* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [00:00:03] GOOD AFTERNOON, EVERYONE. IT IS NOW 4:10 PM ON TUESDAY, MARCH, UH, MAY 12TH, 2026, AND THE DALLAS AREA RAPID TRANSIT COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE IS NOW CALLED ORDER. OUR FIRST ITEM IS THE [1. Approval of Minutes: April 28, 2026] APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM THE APRIL 28TH, 2026 MEETING. IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE? IS THERE A SECOND? SECOND. IT HAS BEEN MOVED. AND SECOND. ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION? SEEING NONE, PLEASE INDICATE YOUR VOTE. ARE WE DOING YEAH. ELECTRONICALLY? YES. GIVE IT A SECOND. ARE Y'ALL OKAY? , WHAT Y'ALL DO IN THE REGIONAL RAIL COMMITTEE MEETING? Y'ALL JUST LIKE, UH, YEP. 13 IN FAVOR, ZERO IN OPPOSITION. THAT, THAT MOTION IS APPROVED. OUR NEXT ITEM IS ITEM [2. Items of Interest] OF INTEREST. UM, I'LL TAKE A, A MOMENT OF PERSONAL PRIVILEGE. WE NORMALLY GO WITH OUR CEO FIRST AND THEN TO OUR BOARD MEMBERS, BUT, UH, SEEING THAT WE HAVE HAD A CHANGE RECENTLY, WANT TO WELCOME, UH, DAVID LEININGER BACK TO DART AS OUR INTERIM C PRESIDENT AND CEO. UM, THANK YOU FOR, UM, THANK YOU FOR, UM, STEPPING UP AND, AND COMING BACK AND SERVING IN THIS, UM, TRANSITIONAL PERIOD OF OURS. AND THEN OF COURSE, THANK, UM, JEAN GOMEZ, WHO SERVED US FAITHFULLY AS OUR GENERAL COUNSEL AND, AND WORE DUAL, UH, DUAL HATS AS OUR, UM, ACTING PRESIDENT, CEO. AND WITH THAT, I WILL TURN IT OVER TO OUR INTERIM PRESIDENT AND CEO IF HE HAS ANY ITEMS OF INTEREST. AND THEN TO OTHER BOARD MEMBERS. UH, IS MY MIC ON? YES. OKAY. THANK YOU. WELL, UH, FIRST OF ALL, UH, THANK YOU FOR THE, THE WARM GREETINGS. UH, I DID HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY IN THE WEEK BEFORE, UH, I FULLY ENGAGED AS AN EMPLOYEE TO, TO CIRCULATE AND TALK TO A LOT OF THE STAFF. UH, FORTUNATELY A LOT OF 'EM, OF COURSE, UH, I KNOW, AND THEY KNOW ME. UH, AND THE, IT'S, IT'S REALLY BEEN A, A NICE RECEPTION BACK. I'M OF COURSE, REMINDED, UH, AS SOON AS I GOT HERE LAST WEEK THAT, UH, ONE THING WE DO A LOT OF IS MEET. WE HAVE MANY MEETINGS. UH, AND OF COURSE, WE HAD A FEW ADDITIONAL MEETINGS, UH, BECAUSE OF THE POLL OUT ELECTION. UH, WE'RE CERTAINLY ALL GRATEFUL, AND I'M ESPECIALLY GRATEFUL THAT, UH, THE POLL OUT ELECTIONS, UH, WE ONLY LOST ONE CITY, AND IT'S ALWAYS A SHAME TO LOSE ANYTHING LIKE THAT. BUT, UH, UH, WE HAVE, UH, WORKING WITH, UH, THE CHAIR RANDALL, CHAIR BRYANT. WE HAVE MET NOW WITH THE MAYOR AND CITY MANAGERS OF ALL THREE CITIES. UH, OBVIOUSLY WE WANNA BE RESPONSIVE AND RESPECTFUL IN EVERY INSTANCE. UH, WE'RE SPENDING A LOT OF TIME OVER AT THE RTC THESE DAYS, AND THAT'S CERTAINLY IMPORTANT. UH, THEY'RE A BIT OF TO TURMOIL AS WELL. UH, I'VE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO TALK TO OUR OPERATIONS TEAM A LITTLE BIT ABOUT FIFA, UH, AND GET BRIEFED ON WHERE WE ARE IN THAT. UH, YOU'RE GONNA HEAR MORE IN THE 26, UH, ABOUT A LOT OF THE PREPARATION, BUT ALSO SOME OF THE COOL STUFF, UH, THAT'S GONNA BE DONE, UH, BY DART ON BEHALF OF THE REGION. AND I, I THINK THAT YOU'LL BE GENUINELY ENTHUSED ABOUT THAT. SO, BY AND LARGE, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, WHAT I'D SAY IS THAT, UH, WE GOT A LOT OF WORK TO DO, BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, WE ALWAYS HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO. ONE FINAL COMMENT. I JUST CAME FROM A MEETING OVER AT DALLAS COUNTY, UH, ON, UH, IT WAS RE ON DIVERSION AND THE MOVEMENT OF, UH, OF PEOPLE WHO'VE BEEN ARRESTED FOR, UH, CRIMINAL TRESPASS AND THAT SORT OF THING, BUT DIVERTING INTO A COUPLE OF THE CENTERS AS OPPOSED TO GOING TO JAIL. UH, THEY WERE VERY COMPLIMENTARY ABOUT THE EFFORTS OF THE DART POLICE, UM, AND, UH, THE LEVEL OF EFFORT THAT IS OBVIOUS OVER THE LAST COUPLE YEARS. UH, AND IT, IT IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT HAS CHANGED SINCE I WAS LAST YEAR. THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF ATTENTION PAID TO THAT EFFORT. AND IT, IT CLEARLY IS, UH, BEING RECOGNIZED, UH, BY THE LAW AND FA ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM IN THE COUNTY. AND I WANT TO THANK, UH, IN PARTICULARLY THE, UH, DART POLICE. AND THEN ONE FINAL THING, OF COURSE, UH, I'M WEARING A PEN HERE, UH, THAT IS IN RECOGNITION OF OFFICER BRENT THOMPSON. THIS IS THE WEEK THAT, UH, THAT WE'RE REMEMBERING THE, UH, THE DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT AND THOSE WHO HAVE SERVED AND, AND THE, AND THOSE WHO HAVE, UH, YOU KNOW, SUFFERED AND, AND ACTUALLY DIED IN, UH, IN THE COURSE OF DUTY. UH, SO I'M VERY MINDFUL OF THAT, AND I'LL, UH, BE WORKING WITH, TALKING TO THE, TO THE POLICE A LITTLE BIT LATER THIS WEEK. BUT THAT'S ALWAYS, UH, IN THE FRONT OF MY MIND IS THE SAFETY THAT WE PROVIDE TO OUR CUSTOMERS, BUT ALSO RECOGNIZING [00:05:01] THE SAFETY THAT WE HAVE TO, UH, ATTEND TO WITH OUR OWN TEAM AND OUR POLICE DEPARTMENT. SO, THANK YOU. ALRIGHT, ANY OTHER MEMBERS? ITEMS OF INTEREST? MS. SWAN KRAUS. THREE MINUTES. THANK YOU. JUST WANTED TO, UH, NOTE AND MAKE A COMMENT OF OUR OWN RICK SOFFER FOR HIS LONG SERVICE, UH, FOR SERVING IRVING, AS WELL AS A SERVICE ON, UH, DFW AIRPORT AND DART. UM, HE'S BEEN AN EXTREMELY VALUABLE, UM, UH, ASSET FOR IRVING, AND I JUST WANTED TO THANK HIM FOR HIS SERVICE. ANY OTHER MEMBERS ITEMS OF ITEMS OF INTEREST? ALRIGHT, MOVING ON TO NUMBER THREE, [3. Public Comments – Agenda Item Specific] UH, PUBLIC COMMENTS ON AGENDA ITEM SPECIFIC. MR. GENERAL COUNSEL, OUR, OUR ROSE, PLEASE THANK YOU. AT THE BEGINNING OF EACH COMMITTEE, THE WHOLE MEETING, UH, TIME IS ALLOCATED FOR THE PUBLIC TO ADDRESS THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE ON SPECIFIC AGENDA ITEMS. ADDITIONAL TIME FOR GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENTS WILL BE PROVIDED AT THE END OF THE MEETING. ALL SPEAKERS MUST COMPLETE A PUBLIC COMMENT REQUEST IN PERSON OR ONLINE PRIOR TO SPEAKING. SPEAKERS WILL BE CALLED IN THE ORDER IN WHICH THEIR FORMS ARE RECEIVED. UH, FORMS THAT DO NOT SPECIFY AN AGENDA WILL BE TWO GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT WHERE YOUR NAME IS CALLED. PLEASE COME TO THE PODIUM AND STATE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS. EACH SPEAKER WILL HAVE THREE MINUTES TO ADDRESS THE BOARD. SPEAKERS WHO NEED AN INTERPRETER MAY HAVE AT LEAST, UH, UH, SIX MINUTES TO ENSURE THAT ALL SPEAKERS RECEIVE THE SAME OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS THE BOARD. THE GREEN LINE ON THE PODIUM WILL INDICATE WHEN YOU CAN BEGIN. THE YELLOW LIGHT INDICATES THAT YOU HAVE ONE MINUTE REMAINING, AND THE RED LIGHT INDICATES THAT YOUR TIME IS CONCLUDED. UM, SPEAKERS MUST RAIN AT THE PODIUM DURING, UH, THEIR COMMENTS. BOARD MEMBERS WILL NOT ASK QUESTION, OFFER THEIR OWN COMMENTS OR OTHERWISE INTERACT WITH SPEAKERS DURING THE COMMENT PERIOD. BOARD MEMBERS CANNOT RESPOND TO PERSONNEL MATTERS DURING THE PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD. THEREFORE, EMPLOYEES SHOULD DIRECT THEIR COMMENTS TO THEIR SUPERVISING CHAIN OF COMMAND OR CONTACT HUMAN RESOURCES. THE EVIDENCE IS ASKED TO REFRAIN FROM APPLAUDING OR OTHER, UH, EXPRESSIONS OF SUPPORT OR OPPOSITION. A COPY OF THE FULL PUBLIC COMMENT, UH, GUIDELINES AS POSTED IN THE LOBBY MAY BE FOUND UNDER DART.ORG. THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO ADDRESS THE BOARD. ALRIGHT, WE HAVE ONE, UM, INDIVIDUAL THAT HAS SIGNED UP TO SPEAK. UM, MERCEDES HALL. SIR. GOOD AFTERNOON. MY NAME IS MERCEDES HALL AND I'M A DALLAS COUNTY RESIDENT WHO RELIES PRIMARILY ON DART FOR TRANSPORTATION. I APPRECIATE THERE IS WORK BEING DONE. UH, REGARDING GO PASS ENHANCEMENTS AHEAD OF FIFA WORLD CUP INTER, UM, I A, UH, FIFA WORLD CUP 2026. I'VE ATTENDED FOUR FIFA WORLD CUPS INTERNATIONALLY, AND I CAN SAY FIRSTHAND THAT TRANSIT BECOMES PART OF A REGION'S GLOBAL IDENTITY. DURING EVENTS LIKE THIS, VISITORS DON'T JUST JUDGE THE STADIUMS. THEY JUDGE HOW EASY IT IS TO MOVE THROUGH THE CITY, HOW INTUITIVE THE SYSTEM FEELS, WHETHER INFORMATION IS CLEAR, WHETHER TRANSFERS MAKE SENSE, AND WHETHER THEY FEEL CONFIDENT USING PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION. DALLAS HAS A TREMENDOUS, TREMENDOUS OPPORTUNITY RIGHT NOW, BUT AS A DAILY RIDER, I ALSO WANT TO RESPECTFULLY EMPHASIZE THAT THERE ARE STILL MAJOR RIDER EXPERIENCE CHALLENGES THAT DESERVE URGENT ATTENTION BEFORE THE WORLD ARRIVES HERE. THE GO PATH APP CAN SOMETIMES FEEL UNINTUITIVE AND FRAGMENTED FROM THE ACTUAL RIDER EXPERIENCE. GOLINK CAN ALSO BE CONFUSING AND INCONSISTENT OPERATIONALLY, DEPENDING ON ZONE AVAILABILITY, TIMING, AND COMMUNICATION FOR VISITORS UNFAMILIAR WITH OUR SYSTEM, ESPECIALLY INTERNATIONAL VISITORS. THESE ISSUES WILL BECOME EVEN MORE NOTICEABLE. I ENCOURAGE DART TO PRIORITIZE SIMPLICITY, RELIABILITY, MULTILINGUAL COMMUNICATION, CLEARER REALTIME UPDATES, EASIER TRIP PLANNING, AND SMOOTHER COORDINATION BETWEEN RAIL BUSES AND GOLINK SERVICES. I ALSO ENCOURAGE THE LEADERSHIP AND DECISION MAKERS TO REGULARLY EXPERIENCE THE SYSTEM PERSONALLY AS RIDERS BECAUSE MOST OF THE IMPORTANT OPERATIONAL FRICTION POINTS ONLY BECOME OBVIOUS THROUGH FIRSTHAND USE AS AN EFFICIENT AND INTUITIVE TRANSIT SYSTEM IS NOT JUST ABOUT TRANSPORTATION, IT AFFECTS TOURISM, WORKFORCE, MOBILITY, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AND HOW DALLAS IS PERCEIVED GLOBALLY. FIFA 2026 IS AN OPPORTUNITY NOT ONLY TO SHOWCASE DALLAS, BUT TO CREATE LONG-TERM IMPROVEMENTS THAT CAN BENEFIT EVERY DAY THE RIDER LONG AFTER THE TOURNAMENT ENDS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND FOR YOUR SERVICE. THANK YOU. WE WILL NOW MOVE ON [Consent Items] TO OUR CONSENT AGENDA. IT CONSISTS OF ITEMS FOUR THROUGH SEVEN. THERE'S ANY BOARD MEMBER THAT WISHES TO PULL AN ITEM. SEEING NONE, I'LL TAKE A MOTION [00:10:01] ON THE CONSENT AGENDA. SO MOVED. IT IS BEEN MOVED IN SECOND. ANY DISCUSSION? SEEING NONE, PLEASE INDICATE YOUR VOTE WITH 11 IN FAVOR, ONE AND OPPOSITION. THE CONSENT AGENDA IS APPROVED. NEXT ITEM [8. Approval of Contract Modification to Pay Tariff Charges for Two Emergency Response Vehicles for the Light Rail Vehicle Fleet (Patrick J. Kennedy/Trenise Winters)] IS THE APPROVAL OF CONTRACT MODIFICATION TO PAY TARIFF CHARGES FOR TWO EMERGENCY RESPONSE VEHICLES FOR THE LIGHT RAIL VEHICLE FLEET. LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE MS. TICE