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JC
Gehrig Saldana
David Tuthill
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04/06/07 What happened
to "Finish your vegetables before desert"?
City Hall folks are busy planning to spend our money to
build a big fancy park Downtown -- the first of three.
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The Dallas Park and Recreation Department unveiled the schematic design for the Main Street Garden Park Wednesday. The park features a toddler lot, an urban dog run, a caf? a fountain with rushing water and 12-foot-high jets, several garden shelters, and a unique nighttime lighting design.
... Councilmember Steve Salazar urged the Park and Recreation Department to consider using more expensive construction material.
?When you use materials that last a long time such as marble, in 200 years, that thing is going to be there,? Salazar said. ?It?s not going anywhere.?
Councilmember Mitchell Rasansky, the most fiscally responsible council member, agreed with Salazar and said they should be willing to spend 10 to 15 percent more for better material.
?Powder coating looks good now and it will look good two years from now, but it will look like holy heck eight to 10 years from now,? Rasansky said.
Rasansky expressed concerns about the ability to keep the park clean.
... Rasansky also wasn?t happy about the idea of having moveable furnishings at the park.
?You better have those chained down, or the reality is they ain?t gonna be there,? Rasansky said.
Councilmember Angela Hunt said ... Rasansky shouldn?t worry about the moveable chairs. She cited Bryant Park in New York City as an example, saying that they store their chairs at night and haven?t had any problems with theft. Hunt also addressed any concerns regarding the homeless in the park, citing studies that show that homeless people avoid areas where large amounts of people gather.
... Construction for the project is budgeted for approximately $7 million....
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What does your neighborhood park look
like? Our nice little neighborhood park with pavilions and picnic tables
and benches and basketball courts was turned over to the DISD to be used in
companion with a new school at Walnut Hill and Webb Chapel. We were
promised to have the park back after construction of the school.
Technically, we still have a public park. Actually, we don't. It's
fenced, and the convenient parking is gone. The covered picnic areas are
gone. The park was very popular with area Hispanic families for birthday
parties and gatherings all weekend long, every weekend. We lost
2/3rds of our park, but Downtown is getting 3 new parks -- one right on top of
Woodall Rogers Freeway.
$200,000 could make our remaining park useable and accessible. No money
for that, but the Downtown park is costing $7 million.
$200,000 could put back covered picnic areas for low income Hispanic families.
No money for that, but the Downtown park will have employees assigned to set out
"moveable chairs" in the morning and store them in the evening. Is that
whacked out or what?
The City Council is also considering ways to strengthen our "panhandling laws".
Why? If our police enforce the existing ordinance, where do they put the
street bums they arrest? Can't put them in jail because there's no room
for felons, much less panhandlers. If our criminal-loving DA refuses to
prosecute felons, you know he's not going to go after panhandlers.
The April 5, 2007, 5:30 pm CBS broadcast included,
The Cost Of Immigration.
They reported illegal immigrants are getting $50
million annually in free health care at Parkland. They interviewed County
Commissioner John Wiley Price. They went on to say an audit of LA's jails
showed 20% of the inmates were illegal immigrants, costing LA $97 million
annually. Has anyone done an audit of what percentage illegal immigrants
make up in our county jail population?
Rather than building new parks, I would like to see more jails. We had a
great cop murdered last month by a sleaze bag who should have been in jail.
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Man charged in officer's death was lost in system;
Analysis of records a strong example of problems
in probation department
Thursday, April 5, 2007
By BROOKS EGERTON
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Back in August, Dallas County probation officers lost track of a career criminal named Wesley Ruiz.
They never went looking for him.
They did eventually try, in February, to revoke his probation. But they filed the paperwork under the wrong name.
Last month, they fixed the paperwork.
And three days later, they finally figured out where Mr. Ruiz was ? at Parkland Memorial Hospital, wounded and facing a capital murder charge after a high-speed chase that ended with the fatal shooting of Dallas police officer Mark Nix.
... probation director Michael Noyes ... Dr. Noyes said the Ruiz case exemplifies continuing problems that The News first spotlighted nearly two years ago. "There are a lot of structural things that are wrong with the probation department," agreed felony court Judge John Creuzot.
... Dr. Noyes said each of his officers is expected to supervise about 125 people.
... Supervision, in many cases, simply means that a probationer pays a brief monthly visit to an officer and takes a drug test. Visits to a criminal's home, neighborhood and workplace are rare.
Officers lose track of many thousands of probationers. No one seems to know exactly how many, but Dr. Noyes said the current estimate is 9,000 to 10,000 ? about the same as in 2005.
... Once they go missing, however, officers can't go arrest them. No one on the probation staff has police powers or carries a gun ? something Dr. Noyes said he wants to change.
