Visit our new Front Page Store . New Sign up for MyNews Receive headline news, full articles and breaking news via the Web or wireless device. With no fanfare and a tight budget provided mostly by the Dallas Citizens Council, the campaign to sell voters on a pay raise for the Dallas City Council opened Monday. Election may shift council racial mix Backers of the pay proposal mailed about 40,000 pamphlets to households in a handful of contested council districts. The proposal has drawn no organized opposition.
Critics say they are counting on inertia to do the job.
Voters have rejected higher council salaries seven times since 1968. In each of those earlier elections, however, a pay raise was one of several referenda before voters. This year the pay measure is the only one on the ballot. And this is the first time a campaign committee has been dedicated to pitching council pay. The Citizens Council has been investing in the city of Dallas for 68 years.