WINTERS COMING TO PRESENT. HELLO, UM, TICE WINTERS, EVP AND COL. I HAVE JAIME ALAMAN, THE VP OF VEHICLE MAINTENANCE WHO WILL PRESENT THIS ITEM. THANK YOU. GOOD AFTERNOON BOARD. I'M HERE TO PRESENT THE APPROVAL, UH, THE REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF A CONTRACT MODIFICATION TO PAY THE TARIFFS ON TWO EMERGENCY VEHICLES, UH, FOR THE LIGHT RAIL VEHICLE FLEET. UH, NEXT SLIDE. PLEASE CLICK IT. OH, SO I'M HERE REQUESTING AN APPROVAL FOR RESOLUTION FOR THE INTERIM PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, OR IS IT DESIGNEE TO APPROVE, UH, NOT TO EXCEED AMOUNT OF 380,766,000 FOR A NEW TOTAL NOT TO EXCEED AMOUNT OF THREE MILLION SEVEN HUNDRED EIGHTY THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED SIXTY SIX THOUSAND DOLLARS TO PAY TO BRANT FOR THE EMERGENCY VEHICLES FOR THE LIGHT RAIL VEHICLE FLEET. ON MARCH 26TH, 2024, THE BOARD APPROVED THE PURCHASE OF TWO OF THESE EMERGENCY VEHICLES FOR NOT TO EXCEED AMOUNT OF $3,400,000. THE VEHICLES WERE MANUFACTURED IN THE USA AND MODIFIED IN CANADA, BUT THE TARIFFS ARE REQUIRED BY THE US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT NOW TO BRING THE VEHICLES BACK ACROSS THE COUNTRY. SO, UM, WE ARE REQUESTING FOR THE APPROVAL FOR THE NOW TO EXCEED AMOUNT OF $380,766 TO, UH, NOW TO EXCEED 3 MILLION 787 66 TO PAY THESE TARIFFS TO GET THE VEHICLES BACK HERE INTO THE STATES. ALRIGHT, IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE? SO MOVED. IT'S BEEN MOVED THERE A SECOND. WE'LL TAKE OF QUESTIONS. YEAH, QUESTION. I NEED A SECOND. FIRST THOUGH. SECOND. IT'S BEEN MOVED IN SECOND, UH, DISCUSSION MR. ENOCH. THREE MINUTES AND, AND JUST A QUESTION. I'M, I'M SORRY. SURE. CAN YOU TURN THE MICROPHONE OFF? SORRY. THANK THE AMOUNT IS THREE. HOW MUCH, HOW MUCH IS IT AGAIN? IT IS, UH, THE, THE TARIFFS ARE 380,766. OKAY. THEN WHAT IS THE, IS THERE A PLAN BASED ON WHAT THE SUPREME COURT HAS DECIDED ON WHETHER OR NOT WE GO BACK AFTER IT? MUST WE PAY IT? IS THERE ANY RELIEF? I MEAN, WHAT I, I UNDERSTAND SINCE YOU'RE ASKING US TO AUTHORIZE IT, YOU DON'T THINK THERE'S RELIEF, BUT WHAT, WHAT IS THE OVERALL PLAN OF DART TO TRY TO GET SOME OF THAT OR ALL OF THAT BACK? SO I'LL HAVE TO DEFER TO, UH, PROCUREMENT ON THAT IF YOU DON'T, MS. GOMEZ, IF, IF YOU DON'T MIND. UH, SURE. UH, YEP. YES, SIR. DIRECTOR, WE WE'RE MONITORING THAT PART. WE SPEND QUITE A BIT OF TIME, UM, ASSESSING THE FEES AND WE KNOW THAT IT'S A REAL FLUID AND WE UNDERSTAND THAT WE CAN, WE CAN TRY TO GET SOME OF THAT BACK. SO, BUT RIGHT NOW THERE'S NO CHOICE. YOU GOTTA PAY IT TO GET 'EM, WE GOTTA PAY IT, WE GOTTA GET 'EM BACK. AND WE'RE DOING IT IN SUCH A WAY THAT WE'RE NOT WAIVING RIGHTS IN THE FUTURE. CORRECT. THANK YOU. THAT'S ALL I HAVE. ANYONE ELSE? MS. RAS? THREE MINUTES. THANK YOU. UM, MR. ENOCH ASKED A LOT OF THE QUESTIONS I WAS GONNA ASK. SO AM I UNDERSTANDING THAT THE, HOW MUCH IS JUST THE TARIFF ITSELF? IS IT THAT 380,000? YES. YES. AND IT WAS NEGOTIATED DOWN FROM 25% TO 11%. AND HOW, WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE TOTAL PURCHASE PRICE DOES THAT, UH, REFLECT? IS IT DOUBLED THE PRICE? IS IT A HUNDRED PERCENT TARIFF? I CAN YOU GIMME A PERCENTAGE? YEAH, 11%. OKAY. THERE'S AN 11%. YES. ALRIGHT. UM, AND I SURE HOPE THAT WE CAN GET SOME OF THOSE MONIES BACK GIVEN THE FINDINGS OF THE COURT. UM, ALRIGHT. ESPECIALLY SINCE WE ORDERED IT BEFORE, I BELIEVE THE TARIFFS WERE IMPOSED, CORRECT? CORRECT. THAT'S A, IT'S A SURPRISE AND NOT A GOOD ONE. THANK YOU. THANKS. ANYONE ELSE? SEE NONE. THERE'S A MOTION AND A SECOND. PLEASE INDICATE YOUR VOTE. VOTE 13 IN FAVOR. ZERO IN OPPOSITION. THIS MOTION IS APPROVED. NEXT ITEM [9. *Briefing on Fiscal Year 2026 Second Quarter Police Operations Update (Patrick J. Kennedy/Charles Cato)] IS A BRIEFING ON FY 26, SECOND QUARTER POLICE OPERATIONS UPDATE. BELIEVE [00:15:01] CHIEF CATO WILL BE GIVEN THIS PRESENTATION. I, GOOD AFTERNOON CHAIR MEMBERS OF THE BOARD. CHARLIE CATO, CHIEF OF POLICE, OUR POLICE DEPARTMENT TO INVEST THIS SLIDE HERE. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. OH, THIS ONE. OKAY. OKAY. THE BRIEFING IS GONNA INCLUDE A SECURITY MEASURES UPDATE, DEPARTMENT, HIRING, UH, DEPARTMENT, STATISTICS, AND THEN HIRING AND RECRUITING. SO THE SECURITY MEASURES UPDATE IS, WE HAVE, UH, I WANT TO THANK THE BOARD. I WAS NOT HERE, UH, FOR THE APRIL 28TH MEETING. YOU APPROVED THE EXTENSION FOR THE, UH, SECOND YEAR, THE SECOND ONE YEAR EXTENSION FOR THE TRANSIT SECURITY OFFICERS. THAT HELPS US KEEP THEM ON BOARD, UH, THE TRAINS. SO THAT GIVES US 88 TRANSIT SECURITY OFFICERS AND 12 SUPERVISOR FOR A HUNDRED TOTAL, TOTAL PERSONNEL IN THE TRANSIT SECURITY OFFICER PROGRAM. THE MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESPONSE TEAM ALSO WANT TO THANK YOU FOR THAT EX EXTENSION, UH, TO, TO GIVE US A CHANCE TO GET IT OUT ON THE IN THROUGH PROCUREMENT, UH, FOR AN RFP. UH, IT'S IMPORTANT FOR, FOR ME, FOR THE, FOR, FOR OUR ORGANIZATION TO HAVE THOSE TEAMS OUT THERE. SO I APPRECIATE YOU FOR BOTH OF THOSE, UM, INITIATIVES THAT YOU, THAT YOU, THAT YOU APPROVED THE LAST TIME. UH, THE FIELD OPERATIONS INITIATIVES, WE STILL IDENTIFY AREAS THAT ARE HOTSPOTS AND WE DEPLOY OFFICERS THERE AND FAIR ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS TO DO TARGETED ENFORCEMENT AND EDUCATION INITIATIVES IN THOSE AREAS. OUR DEPARTMENT STATISTICS, SO THIS IS OUR FIRST KPI, THE GROUP A OFFENSE IS PER A HUNDRED THOUSAND RIDERS. UH, YOU CAN SEE THAT WE WERE AT A, AS A LOW OF 3 9 3 0.97 IN JANUARY IN HIGH OF 5.36 IN FEBRUARY, AND THEN TO 4.66 IN MARCH. SO THERE'S AN EBB AND FLOW TO THE NUMBER OF OFFENSES THAT WE, THAT WE ENCOUNTER OUT THERE. THE ORANGE GRAPH IS A TOTAL RIDERSHIP DURING THOSE MONTHS. SO THIS IS A BREAKDOWN OF THOSE OFFENSES. AGAIN, UH, UM, DRUG PARAPHERNALIA, UM, LEAD IS THE NUMBER ONE, UH, OCCURRING OFFENSE. 226 OF THOSE 123 NARCOTICS OFFENSES AND, UM, 108 ASSAULTS. SO THE DRUG PARAPHERNALIA AND DRUG OFFENSES, WE, WHEN WE DO THOSE OPERATIONS AND INITIATIVES, WE'RE TARGET THOSE AREAS THAT HAVE HIGH CONCENTRATIONS OF NARCOTICS COMPLAINTS, NARCOTICS VIOLATIONS WHERE WE RECEIVE CALLS FROM PEOPLE ABOUT PEOPLE SELLING OR USING NARCOTICS. AND SO WE TARGET THOSE AREAS AND HENCE WE, WE HAVE, UH, THE RESULTS THERE TO SHOW FOR THAT, THOUGH, WE TRACK THE LOCATION, WE LOOK AT PEOPLE, PLACES AND BEHAVIORS AND THE PLACES THAT THE OFFENSES OCCUR ON. UH, THIS QUARTER, UH, THE TRAINS ACCOUNTED FOR 21% OF ALL GROUP A OFFENSES REPORTED GROUP A OFFENSES IN THE PLATFORMS 43 FOR A COMBINED TOTAL OF 64%. SO TWO THIRDS OF ALL OF OUR, UH, GROUP A OFFENSES THAT WERE REPORTED TO US OCCURRED ON THE TRAINER TRAIN PLATFORM. THAT'S WHY WE DEPLOY THE TRANSIT SECURITY OFFICERS, THE F FOS AND THE POLICE OFFICERS TO OUR RAIL, TO OUR RAIL ASSIGNMENTS AND OUR RAIL PLATFORMS. OUR TRAIN PLATFORMS IS BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE THE BULK OF OUR WORK IS. UH, YOU LOOK AT BUS AND BUS STOPS, THEY COMBINE FOR 10% OF ALL REPORTED GROUP A OFFENSES. AND THOSE ARE THE IN THE FACILITIES NEXT THERE. UH, SO THOSE, THAT'S THE DISTRIBUTION OF WHERE THE, WHERE THE OFFENSES ARE OCCURRING. THEY'RE REPORTED TO US. WANTED TO TAKE A MO MOMENT HERE TO POINT OUT A COUPLE THINGS. IF YOU'LL LOOK AT THE, UH, FOURTH ROW DOWN DAMAGE VANDALISM. SO BACK IN 2023, WE HAD 59 OF THOSE CASES. IN 2024, IT DROPPED SIGNIFICANTLY, 75%. THE REASON THAT WAS WAS IN 2024, WE USED THE NATIONAL INCIDENT BASED REPORTING SYSTEM. BRS AND BRS CHANGED THE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS IN 2024 FOR TWO CATEGORIES. THIS WAS THE FIRST ONE. NUMBER ONE, VANDALISM WE'RE ONLY REQUIRED TO REPORT TO THE FBI OR, OR SUPPOSED TO REPORT DURING S UH, A FELONY OFFENSE. SO THAT MEANS THERE HAS TO BE DAMAGE, AT LEAST IN TEXAS, HERE FOR, TO REACH A FELONY OF $2,500. SO THAT, THAT ACCOUNTS FOR SOME OF THE DRASTIC, UM, DROP IN THE REPORTING OF THOSE OFFENSES IN THAT. SO WE DIDN'T HAVE AS MANY THAT, THAT MET THAT THRESHOLD OF $2,500. AND THE NEXT ONE IS A DRUG OFFENSE CATEGORIES. IT WAS ALSO IN 2024. IF YOU LOOK AT 2023, WE ONLY HAD 42. AND IN 2024 JUMPED TO 2 71 BECAUSE IT WAS IN 2024. THAT BRS REQUIRED THAT WE REPORT DRUG PARAPHERNALIA, UH, CITATIONS AS DRUG OFFENSES AS GROUP A OFFENSES. AND SO THAT'S WHERE WE SEE, UH, FROM THOSE TWO DI DIVERGING, UH, UH, RESPONSES THERE. UH, GREAT DECREASE IN DESTRUCTION, VANDALISM, AND AN INCREASE IN DRUG AND NARCOTIC OFFENSES. SO, WANNA POINT THAT OUT. SO WHEN WE LOOK AT ASSAULT OFFENSES, THEY'RE DOWN 17% COMPARED TO THE SAME TIME PERIOD IN FY 25. WE LOOK AT, UM, HOMICIDE OFFENSES WERE DOWN. AND SO THE CRIMES AGAINST PERSONS WERE DOWN THIS, UH, THIS QUARTER COMPARED TO THE SAME QUARTER, UH, LAST YEAR. AND THEN PROPERTY CRIMES WERE DOWN AS WELL. MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT WAS DOWN [00:20:01] SIGNIFICANTLY 50% AND LARCENY AND THEFT DOWN 14%. SO, UH, NEIGHBORS REMINDS YOU THAT CAPTURES CRIME IS CRIMES AGAINST PERSONS, WHICH IS THE ASSAULT OFFENSES AND CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY, WHICH IS A PECUNIARY OR PROPERTY LOSS. AND THEN CRIMES AGAINST SOCIETY. SO DRUG FITS INTO CRIMES AGAINST SOCIETY, DRUGS, GAMBLING, PROSTITUTION, THINGS LIKE THAT. SO WE LOOK AT OVERALL GROUP A OFFENSES FOR THE SECOND QUARTER, BUT WE HAVE A TOTAL, UH, INCREASE OF 14%. BUT SINCE GROUP A OFFENSES WITH, UH, THE DRUGS, UH, THE CRIMES AGAINST SOCIETY, THERE'S NOBODY WHO'S BEEN VICTIMIZED, NO PERSON SUFFERED AN INJURY, AND NO PROPERTY LOSS OR PECUNIARY LOSS OF THEIR, UH, TO A PERSON. UH, WE, WE TAKE THE DRUG OFFENSES OUT, WE'RE DOWN 15%. SO WHEN WE HAVE A VICTIM OF AN OFFENSE, WE'RE DOWN 15% OVERALL. I THINK THAT'S A COMPARED TO THE SAME TIME IN 2025. SO WE TRACK OUR EMPLOYEE ASSAULTS BY CALENDAR YEAR TODAY. SO THIS IS JANUARY ONE TO MARCH 31ST. WE HAD 29 OF THOSE ASSAULTS BUS OPERATORS ACCOUNTED FOR THE MOST, 13 OF THOSE. AND SO 46%, UM, OF THOSE WERE JUST CLASS C MISDEMEANORS, JUST THREATS ONLY IN TEXAS. IF SOMEONE THREATENS YOU, EVEN, THERE'S NO PHYSICAL CONTACT AND YOU WANNA MAKE A REPORT, MAKE, MAKE A REPORT THAT IS CONSIDERED AN ASSAULT. SO WHERE THAT, WE HAD, UH, SIX CLASS CS TWO CLASS A'S TWO CLASS B'S, WHICH IS, THERE WAS PHYSICAL CONTACT BUT NO INJURY. AND ONE CLASS A WITH A MISDEMEANOR, WHICH WAS, THERE WAS, THERE WAS BODILY INJURY. SO, UH, THE NEXT WAS, UH, TRANSIT SECURITY OFFICERS AND, AND POLICE OFFICERS AND FAIR FORCE