If you think traffic gets snarled, you should see the snarl developing in the alphabet soup of local government bodies intended to solve those problems. It's hard to say just what caused this current snarl in government, just like it is for many traffic snarls. But here is what I can see from my position way back here on the road.
The snarl would have become noticeable to observant drivers back in December, 2025, at a meeting of the RTC. What's the RTC, you ask? In its own words, "The Regional Transportation Council (RTC) is the independent transportation policy body of the Metropolitan Planning Organization...The RTC oversees the metropolitan transportation planning process." Note what isn't in that brief description: NCTCOG.
At that December RTC meeting, Michael Morris "received a standing ovation." Who is Michael Morris? He's the longstanding (35 years) Transportation Director of the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG, sometimes just called CoG), which is over the RTC, but I use the word "over" guardedly. You'll see why soon.
What is CoG, you ask? In its own words, "The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) is a voluntary association of, by and for local governments, established to assist in regional planning." Of course, transportation is one of the things that need regional planning. RTC is a department within CoG, I think, but the boundary is blurry, which turns out to be significant to our story.
Michael Morris is as close to ground zero of this government snarl as it comes, but that doesn't mean he's to blame for the snarl. Michael Morris is described by state Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, as "the Tom Landry of transportation" (Fort Worth Report). Jim Schutze, former journalist for "The Dallas Observer," once called Morris "the Dallas Fort Worth area's No. 1 regional transportation planner, guru and playuh" (The Wheel). In short, Morris is the man.
So what happened at that December RTC meeting? According to Fort Worth Report, it was a "hostile meeting in which some transportation council members, angry that Morris is being forced out of his job, demanded that they be actively involved in a search for a successor." Todd Little, CoG's executive director, said talk of replacing Morris was "just hearsay." Little said CoG was just doing prudent succession planning. Arlington Mayor Jim Ross said, "When you say it's just a succession plan, I call bull----. Don't come in here and paint that picture as true."
Again, according to Fort Worth Report, "Denton County Judge Andy Eads accused the council of government's executive board of a 'power grab' to dismiss Morris, who he described as the best transportation director in the United States. He suggested a legal review to ensure that the Regional Transportation Council maintains its authority as a policy-setting panel."
That was December. The pile-up was just beginning. But with talk of a "legal review," the eventual spillover into the courts was already predictable. In early April, 2026, RTC "members agreed to retain independent attorneys to clarify the group's duties and help stop the search for a new transportation director after a related lawsuit was filed in Denton County" (Fort Worth Report). Remember that related lawsuit, too. It's involved in the pile-up.
Last week, things came to a head. "Michael Morris, influential North Texas transportation director for 35 years, was fired from his job. The firing was made Tuesday by North Central Texas Council of Governments Executive Director Todd Little...Johnson County Commissioner Rick Bailey, the chair of the Regional Transportation Council, told the Fort Worth Report Wednesday, 'In my opinion, it was unwarranted.' " (Fort Worth Report).
Unwarranted. A power grab. Maybe, but was it illegal? Expect the pile-up to last a good while now that the courts are involved. And that involvement is now official.
At a Thursday emergency meeting, the RTC decided to join "a lawsuit filed by Denton County officials over hiring decisions...RTC members said the suit is intended to change the Metropolitan Planning Organization structure in North Texas. The group would have the ability to hire and fire transportation department staffers, instead of the council of governments as its CEO Todd Little maintains." (Fort Worth Report)
I wish I could tell you what's at the bottom of this turf battle. It's probably power. Or money. Or power over money. That's because it almost always is at this level. What does this turf battle signify for the future of regional transportation in north Texas? Damned if I know. That's above my pay grade.
An interesting subplot to this power struggle is the fact that Council member Jennifer Justice is the Vice President of the Executive Board of the NCTCOG and Richardson Mayor Amir Omar is an Alternate Representative for the RTC. Does this mean the Honorable Mayor of Richardson is suing the Honorable Council Member of Richardson? It sure looks like that.
Another interesting subplot is playing out in Collin County where, on Monday, without his consent, the Commissioners Court removed Commissioner Duncan Webb from his position as Collin County's representative to the RTC and replaced him with Commissioner Darrell Hale. The vote was 3-2, with Webb voting against and Hale voting for the swap. The second commissioner who votes no said Webb was "being punished." It appears that Webb favors DART and Hale doesn't. That pile-up deserves a deep dive all by itself, but the inside baseball details of Collin County politics is outside the wheelhouse of The Wheel.
In any case, Darrell Hale attended Thursday's RTC meeting and told the RTC that he's no longer a board member on NCTCOG. Hale thought that was significant to the fact that RTC was about to go into executive session to deliberate whether to sue CoG, or to be more precise, to join the existing Denton County lawsuit against CoG. Hale, in his role as CoG board member, is included as a defendant in that lawsuit. Are you following along? In other words, wearing his new RTC hat, Darrell Hale wanted to join RTC's executive session to discuss whether the RTC should sue Darrell Hale wearing his COG hat, the hat that he says he no longer wears. Traffic snarls sometimes make no sense. Despite not being a lawyer, it seems to me that this is an obvious legal conflict of interest for Hale. Three or so other members of the RTC who are also members on the NCTCOG had the sense to recuse themselves from this upcoming deliberation. Nevertheless, Darrell Hale objected to being excluded. Outnumbered 40 or so to 1, the rest of the RTC picked up their ball and went into a private room to deliberate without him. The RTC decided to sue CoG. And there. I think we've caught up to the scene of the accident. But the accident site doesn't look to be close to being cleaned up anytime soon. The snarl continues.
"No clear lane ahead.
Authority in dispute.
No one yields the wheel."
—h/t ChatGPT
Wow -- I should not have read this on a Monday morning... ;-)
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