Dallas -Together, we do it Better

Memorandum




DATE: September 15, 2014

TO: A.C. Gonzalez, City Manager

CC: The Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council

SUBJECT: Trinity & Transportation Departments

As indicated by Mayor Rawlings in his memorandum dated September 12, 2014, at the end of
select City Council briefing meetings, you will provide a CuSP Progress Report with updates
on Culture, Systems and People at the City of Dallas. The report will be a short 15-minute
update, and we as the City Council will only listen. Questions are to be presented off-line.
The purpose of your CuSP Progress Reports is, in part, to furnish a verbal memo on change
within the City.

As you will provide your first CuSP Progress Report this Wednesday, September 17, I would
like to take this opportunity to share on-going concerns within the organizational sub-entity
labeled as Trinity Watershed Management, Public Works & Transportation, Communication
& Information Services (Trinity & Transportation Departments) on the City of Dallas org-
chart.

Unforced Errors Causing Harm. The Trinity & Transportation Departments are
experiencing an increasing acute cessation of function. Although public and Council
intervention has been able to partially mitigate and, in limited cases, reverse disastrous results,
without such intervention the expected outcomes are too frequently unacceptable. The severe
paralysis within the Trinity & Transportation Departments is resulting in unforced errors that
are harming our City.

Previous Mistakes. Since my time on the Council, a series of failures and bad judgments,
including the failure to exercise due diligence and routine background checks, led to poor
hiring and retention in the CIS department of the Trinity & Transportation Departments.
Recently, the failure by the Trinity & Transportation Departments to exercise the necessary
due diligence contributed to the City entering into a long-term contract with a convicted animal
abuser to operate the Trinity Horse Park, a $15M taxpayer approved facility.

More recently, oversight of the standing wave feature on the Trinity River is being transferred
from the Trinity & Transportation Departments to the Parks Department. Also, a lack of
oversight by the Trinity & Transportation Departments resulted in a contractor draining an
environmentally sensitive pond, digging a 20-acre pit, and clear cutting 300 trees within the
Trinity forest.

Houston Street Viaduct Mistake. In the past two weeks, I learned of the Houston Street
Viaduct mistake within the Trinity & Transportation Departments. Since March 2013, the
Houston Street Viaduct has been closed for construction of Phase I of the Downtown Dallas-

Dallas -Together, we do it Better

Oak Cliff Streetcar Project and repairs to the Houston Street Viaduct. Since the closure,
vehicular access between downtown Dallas and Oak Cliff has been difficult and the Jefferson
Bridge has absorbed the load.

The Houston Street Viaduct was scheduled to reopen in September 2014; however, the Trinity
& Transportation Departments failed to complete the necessary bridge repairs within the 18-
month closure period. The consequences are six more months of lost time and productivity to
downtown and Oak Cliff commuters. To date, no satisfactory explanation has been provided
to explain the mistake. In this instance, intervention reduced the necessary repairs from the
originally proposed 12 months to six months.

Streetcar Project Mistake. In the past week, I learned of the Streetcar Project mistake within
the Trinity & Transportation Departments. Phase II ($10M Union Station to the Omni Dallas
Convention Center Hotel) and Phase III ($21M Methodist Hospital to the Bishop Arts
District) of the Streetcar Project were to be completed by spring 2015, according to the April
2013 Transportation Committee briefing. The completion was subsequently adjusted to fall
2015.

The plan to design and build Phases II & III was to exercise an option to have the design-
builder, HDR/Stacy-Witbeck/Carcon, of Phase I (Union Station to Methodist Hospital) design-
build Phases II & III as the design-builder would already be mobilized and familiar with the
project. As you know, I was informed that Trinity & Transportation elected to allow any option
with HDR/Stacy-Witbeck/Carcon to lapse due to a difference in pricing of approximately
$1M. The design-builder is now demobilizing as completion of Phase I is imminent.

The Trinity & Transportation Departments did not bring the potential pricing issue with the
HDR/Stacy-Witbeck/Carcon option to Council. At the April 2014 Transportation Committee
briefing, the Trinity & Transportation Departments informed Council that the most pressing
issue with the Streetcar Project was approval of the exterior paint color and interior fabric
pattern. The Trinity & Transportation Departments have not adequately briefed the Council
on this matter.

Further, prior to Council intervention, the Trinity & Transportation Departments did not act
with sufficient urgency to locate a new designer and builder for Phases II & III the designs
of which are still incomplete despite construction being originally scheduled to begin next
month following the completion of Phase I.

I want to emphasize that the Streetcar Project can still be completed on schedule by fall
2015 and I understand that you, as our City Manager, are committed to making this
happen.

Your time and consideration is appreciated.




Scott Griggs
Councilmember