Darryl Baker
                             

07/24/06  Dallas Managed News  is so predictable.

Here we go.  The DMN's non-Dallas editorial board wants the new council to be as non-Dallas as they are.  Like almost everyone else who migrates to Dallas and accumulates some bucks and some power and some influence, they want to turn our city into the place THEY CHOSE TO LEAVE.

The Dallas Managed News  wants candidates who will do as they are told by Our Downtown Betters (the ODB).

Most council seats are now controlled by political machines, with the incumbent selecting their successor.  District 10 has been run by the Lake Highlands mafia since before Donna Halstead was on the council.  She anointed Alan Walne.  Walne anointed Bill Blaydes.  With Blaydes insanely toying with the idea of running for mayor, who knows who he will pick to follow him.  I don't even know who in that district would be interested.

If he's alive, Old Al Lipscomb will run for District 8 again.  Councilman Fantroy is termed out.  Even after Old Al ran against him in 2005, I expect Mr. Fantroy to support Old Al to succeed him.  Neither of them have done much to encourage or mentor younger community leaders.  I'm told there's some good candidates who will surface in that district in the next few months, but I'm not optimistic.

Shakedown Leo Chaney has apparently been scared off from endorsing convicted wife-beater and DISD taxpayer abuser Ron Price in District 7.  Chaney probably will go with Rev. Donald Ray Parrish if he decides to run, which we all hope he does.  I don't think even the DMN editorial board would be so dumb as to endorse Ron Price with all his baggage.

Convicted wife-ditcher Don Hill seems to be favoring Lynn Flynt Shaw as his successor in District 5, but the formidable Betty Culbreath is going to run for that seat, too.  The city council could use Betty's plain speak, but the DMN  will see Miss Arts Patron Flynt Shaw as a coalition-builder.  The people of District 5 will see through Miss Arts Patron and support Betty Culbreath who is focused on more mundane matters like zoning and new development for the district.  Miss Arts Patron spoke on behalf of the Comprehensive Plan, which her comments proved she knew nothing about.

Thank God, Brain-Dead Thornton-Reese is termed out.  She's already behind her Park Board appointee, Gloria Hogg.  Ms. Hogg is following the T-Reese pattern of non-ethics and stupid thinking by refusing to resign from the Park Board when she's already announced she's running for City Council.  Candidates are forbidden to spend money or accept donations until they designate a campaign treasurer.  In City Council Candidate Continues To Sit On Park Board (Dallas.org, 5/17/06) Michael Davis reports about Hogg buying advertisement as "Candidate for Dallas City Council 2007, District 4".  Dwayne Caraway is out there walking the district now, and we hope he wins.

If Ed Oakley does run for mayor, which I doubt seriously, but, if --- I have no idea who he will back to replace him on the council. 

Taking it out of order because she is not termed out and not running for mayor, Councilwoman Angela Hunt has not been suitably submissive to Princess Velveeta Lill or the artsy fartsy crowd.  There are those who will not be surprised if Velveeta challenges Hunt for District 14.  Count me in that group.  Princess Velveeta will be surprised herself to learn many of her former backers will stick with Hunt because of Velveeta's support for the staff version of the Comprehensive Plan, which was opposed by almost every community group in her district.

I'm on this council jag because of Sunday's DMN's editorial about the 2007 council after the dust and runoffs settle:

Looking Toward a Shakeup With the right candidates, Dallas could win Editorial Page, Sunday, July 23, 2006

