Speakers urge council to oppose DART funding cuts and investigate alleged code-compliance harassment

Two substantive citizen-comment items drew council attention at the end of the March 18 meeting: a request that Garland take a formal stance against proposed state bills that would affect Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) funding and a business owner’s allegation of repeated, targeted code-compliance enforcement.

Dave Brady, a transit advocate, urged the council to oppose three bills in the Texas Legislature he said would reduce funding available to DART and undermine regional transit projects including the Silver Line and other expansions. Brady asked council members to take a unified position and contact Austin to protect past voter-approved transit funding, saying the bills would harm transit-oriented development plans and services that Garland residents rely on.

Separately, business owner Rashad Haidis (Auto Choice, Garland) described what he called persistent, targeted enforcement by the city’s code compliance department, saying he received numerous citations (he said 16, with six pending) that were later dismissed in court. He alleged a neighboring business owner had leveraged personal connections with a city official to report his signs and trigger citations and asked the city to stop the alleged harassment; Haidis said he was considering legal action and asked for city assistance to resolve the matter.

Council did not take action during citizen comments (Texas open-meetings rules limit council discussion on non-agenda items). Staff follow-up would be required to address the specific requests: a formal council resolution or letter on DART bills and an administrative review or staff response to Mr. Haidis’s code-compliance allegations.

Mayor and staff replied during the meeting that council is limited in what it can discuss during citizen comment and that council members or staff could follow up after the meeting.