5/23/7  Sometimes, the good guy wins!

For some reason, I tuned into the council meeting today after lunch.  Can't remember when I last listened to them.  There was a time I would not miss listening to a council broadcast for anything.  It was a good day to revisit an old habit.

When I turned them on, Angela Hunt was talking about having a problem with the case they were discussing.  She said they were being asked to take away one man's business so someone else could develop his property.  She said a lot more, but I left my notes at the office, so I'm working from memory. 

Mr. Pierce said his father started the business, and his son works with him now.  Three generations. 

Councilman Bill Blaydes had decided to change the zoning on Mr. Pierce's land.  "Things change."

The Mayor sets the council agenda, unless 5 council members sign a motion to get an item put on the agenda.  Because I'm working from memory, the people who signed Blaydes' land grab motion were Linda Koop, Steve Salazar and Ed Oakley.  Besides those three and Blaydes, the 5th signature was probably Ron Natinsky.  I surmise this because Mayor Miller asked to hear from each of the people who signed the resolution to get the land grab onto the docket, and one of the people she called out was Natinsky.

They talked about "process".  Linda Koop seemed to say she signed it because Blaydes asked her to do so.  Neither Salazar nor Natinksy said anything particularly compelling to justify assisting Blaydes.  All three are already elected. 

It was not quite so comfortable for Ed Oakley, who is in a mayoral runoff.  He started out by saying "I know we are not supposed to be doing zoning here ...."  Then, he went on to do just that.  He recommended to Mr. Pierce that he get a PD (Planned Development District) on his property.  Mr. Pierce indicated he did not know what Ed Oakley was talking about, and clearly in front of the city council was hardly the place to educate him on the intricacies of Dallas zoning.   Ed told him a PD would allow him to do what he was already doing, and Mr. Pierce could thereby show he was not interested in doing any other type of business allowed under CS zoning.  Mr. Pierce told him he was already using almost all of his property now for his current operations and had no room to do anything other than what he was already doing. 

Ed then told Mr. Pierce that if he didn't want his property rezoned it would take 3/4th of the council to override his objections, and assured Mr. Pierce that would never happen.  Mitch Rasansky was incredulous later when he talked about the way the council operates these days.  He said if a council member wants something in his district, no one is going to go against the councilman.  Except today!

Bill Blaydes was very self-righteous in defending his attempt to steal Mr. Pierce's land for someone else's benefit.  He kept saying, "things change", and it was what his constituents wanted him to do, that Mr. Pierce's business did not fit in with the new people and development in the area.

Think about it a minute.  You invest in some property, build a home, live there a long time.  New people move into the neighborhood, build on vacant lots or tear down old houses to build new ones.  Their houses are fancier than yours, and they want your house gone.  Now, I'm not too sympathetic to the Preservation Nazis who don't want new houses built in old neighborhoods.  By the same token, I would oppose a movement by the McMansion people to condemn smaller, older homes.

Mr. Pierce does not have a business that is a blight on the area.  His business is not a safety hazard.  His business has been in operation right where it is for 70 years! *  

Blaydes referred to $300K+ homes that have been built in the area, as a reason why Mr. Pierce's Hollywood Overhead Doors should go.  As Mitch Rasansky pointed out, those homes were built right up next to Mr. Pierce's property line without an alley even separating the houses from his business.  Not only did the developers not seem to worry about Mr. Pierce's business, the people who bought the $300K+ homes didn't seem bothered either.

When Mayor Miller weighed in on Mr. Pierce's side, she was the Old Laura Miller.  She was awesome.  She asked Mr. Pierce leading questions to let him re-state his case.  In response to Ed Oakley's deceptive promises to Mr. Pierce, she said when someone from the government tells you they want to help you, "you better take your wallet and head out of town".  She concluded that in Dallas we don't take people's property to give it to someone else to develop.  Unfortunately, we do.  Victory is a prime example.  We stole Intervest's land and property to give it to Ross Perot, Jr. and Tom Hicks to develop.

While the Mayor was questioning Mr. Pierce, she got him to repeat his story about his communications with Bill Blaydes over this attempted land grab.

Mr. Pierce said the first he had heard about any of Blaydes' plans was when he got the notice of the council hearing to call a Plan Commission hearing to rezone his land.  He said he called Bill Blaydes, and said 'I don't even know you why are you doing this to me?'  Blaydes told Mr. Pierce he hadn't accepted any of the offers to buy his land, and this council action was to get his attention.  Mayor Miller asked Mr. Pierce if developers have been trying to buy his property, and he said they had but he had declined because he wanted to continue to use the property just like he was currently doing.

A Plan Commissioner could have requested a hearing to rezone Mr. Pierce's property.  All the council was doing today was to consider sending the matter to the Plan Commission to consider the rezoning.  There would be no guaranty the Plan Commission would vote to rezone the land.  Mayor Miller asked Blaydes' Plan Commission appointee why she had not done so herself.  She advised that she had refused Blaydes' request because she thought it was wrong.

Blaydes is not the first politician I have backed who turned out to be really bad, but he may be the ultimate worst.  The guy just has no soul.  He is a tyrant and a bully.

Ed Oakley knows he looked as bad as Blaydes today.  You could hear it in his voice when he was talking with Mr. Pierce.  Rather than answer Mayor Miller's question as to why he signed the resolution to rezone Mr. Pierce's property, he tried to play a "positive" image of finding a solution to Mr. Pierce's problem -- a problem that Mr. Pierce didn't have until Ed tried to assist Blaydes in stealing Mr. Pierce's property.

Mitch Rasansky said it best.  Changing the zoning on Mr. Pierce's CS zoned property would be lowering its value.  When he would be forced to sell and relocate his business and his 45 employees, long-term employees, Mr. Pierce would take a terrible loss.  You know who else would take a loss?  Dallas taxpayers.  Mr. Pierce would very likely move his company out of our city limits, with his 45 jobs.  Some other city would get the sales tax generated by Hollywood Overhead Doors.  Some other city would get the tax on his equipment and buildings.

Unfortunately, the sound system between City Hall and WRR went haywire just as they were reading out the vote.  So, I can't report who voted against Bill Blaydes and Ed Oakley.  Must have been enough to kill the deal, because Blaydes' motion failed.

Today was a good day for Dallas.  It was a good day for the good guy, Mr. Pierce.  It was a good day for Angela Hunt and Mitch Rasansky, who spoke up loudly and firmly.  It was a good day for Laura Miller.

It was not a good day for Bill Blaydes, and it was even worse for mayoral candidate Ed Oakley.  No campaign piece from Tom Leppert could have done more to expose Ed's ruthlessness and desperation when he realized his predicament.
 

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