District 2 council member Jesse Moreno, District 9 council member Paula Blackmon, District 14 council member Paul Ridley, District 10 council member Kathy Stewart. Photo courtesy to Greater East Dallas Chamber of Commerce.
The 19th Annual Economic Summit, hosted by the Greater East Dallas Chamber of Commerce gathered at the Lakewood Country Club on Oct. 17, to discuss “Building a Better East Dallas,” this included economic development updates for East Dallas Business members, commercial and residential projects and a questionnaire panel.
Dallas Police Department
District 9 council member Paula Blackmon, shared a new retention strategy to both recruit and retain Dallas Police officers, this includes increased pay, overtime compensation and ensuring officers have mental health support, Jesse — added.
The two goals are to recruit and retain, District 10 council member Kathy Stewart said. With this as the primary goal, expanded efforts to recruit outside of Texas through marketing outreach to ensure Dallas is hiring qualified individuals to do the job, she shared.
2024 Capital Bond projects
Due to aging architecture in East Dallas, infrastructure reinvestment is necessary in preserving and renovating the space, Moreno said. With the 2024 Capital Bond project, Moreno shares his excitement to prioritize infrastructure development within District 2 for East Dallas.Â
His current focus is on traffic signals, recreation for White Rock Hills, streets, and sidewalks, as well as how this area could improve for the benefit of neighborhood residents and commuters.
District 14 council member, Paul Ridley, said he has several priorities he intends to navigate, however, flood protection for neighborhoods through upstream development takes priority. The Mill Creek Tunnel Project is currently underway to correct home flooding, which has appeared twice within the past 12 months. To correct the issue the project first has to connect the Mill Creek tunnel to increase the size of laterals.
“Those are the sewers that take stormwater from your city streets off to a toggle,” Ridley said. “Those will need to be constructed with bond funds and that’s definitely a priority.”
Council members from each of the four East Dallas districts continued to share what they intend to allocate bond funds towards to help develop the city.
The event continued for attendees to ask questions, real estate and career growth insight in Dallas from Steve Brown, columnist for The Dallas Morning News, GEDCC updates from Membership Chair Megan Dennen and updates on the Fair Park First project.
