The Billionaire Behind the Bid to Break Dallas City Government

By Steven Monaccelli/Texas ObserverAt the August 21, 2024, meeting of the Dallas City Council, Joseph Porter stood at the podium and admonished the council members for allegedly “spreading misinformation” about three proposed city charter amendments, which one member has described as “draconian” and the mayor and all council members have publicly opposed.& “Your outward disdain for the citizens of Dallas will not go unnoticed,” said Porter, who was identified only by name. “Because that’s what this is. Any person spreading misinformation about these [charter amendments], trying to subvert the will of the people, it’s totally shameful.”What Porter did not disclose in his public comment is that he’s the executive director of Keep Dallas Safe, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit—a type of organization sometimes known as “dark money” groups due to the laws that allow them to conceal their donors—that pushes fever-pitched rhetoric about crime in Dallas. Per inside sources and documents reviewed by the Texas Observer, Keep Dallas Safe was created and operated by a California-based publicity firm that orchestrates campaigns and protests, and, according to a former contractor and internal documents, the nonprofit’s creation was financially backed by Monty Bennett—a politically active, yet little-known outside of Dallas, right-wing hotelier and billionaire...