4/22/9  Garcia Puts Rogue Bars over Medrano Middle School Kids

Bradford Estates is a beautiful little neighborhood between Brockbank and Webb Chapel, just south of Walnut Hill.  By the machinations of the 2001 Redistricting Commission, we are included in District 6 along with West Dallas and Arcadia Park.  We don't have a lot in common with Oak Cliff, except a large portion of our neighborhood is Hispanic.  Surprisingly, we have 20 or so gay households, with more buying our available homes.  It's a very cool neighborhood of seniors and singles, Asian, Black, White, Hispanic, professional to blue collar workers. 

Unfortunately, we are a block East from a car wash with all the usual problems car washes generate.  Worse, we are 2 blocks from 2900 Walnut Hill, a hell hole concentration of pool halls and illegal dance halls, operating under restaurant licenses.  It's not an exaggeration to call it a shopping center for thugs.  The zoning in the area prohibits dance halls, but they are there.  The massage parlor is gone, but ---

The crime stats from the 2900 hell hole would compare to what you would expect from a Nuevo Laredo bar area.  Beatings, car theft, armed robbery.  The front building blocks the main parking area and rear center buildings from police view on Walnut Hill.  Mayhem prevails.

For 2 years, State Rep. Rafel Anchia, Councilmembers Steve Salazar and Pauline Medrano, Chief Bernal (DPD Vice), representatives from TABC and the community have been working to clean up the stretch of Walnut Hill from Denton Dr. to Brockbank.  We have pretty much got rid of the hookers and the massage parlor/whore houses, but the 2900 hell hole continues to bring down the area.  A DART rail station opens up in December 2010 at Walnut Hill and Denton Dr., but the 2900 hell hole puts a damper on any hope of redevelopment in the area.  Who would want to open up a business near it?

A couple of years ago, Rep. Anchia created a task force that has really pulled the TABC into the community's effort to clean up the rogue bars in NW Dallas from Love Field to Walnut Hill. 

Next Monday, the TABC will hold hearings regarding the liquor licenses for several of the 2900 Walnut Hill trouble makers. 

Guess who has stepped out to represent at least one of the worst bars in the hell hole center?  That's right, the husband of the city council's Mayor Pro Tem - Domingo Garcia.  This bar and the others in the 2900 hell hole are right now violating City Code and ordinances.  Law breakers!   Garcia sees them as innocent victims of law abiding citizens.  That's right, Garcia's primary defense for his rogue bar client is enforcing city laws and TABC regulations is a racial attack on honest Hispanic businesses by a bunch of old White people.

We have 4 schools between Merrell and Park Lane (one of which is the new Medrano Middle School).  In all 4 schools, at least 90% of the students are Hispanic.  All of the schools are just blocks away from the 2900 hell hole.

The good news is that I've seen Abogado Garcia in court -- not very impressive.  Can't imagine anyone on the TABC panel will be impressed with his arguments for allowing these rogue bars in the 2900 hell hole to continue to have liquor licenses. 

I'm a big cheer leader for Councilman Salazar, but he deserves it.  He sides with those of us who want to improve Northwest Dallas.  We know we can count on him to back us up.  We also know Councilwoman Pauline Medrano is always with us.  When I called for her help, there was not one second of hesitation.  She has been a frequent participant in Rep. Anchia's task force, always offering good ideas.

City Attorney Tom Perkins has given us some of his best Assistant City Attorneys in our fight to move problematic and illegal businesses out of Northwest Dallas.  Chris Bower and his team have been awesome.

So, come Monday morning, I will make my way to the Central Library for the TABC hearing, and I'm confident we will prevail against Domingo Garcia and his rogue bar clients.  It's just such a waste of time and resources to have to fight businesses that are knowingly and flagrantly breaking the law.  We don't want to always be fighting, but the bad guys are always waiting for us to let down our guard.

When I first bought my house after 30 years in Oak Lawn, I was amazed at the brazen prostitution on Walnut Hill from Brockbank to Harry Hines.  It took a lot of vigilance on the community's part, but most of the hookers are gone.  Occasionally, a straggler tries to open up business, but we keep our cell phones punched to 911 with specific description and location of the wayward hooker -- and make it clear that this is not a good part of town for her to sell herself.

I am grateful to Rafael Anchia, Steve Salazar and Pauline Medrano for their help.  Like Councilman Dwaine Caraway, they understand we have to take back our community a block at a time, a problem at a time.  Nothing happens without hard work.  When you see how some officials neglect their constituents once elected, it makes those of us in Northwest Dallas/Love Field appreciate the assistance we enjoy from Anchia, Salazar and Medrano.

We have council elections coming up in just a few weeks.  If there's a choice in your district, please vote for the person who will do the most to clean up problem areas near your neighborhood. 

We need people with "vision", but I want people whose vision occasionally is at street level.  I was already endorsing Ann Margolin in District 13, but her opponent has made it obvious that Ann's the right person for the job.  For one thing, she votes in city elections, and has a clue what goes on at City Hall.  District 13 is directly across Walnut Hill from my District 6 neighborhood.  District 13 is awash with Ann Margolin signs, but wherever you see the occasional Brint Ryan sign, you usually see a Vote NO (pro-hotel) sign next to his.

Councilman Salazar and Councilwoman Medrano are supporters of the convention center hotel, but both of them also understand that nothing encourages economic development like stable, low crime areas where businesses don't have to compete with illegal operations next door.

Unlike Domingo Garcia, State Rep. Anchia, Councilman Salazar and Councilwoman Medrano put their law-abiding constituents and Dallas families ahead of rogue bars and illegal dance halls.

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