October 2009

The Dallas County Democratic Party has put out the following press releases and other informational updates for its supporters. We have grouped these updates by month and year for easier searching. You can also use the website's Search bar if you are looking for specific keywords or names. If you are having trouble finding a specific article, please feel free to contact the Dallas County Democratic Party.

Judge Hoffman Honored for PRIDE Court

The Dallas County Commissioners recently honored Judge Peggy Hoffman for establishing a new specialty drug divert court designed for women charged with misdemeanor prostitution and for receiving a $350,000.00 federal grant from the Bureau of Justice to help fund this court. The Commissioners Court unanimously voted in favor of a resolution thanking Judge Hoffman for her work to help these women while at the same time saving Dallas County money by keeping these women out of jail.

PRIDE Court (Positive Recovery Intensive Divert Experience) is a year- long intensive judicially supervised program which offers women charged with prostitution an alternative to the judicial system by providing these women a safe and secure opportunity to leave the life of prostitution. The program moves women from intensive residential counseling and treatment to outpatient treatment to independence with assistance in the areas of counseling, education and job training. If a woman graduates from the program, the case pending against her is dismissed.

PRIDE Court works closely with the Dallas Police Department’s Prostitution Diversion Initiative which reaches out to women at the various truck stops in Dallas. Many local service providers under the umbrella of New Life Opportunities volunteer countless hours to provide these women with alternatives to the streets. These agencies with DPD, the Sheriff’s Department and PRIDE Court work together to stop the vicious cycle of prostitution, divert these women from the judicial system and enable them to become productive members of our community. Read more »

Press Releases

Time to Deliver: Call Congress Today!

Today, Organizing for America volunteers across the country are working to call to Congress in favor of health care reform. This is a critical effort to give all Americans access to the health care they need. 24% of Texans are uninsured; 5 million of these uninsured are children.

Make Your Call Today. You can find your Representative and make your call by clicking here!

Last night, over 300,000 supporters of Health Care Reform called their member of Congress across the country. In the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex alone, 15 individual house parties were hosted to call local Democrats and urge them to call Congress today. Organizing for America began its goal at 100,000 calls. By 1:00pm, they had beaten that number. By 5:00pm, Health Care Reform supporters had made over 200,000 calls. As of this morning, over 300,000 calls have been made. Let's keep this momentum going!

All calls to Congress are logged by law with who called, when, and subject of the call. By calling our Republican members of Congress, we keep them from falsely claiming that their voters don't want Health Care Reform, like Senator John Boehner of Ohio attempts to do.

Read more »

Press Releases

November 3rd, 2009 Constitutional Amendment Election

On Tuesday, November 3rd 2009, Texans will go to the polls to vote on 11 amendments to the State of Texas' Constitution. The Dallas County Democratic Party does not take any official stance on these amendments. However, we do encourage our supporters and all Texas voters to actively participate in this election, and give serious consideration to the Pros and Cons of each amendment to be voted on.

The League of Women Voters have put together an excellent, non-partisan guide regarding each Constitutional Amendment. We highly recommend you read this document before making your vote. You can read this document through the below link:

League of Women Voters - Explanation of Amendments

We have copied the explanatory statements from from the Texas Secretary of State website below. Please click the Read More link to continue. Read more »

Press Releases

District Clerk moves Courts to go paperless

District Clerk Gary Fitzsimmons is helping Dallas County Courts move to all electronic filing to help save time and taxpayer money. This system will help build greater transparency of our legal system as documents will eventually become publicly accessible from work and home. The Dallas Morning News has written the following article about this initiative, which you can read by selecting the link below.

Dallas County courts moving to all-electronic filing

We are very thankful for the fresh ideas and innovations our elected officials, such as Gary Fitzsimmons, have done to make our county government more efficient. Read more »

Press Releases

2009 Dallas County Property Taxes Available

John Ames

The Dallas County Tax Office has mailed the 2009 Tax Statements as of October 5, 2009. Newly Elected Tax Assessor/Collector John R. Ames stated “Dallas County Tax Statements haven’t been mailed this early in over 20 years.” The Texas Property Tax Code requires statements to be mailed in October each year. The Texas Property Tax Code goes on to say that property taxes are due and payable upon receipt. The Tax Office recommends submitting your tax payment as soon as possible, but to avoid penalties and interest, it must be received by January 31, 2010. Since January 31st is a Sunday this year, the Tax Office will accept payments postmarked, made in person or paid on-line by Monday, February 1, 2010 without penalties and interest.

Another improvement Mr. Ames has made to the Dallas County Tax Office is the mailing of property owner informational post cards. Taxpayers with mortgage companies will receive a postcard with their pertinent tax information rather than a full statement this year. The full statement will be mailed to the mortgage company to be submitted with the taxpayer’s payment from their escrow account. This change in procedure saved the taxpayers of Dallas over $26,000. More payment channels and locations are also available to taxpayers. Residential tax payments can be made by Visa or MasterCard on-line at www.dallascounty.org or at the payment kiosks at any of the Tax Office’s ten convenient locations. Payment of Dallas County fines and fees by credit card can also be conveniently made at any Dallas County Tax Office location. Read more »

Press Releases

So you say you want health care reform?

Expanding the circle of people who are engaged in the battle for health care reform is the key to getting it done. We're closer than we ever have been, but the next few weeks will be CRITICAL. This weekend, we've got eight canvasses taking place across the Metroplex. Come join us as we hit neighborhoods all across the region to talk to fellow Texans about getting involved. We'll provide training, a buddy, and refreshments.