Most Richardson City Council members said Monday night they want to ask DART to name the Silver Line arches over U.S. 75 after former mayor Gary Slagel, and City Manager Don Magner said he would bring a formal resolution to the council's Nov. 16 meeting.
Mayor Amir Omar was the lone voice against it at the work session. He praised Slagel's record but said the city would put DART and its other member cities in an awkward position by telling another agency what to call its property.
He suggested the key to the city, which he called the council's highest honor, as a better fit, and noted that Slagel is still serving on the DART board.
Several residents spoke in favor before the discussion. Magner walked the council through Slagel's public service, from the zoning board and the council in 1987 to two stints as mayor and a DART board seat since 2011, including a term as chair from 2023 to 2025.
He said Slagel, as mayor, commissioned the 2008 study that produced the Silver Line's route through CityLine, and as DART chair helped negotiate the separate arches project with DART and TxDOT.
Because the arches belong to DART, the city's own naming policy does not apply, Magner said. DART's naming policy covers stations, transfer centers and park-and-ride lots but not bridges, and DART staff told the city a resolution was the most effective way to make the request. Any decision would be up to the DART board.