AND OFFICERS ROUND OUT, UH, THE TOP, UH, THE TOP CATEGORIES THERE. THE NEXT IS ARREST PER A HUNDRED THOUSAND RIDERS. UM, YOU CAN SEE THAT WE WERE AT SIX POINT, UH, SIX THREE THERE IN, IN JANUARY AND, UH, 7.75 IN FEBRUARY AND 7.21. SO WE'RE OUT THERE. WE'RE ACTIVE. YOU CAN SEE BY THE ARREST NUMBERS BEFORE ABOUT DRUG PARAPHERNALIA AND DRUG ARRESTS WHERE OFFICERS ARE ENGAGING WITH THE PUBLIC. THEY'RE OUT THERE ON THE STRANGE AND TRAINED PLATFORMS IN THE OPERATIONS INITIATIVES, UH, TARGETING THE FOLKS WHO ARE DOING, UH, DOING BAD THINGS ON OUR PROPERTY. BREAKDOWN OF THOSE ARRESTS BY OFFENSES IS CRIMINAL TRESPASSES THE NUMBER ONE CATEGORY, UH, WARRANTS FOR OTHER AGENCIES, UH, IS THE NEXT CATEGORY, THE NEXT HIGHEST CATEGORY. THEN DRUG OFFENSE IS THERE IS THE THIRD. IF YOU LOOK THERE, UH, EMERGENCY DETENTION RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE THERE, YOU, YOU JUST, IT'S ABBREVIATED EMERGE DE INTENT, THEIR EMERGENCY DETENTION, THAT'S WHERE SOMEONE'S IN A MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS TO THE POINT WHERE THE DANGER TO THEMSELVES OR OTHERS. JUST A REMINDER, THAT'S THE IMPACT OF THE MDRT, UH, TEAM THAT WE HAVE OUT THERE. BECAUSE WHEN I GOT HERE FOR THE FIRST TWO YEARS, THAT WAS OUR NUMBER ONE ARREST CATEGORY. EVERY MONTH IT WAS EMERGENCY DETENTION, AND NOW IT'S, IT'S, UH, DOWN TO NUMBER, UH, FIVE THERE. SO, UH, THAT'S SOME PROGRESS THERE OF RESULTS OF THAT PROGRAM. A RESPONSE, TIME TO PARTY ONE CALLS US OUR THIRD KPI. WE HAD A SLIGHT INCREASE OF 39 SECONDS THIS TIME COMPARED TO LAST QUARTER. BUT, AND ALSO I'LL POINT OUT HERE ON THIS SLIDE, IF YOU LOOK AT THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2025, THERE WERE 414 CALLS. FIRST QUARTER OF 2026, THERE WERE 45. AND THEN FIRST QUARTER, UH, SECOND QUARTER OF 2026. SO, UH, 2025 TO 165. THERE'S DRASTIC REDUCTION IN THE NUMBER OF CALLS THERE. THAT'S BECAUSE WE HAD A TRAINING ISSUE WITH IT, WITH A COUPLE OF OUR DISPATCHERS. AND SO WE WERE STILL TRACKING THE NUMBERS AND WE'RE STILL STILL BELOW THAT. THE EIGHT MINUTE THRESHOLD, WHICH IS OUR, OUR GOAL IS EIGHT MINUTES. AND WE'RE STILL SIGNIFICANTLY BELOW THAT. THAT'S WHY YOU SEE THE REDUCTION IN THE NUMBERS THERE OF THE PRIORITY ONE CALLS IS THAT, UH, THROUGH TRAINING AND EDUCATION OF OUR STAFF, THAT NOT THEY WERE MISCLASSIFYING SOME OF THOSE CALLS AS IS IT PRIORITY ONE CALLS TOTAL CALLS FOR SERVICE. WE'VE HAD A SLIGHT REDUCTION, UH, 26 COMPARED TO 25. AND OUR REMOVALS, UH, WE, WE TRACK THE REMOVALS AGAIN, IF YOU REMEMBER TO THE SLIDE BACK WHERE THE, OUR GROUP A OFFENSES OCCUR ON TRAIN AND TRAIN PLATFORM. YOU'LL SEE THE CONCENTRATIONS HERE. THE REMOVALS OCCUR ON TRAINS AND TRAIN PLATFORMS. SO, UM, 11,000, UH, TOTAL REMOVALS, 11,206 REMOVALS FROM TRAINS. 5,379 FROM PLATFORMS. SO THOSE TWO ACCOUNT FOR, UM, ALMOST ALL OF OUR, UM, OF OUR REMOVALS, AND THIS IS PEOPLE THAT DIDN'T GET A CITATION. THEY MIGHT HAVE GOT A WARNING CITATION, BUT IF THEY GOT A FAIR ENFORCEMENT CITATION, THEY WERE ARRESTED. THEY DON'T COUNT ON THE REMOVALS. THESE ARE FOLKS WHO DO, WHO WERE REMOVED FROM THE SYSTEM FOR EITHER CODE OF CONDUCT, INVALID FAIR, OR NOFA. UH, BUT THE MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESPONSE TEAM, MDRT HAD 439 CONTACTS. UH, THIS, THIS QUARTER. THEY HAD, UM, 103, UM, REMOVALS, UH, OR PEOPLE WHO DECLINED SERVICES OUTTA THAT. THAT'S A 23%. UH, 23% OF THE CONTACTS, UH, DID NOT, UH, DID DECLINE SERVICES. BUT IF YOU LOOK AT SUBJECT PROVIDED RESOURCE INFORMATION, DIRECT CONNECTIONS TO SERVICES, WARM HANDOFFS AND RESOLVED ON SCENE, 58% OR 59, 58 0.8%, BUT 59% ROUGHLY [00:25:01] OF OUR PERSON OF OUR CONTACTS WERE RESOLVED THERE. THESE ARE THE SAME METRICS. WHEN WE STARTED THIS PROGRAM, WE WENT TO, UH, SEPTA IN PHILADELPHIA, WENT TO MARTA AND ATLANTA, AND LOOKED AT THE PROGRAMS THEY HAD. THESE ARE THE METRICS THAT THEY TRACK AND THAT THESE ARE THE METRICS THAT WE, WE ALSO TRACK. AND, UH, AND AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, UH, THIS HAS DIRECTLY IMPACTED OUR EMERGENCY DETENTIONS. WHEN YOU SEE HERE, WE HAD FOUR THAT THEY ACTUALLY TOOK IN. SO NOT ONLY, THEY'RE NOT JUST TAKING THE EMERGENCY DETENTIONS FROM US, THEY'RE, THEY'RE REDUCING THE NUMBER OF EMERGENCY DETENTIONS BY GETTING SERV PEOPLE INTO SERVICES THAT THEY NEED, RATHER THAN BEING THE REVOLVING DOOR AT THE COUNTY JAIL. AND IT, IT ALSO IMPACTS THE, UH, THE REDUCTION OF THE JAIL POPULATION. SO HERE'S SOME OF OUR DIVERSIONS. WE DIVERTED 12 PEOPLE FROM THE COUNTY JAIL. UM, THROUGH THIS, THROUGH THIS PROGRAM, WE DIVERTED A A 21 FROM THE EMERGENCY ROOM. SO EACH ONE OF THESE HAS, HAS A TIME SAVING FOR US, BUT THERE'S ALSO A PERSONNEL COST TO THE PEOPLE AND TO THE, TO EVERYBODY. WE BOOK INTO DALLAS COUNTY JAIL, WE PAY A FEE FOR THAT. SO IF WE, WE CAN GET THEM SERVICES TO KEEP THEM OUTTA JAIL, REDUCE THE JAIL POPULATION, LOWERS OUR COST, IT GETS OUR OFFICERS BACK OUT ON THE STREET. THAT'S ONE OF THE GOALS OF THE PROGRAM. AND 11% WILL REPEAT CONTACTS. AND THIS NUMBER IS ONE I MENTIONED TIME AND AGAIN, IS THAT EVEN THIS PROGRAM WAS DESIGNED TO TARGET PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS OR MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS ON OUR SYSTEM, WHEREVER. THERE'S DEFINITELY A CORRELATION BETWEEN THOSE WHO ARE UNHOUSED. 'CAUSE 70% OF THE CONTACTS OF THE CLIENTS THEY CONTACTED ARE UNHOUSED OF THAT POPULATION. SO THERE'S DEFINITELY CORRELATION BETWEEN MENTAL ILLNESS AND BEING UNHOUSED. THAT'S THE TOTAL TIME WHEN CONTACT OF EACH CONTACT AND NUMBER OF CONTACTS PER DAY. HIRING AND RECRUITING. WE HAVE ONE LIEUTENANT VACANCY, ONE SERGEANT VACANCY, UM, AND 11 POLICE OFFICER VACANCY AS OF THIS REPORT, WHICH WAS, UM, MARCH, MARCH 31ST. UM, SO THE SERGEANT LIEUTENANT VACANCY WILL BE PROMOTIONS. I HAVEN'T HAD ANY PROMOTIONS YET. I'M WAITING UNTIL AFTER FIFA 'CAUSE WE HAVE TO ANNOUNCE THAT GIVEN TIME TO STUDY AND THEN HAVE A WRITTEN EXAM AND THEN AN ASSESSMENT CENTER. AND, UH, WE'RE CONCENTRATING ON GETTING THROUGH THE FIFA PERIOD. AND THEN WE WILL, WE'LL MAKE THOSE PROMOTIONS AVAILABLE TO THOSE, UH, WHO CAN COMPETE. UH, FAIR ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS, WE HAVE FOUR VACANCIES, TELECOMMUNICATORS, THAT'S OUR DISPATCHERS. UH, AND SO WE HAVE TWO VACANCIES THERE. AND ALL THE OTHER CEILING VACANCIES TOTAL TO 18 TOTAL FOR THE DEPARTMENT. OUR TURNOVER RATE, WE'VE HAD A SLIGHT DECREASE THIS QUARTER SO FAR THIS FISCAL YEAR COMPARED TO LAST FISCAL YEAR FOR POLICE OFFICERS AND, AND FOR FPOS AND FOR, UH, OVERALL AS WELL. THE REASON, UH, THE, THE, UH, REASON FOR THE, THE DEPARTURES HERE FOR THIS SO FAR, AND FI 26 HAS BEEN SIX TERMINATIONS OF TERMIN 86 1 RESIGNING IN LIEU OF TERMINATION. SO, UM, SEVEN OF THE, UM, OF THE TOTAL WERE, WERE, BECAUSE OF TERMINATIONS ARE IN LIEU OF TERMINATION. WE HAD THREE RETIREMENTS, UH, YOU HONOR THEM HERE. TWO OF THOSE FOLKS HERE, THERE DURING THE PRESENTATION. UM, UH, TWO BOARD MEETINGS AGO. AND THEN ONE TWO RESIGNED, WENT TO OTHER POLICE DEPARTMENTS AND ONE LEFT LAW ENFORCEMENT ALTOGETHER. AND THESE ARE THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE VACANCIES BY DURATION AND OUR HIRING STATS. UH, 750 APPLICATIONS SO FAR IN, IN 2026, FY 2026, UM, 374 ACTUALLY REGISTERED FOR THE EXAM. 170 SHOWED UP. 52 PASSED WHEN THEY PASSED IT, THAT THEY PASSED THE WRITTEN EXAM. AND THE PHYSICAL GLT, WHICH IS THE ROWING MACHINE, AND OUT OF THOSE 52 THAT PASSED 11 HAVE BEEN HIRED SO FAR. AND, BUT THAT'LL TAKE ANY QUESTIONS, MEMBERS QUESTIONS. MR. ELLI? THREE MINUTES. THANK YOU CHAIR. UH, THANK YOU FOR THAT GREAT PRESENTATION. CHIEF. UH, GIVEN THAT, UH, 64%, I THINK OF OUR, OUR OFFENSES, UH, LOOKED LIKE THEY WERE TIED TO EITHER THE TRAIN PLATFORMS WHERE THE TRAINS THEMSELVES. IT LOOKED LIKE 43% ON THE PLATFORMS AND 21% ON THE TRAINS. IT WOULD SEEM THAT HAVING, UH, AN INCREASED PRESENCE ON THE PLATFORMS COULD PREVENT A LOT OF THAT BY BOTH PREVENTING THE ISSUES ON THE PLATFORMS AND MAYBE PREVENTING PEOPLE WHO ARE INTENT ON, ON COMMITTING SUCH ACTIONS FROM BOARDING THE TRAINS. UH, WITH ALL OF THAT BEING SAID, DO WE KNOW THE NUMBER, UH, FOR HOW MUCH IT WOULD COST TO HAVE EITHER, UH, A SWORN OFFICER OR, OR A TSO, UM, AT EACH PLATFORM ON THE LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM, WE, UM, WE DO, WE HAVE TWO SECURITY CONTRACTS. ONE IS FOR THE TSOS, WHICH YOU JUST APPROVED, THE EXTENSION, AND THEN ONE FOR, UH, THE FACILITIES. BUT IT INCLUDES CERTAIN PLATFORMS. WE, WE HAVE SOME OF OUR PLATFORMS. THOSE PLATFORMS ARE, WE TRACK 'EM BY THE TOP 10 LIST AND THE TOP 10 PLATFORMS HAVE SECURITY OFFICERS ASSIGNED THERE. UH, I DON'T KNOW THAT IT IS FINANCIALLY PRUDENT TO PUT ONE ON EVERY SINGLE PLATFORM. 'CAUSE THERE'S, THEY'RE CONCENTRATIONS OF WHERE THE OFFENSES [00:30:01] OCCUR, AND THAT'S WHERE WE DEPLOY THE PERSONNEL TO MAKE THE BEST USE OF THE RESOURCES WE HAVE. AND SO ALL THOSE ALREADY HAVE FOLKS THERE, AND PART OF THE REASON WE ENCOUNTER THEM AND IDENTIFY THE OFFENSE IS BECAUSE WE'RE THERE. RIGHT? UH, SOME, SOME FOLKS, UH, JUST DON'T CARE, UH, IF YOU'RE THERE, YOU JUST HAVE TO DEAL WITH THEM. AND THAT'S WHAT WE DO. SO, OKAY. AND SO, DID I UNDERSTAND YOU CORRECTLY THAT WE FEEL LIKE WE ALREADY HAVE A PRESENCE AT THE PROBLEMATIC PLATFORMS? OR, AND IS THAT 24 7 OR, I MEAN, YOU KNOW, NOT 24 7, BUT ALL HOURS OF OPERATION. YES, SIR. WE, WE DEPLOY OUR PERSONNEL THAN WHENEVER WE FEEL WE NEED MORE. WE DO THOSE INITIATIVES. WE BRING EXTRA PERSONNEL IN EITHER ON OVERTIME OR READJUST THEIR ASSIGNMENT FOR THAT DAY. WE TARGET THOSE AREAS. SO WE ARE, WE BECOME ADEPT AT MOVING, UH, THE RESOURCES AROUND EVERY 15 DAYS. UH, I DO A REDEPLOYMENT BASED ON THE, THE, THE, THE CRIME, UH, THE, THAT'S REPORTED, THE OFFENSES THAT ARE REPORTED. SO, SO, OKAY. WELL, CHIEF, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THAT INFORMATION. AND I JUST WANT TO SAY FOR THE BOARD, I WOULD LOVE TO SEE US, YOU KNOW, OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS AS THE STAFF WORKS TO DEVELOP A BUDGET FOR THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR. UH, TAKE A HARD LOOK AT, UM, HOW WE CAN MAYBE EVEN INCREASE OUR PRESENCE ON PLATFORMS AND TRAINS. UH, I THINK THAT, THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, INCREASING SAFETY IN, IN THOSE AREAS IS GOING TO BE KEY, UH, BOTH INTRINSICALLY, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE WE WANT PEOPLE TO BE SAFE