Fast forward to June 2007. The Dallas City Council convenes. One question: Who are these people?    With Laura Miller stepping aside, four southern sector council members leaving due to term limits and other council members contemplating bids for mayor, City Hall is about to experience a shakeup. A year from now, the council will look markedly different. ... we're looking for a few good men and women who aspire to make Dallas great. ... this could be an unprecedented opportunity to transform Dallas government.    Gone will be council members Don Hill, James Fantroy, Leo Chaney Jr. and Maxine Thornton-Reese. Council member Gary Griffith has launched his campaign for mayor. His colleagues Bill Blaydes, Mitchell Rasansky and Ed Oakley are mulling their options.    Already some familiar faces have emerged with hopes of filling these empty seats ? candidates who come around every two years, others who have paid dues on assorted city boards.    But let's look beyond the traditional City Hall pipeline for different types of leaders. Candidates with varied experiences and backgrounds could offer a new perspective.    Intelligence and the ability to articulate ideas obviously are desired qualities. So are coalition-building skills and a willingness to serve ? not just a single council district, but Dallas as a whole. The 14 council districts sometimes seem like 14 fiefdoms, and the council needs leaders with a citywide vision. ...  we're hopeful that candidates with credibility across interest groups ? both in their own communities and beyond them ? will make bids for the council. ... The Dallas school board has benefited from new talent, and while the district is facing steep challenges, early indications suggest that newly elected trustees are helping to right the ship. ... With four council members from the southern sector departing, a lot is riding on the contests that will determine their successors. ... Other priorities for the new council include implementing the city's first comprehensive plan. Bringing the middle class back to Dallas also is key, ....     With so many seats up for grabs next year, the City Council's Class of 2007 will have the opportunity to make a difference. ... Leaders Wanted The ideal candidates: Community leaders with big ideas and a fresh perspective. Requirements: Strong communication and coalition-building skills, the ability to play well with others and a history of getting things done within your community and beyond. Special consideration: To emerging leaders with a citywide vision. A must: Commitment to bridging the gap between North and South Dallas. Need not apply: Candidates pushing for parochialism or the status quo.

Let's do this point by point:

My ideal candidate would be a composite of the following council members:

Angela Hunt's articulate and strong willed advocacy (even when I disagree with her), Mitch Rasansky's tedious review and challenge to one-sided contracts and agreements staff works out to the detriment of Dallas taxpayers and Steve Salazar's attention to his district's priorities.

The last thing we need are 7 more council members who "can play well with others" when the others are going the wrong direction.  We need more council members who will take a stand, even when they are on the losing side -- like Hunt, Rasansky and Miller have done many times.

No one will ever bridge the gap between North and South Dallas if South Dallas continues to elect the likes of Al Lipscomb, Maxine Thornton-Reese, Don Hill and Leo Chaney.  Until South Dallas voters deliver the city representatives from their districts who are not shake down artists who never saw an ethics rule they didn't try to break, there will continue to be a divide.  No sensible person is going to invest in an area run by the likes of these current and former council members.

Pushing for the needs of your district is not necessarily parochialism when meeting those needs will improve the city's tax base and image overall.  My councilman, Steve Salazar, made some decisions in his two recent terms that some consider parochial.  He successfully fought to keep the homeless shelter off Harry Hines away from thousands of children, schools and Bachman Lake Park, and now that site is home to a Salesmanship Club program for families.  When other cities have tried to lure the homeless away from Downtown, they have failed.  Protecting the new businesses in the Asian Business District on Harry Hines is good for the whole city because those shops are generating incredible sales tax revenue for the city -- and no one there is asking for a tax abatement.  See City to consider Asian center (Sunday, July 23, 2006 By ESTHER WU / The Dallas Morning News).

Again, Councilman Salazar will use (if they pass) his designated district bond funds for much needed improvements in Northwest Dallas and Arcadia Park.  Two major streets that currently are lined with open ditches will be repaved and have curbs and sidewalks.  Arcadia Park already has a new school and library which is a city/DISD joint project.  Councilman Salazar has included a jogging/walking trail around the school/library compound for the community.  It may not benefit Downtown, but improving that neighborhood has a positive ripple effect for all of Oak Cliff and West Dallas, which is as neglected as South Dallas.

The problem with anything that comes out of The Dallas Managed News  editorial board is that they are not from Dallas and most don't live in Dallas.  They don't know this city, and don't like what they think they know.

When the highest priority of The Dallas Managed News  editorial board is to have candidates with "coalition-building skills", you know they do not want anyone running for office who has principles and a personal ethics that would not allow them to go along to get along or swap votes when they know some project or tax abatement or contract is bad for the city and Dallas taxpayers.

We need people who are willing to break some eggs to make an omelet, not the same old butt-kissers willing to doing anything for an invite to some ODB luncheon or shindig.

sb