4 March 6-12, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents The Prop Stops Here City Council shirks police staffing mandate, sides with DPD. BY EMMA RUBY T he Dallas Police Department is entangled in politics — that much is clear from whichever side of the aisle you sit on. A City Council vote last week revealed that a majority of council members are uncomfortable with the demands of Proposition U, a city charter amendment passed by voters in November that mandates the police force grow by 900 officers. Council member Cara Mendelsohn started the month by introducing a motion to the Public Safety Committee, which she chairs, that would increase the department’s hiring goal for the current fiscal year from 275 officers to 400. By the time the commit- tee was done chewing over the motion, Men- delsohn was in the minority and a goal of 325 officers was approved. That motion also in- cluded the requirement of a 350 officer hiring goal for the next fiscal year, and a 400 officer goal in fiscal year 2027. Last week, the City Council did away with the latter part of that motion, com- pletely wiping the goal tally for future fiscal years clean and lessening the current year’s goal to 300 officers. Mendelsohn and Public Safety Committee member Jesse Moreno were the only two council members to op- pose lowering the requirement from the committee’s recommendation. Council member Adam Bazaldua intro- duced the approved motion and spoke against Mendelsohn’s lofty hiring goals. He also apologized to the police department for being made into “political pawns;” because a hiring goal resolution does not move dollars around or carry consequences if unmet, Ba- zaldua accused the motion of being “perfor- mative happenstance in election season.” “We have not heard from anyone in law enforcement in our city that has requested for this number to go higher than what our chief has said is most feasible,” Bazaldua said. “I think it would be a slap in the face to the department for any one of us to say we know better than them.” A majority of the council voiced support for Interim Police Chief Michael Igo, who warned that increasing recruitment classes too dramatically would result in officers be- ing pulled off patrol to assist with training. Igo’s testimony during that meeting was a more emphatic stance against a heftier hir- ing mandate than the one he offered the Public Safety Committee earlier this month. In January, Igo told NBC 5 that a hiring goal of 400 officers would be attainable for the current fiscal year. Addressing the entire council now, though, Igo asked the horse- shoe to give the police department “more time” to increase hiring rather than a fiscal year deadline that expires Sept. 30. Mendelsohn argued that the council’s de- cision to lessen the hiring mandate flies in the face of what Dallas residents have asked for. “We had the voter Proposition U in No- vember calling for nearly 900 additional of- ficers,” Mendelsohn said Wednesday. “It passed even with intense media coverage and a million dollar campaign against it … the people still said we want more police of- ficers. The results should be a wake up call to all of us.” Damien LeVeck, the recently named ex- ecutive director of the Dallas HERO organi- zation that spearheaded the Proposition U charter amendment in the last election, also addressed the council. Encouraging the rep- resentatives to “get creative” about police staffing, LeVeck offered some fatherly ad- vice to the horseshoe. “I’ve got three little kids and they often tell me they can’t do something, and I tell them you can do hard things,” LeVeck said. “I believe that this council and this city can do this hard thing.” LeVeck’s group also helped pass Proposi- tion S, which opens the city up to citizen lawsuits if ordinances such as Prop. U go un- enforced. You might be thinking to yourself there’s a key player missing from this story. The council’s final vote ended 12-2, where was vote No. 15? That vote, dear reader, belongs to Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, who was absent from the Feb. 26 meeting. Is public safety one of the four alliterative priorities the mayor has hammered on about for years now? Yes. Would it have been nice to know where Johnson stood in this division between Prop. U and the police department? Yes again. Did a D Magazine reader happen to see our mayor jetting off to the Big Apple on Feb. 27? That’s three yeses! What do we win? ▼ SPORTS ALL-PRO WASTE DID ZACK MARTIN’S RETIREMENT CLOSE THE COWBOYS CHAMPIONSHIP WINDOW? BY MATT MCCLEARIN I conic offensive lineman Zack Martin an- nounced he will retire from