AND TO INCREASING RIDERSHIP. SO I'D LOVE TO SEE US TAKE A LOOK AT THAT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MR. ELLI. ANYONE ELSE? ALRIGHT, I'M GOING ORDER TO JUST, THIS MAKES IT EASIER. SO MS. MS. GARCIA AND MS. JUAN KRAUS AND MS. MILLER. THANK YOU, CHIEF. UM, I REALLY, IT MAKES US REALLY TAKE A HARD LOOK AT THE NUMBERS AND, AND THE AREAS THAT YOU ALL HAVE TO FACE EVERY DAY. SO THANK YOU FOR SHARING THAT AND SEEING THE IMPROVEMENTS. UH, MY QUESTION REALLY HAS TO DO WITH FIFA AND, UM, THE AMOUNT OF, DO WE, ARE WE GONNA HAVE TO HIRE MORE PEOPLE TO, TO COME ON BOARD FOR THE SECURITY, FOR SECURITY PURPOSES FOR FIFA? WE, WE HAVE, UH, WE'VE BEEN PLANNING FOR FIFA FOR TWO YEARS. SO WE'VE DEVELOPED PARTNERSHIPS WITH OUR FEDERAL PARTNERS AND WITH OUR, UM, UH, THE LOCAL AGENCIES HERE. SO WE, WE'VE WE'RE WORKING ON AN ILA NOW THROUGH LEGAL TO WORK WITH A DALLAS LSD POLICE DEPARTMENT AND THE DALLAS COLLEGE POLICE DEPARTMENT TO, UH, PROVIDE US WITH SOME OFFICERS DURING THIS TIME, ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL. AND THERE'S SOME FEDERAL RESOURCES THAT ARE GONNA BE AVAILABLE TO US THAT WE'RE GONNA BE, UH, WE'RE WE, WE'VE ALREADY, UH, LOOKING AT HOW WE'RE GONNA DEPLOY THEM. AND SO, UH, IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE'VE KNOWN WE'RE GONNA NEED SOME EXTRA CAPACITY FOR. AND WE'VE BEEN, UH, WORKING TO HIRE FOLKS AND, AND WE HAVE HIRED SOME, BUT AS YOU SAW IN THE CHART, SOME COME, SOME GO. AND SO WE, UM, I FEEL THAT WE'RE, WE'RE PREPARED, UH, FOR THE INCREASE. YOU GET THESE TWO, THESE TWO THINGS DONE WITH OUR FEDERAL PARTNERS AND WITH OUR, UM, OUR LOCAL PARTNERS AT DI DISD AND DALLAS COLLEGE PD THAT WILL, WILL BE WELL POSITIONED TO RESPOND TO WHATEVER COMES, COMES OUR WAY. YES, SIR. AND I ALSO WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAD ENOUGH, UM, SECURITY AT FAIR PARK IN PARTICULAR, SINCE THAT'LL BE THE FAN FESTIVAL THAT YES, WE'RE WORKING WITH THE CITY OF DALLAS. 'CAUSE THE, OF COURSE, THE FAIR PARK PROPERTY ITSELF IS THE CITY OF DALLAS' ENTITY. BUT WE HAVE TWO STATIONS THAT SERVICE THERE FOR, UH, MARTIN LUTHER KING STATION, MILL CASE STATION, JB JACKSON TRANSIT CENTER IN, UH, IN FAIR PARK STATION. WE HAVE RESOURCES, UH, DEFINITELY PLANNED AND ALLOCATED FOR THOSE TWO STATIONS TO, AND WE'LL HAVE ADDITIONAL DOLLARS TO HELP US WITH THE SECURE, THE ADDITIONAL SECURITY. WE, WE HAVE SUBMITTED REQUEST TO THE FIFA HOST COMMITTEE THROUGH THE SECURITY, UH, BRANCH TO YES, TO HAVE, UH, TO, WE'VE REQUESTED A COUPLE OF MILLION DOLLARS TO HELP OFFSET THE COST OF THIS INCREASE SECURITY THAT WE'RE GONNA MEASURES. THANK YOU SO MUCH, MS. VRAS. THREE MINUTES. THANK YOU. SO WHAT IS THE PRICE TAG FOR THE ADDITIONAL SECURITY FOR FIFA? IT'S AROUND, AROUND $2 MILLION. THANK YOU. UM, ALRIGHT. REGARDING THE, UH, DEPARTURES OF OFFICERS, ARE WE DOING A, A ROBUST EXIT INTERVIEW AND WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE DEPARTING OFFICERS OR STAFF WHO PARTICIPATE IN THAT EXIT INTERVIEW? UM, I'VE INTERVIEWED ALL, BUT ONE OF THOSE OFFICERS WHO'VE LEFT AND THOSE SEVEN WHO ARE GONNA BE TERMINATED, RESIGNED BEFORE TERMINATION. I KNOW WHY THEY LEFT . SO I'M NOT BEING FACETIOUS. I'M SAYING I, I, WE DO TALK TO EACH ONE OF THEM. I'VE ONLY HAD ONE OFFICER WHO DIDN'T WANT TO TALK TO ME. I DO THOSE INTERVIEWS PERSONALLY. GOOD, GOOD. AND I SAT WITH THEM AND ASK 'EM IF THERE'S THINGS WE COULD DO DIFFERENTLY AND THINGS LIKE THAT. AND, AND THEY, THEY HAVE GIVEN ME SOME, SOME FEEDBACK ABOUT, UH, DIFFERENT THINGS. AND, AND, UH, I HAD TWO THIS WEEK, UH, THAT I DID EXIT INTERVIEWS, BUT THEY'RE NOT COUNTING THOSE NUMBERS THERE. BUT I HAD TWO EXIT INTERVIEWS, UH, I'M SORRY, THAT JUST LAST WEEK. AND I TALKED TO THOSE OFFICERS AND THEY WERE, UH, VERY, UH, UM, I GUESS HONEST IN THEIR RESPONSES. SO. WELL, I REALLY AM GLAD TO HEAR THAT YOU PERSONALLY, UH, ARE DOING THE EXIT INTERVIEWS. SO ANYTHING THAT WE CAN IMPROVE TO REDUCE THE ATTRITION OF OUR, OF OUR POLICE OFFICERS THAT WE TRAIN IS A GOOD THING. SO THANK [00:35:01] YOU. UH, ONE LAST QUESTIONS ABOUT, UM, THE PARKING LOT SECURITY. CAN YOU TELL ME HOW, UM, RIGHT NOW, IS IT A WHAT SECURES ARE PARKING LOTS FOR OUR RIDERS? WE HAVE, WELL, WE, WE, WE TRACK THE, THE CRIME WE DEPLOY OFFICERS BASED ON, UH, TO DO PATROLS. WELL, THEY SHOULD DO ROUTINE PATROLS OF THOSE AREAS. NUMBER ONE IN THEIR AREA. THEY'RE ASSIGNED A GEOGRAPHIC AREA TO PATROL, WHICH INCLUDES STATIONS AND PARKING LOTS. AND THEY SHOULD PATROL THOSE, UM, WITHOUT A CALL. BUT WHEN WE TRACK THE CALLS, WE TRACK THE ARRESTS, WE TRACK THE OFFENSES, WE DEPLOY EXTRA PERSONNEL THERE. WE DO DO INITIATIVES THERE. AS I MENTIONED. WE ALSO HAVE SECURITY, UH, UH, SECURITY OFFICERS THROUGH OUR FACILITIES CONTRACT THAT ARE ASSIGNED TO THOSE, TO THOSE STATIONS. AND THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO WALK THE PLATFORM AND THE PARKING LOT. AND THEN WE HAVE A COUPLE OF THOSE, UH, WE HAVE A COUPLE OF CAMERA TRAILERS. WE WORK WITH THE COMMUNICATIONS TEAM HERE, AND THEY'VE GIVEN US A COUPLE OF CAMERA TRAILERS AND WE CAN DEPLOY THOSE. SO WE CAN MONITOR LOTS. AND SO WE LOOK, WE LOOK FOR INCREASES IN THINGS. ANY VEHICLE BREAK-INS. WE LOOK AT A, UH, CATALYTIC CONVERTER, THEFTS, ANYTHING LIKE THAT. AND AGAIN, AS I MENTIONED, EVERY 15 DAYS WHEN I LOOK AT THE CRIME REPORT, CHIEF GARZA AND I SIT DOWN AND GO THROUGH THE CRIME REPORT TOGETHER, AND WE MAKE ADJUSTMENTS IN OUR DEPLOYMENTS BASED ON WHAT WE SEE THERE. ANY TRENDS THAT WE SEE, TREND ANALYSIS. SO IS THERE ANY TYPE OF EQUIPMENT LIKE MAYBE EXTRA CAMERAS, PERMANENT CAMERAS AT PARKING LOTS OR RIOT SHIELDS OR RIFLES THAT, OR EQUIPMENT THAT YOU, UM, WOULD LIKE TO HAVE IN THE FUTURE? UH, SO, SO FAR EVERYTHING THAT I'VE NEEDED, WE'VE, I'VE ASKED FOR THAT. I BELIEVE WE NEED, WE'VE BEEN PROVIDED, UH, WE EVEN HAVE SOME IN THE CAMERA REPLACEMENT PROGRAM WHERE WE LOOKED AT ALL THOSE, UH, THE PARKING LOTS AND THE FACILITIES. WE WE'RE MAKING SOME ADJUSTMENTS AND THE DIRECTION OF CAMERAS AND NUMBER OF CAMERAS, SOME OF THOSE. SO WE WE'RE WORKING WITH THE COMMUNICATIONS TEAM AND OPERATIONS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE GET, UH, THE COVERAGE THAT WE, THAT WE THINK WE NEED BASED ON, UM, BASED ON THE, EACH FACILITY DO, WE DO A SEP TED ANALYSIS OF CRIME PREVENTION THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN. AND THROUGH THAT ANALYSIS WE MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS AND, AND, AND WITH THE OTHER, WITH THE CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, AS THEY'RE GOING TO STATIONS AND MAKING UPGRADES, WE, THEY HAVE THAT SEP, TED AND I WORK WITH TREY WALKER AND HIS TEAM, AND TO MAKE SURE THAT WE INCORPORATE THOSE FINDINGS OF THE SEP TEDS INTO THOSE, INTO THOSE, UH, UPGRADES AS DOING AG STATION. SO WE HAVE A, WE HAVE A ROBUST PROGRAM. I HATE TO USE THE R WORD, BUT WE HAVE A ROBUST PROGRAM OF HOW WE WORK TOGETHER WITHIN THE AGENCY TO ADDRESS THE PHYSICAL SECURITY, THE, UH, OF OUR AMENITIES AND THE CLEANLINESS AND, AND THE CONTROL OF THE CRIME THERE. I'LL GIVE YOU A ROBUST THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION. THANK YOU, MS. MILLIGAN. THREE MINUTES. I HAVE A FIFA QUESTION AND THEN A CAMERAS QUESTION. UM, FOR FIFA, AND IT MAY BE A QUESTION FOR YOU, IT MAY BE A QUESTION FOR OUR CEO. DO WE ANTICIPATE THAT YOUR STAFF, WHETHER IT'S OFFICERS OR TRANSIT SECURITY, UM, OFFICERS ARE GONNA BE OUR PRIMARY CUSTOMER SERVICE CONTACT ALSO, ARE THEY, AND, AND IF THAT'S TRUE, DO THEY KNOW THAT, UH, WE WILL BE DOING SOME CUSTOMER SERVICE? 'CAUSE WE'RE GONNA BE VISIBLE AND UNIFORM. BUT AGAIN, UH, THE TEAM HAS WORKED WITH, UH, UH, KAY SHELTON, HER TEAM IN STRATEGY TRANSFORMATION. THEY, THE JAMIE PAT IN PARTICULAR HAS A VOLUNTEER PROGRAM, A ROBUST VOLUNTEER PROGRAM. FIFA'S GONNA HAVE VOLUNTEERS AS WELL. WE WORK WITH THEM. WE'RE, WE'RE GONNA HAVE SOME OF OUR NON-SWORN STAFF AT SOME OF THE STATIONS DEPLOYED AS WELL. OUR FAIR FORCE OFFICERS WILL BE OUT THERE. SO, UH, WE'RE USED TO ENGAGING WITH THE CUSTOMERS AND GIVING THEM DIRECTIONS. UH, WE'VE ALSO ADDED THIS FOR, FOR JUST FOR FIFA, THE CAPABILITY ON OUR BODY-WORN CAMERAS TO TRANSLATE INTO 18 DIFFERENT LANGUAGES. SO WE ACTIVATE THE CAMERA AND THEY SPEAK TO US. IT WILL TRANSLATE FOR US SO WE CAN, CAN COMMUNICATE BETTER WITH THEM. SO OUR FAIR FORCE OFFICERS HAVE BODY-WORN CAMERAS, WE HAVE BODY-WORN CAMERAS, ALL OF OUR OFFICERS. SO AGAIN, WE'VE BEEN PLANNING THIS FOR TWO YEARS. AND SO WE'RE, WE FEEL LIKE WE'RE, WE'RE PREPARED AND WE'RE READY FOR, FOR WHAT'S GONNA COME. SO AT, IF I'M HEARING THIS CORRECTLY, IT'S, YOU'RE PREPARED. THEY'RE NOT THE PRIMARY CUSTOMER SERVICE BECAUSE THERE'S GOING TO BE VOLUNTEERS OR OTHER STAFF WHO ARE OUT THERE TO BE THE PRIMARY CUSTOMER SERVICE. BUT YOUR TEAM KNOWS WE'RE REPRESENTING THE CITY. YOU'RE GONNA BE FRIENDLY, BUT YOUR, YOUR PRIMARY PURPOSE IS, UM, SAFETY AND TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYONE'S SAFE. AND WE ANSWER THE TRANSIT SECURITY OFFICERS, THE FAIR FORCE, AND OUR POLICE OFFICERS SIGNED THE REAL ANSWER QUESTIONS EVERY DAY ABOUT WAY FINDING AND HOW TO GET HERE AND THERE AND HOW TO PURCHASE FAIR AND THINGS LIKE THAT. SO WORKING WITH, UH, THE TEAM INTERNAL TO DART THE VOLUNTEER TEAM AND THE FIFA VOLUNTEERS, UH, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA HAVE LOTS OF FOLKS OUT THERE TO HELP PEOPLE NAVIGATE AND ANSWER THEIR QUESTIONS. AWESOME. OKAY. AND THEN, UM, FIRST OF ALL, THANK YOU FOR ALL THE PROACTIVE WORK. OBVIOUSLY THE, YOU DON'T WANT OFFENSES TO INCREASE, BUT ESPECIALLY WITH THE, THE DRUG OFFENSES, THAT'S A LOT OF PROACTIVE WORK. SO, UM, APPRECIATE THAT. I KNOW IN THE PAST WE'VE TALKED ABOUT CAMERA CAPABILITIES, WHETHER IT'S ON THE, UM, TRAINS OR BUSES OR THE PLATFORM. CAN YOU TALK TO ME ABOUT CALLS FOR SERVICE AND WHETHER DO WE HAVE FOLKS ACTIVELY MONITORING CAMERAS? AND ABOUT WHAT PERCENTAGE OF OUR OFF OFFENSES ARE AT LEAST FLAGGED [00:40:01] BY CAMERAS? WELL, PART PART OF THE, UH, THE, THE GENETECH, THE VIDEO MANAGEMENT SYSTEM THAT IT PROCURED FOR US IS GONNA HAVE SOME OF THOSE ENHANCED CAPABILITIES TO DO TO, TO DO MORE ANALYTICS LIKE THAT. WE HAVE CAMERA MONITORS ON DUTY EVERY SHIFT, BUT, UH, IT IS NOT HUMANLY POSSIBLE. IT'S 'CAUSE WE HAVE 7,700 CAMERAS OR SO ON OUR SYSTEM, ON THE TRAINS, BUSES, AND FACILITIES. WE CAN'T MONITOR ALL THOSE WITH A PERSON. IT'S JUST NOT GONNA HAPPEN. SO