Timeline
| 1930 | Dallas City Council adopts council-manager form of government, electing nine councilmembers at large. Six council members must live in certain geographic districts. The council members elect the mayor from one of their own. |
| 1949 | Council decides to have the mayor elected citywide. |
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| 1967 | First African-American appointed to the Dallas City Council, C. A. Galloway. Max Goldblatt files an unsuccessful lawsuit against the at-large system. |
| 1968 | Second African-American, George Allen, appointed to council; Galloway leaves council. |
| 1969 | George Allen becomes first African-American elected to Dallas City Council by voters. Anita N. Martinez becomes first Hispanic-American elected to the council. Max Goldblatt loses lawsuit to change at-large system. Council expands to ten members elected at large, plus the mayor. |
| 1971 | Al Lipscomb and 18 others file suit against the at-large system, which has all council members elected citywide but with eight members required to live in certain geographic areas. |
| 1973 | Lucy Patterson becomes first African-American woman elected to the Dallas City Council; Pedro Aguirre becomes second Hispanic-American elected to the council. |
| 1975 | Federal Judge Eldon Mahon strikes down the city’s at-large system. City implements new 8-3 system with voters electing eight council members by regions called single-member districts. Two council members and the mayor remain elected at-large. |
| 1987 | Al Gonzalez becomes the first and only minority ever elected at large. He serves only one term, choosing not to run again. |
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| 1988 | Marvin Crenshaw and Roy Williams file voting rights lawsuit on May 18. Hispanics, led by Henry Martinez and the Ledbetter Neighborhood Association, soon join the lawsuit. |
| 1989 | Voters approve compromise plan known as 10-4-1, which encompasses 10 single-member districts, four larger districts dividing the city by quadrants and the mayor elected at large. The council has only two blacks and no Hispanics. The U.S. Justice Department then rejects 10-4-1. |
| 1990 | Federal Judge Jerry Buchmeyer throws out the 8-3 system. In December, voters defeat the 14-1 plan by a small margin. |
| 1991 | Judge Buchmeyer orders May elections under the 14-1 system. After an appeal by the city, both sides agree to settle the lawsuit. Elections are finally held under the 14-1 system in November; four African-Americans and two Hispanic-Americans are elected to the council. |
| 1995 | Attorney Ron Kirk is elected Dallas’ first African-American mayor. |
| 2000 | For the first time, the Dallas City Council has a majority-minority council, including two Hispanic-American members and six African-American members including the mayor. |