... So who's looking for the felons such as Mr. Ruiz? Officers are supposed to alert supervisors, who work with prosecutors to file probation-revocation motions. Arrest warrants are generated ? and often languish in massive backlogs at law enforcement agencies.
It took almost six months for a warrant to be generated in Mr. Ruiz's case, records show. Dr. Noyes said he didn't know why.
... Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle responded with understanding.
"I believe that every part of the criminal justice system is overwhelmed right now in Dallas County," he said. "There are all sorts of consequences to that, large and small ? Some of the bad guys are spending more time on the streets."
The chief said he didn't want to criticize county officials, who manage not only the swollen probation rolls but also overcrowded jails.
"They're having to deal with issues created by their predecessors," he said.
Chief Kunkle also said he wasn't sure that faster action would have saved Cpl. Nix's life.
"Even if it [the probation file] wasn't lost, would he have been arrested?" he asked. "If he had been arrested, would he have still been in jail?"
Mr. Ruiz has eight criminal convictions in Dallas County on charges related to drugs, weapons, burglary and other matters. But he has spent little time behind bars.
... After finishing his short jail stint, Mr. Ruiz reported to probation officers a few times and tested positive for amphetamine, according to records and interviews. He last reported in August. ...
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I am a big fan of Chief Kunkle, but I
could not disagree with him more about the overcrowded jails. The
incumbent Sheriff has been in office two years. She has not made a dent in
fixing the problem. Her "predecessor" was repeatedly denied funds by the
Commissioners Court to hire more jail personnel. At what point does the
present mayhem in our county law enforcement process become the responsibility
of those who are current office holders?
Just a couple of months ago, Commissioner Price was telling us we could monitor
low level felons just as easily on the streets as in jail.
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Wednesday, February 7, 2007
By
CRAIG CIVALE / WFAA-TV
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DALLAS - As the Dallas County Jail has increasingly become overcrowded, officials face either reducing the population or being shut down, which could mean hundreds of inmates back on the streets.
Dallas County Jail is packed with 7,000 inmates, which is 1,000 over their limit. The state gave the county 30 days to reduce that number or face sanctions.
So, officials have devised a plan that includes releasing some non-violent offenders back on the streets.
"You're talking about minimal possession charges, criminal trespassing [and] talking about criminal mischief, prostitution charges," said Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price.
... "Do I put a low level quality of life marijuana user, cocaine user, or prostitutes, or do I reserve the bed for my serious violent offenders?" Price said. ...
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Where would Commissioner Price have
placed Wesley Ruiz?
City Council members have committed $7 million for a Downtown park that is
designed to be expensive to maintain and operate. How can it be a safe
place when we are under siege by criminals throughout the city? Will we
have armed guards patrolling the perimeter of the park to keep out street bums,
panhandlers and "low level" criminals like Wesley Ruiz? Where's that money
going to come from?
Speaking of money -- why do we have to pay county taxes to provide $50 million
annually in free health care for people who are here illegally? $50
million would get us more jail space and more jail guards.
Our Downtown Betters (the ODB) have been telling us as long as I can remember
that 'you have to spend money to attract money'. One failed high dollar
program after another has been wasted on revitalizing Downtown. Each one
was promised to be the silver nail that would turn things around. Still
waiting.
Shouldn't we be taking back our streets from the criminal element BEFORE we
start building more places to play and recreate?
When the common people of Paris were starving and demanding bread to eat, Marie
Antoinette supposedly said "Well, let them eat cake." That didn't sit well
the masses. It's the same mindset of our current city government.
There is an underwhelming interest in the current mayoral race, despite the
large crowd of candidates. I don't think it's a lack of interest in the
voters' options. It's a lack of faith that anything will improve.
How is building a park in Downtown Dallas going to make my neighborhood better?
When a couple can be driving on a Dallas street, adhering to the posted speed
limit and then have some low life shoot and kill the husband for no reason, with
very little risk of being apprehended, much less prosecuted by our
criminal-loving DA, how is building a park in Downtown Dallas going to make
Abrams Road safe?
When our new judges and new criminal-loving DA are hell bent on plea bargains
for criminals rather than punishment for victimizing decent citizens and
taxpayers, how is building a park in Downtown Dallas going to make this city a
more appealing place to live or visit?
When our existing parks and recreation centers are in terrible disrepair, how
will adding a Downtown Dallas park with built in extravagant operational costs
improve things for the rest of the city?
Before you add another story to an existing home, it is prudent to shore up your
foundation so it can support the added weight. Pretty basic concept.
Our municipal foundation is weak, but we keep piling on extra weight and
obligations.
Dallas residents and business owners are just asking for simple basics, like a
safe city in which to live and work. Instead we get excuses and
extravagance.
sb
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