THOSE ANALYTIC CAPABILITIES ARE GONNA COME IN VERY, THEY'RE GONNA BE VERY IMPORTANT, INTEGRAL TO, TO THE FUTURE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN GET ALERTED, GET ALERTS TO CERTAIN BEHAVIORS AND THINGS LIKE THAT, TO, TO WEAPONS, TO FIGHTS OR SOMEBODY LAYING OUT OR WHATEVER. SO THAT WE CAN BRING THAT TO THE ATTENTION OF THE CAMERA MONITORS. WE HAVE CAMERA MONITORS, BUT ALSO BUS DISPATCH OPERATIONS TEAM HAS, HAS CAMERA MONITORS IN, IN THEIR FACILITIES AS WELL. RAIL CONTROL HAS, HAS THE ABILITY TO SEE THOSE THINGS. SO WE, WE HAVE THREE LEVELS OF REVIEW OF THE CAMERA SYSTEMS OUT THERE. AND, AND ANY TIME WE'RE ALERTED, IF THERE'S A CALL THAT COMES IN, OUR CAMERA MONITOR WILL GO TO THAT STATION AND LOOK AT THE CAMERA THERE. THEY, THERE'S A CALL COMES INTO ACCURATE PLATFORM OUT HERE. THEY WOULD GO TO THE ACCURATE STATION CAMERA, START LOOKING TO SEE IF THEY COULD IDENTIFY THE SUSPECT, WHAT'S GOING ON, ANYTHING LIKE THAT TO PROVIDE REAL TIME INFORMATION TO THE OFFICERS WHO ARE RESPONDING. SO WE DO THAT EVERY DAY. OKAY. SO RIGHT NOW, VERY RARELY WOULD IT BE PROACTIVE THAT SOMEBODY MONITORING THE CAMERA IDENTIFIES SOMETHING HAPPENING BECAUSE YOU'RE, YOU'RE SAYING OF HOW MANY CAMERAS THEY'RE MONITORING. UM, WHAT'S THE TIMEFRAME AGAIN FOR WHEN THE, THE CAMERAS THAT HAVE THE ANALYTICAL CAPABILITIES WILL BE FUNCTIONING? THAT ONE, I'LL HAVE TO PHONE A FRIEND OF WHEN THE, THE TIMEFRAME, BUT THERE'S DR. SMITH HERE, MAYBE WE, ALRIGHT, GOOD AFTERNOON. JULIA SMITH, CIO. THOSE ARE THE, THE TIMELINE IS, UH, PRETTY INTIMATE. WE HAVE OUR DELIVERABLES TO, TO HAVE COMPLETED BEFORE FIFA. SO WE'RE BRINGING IN THESE, UH, UH, ONLINE INTO THE, UH, GENENTECH VMS, UH, VI VIDEO MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, UH, AS WE SPEAK. SO THE TEAM, THEY'RE PRETTY MUCH WORKING, UH, ALMOST AROUND THE CLOCK WITH THE, UH, OUR PREFERRED TECHNOLOGIES, THE VENDOR THAT YOU ALL APPROVE OUR CONTRACT BACK IN, UH, OCTOBER, I MEAN NOVEMBER, DECEMBER, DECEMBER TIMEFRAME. SO WE'VE BEEN WORKING, UH, TO BRING YOU ALL, ALL OF IT IN ALONG WITH THE, THE BACKEND TECHNOLOGY. SO, JUST SO I UNDERSTOOD CORRECTLY, IS THAT ACROSS THE, THE SYSTEM, ALL CAMERAS THAT WE'VE PAID FOR ARE SUPPOSED TO BE READY BY FIFA? OR IS IT A PHASED ROLLOUT? IT'S A PHASE. THIS IS PHASE ONE. PHASE ONE, UH, BASICALLY DELIVERABLES BEFORE FIFA. AND SO WHAT'S THE, UM, WHERE ARE THE CAMERAS GONNA BE INSTALLED FOR PHASE ONE? UH, PHASE ONE, WE HAVE, WE'VE, UH, STARTED PRETTY MUCH EVERYWHERE. THE, UH, THE TRANSIT SITERS CENTERS, UH, THE STATIONS, AS WELL AS, UH, A PORTION OF THE, UH, THE LIGHT RAIL VEHICLES, UH, SOMEWHERE COMPREHENSIVE. BUT WE DID CONSULT AND GOT GUIDANCE FROM OUR OPERATIONS AND ALSO THE DART POLICE DEPARTMENT ON WHERE THE PRIMARY AREA SHOULD BE TARGETED. AND THEN IS LAST QUESTION, IS YOUR DEPARTMENT RESPONSIBLE FOR TRAINING, OR HOW IS THAT HANDOFF GOING TO OCCUR? UM, SO THAT WE KNOW WHAT TO DO WHEN THE ANALYTICS FLA FLAGS SOMETHING HAPPENING, UM, IN OUR SYSTEM. IT, UH, GROUP TRAINING, UH, MEANING THAT WE, WE HAVE VIDEO MONITORS, UH, AS WELL. THEY'RE BEING TRAINED ON THE, AND HAVE BEEN TRAINED ON THE VIDEO MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. NOTE THAT THE VIDEO MANAGEMENT SYSTEM GENETECH, UH, BOARD APPROVED BACK IN 2023 WAS INSTALLED BACK THEN. THE SOFTWARE IN THE BACKEND. LOT OF THE TECHNOLOGY WE HAVE SINCE THIS LAST, UH, APPROVAL BACK IN THE, UH, THE WINTER, UH, WE'VE, UH, ENHANCED THE, THE, THE TECHNOLOGY ON THE BACKEND AS WELL AS, UH, SEEKING TO PROCURE MORE CAMERAS, UH, MONITORING CAMERAS THAT COULD HELP US WITH THE ANALYTICS THAT THAT CHIEF, UH, TALKED ABOUT. SO THAT TRAINING PLAN INCLUDED, UH, ALL THE ABOVE ON HOW TO, UH, USE THE, THE ANALYTICS THAT'S IN THE SOFTWARE, UH, AS WELL AS, UH, IN THAT WOULD ALERT BUS DISPATCH, RAIL DISPATCH. POLICE DISPATCH. OKAY, THANK YOU. YES. UM, OUR BOARD CHAIR, I JUST WOULD REQUEST AFTER FIFA IF WE COULD HAVE AN UPDATE FROM STAFF ON HOW, HOW THAT WENT AND HOW THE ROLLOUT OF THOSE NEXT GEN CAMERAS IS GOING. IF I MAY, DIRECTOR MILLIGAN, ONE LAST THING. UH, WE'RE ALSO WORKING WITH JAMIE MOLINA AND HER TEAM ON THE SOCIAL MEDIA OUTREACH THAT WHAT, WHAT THOSE GAME DAYS AND THINGS WE'RE GONNA BE. THEY'RE GONNA BE PUSHING STUFF OUT ON OUR BEHALF TO DIRECT PEOPLE TO WHERE WE, YOU KNOW, WE NEED THEM TO GO. SO THIS IS AN ALL HANDS ON DECK EVERY, EVERYBODY'S PITCHING IN AND EVERYBODY HAS A PART TO, TO PLAY IN GETTING US THROUGH SUCCESSFULLY THROUGH THE FIFA. SO. ALRIGHT, MS. RENICK, THREE MINUTES. I ASSUME THERE'S BEEN LOTS OF COORDINATION WITH OTHER, UH, WITH WHETHER TEXAS OR FEDERAL AGENCIES, SAFETY AGENCIES BECAUSE, UH, OR, UH, FIRST RESPONDERS ACTUALLY BECAUSE OF THE TREMENDOUS CROWDS WE'RE GONNA HAVE AT THESE PLACES. YES, SIR. AND AND ARE YOU PERSONALLY INVOLVED IN THAT OR IS THERE SOMEONE ELSE THAT, THAT YOU HAVE DESIGNATED TO BE, I ASSUME THERE'S A GROUP THAT GETS [00:45:01] TOGETHER FREQUENTLY TO DISCUSS THAT AND COORDINATE IF THAT SOMETHING HAPPENS? YES, SIR. WE HAVE TWO LEVELS. UH, FIRST OF ALL, AS THE, AS THE CHIEF OF POLICE, I'M WORKING WITH THE FED, WITH THE FEDERAL PARTNERS 'CAUSE I'M ON THE EXE EXECUTIVE BOARD OF THE NORTH TEXAS JOINT TERRORISM TASK FORCE. I'M WORKING WITH, WITH FEDERAL PARTNERS. CHIEF GARZA HAS BEEN OUR LEAD ON THIS FOR TWO YEARS. HE'S OUR, OUR FIELD OPERATIONS COMMANDER. AND SO HE HAS A TEAM INTERNALLY THAT HE HAS ASSIGNED TO SPECIFIC DUTIES TO LIAISON WITH. ONE WITH THE CITY OF DALLAS, ONE WITH THE OTHER OUTSIDE MEMBER CI, MEMBER CITY DEPARTMENTS. WE'VE MET, WE'RE GOING OUT AND WE'RE MEETING WITH ALL OF OUR MEMBER CITY DEPARTMENTS, UH, POLICE CHIEFS, AGAIN, FACE-TO-FACE TALKING MEMBER WHAT, WHAT THEY CAN EXPECT. WE JUST MET WITH D OF W AIRPORT, SO WE WORKED ON A DEAL WITH THEM ABOUT THE TWO PLATFORMS WE HAVE OUT THERE, YOU KNOW, SO WE, WE, UM, UH, HE HE'S HE'S BEEN CARRYING THE WEIGHT OF THIS. CHIEF GARZA HAS ASSISTANT CHIEF GARZA. I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE WE'RE COORDINATED WITH HIM. AND YES, COMMUNICATIONS ARE WIDE OPEN. AND THEN SECONDLY, WITH RESPECT TO THE FIFA PARTICULARLY, WHAT KIND OF STAFFING, AND I'M NOT SURE WE CAN TALK ABOUT ALL THIS IN OPEN, BUT WE'VE GOT HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF FOLKS AND WE GOT BUSES THAT'LL BE COMING ALL DAY ON SEVERAL OF THOSE DAYS. DO WE HAVE FOLKS IN IRVING AFTER THEY GET OFF THE TRAIN? ARE WE ON THE TRAIN ALL THE WAY TO IRVING FROM DOWNTOWN? ARE WE ALL ON ANY BUSES DOWN TO ARLINGTON? HOW, HOW, HOW ARE WE HANDLING THAT? I I, I WILL SAY THAT I, MY FACE IS PROBABLY ON SOME WANTED POSTERS BECAUSE LAST YEAR I BLOCKED OFF NO VACATION, NO PTOS FROM JUNE 5TH ALL THE WAY TO JULY 19TH. SO EVERYBODY IN OUR DEPARTMENT IS GONNA CANNOT TAKE OFF EN UNLESS THEY, THEY'RE SICK. AND ON NINE GAME DAYS, EVERY SINGLE MEMBER OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT WILL BE WORKING EVERY SINGLE ONE. SO, BUT, BUT MY QUESTION, THANK YOU. I I APPRECIATE THE DEDICATION OF THE OFFICERS IN YOUR DEPARTMENT AND YOU, BUT I'M, I'M, MY QUESTIONING IS STAFFING ON THE BUSES THAT COME DOWN. WILL WE HAVE SOMEONE BOTH IN OUR, UH, IRVING AND IN ARLINGTON, OR ARE WE GONNA HAVE SOMEONE ON SOME BUSES? IS IT GONNA BE SPORADIC? IS IT GONNA BE, TELL ME HOW YOU'RE GONNA DO THIS. THE, THE, WE'RE GONNA BE MOVING PEOPLE TO IRVING ON THE RAIL, ON THE TRE. WE'RE GONNA BE STAFFING THOSE TRAINS. OKAY. THERE'LL BE SOME OF OUR FEDERAL PARTNERS WITH US IN THOSE LOCATIONS. WE'RE GONNA BE STAFFING IRVING. UM, I'VE TALKED TO CHIEF MILLER AND IRVING, THEY'RE GONNA BE BUYING SOME STAFFING OUT THERE AS WELL. 'CAUSE THOSE ARE IN THEIR CITY. AND SO WE HAVE, WE, AGAIN, WE, WE HAVE A PLAN TO THE BUSES GOING FROM, UM, THE CENTER PORT STATION TO THE, TO THE, UH, STADIUM ARE GONNA BE PRIVATE CHARTERS THAT WE'RE NOT GONNA BE ON THOSE, THEY'RE PRIVATE CHARTERS. THE COG IS RE RESPONSIBLE FOR MOVING THOSE PEOPLE. SO THEN WE DON'T HAVE ANYBODY IN ARLINGTON EITHER. UH, WELL, WE'RE GONNA HAVE, WE'RE GONNA HAVE PERSONNEL IN THE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER THERE SO WE CAN COMMUNICATE WITH THEM DIRECTLY. WE'RE GONNA BE IN THREE DIFFERENT OPERATIONS CENTER, THE JOINT OPERATIONS CENTER WITH THE FBI, THAT'S WHERE I'LL BE. WE'RE GONNA, I THINK, UH, TRI AND SOME OF HER TEAM OR SOMEBODY FROM HER TEAM'S GONNA BE IN ARLINGTON AT THEIR EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER. AND WE'RE GONNA HAVE ONE AT THE, UH, THE CITY OF DALLAS EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER. AND THEN, AND THEN I ASSUME YOU'RE ALSO ASSUMING THAT OUR TRAINS, OTHER THAN THE TRE, JUST THE TRAINS TO FEED TO THE TRE AND BUSES TO FEED, WE'LL ALSO BE PRETTY WELL PACKED. SO WE'RE, WE'RE SURGING FOR THIS. YES, SIR. THAT'S WHY EVERYBODY'S GONNA WEAR ALL FPOS, ALL TSOS, ALL POLICE OFFICERS. WE'RE GONNA BE STAFFING MAXIMUM, UH, STAFFING TO ALL THOSE PLACES. AND WE'RE GONNA USE SOME OF OUR OTHER RESOURCES THAT I MENTIONED EARLIER, DISD AND, UH, DALLAS COLLEGE POLICE. WE GET THIS CONTRACT NAILED DOWN AS A REACTION, AS A QUICK REACTION FORCE, A QRF SO THAT WE CAN DEPLOY THEM IF WE HAVE ANYTHING POP UP. AND LAST QUESTION, THE SAME THING IN THE TUNNELS, THE, THE SOUTH LIMIT STATION THERE, WE'RE GONNA BE THERE TOO. WE'RE WE'RE, WE'RE GONNA HAVE PE YES, WE'RE GONNA HAVE PEOPLE DEPLOY EVERYWHERE. THERE'S A POSSIBILITY OF SOMETHING. THANK YOU. APPRECIATE IT, MR. LOPEZ. THREE MINUTES. THANK YOU, CHIEF. UM, THIS IS, UH, REALLY, I MEAN, I I REALLY FEEL LIKE YOU'RE, YOU'RE SITTING ON A TREASURE TROVE OF, UH, DATA, UM, THAT CAN POTENTIALLY TELL US A STORY. I GUESS MY FIRST QUESTION HAS TO DO, UH, WITH THESE, UH, CRIME NUMBERS, CAN WE DESEGREGATE THIS DATA BY, UH, CITY OR ZIP CODE, UH, IN ANY WAY? IS THERE ANY USEFULNESS IN DOING THAT? UH, AND THE REASON I I SAY THIS IS BECAUSE I KIND OF WANNA DISPEL THIS NOTION THAT, UH, PUBLIC TRANSIT SPREADS CRIME. SO I WANTED TO SEE IF THAT, IF THOSE NUMBERS CAN BE DEATH, UH, DESEGREGATED BECAUSE WE HAVE THOSE, WE HAVE THE, THE, THE, THE NUMBERS BY, BY CRIME STAFF, BUT NOT BY CITY OR NOT BY ZIP CODE. WE, WE HAVE THEM BY LOCATION. THAT'S WHY WE, WE LOOK AT PEOPLE, PLACES, AND PEOPLE WHERE DOES, WHERE ARE CRIMES OCCURRING? WHO'S COMMITTING THEM AND WHO ARE THE VICTIMS OF THEM? SO YES, WE HAVE A TOP 10 LIST OF STATIONS. SO WHEN A REPORT IS MADE ON THE AKRON STATION OR THE ST. PAUL STATION, OR THE DOWNTOWN RIVER HERITAGE