As proud former mayors of Dallas, we’ve witnessed some of our city’s best days and its toughest obstacles. Today, Dallas faces a pivotal challenge, one that will long influence the vibrancy of our city and region, the quality of our arts, culture and sports, the lives of a growing number of downtown residents, the economic prospects of our city and region, and our civic pride. That challenge is our endangered central business district.
Dallas knows how to rise to the occasion. The forces for good led to our Arts District, the American Airlines Center and Victory Park, Klyde Warren and our downtown parks, our magnificent bridges and other projects that surpassed our expectations, both in growing the city’s tax base and in creating the glue that binds us. These initiatives were no accident; they were born of bold leadership and partnerships among business, civic and government leaders. We need to galvanize these same forces to reverse the threat to our core.
The good news is that the task is eminently doable: continue to improve public safety (we’ve made real progress over the past year with the Safe in the City initiative); reverse policy and not cede valuable public spaces to the homeless; enable more commercial-to-residential development; ensure professional sports remain in our core; enhance entertainment offerings; and maintain existing businesses, schools and colleges while attracting new ones. There’s simply no reason downtown Dallas can’t prosper.
One piece of resurrecting downtown concerns City Hall itself. Long a landmark, the harsh reality is it’s falling apart and likely will take years and hundreds of millions of dollars to rehabilitate.
Opinion
We applaud those elected officials who voted to evaluate moving the seat of city government to free up tax dollars for public safety, parks and roads. Other cities, like Fort Worth and Tulsa, serve as models for moving municipal government functions into efficient commercial office space and reinvesting the substantial savings into critical functions.
Some say citizens should vote on this issue. Our residents voted for elected officials to make decisions about where to invest our funds. They are in the best position to make an informed decision. As citizens, we charge them with making tough decisions about how to spend taxpayer money. Whether City Hall stays or moves is no different.
In our view, we should not pass on a rare opportunity to capture the economic opportunities relocating City Hall could offer. Moving City Hall would allow for strategic conversations about the opportunities in southeast downtown to grow our tax base, create jobs and improve residential living. It would also signal that our elected officials understand their responsibility to the taxpayers of this city. To spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a dilapidated and inefficient building, when an oversupply of downtown office space exists, is foolhardy and wasteful.
The stakes are high — even existential. Relocating city government isn’t just about investing taxpayer money wisely; it’s about saving downtown, the heart of our city. No city in America thrives while allowing its core to decline.
We must act now. Our downtown is the front door to our city and region. What happens there will shape Dallas and DFW for generations.
Let’s seize this moment before it slips away. Let’s save downtown Dallas.
Tom Leppert and Ron Kirk are former mayors of Dallas.