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8/17/10 Open Up
Those Love Field Contracts.
Are you even aware that a Congresswoman and a State
Representative have concession contracts at Love Field? Granted, the
Congresswoman's holdings are in a "blind trust", but she benefits from those
contracts that half of the city council want to renew without accepting bids
from other concessionaires.
There have been several issues where I have differed with Tom Leppert since he
came out of nowhere to win the mayor's race. But, I have to tell you I am
in total agreement with his efforts to open up the Love Field concessions.
It makes no sense to do anything else.
I talked with a council member a couple of weeks ago about the Love Field
concessions, and I was terribly disappointed with his reasoning for keeping out
competition. He said it didn't matter if new concessionaires would make
more money for us because all the money must stay in Love Field operations.
There are ways to use that excess money.
Other communities have used excess aviation revenue to improve surrounding roads
for ingress and egress to the airport. Other communities have used excess
aviation revenue for noise abatement in nearby communities. I'm told the
FAA has tightened up their rules, and those type of expenditures are no longer
allowed. Even if that's true, the airport would be even more profitable
with a circulation system that hooks into DART rail.
You know what? I don't care how the extra dollars get spent or even if we
get any extra revenue by opening up the bids to new concessionaires. I
don't want a Congresswoman or a State Representative making money from a city
owned airport. It has always made me sick that no politician would
challenge this "technically" legal, but very morally wrong arrangement.
Now, we have a politician who is willing to stand up and take the heat and
another politician who is enjoying her status as the swing vote. Mayor Tom
Leppert has nothing to gain by jumping into this mess. Councilwoman Angela
Hunt thinks she has something to gain by dragging this out for another week.
"I have thought about that, and the fact is, I don't think that's in the best interests of the airport. I think we've aired out a lot of different options. By end of day tomorrow, I think we'll have several new options on the table, and I really do think we can and should decide at this point what the future of the concessions are at Love Field."However, Hunt notes that she's expressed to the mayor that "it's not appropriate" to vote right after the briefing because folks have questions that need answers and a week to digest the information would also be nice before casting their votes, so an August 25 vote is expected.
After delaying the vote on this issue for a second time on June 23, Leppert charged staff with coming back with more options after the council's recess, but it was him and Natinsky who authored the only major new option. So would Hunt advocate for more city staff input?
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Sam Merten seems to think she's
going to vote with the Mayor to do some kind of hybrid open the bid process.
I've been assuming she would go with the minorities on the council who want the
status quo to continue. She has made a mistake by putting herself in as
the the swing vote. She may be getting a lot of publicity and attention,
but whichever way she goes she's going to make a bunch of voters very angry.
If she goes with the minority council members and supports the no-bid option
that keeps two elected officials as beneficiaries of the Love Field concessions,
she can just forget about any support from North Dallas.
If Sam is correct that she will vote to open up the bids, Councilwoman Hunt's
toast in the Southern Sector. It will be the right thing to do, but her
intellectual exercises in rationalizing her vote are going to fall on deaf ears.
Sometimes politicians can be too clever by half.
All those politicians who told us how exciting the String Thing Bridges were
going to be are probably avoiding the Stemmons corridor just now. It is
uglier than I could have imagined. Saw it as I was leaving Downtown this
week. It's definitely big and eye catching, but not in a positive way.
All that money for something so ugly.
It's been hard for me to write this summer because I haven't been able to churn
up much enthusiasm or hopefulness as to anything related to Dallas city
politics. It's interesting that three very different politicians have
triggered a new energy for me.
JP Luis Sepulveda has been very inspiring with his Don Quixote fight against
election fraud and crime. He may not be able to overturn a very crooked
election, but he has shown the light on a bad situation that most people know
nothing about. He took on some very powerful political operatives, and he
knows well that he can expect retaliation. Most people don't have that
kind of courage.
Mayor Tom Leppert has worked very hard to create a bond with council members
representing the southern sector and has helped get retailers to invest in the
area. It would have been safe for him to "go along to get along" with the
sweetheart deals at Love Field, but he showed incredible courage to challenge
the status quo even when it's been clear that he may very well fail. I'm
proud of him.
Councilwoman Angela Hunt has been right on some issues, but her ego and ambition
trips her up. She plays one side off against the other, rather than making
a decision. You need to read Sam Merten's excellent
blog in its entirety. He and Jim
Schutze are big Angela Hunt fans, but sometimes the best reporting is to let the
subject state their own case, which he does in
Angela "Swing Vote" Hunt Gives Us a Hint of What to Expect at Tomorrow's Love
Field Airport Concessions Shindig.
She has a very wordy excuse for
voting against the minority council members. Her comments are very
patronizing and not credible.
I want the concessions opened up. I don't care if those supporting the
Mayor's efforts are sincere. Sometimes, you just have to accept that the
sausage got made, and the process wasn't pretty.
sb
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