STATION, WE, WE HAVE A PHYSICAL ADDRESS TO TYPE THAT. YES, WE, WE DE WE, WE CAN, UH, WE, WE DRILL DOWN TO THAT LEVEL. WE DO EVERY, EVERY [00:50:01] DAY, EVERY WEEK IS WHAT WE DO. OKAY. HOLD THAT THOUGHT. UH, MY SECOND QUESTION HAS TO DO, BECAUSE THERE IS A DISPROPORTIONATE, UH, NUMBER OF CRIMES THAT ARE ON THE PLATFORMS. HAVE WE LOOKED AT, UH, THE USE OF CLOSED ACCESS PLATFORMS AS A CRIME REDUCTION STRATEGY? HAVE WE LOOKED AT WHAT OTHER CITIES ARE DOING? UH, I'M REALLY INTRIGUED BY THIS WHOLE NOTION OF A CLOSED ACCESS PLATFORM SYSTEM WHERE ONLY THOSE THAT HAVE TICKETS, UH, CAN GET ONTO THAT PLATFORM. I, I THINK THERE'S SOME OPPORTUNITIES FOR US TO CLOSE IT OFF PORTIONS OF THE SYSTEM. FOR EXAMPLE, CITY PLACE IS A, IN MY MIND, LOOKING AT THE SEPTEMBER REPORT IS, IS AN OPPORTUNITY. UH, BUT MANY OF OUR OUTLYING OR JUST REGULAR LIGHT REAL ESTATE, IT'D BE SO DIFFICULT TO CLOSE THOSE IN AT THIS POINT. IT WOULD BE VERY, VERY EXPENSIVE. I DON'T KNOW THAT THE JUICE FOR THAT IS WORTH THE SQUEEZE IT WOULD TAKE FOR US TO GET THERE. BUT SOME OF THE ELEVATED PLATFORMS, ESPECIALLY, UH, THE UNDERGROUND PLATFORM THERE AT CITY PLACE, I THINK THERE'S OPPORTUNITIES THERE FOR US TO INCREASE THE LIKELIHOOD OF ANYBODY WHO'S THERE HAS, HAS, HAS, HAS PAID FAIR. BUT I, I'M, I'M NO EXPERT, BUT FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN, LOOKING AT THE SEPTS AND ALL THOSE AND BEING OUT ON THE SYSTEM, I GO OUT ON THE SYSTEM EVERY DAY SOMEWHERE. AND, AND I, I THINK IT'LL BE VERY, VERY DIFFICULT. AND I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S EVEN FINANCIALLY POSSIBLE FOR US AT THIS POINT, TO CLOSE OFF ALL THE STATIONS THAT WE HAVE. WE HAVE 66 LIGHT RAIL STATIONS AND, UH, AND WE HAVE FIVE TRE STATIONS AND EIGHT, UM, UH, SILVER LINE STATIONS. AND SO SOME OF THOSE, I JUST DON'T THINK WERE PHYSICALLY THE LAYOUT, THE PHYSICAL LAYOUT. I KNOW IT WOULD BE ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO CLOSE THOSE IN AT THIS POINT, BUT THERE ARE SOME OPPORTUNITIES THAT YES, UH, WE, WE, WE, WE HAVE MADE RECOMMENDATIONS AND SOME OF OUR REPORTS IN OUR CONVERSATIONS TO LIMIT ACCESS TO SOME OF THOSE PLACES. I THINK OUR CEO HAS SOMETHING TO SAY ON THIS. UM, LET ME HELP YOU OUT A LITTLE BIT HERE, CHIEF. UH, I HAD A MAYOR TELL ME ONE TIME THAT LET THERE BE NO LIMITING BELIEFS. AND WITH THAT QUESTION, WHILE IT'S DIFFICULT AND THE CHIEF IS POINTING OUT SOME OF THE PHYSICAL ISSUES, UH, THERE'S A PUBLIC SAFETY DIMENSION THAT THERE'S ALSO A FAIR EVASION, A FAIR ENFORCEMENT DIMENSION TO THIS. THERE'S ALSO, UH, CROWD CONTROL AND WAYFINDING DIMENSION TO THIS. SO IT'S REALLY A MULTIDISCIPLINARY ISSUE. UH, TO ANSWER THIS, UH, WE'RE PUTTING TOGETHER A TASK FORCE TO INTERNALLY TO REALLY DEFINE WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO DO THE WHOLE THING. KNOWING EXACTLY WHAT CHIEF HAS SAID, THAT ON ITS FACE, IT'S REALLY CHALLENGING. BUT, UH, WE JUST HAVE TO SAY, WELL, BUT WHAT IT, WHAT, HOW WOULD YOU DO IT? UH, AND IN WHAT ORDER WOULD YOU DO IT? SO RATHER THAN SUGGEST THAT WE'RE NOT LOOKING AT IT BECAUSE WE ARE, UH, AND FRANKLY, FROM MY OWN PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE, I THINK WE HAVE TO START WITH DOWNTOWN. UH, THAT'S THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE, BUT IT'S ALSO PROBABLY THE BIGGEST OPPORTUNITY IN TERMS OF CREATING A VERY MAJOR MESSAGE. SO, UM, NOT AN EASY ASSIGNMENT, BUT A NECESSARY ASSIGNMENT. AND WE'LL TAKE IT ON. THANK YOU, MR. LEININGER. AND, AND MY MY LAST QUESTION HAS TO DO WITH, UH, BECAUSE OF THE DATA THAT YOU SIT ON, UH, A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF ACCESS TO IMPORTANT CRIME STATISTICS, DO WE HAVE ANY PARTNERSHIPS WITH ANY UNIVERSITIES, ANY THINK TANKS, UH, THAT HAVE FULL AND COMPLETE ACCESS TO YOUR CRIME DATA? UH, I HAVE NOT. UH, I, I GRADUATED MY MASTER'S DEGREE FROM UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS AT DALLAS, UT DALLAS. AND SO I'VE, I HAVE A PROFESSOR THERE THAT I TALKED TO, AND WE WORK, WORK ON THINGS TOGETHER. BUT I DON'T, WE DON'T HAVE ANY CONTRACTS OR FORMAL, NO, WE DON'T HAVE ANY ILAS OR ANY CONTRACTS WITH ANYONE, UM, FOR THAT, FOR THAT PURPOSE. BUT, BUT WE, UH, BEEN DOING THIS A LONG TIME AND WE, WE LOOK AT THE DATA AND WE DEPLOY AROUND THE DATA. UH, HOTSPOT POLICING IS, HAS, HAS BEEN PROVEN TO BE EFFECTIVE. AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE DOING, UH, PLACE, UM, UH, PLACE NETWORK INVESTIGATIONS, P AND I LOOKING WHO'S INVOLVED, GOING BACK TO HOW THEY GET THERE, WHAT ARE THEY DOING, WHAT OTHER ACTIVITIES INVOLVED? IT'S ALL THOSE GANGS. UH, THOSE TWO, THOSE TWO CRIME FIGHTING STRATEGIES ARE SOMETHING THAT'S BEEN VETTED AND PROVEN THROUGH RESEARCH. AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE, THAT'S WHAT WE EMPLOY HERE. SO, WELL, I I DO FIND IT A LITTLE DISAPPOINTING THAT WE DON'T HAVE ANY PARTNERSHIPS TO SPEAK OF WITH A LOCAL UNIVERSITY WHEN WE SIT ON SUCH, UH, AN AMAZING AMOUNT OF, OF, OF DATA. UM, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, I, I, I UNDERSTAND YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON THIS, BUT IF THERE IS A WAY I'M, I'M, I'M LOOKING AT OUR COMMUNITY RELATIONS TEAM TO THINK ABOUT THIS NOTION OF COMMUNITY POLICING AND HOW WE CAN LEARN AND TELL THIS NARRATIVE, UH, FROM, FROM THE, THE DATA THAT DOES EXIST. [00:55:01] UM, I THINK WE'RE, IT'S A MISSED OPPORTUNITY AND I HOPE WE EXPLORE IT FURTHER. THANK YOU. YES, SIR. ANYONE ELSE? MS. WON KRAUS. TWO MINUTES. SORRY, I FORGOT TO ASK. I HAVE TWO QUESTIONS. ONE'S ON, UM, FIFA, UM, SINCE WE'RE GONNA HAVE SO MANY INTERNATIONAL, UM, VISITORS, THERE'S GONNA BE A MULTIPLE NUMBER OF LANGUAGES THAT ARE BEING SP SPOKEN BY SOME OF OUR WRITERS. DO WE HAVE ANYTHING, UM, IN PLACE TO ADDRESS THOSE ADDITIONAL LANGUAGES THAT WE NORMALLY MAY NOT SEE IN ANY NUMBERS? THE, THE THET VMS, THE NEW T VMS HAVE A CAPABILITY OF OTHER LANGUAGES. I DON'T KNOW WHICH LANGUAGES, BUT AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, OUR BODY-WORN CAMERAS WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE PILOTING A, A, A TRANSLATION, UH, PIECE ON THERE THAT THEY'RE THROUGH OUR, OUR VENDOR THAT WE'RE GONNA, THEY'RE MAKE AVAILABLE TO US FOR, AND IT HAS 18 DIFFERENT LANGUAGES ON THERE THAT THEY CAN TRANSLATE TO. AND THE TVM, JAMIE CAN SPEAK TO THAT. SORRY. THANKS, CHIEF. EXCUSE ME. UH, JAMIE, I'M ON THE EVP AND CFO, UM, FOR THE AMBASSADORS, UM, THE DART AMBASSADORS THAT HAVE A DART CELL PHONE, WE ARE GONNA ALSO PUSH OUT, UM, TO EVERYONE'S DART CELL PHONE, LIKE THE GOOGLE TRANSLATE APP, SO THAT THEY HAVE THAT AVAILABLE TO THEM. AND THE TVS, UH, LIKE HE WAS MENTIONING, DO HAVE 11 DIFFERENT LANGUAGES ON THEM. OKAY. THANK, THANK YOU, CHIEF. I DID SEE SOMETHING AT AN APTA, UM, UH, EXPO ABOUT MULTIPLE LANGUAGES. AND ONE OF THE THING, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THE VENDORS, UH, POINTED TO WAS USEFULNESS DURING FIFA. SO THAT'S NOT INTERESTING TO NOTE. AND UM, AND THEN MY SECOND QUESTION IS, I THINK THAT WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT AND NOT, I THINK, I KNOW WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT THE COST FOR, UM, HAVING A CLOSED SYSTEM. UM, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THOSE PAST NUMBERS. THEY WERE QUITE ASTRONOMICAL. UM, AND SO I WOULD LIKE TO SEE MAYBE A PARTIAL, UH, WHAT IT WOULD LOOK TO DO PARTIAL, MAYBE JUST DOWNTOWN DALLAS AND THE, UM, THE CITY PLACE AND MAYBE THE AERIAL STATIONS MIGHT BE SOMETHING THAT IS A, UH, A PARTIAL CLOSING OF THE SYSTEM, BUT THOUGH I KNOW THAT WE'VE SEEN THEM BEFORE, BECAUSE WE'VE ASKED ABOUT IT BEFORE. OKAY. SORRY. YES, MA'AM. WE'LL, WE CAN PULL THAT TOGETHER AND WE CAN WORK WITH CEO TO COORDINATE THAT AS EITHER A BRIEFING ITEM OR A MEMO ITEM. GREAT. AS, AS WE PULL THIS TOGETHER FOR THE FUTURE, THERE'S, AS YOU KNOW, THERE'S A LONG HISTORY IN THIS GOES BACK IN, INTO THE EARLY TWO THOUSANDS. SO THERE'LL BE SEVERAL DIFFERENT UPDATES, UH, THAT WE COM COMPILE IN THAT. AND, UH, IT'S, IT'S THE, THE NUMBERS ARE BIG. OH, THAT, YES. THEY'RE, THEY'RE VERY BIG. AND GIVEN OUR REDUCTION IN SALES TAX REVENUE, IT MAKES IT EVEN MORE OF A DAUNTING CHALLENGE, UH, TO, UM, LOOK AT THOSE PROJECTS. THANK YOU. ANYONE ELSE? UM, YOU CAN PUT ME ON FOR THREE MINUTES. UM, WANNA FIRST, UM, THANK YOU CHIEF AND, AND TO ALL THE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN WHO ARE OUT THERE PUTTING THEIR LIVES ON THE LINE FOR, UM, FOR THE SYSTEM, THIS REGION, OUR PASSENGERS. AND, AND, AND, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S A, IT'S A VERY TOUGH TASK. WE SHOULD BE REALLY INVESTING ALL OF OUR DOLLARS INTO TRANSIT. IT'S, IT'S REALLY UNFORTUNATE THAT WE'RE KIND OF FINDING OURSELVES HERE DOING THIS. UM, BUT TO SOME OF THE POINTS THAT HAVE BEEN MADE, UM, AND I'M SURE YOU ALL HAVE RECEIVED A LETTER AND, AND, AND I'M GLAD SOME OF YOU ALL HAVE BROUGHT SOME OF THESE POINTS UP, BUT, UM, I THINK WE ONE NEED TO BE ALWAYS POINTING OUT THAT THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING IS, IT'S WORKING. UM, AND, AND IT NEEDS TO GO FURTHER. UM, AND SO WE SHOULD BE LOOKING TO, UM, HOW CAN, SEEING HOW WE CAN ADVANCE THIS TSO CONTRACT TO BE MORE BENEFICIAL, UM, TO ULTIMATELY GET TO SOME OF THE THINGS THAT, THAT PEOPLE ARE, HAVE BEEN ASKING ABOUT. I THINK THAT'S THE PATHWAY TO GET THERE. UM, AND THEN OF COURSE, SECONDLY IS, PERSONALLY FOR ME, IT DOESN'T REALLY MATTER HOW HARD WE MAY FIND IT. UM, THE SOLUTION I THINK, IS OUT THERE FOR US TO FIGURE OUT A WAY TO CLOSE THE SYSTEM OR TO AT LEAST HAVE THE CONVERSATION, UH, ABOUT IT. AND SO, UM, THE CEO AND I HAVE HAD A, A CONVERSATION. I KNOW HE IS, HE'S, UM, LOOKING INTO IT. AND SO HOPEFULLY WE CAN BRING SOME, SOME IDEAS FORWARD IN THE, IN THE NEAR FUTURE ON IT. AND SO, AGAIN, I JUST WANNA THANK YOU AND, AND YOUR STAFF FOR, FOR ALL THAT Y'ALL DO. THANK YOU, SIR. ANY OTHER MEMBERS? ALRIGHT, THIS IS THE BRIEFING ITEM. SO WE ARE GOING TO MOVE ON TO NUMBER 10. [10. Approval of Board Member Request for International Travel (Randall B. Bryant/Gene Gamez)] AND I BELIEVE, UM, MR. KENNEDY, GO AHEAD. YES, MR. CHAIR, I'M GONNA RECUSE MYSELF FOR OBVIOUS REASONS. OKAY. THANK YOU. LET MAKE THE RECORD REFLECT THAT MR. KENNEDY HAS RECUSED HIMSELF ON ITEM NUMBER 10. AND ITEM NUMBER 10 IS APPROVAL OF BOARD MEMBER REQUESTS FOR INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL. UH, MR. GOMEZ HAS THE MIC. UH, THANK YOU CHAIR. JEAN GALEZ, GENERAL COUNSEL. THIS ITEM IS, UH, TO, UH, UH, AN [01:00:01] APPROVAL OF A BOARD MEMBER REQUEST FOR INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL. UH, THAT'S A CONSIDERATION TODAY. THE TRAVEL IS TO CANADA. UH, JUST REAL BRIEFLY, BACK IN THE, UH, JUNE OF 2025, THE, UH, BOARD TOOK AN INTENSE, UH, LOOK AT THE TRAVEL POLICY AND, AND, UH, RULE 7.9 WAS AMENDED THAT ALL INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL MUST BE APPROVED BY MAJORITY VOTE OF THE BOARD PRIOR TO TRAVEL. THE, UH, THE CONFERENCE THAT, UH, DIRECTOR KENNEDY IS GOING TO IS IN, IS IN, UH, UH, TORONTO, AND IT COVERS A LOT OF, TODS, NOT GONNA GO THROUGH EVERY ONE OF 'EM, BUT AS YOU CAN SEE, TRANSIT, MOBILITY, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, UH, TRANSIT MODES, STREET STATION QUARTERS, TODS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ALL THOSE THINGS THAT, UH, WE DISCUSS HERE. UH, THIS CONFERENCE IS TYPICALLY HELD IN, IN, UH, IN THE US BUT, UH, BECAUSE OF, UH, OF THE, UH, SPOTLIGHT ON CANADA'S, UH, NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED TODS, IT WAS TO BE HELD IN, UM, UH, IN TORONTO, IN TORONTO, CANADA, EXCUSE ME. THE ESTIMATED COST, UH, FOR THE, UH, THE, THE DIRECTOR'S TRAVEL IS ABOUT 3,300. WE'RE BRINGING THIS NOW TO YOU EARLY. IT'S NOT UNTIL SEPTEMBER, SO THAT WE CAN REALIZE SOME ADDITIONAL SAVINGS BY REGISTERING EARLY. AND THE, UH, OF COURSE, UH, THIS IS WITHIN THE, UH, FISCAL YEAR 2026, UH, BUDGET. THEN ONE OTHER THING THAT I JUST WANT TO MENTION, THAT DIRECTOR KENNEDY HAS NO, UH, DART RELATED TRAVEL EXPENSES FOR FISCAL YEAR, UH, 2026. AND WITH THAT, AGAIN, THE RECOMMENDATION IS APPROVAL, UH, FOR RESOLUTION, UH, UH, UH, TO HAVE PATRICK KENNEDY ATTEND THE IMPACT TRANSIT AND COMMUNITY CONFERENCE IN TORONTO, TORONTO, CANADA. THANK YOU. IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE? SO MOVED. IS THERE SECOND? SECOND. IT'S BEEN MOVED. AND SECOND. ANY DISCUSSION MR. ELLI? THREE MINUTES. THANK YOU, CHAIR. JUST, JUST A QUICK QUESTION. DO WE HAVE AN ESTIMATED BUDGET ON THIS? YOU KNOW, I, I THINK THERE'S VALUE IN, IN HAVING ONE OF THE BOARD MEMBERS GO TO A CONFERENCE LIKE THIS JUST IN CONNECTION WITH APPROVING THIS. I JUST WANNA KNOW, KIND OF BALLPARK WHAT, UH, WHAT AMOUNT WE'RE APPROVING. THE, THERE IS AN AMOUNT, BUT I CAN'T THINK OF, I DON'T HAVE IT IN THE TOP. OH, SURE. IN THE TOP, IN THE RULE. THERE'S AN AMOUNT THERE AND I, I JUST DIDN'T, NOT, DIDN'T HAVE THE RULE RULE. I'M SO SORRY. I DIDN'T MEAN TO PUT YOU ON THE SPOT. I SHOULD HAVE SENT AN EMAIL ABOUT THAT. UM, SORRY, WAS THE QUESTION, HOW MUCH WAS THE ESTIMATED COST? OR WAS THE QUESTION, WHAT'S THE BUDGET? PER MEMBER? IT'S PER DIEM. YEAH, I, I GUESS SO THIS IS GOING TO BE WITHIN THE BUDGET PER MEMBER, THE 8,000. I, I DIDN'T KNOW IF WE WERE APPROPRIATING OUTSIDE OF THAT. NO, I THINK HE SAID THAT HE HASN'T HAD ANY TRAVEL AT ALL THIS YEAR. OKAY. BUT I WAS JUST SAYING, SO THIS IS NOT LIKE AN AN APPROPRIATION BEYOND THE, AT THIS POINT NOW THE PER CORRECT. CORRECT. BECAUSE THAT WOULD REQUIRE TWO THIRDS VOTE ANYWAYS. OKAY. OKAY, GOTCHA. I THOUGHT MAYBE THAT WAS INCLUDED IN THIS, SO THAT, THANK YOU FOR THE CLARIFICATION. NO, I'M SORRY IF I MISUNDERSTOOD YOUR QUESTION. I THOUGHT THERE WAS, IF HE WAS ASKING ABOUT THE TOTAL AMOUNT. OH, THAT WHAT, OKAY. HOLD ON LATER, MR. ABOUT YOU. THREE MINUTES. THANK YOU CHAIR. YEAH. MEMBERS IN THIS ENVIRONMENT, UH, WE AS APPOINTED BOARD MEMBERS SHOULD, SHOULD NOT BE TRAVELING. AND THE THOUGHT OF INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL IS, UH, TROUBLING TO ME. UH, IRONIC THAT THIS REQUEST COMES IN TODAY. UM, OUR MEMBER CITIES ARE PAYING INTO THE AGENCY FOR TRANSIT SERVICES, NOT FOR APPOINTED BOARD MEMBERS TO TRAVEL. UM, HAVING SAID THAT, THERE ARE A COUPLE OTHER OPTIONS HERE FOR MR. KENNEDY. NUMBER ONE, HE COULD PAY FOR IT HIMSELF IF HE FEELS IT'S THAT IMPORTANT FOR HIM TO GO, UH, HE COULD PAY FOR HIMSELF. THAT DOES TWO THINGS. NUMBER ONE, IT UH, REMOVES THE BURDEN FROM THE TAXPAYERS THAT ARE PAYING INTO THE AGENCY FOR TRANSIT SERVICES. AND NUMBER TWO, UH, IT ELIMINATES A LOT OF QUESTIONS ON, UH, POSSIBLE CONFLICTS. UM, ANOTHER OPTION FOR MR. KENNEDY IS HE COULD GO TO THE CITY THAT APPOINTED HIM, WHICH IN THIS CASE IS THE CITY OF DALLAS AND ASK THEM TO PAY FOR IT. BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN THROUGH A LOT IN THE RECENT TIMES AND MUCH OF THE CONCERN IS OVER HOW THE AGENCY ALLOCATES FUNDS AND THE VALUE OF THE FUNDS THAT THE MEMBER CITIES ARE PAYING IN. AND AT THE MOMENT, UH, WE AS APPOINTED BOARD MEMBERS SHOULD NOT BE TRAVELING AND, UH, INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL IS, IS KIND OF TROUBLING TO ME. SO FOR THOSE REASONS, UH, THIS IS NOT SOMETHING I'M GOING TO SUPPORT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. ALRIGHT, MR. ENOCH. THREE MINUTES. YEAH, AND, UH, DOUG, WE'VE HAD THIS DISCUSSION BEFORE AND I I THINK WE'VE EXPRESSED OUR DISAGREEMENT BEFORE TOO. I, I VERY MUCH STRONGLY DISAGREE WITH THE POINTS THAT, UH, MY FRIEND DOUG MADE BECAUSE, UH, JUST AS WE ARE ALL MOVED BY, UH, MOTION PICTURES OR MUSIC OR SIGHT OR SOUNDS, UH, THE BOARD CAN GAIN LOTS OF INSIGHTS INTO HOW TRANSPORTATION OUGHT TO WORK AND CAN WORK BY EXPOSURE TO SYSTEMS THAT WE DON'T SEE IN SAN ANTONIO OR AUSTIN OR MEMPHIS. AND A TRA TRAVEL [01:05:01] TO, TO, TO, UH, I KNOW BARCELONA, FOR EXAMPLE, 'CAUSE I'VE PAID MY OWN WAY TO BE IN BARCELONA, IS AMAZING. WHAT YOU CAN SEE WHAT THE FUTURE OF TRANSIT CAN BE AND THE DEPENDENCE THE CITY HAS AND THE THE COUNTRY HAS ON THE KIND OF TRANSIT WE'RE TRYING TO BUILD HERE. SO I COMMEND PEOPLE WHO WANT TO MOVE TO SEE INTERNATIONALLY, TO TASTE AND SEE WHAT OTHER CITIES AND COUNTRIES ARE DOING. SINGAPORE, FOR EXAMPLE, THERE ARE, THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE LIGHT YEARS AHEAD BECAUSE THEIR IN DENSITY POPULATION, THEY'RE FURTHER DOWN THE ROAD THAN WE ARE AND THEY'VE LEARNED TO TAKE CARE OF IT. SO I COMMEND THOSE WHO WANT TO LEARN AND I WANT THEM TO BRING BACK NEW IDEAS FOR THIS BOARD. WE'RE NOT JUST ABOUT RUNNING BUSES, WE'RE ABOUT PLANNING FOR WHAT THOSE BUSES OR THEIR SUBSTITUTES WILL BE LIKE IN 50 YEARS. AND THERE ARE A LOT OF CITIES THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY THAT, RELATIVELY SPEAKING, ARE 50 YEARS AHEAD OF US AND WE OUGHT TO BE STUDYING. THANK YOU. ALRIGHT, I HAVE MS. GARCIA NEXT. THANK YOU CHAIR. UM, I WHOLEHEARTEDLY SUPPORT, UM, MY BOARD MEMBER MARK ENOCH ON, UH, HIS STATEMENT TODAY. I THINK IT'S CRITICALLY IMPORTANT AS WE MOVE THIS AGENCY FORWARD. AND, UH, TOD IS ONE, IT'S ON THE TOP OF OUR LIST, AND THE MORE THAT WE COULD LEARN MORE ABOUT WHAT'S BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN THEIR PARTICULAR AREA, BE IT INTERNATIONAL, UM, I, I THINK THAT THAT'S, THIS IS A GOOD THING FOR THE AGENCY AND THAT WE, WE SHOULD BE PARTICIPATING. UH, I DO WANNA POINT OUT THOUGH THAT THE REGISTRATION, I BELIEVE SHOULD BE A SEPARATE, UH, ITEM AND NOT ALL INCLUSIVE BECAUSE WE ALWAYS PAY FOR REGISTRATION SEPARATELY SO THAT IT DOESN'T COME OUT OF OUR TRAVEL BUDGET. IS THAT CORRECT, SIR? I, I THINK THEY CAN, THAT IS CORRECT. I JUST WANTED TO GIVE THE BOARD JUST THE INFORMATION, THE TOTAL ON IT. SO WHAT, DO WE KNOW WHAT THE REGISTRATION FEE IS? UM, I'M NOT, I'M NOT SURE IF I GOT THE BREAKDOWN, UH, FROM JESSE SAYING IT. IT'S 7 45. COULD YOU, COULD YOU SAY IT ON THE RECORD PLEASE? 7 45 FOR THE REGISTRATION. THANK YOU. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT. I GOT, UH, MS. JUAN KRAUS, THEN MS. MCGREGOR, THEN, UH, MR. BARRA, THEN MR. SOFFER. THANK YOU CHAIR. UM, I FULLY SUPPORT THE POSITION THAT, UM, MR. ENOCH HAS TAKEN AND SOME OF MY OTHER COLLEAGUES. UM, TO PUT, TO BE, TO PUT BLINDERS IN YOURSELF AND NOT LOOK BEYOND YOUR BACKYARD, TO ME DOES IN FACT A DISSERVICE TO OUR MEMBER CITIES. AS LONG AS I THINK, UH, A BOARD MEMBER IS WITHIN THE LOW BUDGET THAT WE HAVE FOR, UM, CONTINUING EDUCATION, I THINK THAT A BOARD MEMBER KNOWS BEST WHAT WILL SERVE THEM, UM, IN GOOD STEAD WHEN THEY COME, UH, TO MAKE THE VOTES THAT WE NEED TO, ESPECIALLY ON THE TOD. UM, UH, MR. KENNEDY HAS BEEN VERY ACTIVE IN THE TOD PERSPECTIVE. UM, THAT IS RIGHT IN THE BAILIWICK OF IMPACT. UM, IN FACT, UM, IMPACT IS BEING LED BY A TRANSIT BOARD MEMBER FROM A UTAH TRANSIT AUTHORITY. SO THE VALUE FOR BOARD MEMBERS, UH, GOING TO THE IMPACT AND OTHER, UM, UH, EDUCATION SEMINARS, UH, IS GREAT BECAUSE WE'RE NEVER GOING TO IMPROVE IF WE JUST PUT BLINDERS ON AND LOOK IN OUR OWN BACKYARD. THANK YOU. OKAY. I HAVE MR. MCGREGOR NEXT THREE MINUTES? YES, SIR. MR. MCGREGOR, I'M NEXT. OH, UH, YEAH, I, I'M OF COURSE SUPPORTIVE OF, UH, OF APPROVING THIS. UM, I'VE ALWAYS BEEN PUZZLED AS TO WHY WE ARE SO OPPOSED TO, UH, INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL. AND JUST TO MAKE MY POINT, I JUST DID A QUICK SEARCH ONLINE, A ROUND TRIP TO WICHITA, KANSAS, UH, FROM DALLAS. FROM DALLAS. FORT WORTH IS $325 ROUND TRIP TO TORONTO IS $315. SO IT'S, IT'S CHEAPER TO FLY TO TORONTO THAN IS WICHITA. WHY'D YOU PICK ON WICHITA ? WELL, BECAUSE I KNOW THAT, BECAUSE I KNOW THAT THERE'S VERY LITTLE COMPETITION TO WICHITA. THAT'S WHAT RAISES PRICES. UH, FLIGHT TO TORONTO OR LAGUARDIA IS R CHEAP BECAUSE THERE'S A LOT OF COMPETITION. UH, SO YEAH, THE REST HAS BEEN SAID BEFORE. TODS ARE REALLY IMPORTANT AND, UH, AND I CAN'T IMAGINE ANYONE BETTER FROM THIS, UH, BOARD TO REALLY SOAK UP THAT INFORMATION THAN DIRECTOR KENNEDY. SO A HUNDRED PERCENT SUPPORT. THANK YOU MR. BARBER. THREE MINUTES. THANK YOU. UM, MINE IS MORE OF A QUESTION, AND I KNOW HE CAN'T ANSWER, SO I GUESS IT'S A RHETORICAL QUESTION, BUT IF MR. KENNEDY IS A PROFESSIONAL PLANNER, WHY IS HE ASKING THE TAXPAYERS TO PAY FOR HIS TRIBAL AND NOT HIS EMPLOYER? IF IT'S A PLANNING CONFERENCE AND HE'S A PLANNER? ALRIGHT, MAYOR SOFFER, THREE MINUTES. I THANK YOU MR. CHAIR. UH, MINE IS NOT NECESSARILY OPPOSED TO PEOPLE LEARNING MORE ABOUT WHAT WE'RE DOING. MINE IS MORE WHAT ARE WE DOING? [01:10:02] WE'VE BUILT THE LARGEST LIGHT RAIL, WE HAVE SOME OF THE LARGEST TODS IN THE COUNTRY AND THEY'RE NOT WORKING. SO DID WE BUILD THEM WRONG OR DID WE NOT BUILD THEM RIGHT? I MEAN, I'VE GOT AN $8 BILLION TO OD THAT LESS THAN 400 PEOPLE A DAY COME IN AND OUT OF, BUT THERE'S OVER 33,000 VISITORS AND HOTELIERS IN 5 MILLION SQUARE FEET OF OFFICE THAT NO