrofluorocarbons, which are being phased out nationwide in part due to their harmful impact on the ozone layer, as long as the replacements meet the standards set forth by the Clean Air Act. Building codes, refrigerants and air conditioning don’t make for the most ex- citing reading material, at least for the av- erage voter. And to be sure, on the surface, SB 1210 doesn’t read as the sexiest law, nor does it command headlines the way many bills dealing with the hot-button issues of the day might. But just below the surface of the young law lies quite a bit that is cer- tainly worthy of not only attention, but maybe some hope for a more bipartisan future. But first, why was this bill necessary? For those who have had to deal with air condi- tioner repair or replacement in the past cou- ple of years, the topic of a new-school refrigerant versus the old one has certainly come up, and that’s where this new law be- gins to affect the average citizen. “There’s been a change in technology when it comes to air conditioning and re- frigerant products,” Johnson said over the phone after a series of meetings in Austin. “We had an old product that was very bad for the environment, and the building codes posed an obstacle to implementing some of the new technologies that are better for the environment.” The positive environmental impact is just the start of the benefits the new law will have, Johnson said. A modernization of the building codes means a better chance for commercial growth. “The other thing this does is that it pro- vides certainty for businesses that are go- ing to bring this new technology online,” he said. “If a business isn’t sure they’ll be able to scale up production in a certain city, they’re not going to hire people, they’re not going to invest in the product. This pro- vides a market certainty that also brings a change that’s beneficial to us on an envi- ronmental level.” The market certainties and the produc- tion Johnson speaks of are where this new law begins to show itself as more than the simple updating of a code or even as a Dem- ocrat’s push to get more green-friendly laws on the books. This is Texas, after all. Envi- ronmentally friendly legislation isn’t exactly a popular item on the House floor or in the governor’s office. Johnson suggested that because there are private companies that stand to profit from the new law while it also helps the en- vironment, this is one of the moments where multiple interests that might some- times be at odds with one another come to- gether in a happy middle ground. “It works out well,” he said. The senator knows that Texas hasn’t passed many clean air bills in the past sev- eral years, so he sees this new law as a “moral victory,” he said. It shows the state is trending in a positive direction. He thinks it offers some evidence that sustain- able environmental policy and commerce aren’t mutually exclusive. Most impor- tantly, perhaps, the new law is a positive step across the aisle for both Democrats and Republicans at a time when that seems more difficult than ever. “When you can get so many different constituencies in alignment,” Johnson said, “not only do you not have any opposition, but you see that people actually like to have the opportunity to work together some- times, which in a combative, partisan envi- ronment, it’s really refreshing to find something that everybody can support, and this is one of those things.” ▼ CITY HALL ‘NO RELIABLE RECORD’ REPORT SAYS DALLAS COMMUNITY TREATMENT COURTS ARE POORLY MANAGED. BY JACOB VAUGHN A n audit of the South Dallas Drug Court and South Oak Cliff Veterans’ Treatment Court found that one vendor may have been charging fees for free, federally funded services, and that the city does not verify whether treatment providers are professionally certified or licensed. These two programs operate as part of the Dallas City Attorney’s Office’s community courts. The South Dallas Drug Court handles substance abuse cases, while the South Oak Cliff Veterans’ Treatment Court handles cases involving veterans with substance abuse is- sues and mental health disorders. Instead of having to pay for court costs and tickets, par- ticipants can be assigned supervised commu- nity service through these courts to get their Class C misdemeanors dismissed. The com- munity service is ordered in the community where the crime was committed. Participants can also be connected to social workers who can help with rehabilitative services, finding employment or job training opportunities. The programs have yielded some results but haven’t been managed very well, accord- ing to the report by the Dallas City Auditor’s Office. A random sample of 25 people who par- ticipated in the program found that all of them had their cases dismissed by a munici- pal judge upon completion of their commu- nity service and treatment. But the city hasn’t ensured that the treatment providers in the program are professionally certified and licensed. As far as the city knows, these treatment providers may not maintain re- quired insurance or invoice the city for eligi- ble services at contractually agreed to rates. Incomplete recordkeeping has also resulted in the city’s inability to provide a reliable listing of current and past participants in the program, according to the audit. In addition, there is no reliable accounting of partici- pants’ progress, compliance or completion of community service and treatment. According to the report, the city hasn’t been paying very close attention to contrac- tual language to which it has agreed with these service providers. As a result, the audit found one may have been charging for free, federally funded services. The South Dallas Drug Court is funded by an annual grant of over $300,000 from the federal government’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The South Oak Cliff Veter- ans’ Treatment Court is funded by an annual grant ranging from $75,000 to $100,000 from the Texas Veterans’ Commission. “Specifically, a subrecipient included language in its engagement letter that addi- tional fees would be charged to participants even though the program is free and paid for with federal grant money,” the auditor wrote in his report. “It is unclear if program participants paid for free services because the documentation attached to the invoices is incomplete and inconsistent.” The names of sampled vendors in the au- dit were excluded, and the city didn’t re- spond to questions about the one that may have been charging for services. Additionally, the auditor found no docu- mentation of onsite meetings between treat- ment providers and participants to monitor their work. “As a result, there is no reliable re- cord that all treatment participants have com- plied with program requirements before the dismissal of charges,” according to the report. The auditor’s report includes recommen- dations for rectifying these issues, but the City Attorney’s Office doesn’t agree with them all. It agreed to only one of the audi- tor’s recommendations regarding access to participants’ case files after it was learned that some former employees still had access to these files. The City Attorney’s Office said it would fix this and remove employee privi- leges in a timely manner. Some of the recommendations will be im- plemented soon, and the auditor is expected to follow up on them in early June. For some of the other recordkeeping issues, the auditor recommended more training for community court staff, creation of a document checklist and onsite observation at the courts to moni- tor the staff’s work, and steps to ensure that providers are licensed and insured. In re- sponse, the City Attorney’s Office said it al- ready had procedures in place to address these issues, but that it would review them and make needed changes. In a response to the audit’s findings, City Attorney Chris Caso wrote “While the audit observed low risk rat- ings in its review of the specialty courts, we recognized that there are always opportuni- ties for improvement.” ▼ LGBTQ DISAPPEARING ACT STATE REP. FILES A TEXAS ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL. BY KELLY DEARMORE W ith the 88th Legislative session beginning this week, one North Texas state representative con- tinues to fill the docket with some rather eye-catching filings. Frisco Republican Jared Patterson, who has already filed bills to abolish the city of Austin and ban minors from social media usage, filed House H Padleckas / Wikimedia Commons A new law updates building codes, making way for more environmentally friendly AC refrigerants and bipartisan collaboration. >> p8