the NFL last week. With his decision to hang it up, an- other window of Cowboys championship opportunity has now officially closed as far as we see it. Let this be clear, this has nothing to do with Martin as a player. The athlete drafted out of Notre Dame in 2014 will walk into the Hall of Fame in five years on the first ballot as he’s one of the greatest guards to ever play the game. Some of his accolades would sound fake even on a video game. Martin played 11 seasons in the NFL and in each of the nine seasons in which he played. In at least 14 games, he was either first- or sec- ond-team All-Pro. He was one of just 11 guards ever to make at least five All-Pro first teams and the other 10 are all in the Hall of Fame. Perhaps the most stunning stat of his ca- reer is that he made as many All-Pro first teams as he committed holding penalties (that were accepted), with a total of seven — absolutely mind-boggling when you realize he started 162 games in his brilliant career. So, how in the world does his retirement represent yet another Cowboys failure? Zack Martin was the final brick remaining in the Cowboys once-dominant, offensive line wall. He was famously chosen over the now infamous Johnny Manziel, whom team owner Jerry Jones reportedly wanted, and plugged in immediately at right guard on the other side of 2013 first-rounder Travis Fred- erick and 2011 first rounder Tyron Smith. Incredibly, the first year that all three of them were together, Martin was named first- team All-Pro, Frederick was the second-team All-Pro center and Smith was named first- team All-Pro left tackle. Think about that: The Cowboys had a trio of elite All-Pro offen- sive linemen at the same time. You may re- member that year because Tony Romo was the highest-rated QB in the game, and De- Marco Murray, rushing behind that elite line, led the NFL in rushing with 1,845 yards — still the Cowboys’ single-season record. Topping that, in 2016, all three of them were named first-team All-Pro at their re- spective positions. The Cowboys went 13-3 that year and they were responsible for Eze- kiel Elliott coming in as a rookie and leading the NFL in rushing with 1,631 yards. It’s in- credible to think that for six seasons, the Cowboys had three of the very best offensive linemen in the NFL on the same line yet failed to capitalize on it. It’s the nearly in- conceivable inability of this franchise, re- gardless of whom the quarterback or coaches are, or how dominant the offensive line is, to capitalize on opportunity. The Washington Commanders just ended the longest drought in the NFC with- out a championship game appearance this past season. The Cowboys’ conference rival hadn’t even won a playoff game since 2005 before now. They took advantage of their opportunity. Another NFC East club, the New York Giants, are an incredible example of this. Former QB Eli Manning only made it to the playoffs six times in his 16-year career. The Giants won playoff games in just two of those seasons and yes, those were the two seasons in which they won Super Bowls. They took advantage of their opportunities in those seasons. The Eagles just did that this past year. They watched Detroit lose to Washington, giving them a home playoff game for the NFC Championship if they could beat the LA Rams at home in the divi- sional round. They did just that, spring- boarding them to a Super Bowl title. Meanwhile, the Cowboys continue to struggle to take advantage of opportunities in the postseason. They’ve won just five playoff games since 1995. Twice, once in 2007 and again in 2016, they were the No. 1 seed and merely needed to win a single game to make it to an NFC Championship, the final four. Each time, however, they failed. Now, there’s a new window in Dallas with a new coach, and now, the final cog in what was once a dominant offensive line, calling it a career. It’s too early to tell if it’s a window of genuine opportunity, however. It’s amazing to think of some of the elite- level talent the Cowboys have deployed over the last 30 years that never set foot on the field for an NFC Championship Game, much less a Super Bowl. It’s a list that would be the envy of many franchises to have play- ers perform at such a high level for so long. And yet, this franchise continually fails to take advantage of those years. Hall of Famer DeMarcus Ware was a four- time first-team All-Pro in Dallas, before leav- ing for Denver and becoming Super Bowl champion. Jason Witten will be a Hall | UNFAIR PARK | Brian Maschino The City Council recently noted the heavy lifting Interim Police Chief Michael Igo is being asked to do for Dallas. >> p6