ONE RIDES THE VEHICLES. AND SO TO ME THE ISSUE IS DO WE KEEP JUST BUILDING AND BUILDING AND BUILDING? SO WE'RE THE BIGGEST AND THE BEST. WHEN ARE WE GOING TO FIGURE OUT HOW DO WE ENCOURAGE RIDERSHIP? BECAUSE WE CAN CONTINUE TO HAVE THE, WE'VE GOT THE BIGGEST AND THE LONGEST LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM IN NORTH AMERICA, BUT WHAT'S OUR RIDERSHIP BASED ON WHAT IT IS? SO TO ME, THE ISSUE NEEDS TO BE HOW DO WE STEP BACK AND WORK WITH OUR COMMUNITIES TO GET RIDER TO, TO MAXIMIZE WHAT WE'VE ALREADY CONSTRUCTED, RATHER THAN WORRY ABOUT CONSTRUCTING SOMETHING ELSE. SO IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED BY GOING TO THIS, BUT IF IT'S JUST A MATTER OF SAYING YOU NEED BIGGER DENSITY, YOU NEED HIGHER BUILDINGS, YOU NEED THESE TYPE OF THINGS, WE ALL KNOW THAT. SO MY, MY CONCERN IS JUST THAT, AND I'M NOT AGAINST TRAVELING. I THINK THAT, THAT PEOPLE LEARN A LOT. I THINK IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT TO LOOK AT WHAT OTHER COUNTRIES HAVE DONE, ESPECIALLY THOSE THAT HAVE BEEN DOING IT FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, UH, IN THAT ARENA. BUT I THINK AT SOME POINT WE NEED TO STEP BACK. UH, WE'RE, I MEAN, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT WE BRINGING ON OTHER CITIES AND WE, BUT YET MYSELF, PLANO AND OTHERS ARE HIRING OUR OWN PEOPLE TO DO STUFF TO IMPROVE RIDERSHIP BECAUSE DART'S NOT DOING IT. SO AT SOME POINT, WE GOTTA MAKE OUR DECISION OF WHERE DO WE WANNA INVEST OUR DOLLARS AND WHAT DO WE WANNA DO WITH IT TO JUST SAY YOU'RE THE BIGGEST AND THE BEST IS NOT GONNA MAKE ANY MORE PEOPLE RIDE THE, RIDE THE THING, RIDE THE VEHICLE. SO TO ME, WE, WE NEED TO STEP BACK ALSO, WHEN YOU SEE, UH, SOME OF OUR MAJOR CITIES THAT HAVE FROZEN TRANSPORTATION AND CUT THEIR BUDGETS, CITIES THAT YOU ALL REPRESENT, UH, I THINK IT'S KIND OF, YOU KNOW, YOU GOTTA KIND OF LOOK AT WHAT THEY'RE GOING THROUGH AS WELL AND NOT KIND OF PUT IT IN THEIR FACE THAT, UH, WELL WE STILL GOT MONEY, SO WE'RE GONNA DO IT. UH, I THINK WE NEED TO REALLY JUST LOOK AT IT, BUT I'M NOT OPPOSED TO SOMEONE GOING AND GETTING BETTER EDUCATION. I THINK WE JUST NEED TO DETERMINE WHAT DO WE WANT OUT OF IT IF THE PERSON'S GONNA GO DO IT. THANK YOU. ALRIGHT. ANYONE ELSE? MR. ELLI? TWO MINUTES. THANK YOU. JUST A, A QUICK CLARIFICATION. SO I'M UNDERSTANDING CORRECTLY THAT THE, THE DOLLAR AMOUNT IS STILL GOING TO BE WITHIN THE LIMIT THAT WOULD NOT REQUIRE BOARD APPROVAL IF THIS TRAVEL WERE WITHIN THE BORDERS OF THE UNITED STATES, CORRECT? I'M SORRY. OKAY, JEAN, THANK YOU. I I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO I WAS ASKING, BUT IS, IS THAT, IS THAT CORRECT? YEAH, YOU WERE LOOKING AT ME. I'M SORRY. NO, NO, THAT'S NOT MY, THAT'S NOT MY QUESTION ANSWER. I WAS, I WAS LOOKING AT YOU, BRIAN. I WAS THINKING ANYBODY WHO CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION, I'M, I'M, I'M HAPPY JEAN SHOULD ANSWER THE QUESTION THOUGH. THANK YOU. SO THANK THANK, THANK YOU. OKAY, SO WITH WITH THAT, UH, I WILL SAY THAT I, I REALLY AGREE WITH THE, THE, THE RESERVATIONS THAT DIRECTORS ARE BIC, BARBERA, AND SOFFER HAVE, HAVE TALKED ABOUT. BUT I'LL VOTE IN FAVOR OF THIS, UH, BECAUSE I DO THINK THERE'S VALUE IN LEARNING BEST PRACTICES FROM OTHERS. UH, AND YOU KNOW, I, I'VE KNOWN DIRECTOR KENNEDY TO BE VERY SERIOUS ABOUT THAT AND, AND, AND BRINGING IDEAS BACK HERE. SO HOPEFULLY SOMETHING, UH, GREATER THAN THE VALUE OF, OF ATTENDING THE, OR THE COST OF ATTENDING THE CONFERENCE WILL, WILL COME OUT OF THAT. UM, I WILL SAY THAT FOR THE REASONS THAT OTHER DIRECTORS HAVE HAVE TALKED ABOUT, I WOULD, I WOULD NOT VOTE TO APPROVE TRAVEL OUTSIDE OF NORTH AMERICA. BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, I, I WAS LOOKING UP DISTANCES, UH, AS WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THIS. TORONTO IS ACTUALLY CLOSER TO DFW THAN, UH, NEW YORK CITY CLOSER THAN LOS ANGELES IS AND CLOSER THAN SEATTLE IS. AND THOSE ARE ALL PLACES WHERE SOMEBODY COULD GO TO A CONFERENCE, UM, WITHOUT BOARD APPROVAL. SO GIVEN, UM, GIVEN THAT THIS IS, THIS INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL IS TO TORONTO AND NOT TO SOME FURTHER OFF DESTINATION, UM, I I, I WILL VOTE TO APPROVE IT BASED ON IT BEING CLOSER THAN SOME DESTINATIONS IN THE US THAT WOULD NOT REQUIRE BOARD APPROVAL AND BEING WITHIN THE DOLLAR LIMITS, THAT WOULD NOT REQUIRE BOARD APPROVAL. I, I WOULD NOT VOTE TO GO BEYOND THOSE LIMITS, THOSE DOLLAR LIMITS THOUGH. SO ANYWAY, FOR, FOR THOSE REASONS, I'LL VOTE YES ON THIS ONE. ALRIGHT. ANYONE ELSE? I'LL TAKE A, I'LL TAKE A THREE MINUTES ON IT. UM, 'CAUSE I'M, I'M ACTUALLY GLAD WE'RE HAVING THIS CONVERSATION BECAUSE WE ALMOST HAD ONE VERY SIMILAR, UH, UH, NOT TOO LONG AGO. AND SOME [01:15:01] OF THE THINGS I'M HEARING NOW ARE A BIT DIFFERENT THAN, THAN WHAT I HEARD THEN OR POTENTIALLY HER THEN. YES. LET, LET ME, UH, MAKE LIGHT OF THE SITUATION FIRST. UM, IN LIEU OF WHAT WE JUST APPROVED ON ITEM NUMBER EIGHT, HE'S NOT GONNA BE TARIFFED COMING BACK. IS HE ? NO, HE'S NOT . ALL RIGHT. HAD TO, UM, ONLY IF WE SELL AND THEN BUY 'EM BACK. YEAH, RIGHT. UM, I REMEMBER, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE CAME IN WITH THIS POLICY AND, AND, AND WE ALL, I THINK, I THINK IT PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. UM, YOU KNOW, WE, WE WANTED TO PUT THINGS LIKE THIS IN HERE SO THAT THE BOARD WAS AWARE AND THE IDEA WAS TO PUT IT IN HERE SO THAT WE WERE AWARE SO THAT WE CAN, THAT WE CAN TAKE THE VOTE CLEARLY. THEN THE POLICY IS THAT WE'RE NOT AGAINST INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL. THE POLICY IS THAT THE BOARD NEEDS TO BE NOTIFIED WHEN WE ARE TO TAKE INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL. SO NOW THAT WE'RE OBVIOUSLY TAKING A DIFFERENT LOOK AT THAT GIVES ME A BIT PAUSE. UM, IN ADDITION TO THAT, PATRICK KENNEDY HIMSELF WAS USED MULTIPLE TIMES WHEN WE APPROVED THE POLICY OF HOW MUCH OF A GOLD STANDARD HE WAS WHEN HE WAS, UH, GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND TO, UH, PURCHASE FLIGHTS AND PURCHASE HOTELS BELOW THE COST OF WHAT THE, UH, THE AVERAGE OR THE HOST HOTEL WAS. WE KEPT HIGHLIGHTING HIM AS THE GOLD STANDARD. AND NOW THAT WE ARE USING THIS OPPORTUNITY, UH, AGAINST HIM, SOMEONE WHO DOESN'T TRAVEL MUCH AT ALL, SOMEONE IN PARTICULAR THAT, UM, IS, IS WHOLLY INVESTED INTO THIS, UH, ARENA, TO WHAT ULTIMATELY WILL HOPEFULLY BRING US ADDITIONAL REVENUES TO THIS ORGANIZATION. AND SO, UM, WITH THAT DEFINITELY WILL SUPPORT, UH, THE, THE, THE MOTION ITSELF, UM, AND, AND HOPE THAT YOU ALL DO AS WELL. ANYONE ELSE? MR. LOPEZ? THREE MINUTES. UH, GENE, GENE, WHEN CAN WE REVISIT, UH, A POLICY LIKE THIS ONE IS, HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN ON THE BOOKS? AND TWO, WHEN CAN WE REVISIT SOMETHING LIKE THIS? UH, WE REVISITED THE, UH, DART BOARD RULES OF PROCEDURES IN JUNE OF 2025. AND WE USUALLY DO IT EVERY, LIKE, EVERY TWO YEARS. AND THAT'S SUBJECT TO THE, TO THE, TO THE CHAIR OR ANYTHING THAT COMES UP. BUT USUALLY AROUND EVERY TWO YEARS WE REVIEW AND, AND THIS POLICY HAS BEEN AROUND FOR TWO YEARS. JUNE OF 2025. JUNE OF 25. SO WE PROBABLY HAVE ANOTHER YEAR BEFORE WE CAN KIND OF REVISIT THIS. UM, I, I REALLY DO FIND THIS AS AN EMBARRASSMENT, UH, EXPOSING THE ORGANIZATION TO SOMETHING THAT IS TANTAMOUNT TO A ROUNDING ERROR IN OUR DEPARTMENT'S BUDGET. AND WE'RE SPENDING MORE THAN 25 MINUTES OF OUR PRECIOUS TIME ON SOMETHING THAT IS, UM, I THINK RATHER RIDICULOUS. UH, I FIND THIS A WASTE OF TIME, A COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME. AND SO, UM, AND IT JUST EXPOSES US. UM, I, I DON'T KNOW. I I I THINK THIS IS A PRIME TIME TO REVISIT THIS POLICY, UH, FOR A ROUNDING ERROR THAT EXPOSES THE AGENCY TO JUST BAD PRESS. UH, ESPECIALLY WHEN, WHEN HE HAS NEVER TRAVELED MUCH AND HE IS WELL BELOW THRESHOLDS OF WHAT THE BOARD IS ALLOTTED FOR. SO, UM, THAT'S THE WAY I FEEL. SO THANK YOU JEAN FOR THAT. ALRIGHT, ANYONE ELSE BEFORE WE VOTE? ALRIGHT, PLEASE CAST YOUR VOTES WITH 10 IN FAVOR, TWO IN OPPOSITION. THE MOTION IS APPROVED. WE ARE NOW ON AGENDA. ITEM NUMBER [11. *Briefing on Restructuring of DART Board of Directors (Gary Slagel/Gene Gamez)] 11 I'S A BRIEFING ON RESTRUCTURING OF DART BOARD OF DIRECTORS. LOOKS LIKE MR. GOMEZ, WE CAN TAKE OF THIS ONE AS WELL. UH, THANK YOU GENE GALMAN, GENERAL COUNSEL WANTED TO BRIEF THE BOARD ON THE, UH, RESTRUCTURE OF THE DART BOARD. UM, SECTION 4 52 OF THE, UH, OUR ENABLING STATUTE ESTABLISHES THAT. DART HAS OF COURSE, UH, 15 BOARD MEMBERS APPOINTED BY THE SERVICE AREA CITIES. UH, THIS IS OUR CURRENT, UM, UH, COMPOSITION OF THE, UH, OF THE, OF THE, UH, BOARD BACK IN, UH, NOVEMBER 18TH, 2025. AND, UH, WE, AS YOU'RE AWARE, WE HAD WITHDRAWAL ELECTIONS, UH, ON MAY 2ND, 2026 WITH THE, UH, THE ADDISON, UM, HIGHLAND PARK AND UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY PARK CALLING FOR WITHDRAWAL ELECTIONS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE CITIES. UH, VOTERS IN ADDISON AND, UH, UNIVERSITY PARK VOTED TO CONTINUE WITH DART AND HIGHLAND PARK VOTERS VOTED NOT TO CONTINUE WITH DART AND THAT, UH, TRIGGERS, UH, SECTION 4 52 5 77 OF THE TRANSPORTATION [01:20:01] CODE. UH, BECAUSE OF WITHDRAWAL OF A CITY, UH, THE, UH, THE BOARD SHALL RESTRUCTURE UNDER 4 52. ACTUALLY, THERE'S AN ERROR, I APOLOGIZE. THAT SHOULD BE 5 73 A WHEN A MUNICIPALITY WITHDRAWS FROM THE AUTHORITY. AND, UH, UH, TODAY IT'S A BRIEFING BECAUSE, UH, THE CITY OF, UH, THE TOWN OF, UH, HIGHLAND PARK DOES NOT CANVAS THEIR ELECTION UNTIL MAY 13TH. SO THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF HIGHLAND PARK RODEO AS, AS THE DART SERVICE AREA CITY WILL BE MARCH 14TH, 2026. UH, TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY, UH, WILL BRING AN ITEM AT THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE IN THE BOARD, UH, DIRECTORS MEETING AND THE BOARD, UH, WILL CONSIDER AND APPROVE A RESTRUCTURE OF THE, OF THE BOARD TO REFLECT THE WITHDRAWAL OF HIGHLAND PARK AS A SERVICE AREA, CITY. AND JUST FOR, UM, WANTING TO PUT THIS UP, UH, THE RESTRUCTURE OR, UH, WOULD BE THAT THE HIGHLAND PARK WOULD, WOULD, WOULD BE REMOVED AS A SERVICE AREA, CITY. AND WOULD THAT, UH, CHAIR TAKE ANY QUESTIONS? MEMBERS? ANY QUESTIONS? ALRIGHT, THANK YOU MR. GOMEZ. IT IS NOW 5:31 PM AND THIS MEETING IS ADJOURNED. THANK YOU ALL. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.