Dallas voters approve 2 of the 3 HERO amendments in the 2024 election, county results show
Three HERO amendments – proposed amendments to the Dallas city charter – were on the 2024 election ballot this year, and two of them passed, county results show.
Propositions S and U passed while Proposition T was rejected by Dallas voters.
The HERO amendments were controversial among Dallas voters and leaders for months leading up to the election. They were added to the ballot after Dallas HERO, a bipartisan group, collected more than 169,000 signatures to do so.
What are the HERO Amendments?
Each proposition needed a simple majority, or the highest number of votes, in order to pass.
- Proposition S would remove governmental immunity and allow any resident to sue the City of Dallas if it doesn't comply with charter amendments and local ordinances.
- Proposition T would mandate an annual quality-of-life survey. With as few as 1,400 responses, the city manager could receive a performance bonus equal to a year's salary or be fired.
- Proposition U would force the city to maintain a minimum police force of 4,000 officers, which is almost 900 more than the city has right now. The charter amendment would also mandate that at least 50% of any additional revenue the city receives from any source would be directed to the police and fire pension fund and higher salaries for police.
Pete Marocco, executive director of the HERO Initiative, which is behind the amendments, said before the vote, "We need accountability at City Hall."
"Our elected officials posture, fundraise, and bicker instead of bringing solutions for the police and fire pension problems," he told Jack Fink in October. "The bottom line is this: The city's $5 billion budget can afford more officers and must prioritize over these grifters' pet projects for their friends."
Others, though, pushed back against the proposed changes to the city charter, which outlines the local government's power and structure.
"As tempting as it sounds to have 4,000 Dallas police officers … this amendment spells doom for spending on street code compliance, library services, parks, economic development, and other vital city services," former Dallas Chief of Police David Brown said at an event campaigning against the amendments earlier in October.