Arlington City Council Special Meeting on April 21, 2026
Arlington City Council Special Meeting on April 21, 2026
The Arlington City Council convened in a special session on April 21, 2026, at 10:45 a.m. in the Council Briefing Room. The meeting included an executive session from 10:51 a.m. to 3:02 p.m., followed by a work session and discussion of issues items. The council discussed the 2025 annual report from the Arlington Police Department, a proposed Dallas Cowboys lease extension, a homelessness update, and several committee reports.
Consent Calendar
- No consent calendar items were recorded in the minutes.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments or testimony were recorded in the minutes or transcript.
Discussion Items
- Arlington Police Department 2025 Annual Report (3.1): Police Chief Al Jones presented the annual report, highlighting a 16% decrease in crimes against property compared to 2024, while crimes against society increased by 12%. The department conducted over 103,000 traffic stops, made over 1,300 DWI arrests, and recorded 30 traffic fatalities. Homicides decreased from 17 in 2024 to 15 in 2025, with a 100% clearance rate. The department's Operation Connect program resulted in over 62,562 traffic stops, 14,360 arrests, and the seizure of 3,543 guns since April 2021. Councilmembers expressed support, noting the department's proactive policing and community engagement.
- Dallas Cowboys Lease Extension (3.2): City Manager Trey Yelverton presented a proposed 15-year lease extension (from 2040 to 2055) for AT&T Stadium. The team would commit $750 million in stadium improvements, with the city reimbursing $273 million (net present value) from existing venue tax savings. No new or increased taxes would be required, and the bond maturity remains at 2048. The city would gain $32 million in new unrestricted revenue over the extension. Councilmembers discussed public safety enhancements, pedestrian-vehicular separation improvements, and the economic impact of $324 million annually. Some members expressed concern about not taking the issue to voters, but staff explained that a secondary election is not legally required as the same voter-approved taxes are being used.
- Homelessness Update (3.3): Deputy City Manager Jennifer Wichmann presented an update, including the 2026 point-in-time count showing 125 people in emergency shelters and 95 unsheltered. The city currently spends approximately $1.2 million annually on homeless services from various funds, including general fund contributions of about $200,000. Comparatively, Fort Worth spends $13 million and Dallas spends significantly more. Councilmembers discussed potential alternative funding sources, such as a utility fee similar to those used in Dallas and Fort Worth, and the need for prevention strategies.
- Overview of City Boards and Commissions (4.1): Jay Warren, Director of Communication and Legislative Affairs, provided an overview. Councilmember Galante raised a suggestion about requiring board members who run for office to resign, but several other councilmembers opposed the idea, citing no legal conflict and the value of experience.
- Community and Neighborhood Development – Mayfield Park Apartments (4.2): Councilmember Boxall reported on the committee's recommendation to support a resolution of no objection for a 4% housing tax credit application to rehab the 240-unit Mayfield Park Apartments (built 1999). The developer would make payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT) to the housing finance corporation, and no significant resident displacement is expected.
- Arlington Housing Finance Corporation Update (4.3): Councilmember Hunter reported that the corporation approved an MOU outlining terms for the Mayfield Park Apartments project. Several related items are on the evening agenda.
- Council External Committee Reports (4.7): Councilmember Hogg reported on the Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau Board, noting the Java House Grand Prix increased hotel revenue by 36% with 1.3 million viewers. Councilmember Gonzalez reported on the Regional Transportation Council, which approved funding adjustments for the World Cup and discussed hiring outside legal counsel due to a conflict of interest. Gonzalez also reported on the Emergency Preparedness Planning Council, covering grant updates and a threat assessment.
Key Outcomes
- The council received the Arlington Police Department 2025 Annual Report to be filed; no formal vote.
- The council discussed and generally supported the Dallas Cowboys lease extension; a master agreement is on the evening agenda for consideration (Item 8.17).
- The council received the homelessness update and noted that further analysis on programs and funding would be brought to the Community and Neighborhood Development committee.
- The council discussed the overview of boards and commissions; no formal action was taken, but further policy review may be referred to the Municipal Policy Committee.
- The council received committee reports and noted items on the evening agenda: Item 8.17 (Cowboys lease extension) and Item 8.24 (Mayfield Park Apartments resolution).
- Councilmember Hogg requested a future agenda item regarding workers' compensation issues.
Meeting Transcript
All right, folks. We will now go into an executive close session. Good afternoon, everybody. We're going to go ahead and call the afternoon session of the City Council back to order. We're going to move on down to three point one, Chief Al Jones. How are you, sir? Great, good afternoon, Mayor Council. Al Jones, Chief of Police. Today I will be presenting the two thousand twenty-five annual report. It's a collection of great work that we were able to accomplish last year. Numbers for Arlington, traffic safety, UTA code case partnership. Please note these numbers are accurate as of April 10th, two thousand twenty-six. Compared 2024 to last year, crime against property was down 16%. Compared 2024 to last year, crimes against society was up 12%. These crimes in this category includes narcotics, prostitution, disorderly conduct, public intoxication types of offenses. A rise in the number of arrests and cases filed in this category aligns with our proactive policing strategy. Simply put, our officers are actively seeking to disrupt these types of crimes in our city while reducing the impact that these crimes may have on innocent residents and visitors. In 2025, we conducted over 103,000 traffic stops. Of note, seven were pedestrians and eight were motorcyclists. We made over 1,300 DWI arrests. The map on the right represents where the fatality crashes have occurred. As you can see, while they're primarily concentrated along the highways, every section of Arlington was impacted. In 2023, we implemented a multi-pronged safe road initiative program. The initiative was aimed at improving traffic safety throughout the city. In 2024, we expanded that Safe Roads Initiative program and added safety traffic safety component to it. In 2025, we continued to be more transparent with our community. We wanted to share where our trafficking officers and the traffic enforcement details would be located each week. We provide the information on different social media platforms so drivers will be able to be aware that the officers were in the area and correcting driving behavior if necessary. That is showed on the screen. We had 15 homicides in 2025 compared to 17 in 2024. Our clearance rate on murders was 100%. That's great, 100% for 2025. The national average in 2024 is around 61%. 27 were disturbance related. 31 of the murders were robbery related. Unfortunately, minorities accounted for 81% of our homicide victims. UTA code case partnership. Unsolved murders are assigned to homicide detectives to work between active cases. UTA Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice launched a new advanced course in partnership with us, giving students the opportunity to review real code cases in an effort to develop new leads and to provide our detectives with feedback on potential paths. The department provided the students with access to all reports, materials from the case files, except for physical evidence. Shortly after the inception of the program, the students assisted detectives with a notable investigation, which led to the arrest of a suspect in the Asynthia Gonzalez case. We conducted a joint press conference with UTA professors and students following the arrest. The case and interest in this unique course gained the national attention. Reducing violent crime in Arlington continues to be our top priority as an agency. As we strategize on how we're going to combat it, one key thing we look at is what is driving it. Arlington Police Department strategically assigned investigators to regional and federal task force to serve as a force multiplier. The task force collaborate, enables rapid information sharing, identification of emergency emerging trends, recognition of offenders, and hence in coordination of enforcement strategies. Since January 2022, Arlington Police Department has documented 180 criminal incidents involving kickdoor members, involving aggravated assaults, robberies, burglaries, shootings, drug offenses, all that occurred within the city of Arlington. We made multiple arrests. We filed numerous state charges against these members in the past, but we wanted to explore additional avenues to disrupt this their activity in Arlington.
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