Dallas Leaders React to Former Councilman’s Passing

Frank "Bingo" McTyre, who resigned from the council last year, served the city for nearly 18 years. McTyre died Saturday; his funeral is set for Monday afternoon.

Funeral arrangements have been set for Frank Lindley “Bingo” McTyre, the longtime Dallas councilman who passed away Saturday. McTyre, 78, had served on the council for nearly 18 years, starting December 1993. His stint on the council lasted until August of last year, ending after he resigned due to health concerns. “[With] Bingo, we lost a great leader in the city and a friend. He loved the city of Dallas, he served with distinction,” said Jim Henson, who succeeded McTyre as Dallas’ Ward 4 councilman in 2011. “He will be sorely missed by the people of Dallas and by the city. “He was just a great person and just somebody you could respect, and the things he did for the city, he did purely for the city.” According to McTyre's obituary, …

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Dallas Council Approves Budget

The budget for fiscal year 2013 is down approximately $1.84 million from fiscal year 2012.

The Dallas City Council approved the city's budget for fiscal year 2013 at a called meeting Monday night. The $4.95 million budget is down approximately $1.84 million from fiscal year 2012's budget of $6.79 million budget. A public hearing was held on the budget last week though, according to the Paulding Neighbor, no residents spoke on the issue. Although the city's fiscal year runs from July 1-June 30, City Manager Kendall Smith said the council had to postpone its vote until the city received final ad valorum tax digest figures from Paulding County. The approved budget includes expenditures of $1.88 million for the police department; $835,050 for the administrative department; $749,453 for the streets department; and $598,865 for the …

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Dallas Council to Vote on Budget

The council will vote on the budget during a called meeting tonight.

Dallas council members are set to vote at a called meeting tonight on the city's $4.95 million budget for fiscal year 2013. The budget, which is down approximately $1.84 million from fiscal year 2012, includes expenditures of $1.88 million for the police department; $835,050 for the administrative department; $749,453 for the streets department; and $598,865 for the Dallas Theater. No residents spoke during a public hearing on the preliminary budget last week. Athought the fiscal year started July 1, the city council had to postpone a vote on the budget until it received final ad valorum tax digest figures from Paulding County. A copy of the preliminary budget is attached to this article. The city council meets at 5 p.m. at City Hall.

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Dallas Officials Halt Downtown Running Events

Dallas city councilmen on Monday voted to halt road races that would close areas of downtown and block access to businesses, the Paulding Neighbor reports.

Dallas Council Eases Fee Schedule Regulations

A resolution approved Monday will allow officials to more easily make changes to city fees in the future.

Dallas city councilmen Monday night adopted a schedule of fees for city services. While most fees will stay the same, the approved resolution reduces the amount of red tape involved in making adjustments to fees, which can be set for the first time in some cases, or adjusted up or down, according to Dallas City Manager Kendall Smith. Prior to this, the process to modify fees involved additional readings by the council and a change in the ordinance, but that process won’t be required under this resolution, Mayor Boyd Austin said. Councilmen, including Griffin White, were not keen on raising any existing fees rates to local businesses that may already be struggling, and White requested that Smith provide a full listing of any changed fees …

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Dallas Expands Adult Business Regulations

City Manager Kendall Smith says zoning law changes add more definitions, further defines license application procedures and more, the Paulding Neighbor reports.

Dallas Council Regulates Signs

An ordinance approved by the governing body covers a variety of signs.

The Dallas City Council kicked off 2012 by unanimously voting in an ordinance designed to be tough on eye sores in the community. The sign ordinance requires that temporary banners above businesses be replaced after 60 days with permanent signs and requires companies that go out of business remove their signs after six months. Current signs are grandfathered in under the ordinance, Mayor Boyd Austin said. The ordinance covers a variety of sign types, including placards that are posted all over gas stations, something that Austin is looking to get rid of under the new ordinance. "I want all of those convenience stores and their cigarette signs posted over the parking lots, that’s a lot of the ones I want to see gone," Austin said. A second …

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Council Changes Highlight 2011 in Government

These are the five stories we believe were the top government headlines of the past year. Did we miss your favorite stories or news on an issue important to you? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Some of the biggest headlines from our coverage of local governments involved the people chosen to run them. Here are our choices for the five top government stories of the year, in no particular order.  The Paulding County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved in August the fiscal year 2012 budget for the county. Though the budget featured no millage increase, county residents as a result of the approved budget saw an increase in the number of employee furlough days—resulting in the closure of county offices on those days—reductions in county library staff and hours of operation, cuts to Paulding County Animal Control’s shelter hours of operations and more. More than 55 percent of Hiram residents who took part in the Nov. 8 …

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Election Results and Turnout Numbers

Get a recap of our election coverage last night, as well as an overall look at polling numbers.

While elections in Dallas and Hiram had a few key differences—one city had a competitive mayoral race, the other a citywide referendum—there was at least one similarity between the municipalities. That similarity was voter turnout. Both cities saw their voter turnouts hit near the 17-percent mark. Dallas—which had two competitive races and two incumbents facing no challenges to their re-election—had 815 of the city’s 4,816 registered voters taking the time to mark ballots. That total was good for a turnout of 16.92 percent. Voter turnout was slightly higher in Hiram, which featured two competitive races for city council and a referendum on Sunday package sales, as well as an incumbent mayor facing no opposition. The city saw 278 of its 1,…

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Austin Pushed to Victory by Tuesday's Ballots

After seeing a slight deficit early in the night, the final vote tally put incumbent Boyd Austin Jr. over challenger Marvin Tingler in the Dallas mayoral race.

Dallas' mayor of 16 years will serve four more. Boyd Austin Jr. fended off a challenge by Marvin Tingler by earning 439 votes to Tingler's 368, or 54.3 to 45.5 percent of the votes cast; two write-in votes were recorded. “It’s been a long six months, it’s been a long race,” Austin said after getting the news that he won Tuesday’s election. “I think my record has been vindicated. I’m glad to have people turn out and vote, we had a big turnout today, and they said what they wanted—they spoke and spoke on my behalf.” Tingler held a slight lead earlier in the night 184 to 177, when only early/advanced voting and absente-by-mail ballots had been tabulated, though absentee ballots heavily favored Austin, as he took 64 of the 80 such votes. …

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