4 April 30 - MAy 6, 2026 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents A Governor- Powered Retreat Dallas bows to another Abbott threat, revises policies for DPD, ICE relationship. BY KELLY DEARMORE M ore funding threats from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has resulted in Dallas making changes to accommodate the governor’s demands yet again. Last week, immigration enforcement policies after Abbott sent a letter to the city saying he would possibly withhold $32 mil- lion in public-safety funding, city officials confirmed. On April 16, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson received Abbott’s letter, threatening $32.1 million in state funding if the city did not re- peal its rules involving the DPD’s role in im- migration enforcement efforts. Also, $50 million in federal funds meant to aid public safety efforts during the FIFA World Cup were brought into question. Similar to Abbott’s actions toward Hous- ton and Austin, the notice accused Dallas of- ficials of making the city less safe through its internal policing policies, primarily the one that stated a DPD officer may not stop or de- tain a person for the sole purpose of immi- gration enforcement. In a letter to Abbott, Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizar Tolbert detailed that the re- vised guidelines lifts the ban on officers pro- longing detention to further investigate someone’s immigration status or to hold them for federal authorities. DPD officers can also now ask people who are detained or arrested about their immigration status, but the policy still does not require officers to do so. Additionally, local officers can work with federal immigration authorities and share the immigration-status of detainees. These policy changes come just weeks af- ter the city moved forward with removing decorative crosswalks that highlighted the LGBTQ community and the Black Lives Matter movement following Abbott’s 2025 demand that cities remove such crosswalks or risk losing federal transportation and roadway funds. Some Dallas elected officials spoke out against Abbott’s threats at a press confer- ence, where state Rep. Rafael Anchia aimed his remarks directly at the governor. “First thing I want to say is something di- rectly to Gov. Greg Abbott: Stop playing poli- tics with the public safety of the people of Dallas,” Anchía said. “Also, stop threatening to defund our police, and that is really the main message here today.” Although county sheriff’s departments that operate a jail must cooperate with ICE according to a new Texas law, individual city police departments are still not re- quired to do so by law. In October, police Chief Daniel Comeaux announced that he had turned down $25 million to take part in the federal 287(g) program, which would have involved the DPD cooperating more fully with ICE to arrest, detain, process and deport people. Comeaux kept his comments brief when speaking about the effect of the policy changes on his officers. “Our officers will follow the law, and our updated policy will affirm that we will coop- erate with federal authorities when re- quired,” he said. ▼ PARKS THESE MOMS ARE NOT PLAYING AROUND EAST DALLAS MOTHERS ARE ON A QUEST TO FIX UP ONE VERY SAD PLAYGROUND. BY EMMA RUBY S ome of Jasmine Cadena’s favorite childhood memories took place at Harry Stone Park. Walking home from her East Dallas school each day, she and her brother would stop at the park to run around the fields or swing at the playground. She remembers es- pecially loving the twisty slide. Six months ago, when it came time to purchase a house for herself and her four children, returning to the Casa View neigh- borhood felt like the right choice. She was excited to continue making memories at the Harry Stone Park in this phase of her life, but when her family visited the playground, she was surprised to see it had remained vir- tually unchanged since her childhood. “It was a little bit more run-down than I remembered,” she said. “So [my children] tend to avoid the playground. My daughter actually calls it the ‘haunted park.’” Cadena had several concerns. She felt the equipment was outdated, and much of it ap- peared to be covered in rust, mold and graf- fiti. Some patchwork repairs had taken place over time, like the sheet of plywood installed to cover a risky climbing element, but she watched children incorporate the intended barriers as just another challenge. She began asking neighbors whether they felt that the Harry Stone playground had been left behind, and the answer was a resounding yes. She teamed up with Karen Ramirez, another Casa View mom who has lived in the neighborhood for five years, and the duo launched a petition in hopes of getting the attention of decision-makers at City Hall. At the time this article was writ- ten, it had garnered over 600 signatures. They also began organizing community listening sessions, during which they com- piled a list of requests to improve the play- ground. At the very minimum, they’d like the equipment to be cleaned of rust and graffiti and for lighting and benches to be installed around the playground. They’d also like the play area to be enclosed be- cause a nearby thor- oughfare is notorious for fast traffic. The current state of the playground isn’t doing Harry Stone jus- tice, they say. They love the recreation center and the aquatic center, both of which are relatively new. They also like the trails that surround the nearly 20 acres of green space and the ac- cessible sports fields. But when Cadena and Ramirez’s children want to play on a playground, the families tend to leave their neighborhood in search of something better. “Kids will make do with what they have,” Ramirez said. “But it could be such a desti- nation park. … If it had a really nice play- ground, it has just about everything else.” A Sisyphean Maintenance Problem A spokesperson for the Dallas Park and Rec- reation department said that staff maintain each of the 214 playgrounds located across the city on a “regular recurring schedule.” The average age of Dallas’ playgrounds is 18 years, and, admittedly, Harry Stone’s playground is “nearing the end of its service life,” which is why the wear and tear on the equipment is especially evident. According to the Dallas Park and Recreation Depart- ment, the playground was installed in 2003. But unless Cadena and Ramirez get clever, it could be a while before they are sat- isfied with an updated facility. Because Dallas relies on playgrounds’ ability to last 20 or more years, new ameni- ties are funded through capital improve- ment programs. In the 2024 bond program, which overwhelmingly supported parks as a part of Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson’s top pri- orities, funds were appropriated for 52 play- ground projects. In some cases, that means a total playground replacement. In others, shade structures, lighting or specific equip- ment projects are detailed, according to the city’s 2024 bond dashboard. Among the playgrounds slated for total replacement is the one at Casa View Park, just two miles north of Harry Stone. That project is currently in the design phase, and it will be spread out over the next three years as the bond is expected to be disbursed through 2029. The park department said fa- cility conditions are taken into consider- ation when determining which projects will be prioritized first during the multi-year bond process. “We will continue to replace the play- grounds that reach the end of their service life on a rotation through future bond pro- grams,” the park department said in an emailed statement. | UNFAIR PARK | Adobe Stock ICE arrested more than 2,500 people in Dallas in 2025. Emma Ruby The toddler-friendly zone at the Harry Stone Park playground in East Dallas is a bit meager. >> p6
