7 April 30 - MAy 6, 2026 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents needs, but that funds from the Skillman Southwestern sale could be redirected to fund the library system with a council vote. “So here we are with $2.6 million that was already from the library system,” Ba- zaldua said. “I don’t believe that we have to reinvent the wheel, and I don’t know how much of the needle it’s moving for us to put that $2.6 million into our large needs of de- ferred maintenance.” Council members also expressed inter- est in pursuing retail-centered locations similar to the Bookmarks library at North- Park Center in the future as an alternative to relatively more expensive standalone li- braries. Shorr told the committee that more people attend programs at the Bookmarks location than all 28 branch libraries com- bined. “All I need is time to make this happen,” Shorr said. “I need to develop relationships with developers. That’s not an easy thing to do. In Fort Worth, I used the Bookmarks model to open two retail libraries. One of them took three years of working with a de- veloper. So the one thing that I haven’t had is the time I need to do all of these creative and innovative things that the committee and the council want.” Even as staff appear to be moving for- ward to protect the remaining neighbor- hood branches, some have warned that the fight is far from over. Council member Paul Ridley, whose district covers the Oak Lawn area, told the Observer that he wasn’t com- fortable with calling its future secure yet, as plans still have to be approved by the full council. “It is still endangered,” Ridley said. “We need to fight for it.” ▼ DART SMALLER DARTS ADDISON, PARK CITIES EYE MICROTRANSIT SERVICE AS POTENTIAL DART REPLACEMENT. BY AUSTIN WOOD O fficials in the three remaining DART member cities with exit elec- tions scheduled in May are looking at alternatives for their residents. At one point Plano, Irving, Farmers Branch, Addison and the Park Cities had all called exit elections from the agency. While the larger suburbs called off elec- tions in February after the DART board approved an agreement to return a portion of cities’ sales tax contributions, leaders in Addison, Highland Park and University Park have remained steadfast in pushing for exit elections. A vote to withdraw an exit vote from May ballots was called by the Addison City Coun- cil after the DART board approved the agreement. Council members ultimately voted 5-2 against calling off the election. Highland Park and University Park’s coun- cils did not revisit the matter. Officials have criticized the returns they receive from transit services in their cities and DART’s governance model. The three cities still pursuing a withdrawal all share a single board member with Richardson. As part of the compromise, Dallas’ City Council voted to give up its majority on the DART board in an effort to appease malcontented suburban officials in favor of a “one city, one vote” system with votes weighted by popula- tion, which Highland Park Mayor Will Beecherl said still wasn’t enough in a Dallas Morning News opinion column. “The vote for that seat is weighted, mean- ing the town still holds only a fractional vote, rather than a 1:1 vote,” he wrote. City officials have also said they need bet- ter service for their residents. The Park Cit- ies are served by a single bus line on Preston Road, while a controversial Ernst & Young Study from 2024 found that Addison con- tributed $16 million to the system but re- ceived only $9.5 million in services in fiscal year 2023. Microtransit services, similar to those of- fered in Arlington, have been at the forefront of suburban cities’ discussions for alterna- tive transportation systems. Even cities that have chosen to remain in DART under the plan have moved forward with implement- ing city-level microtransit services funded by sales tax returns. Plano has entered into a $4 million agreement with microtransit ser- vice Via — the same company contracted in Arlington — to create a system that includes a circulator service in downtown and Leg- acy West. In the Morning News column, Beecherl wrote that “Highland Park is prepared to ex- plore third-party transit providers and other flexible options to meet the modern trans- portation needs of our residents while main- taining regional connectivity.” All three cities are in talks with, or have approved, an agreement with Via. The Park Cities University Park’s City Council approved a one-year agreement for microtransit and paratransit services with Via. The agree- ment calls for the creation of a five-vehicle fleet operating each day between 5 a.m. and midnight. “I think it’s a good service, I think we’re going to need it,” Mayor Thomas Stewart said at an earlier meeting on the contract. “But I think we’re really going to need to look at how we’re going to take it and what we’re go- ing to be paying for it.” Highland Park’s Town Council approved a $1.55 million agreement with Via. The town is seeking to find ways to bring some of its main transit users — non-resident workers — into Highland Park limits without over- crowding its roads for residents, according to a briefing memo. Addison On March 24, Addison’s council approved a $872,231, six-month agreement of services from Via. The agreement stipulates that Via maintain a low average wait time for riders and provide cost-free service between six rally points. The agreement will provide “door-to- door” service for residential customers by a fleet of nine Toyota Siennas, “including two spares and three wheelchair accessible vehi- cles,” according to a council memo. Via will also provide transportation to nearby transit centers, giving residents access to DART services. If voters choose to remain in DART, Ad- dison can cancel or renegotiate its agree- ment with Via.
