James Northrup
                             

04/18/05  Those with the Gold are afraid of losing control.

People who know that I'm pretty liberal on social issues are always asking me why I'm GOP.  The answer is pretty simple -- I believe in self-determination and self-help.  I believe in democracy and property rights.  I believe in representative government and the equality of all US citizens, regardless of accumulated wealth.

Regular people get involved in politics because they have a problem that needs to be fixed, or they had a problem that did or did not get fixed.

Those with the gold get involved in politics because they want to keep the rest of us in our place -- to control us and our tax dollars.

Regular people want their taxes spent on smooth streets, green parks and lots of police officers and firefighters out there to protect themselves, their families, and their businesses and properties.

Those with the gold want other people's taxes spent on art museums, sports facilities, fancy bridges and new buildings for their businesses which are protected by private security firms.

If you looked at the people backing the Mayor's strong-arm grab for power, you have to see a pattern.  The DMN saw the contributors as bi-partisan.  The people giving money to the Mayor's strong-arm grab are control freaks who only use partisan labels to maintain their power.

Strong-mayor funding is close; And in key council races, a lot of cash is pouring in - and out Friday, April 8, 2005 By EMILY RAMSHAW and DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News

... The Stronger Mayor, Stronger Dallas campaign has raised more than $320,000 since the beginning of March to implement a strong-mayor government in Dallas. ... In the last two months, Dallas lawyer Beth Ann Blackwood's Citizens for a Strong Mayor has taken a back seat to the mayor's campaign. ... Top cash donors in the last reporting period $50,000 ? Texas oilman Boone Pickens, Stronger Mayor, Stronger Dallas campaign, which is supporting the strong-mayor proposal $25,000 ? Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons, Stronger Mayor, Stronger Dallas $15,000 ? Dallas lawyer Frederick Baron, Stronger Mayor, Stronger Dallas $10,000 ? Southwest Housing co-owner Cheryl Potashnik, Stronger Mayor, Stronger Dallas $10,000 ? Luxury car dealer Carl Sewell, Stronger Mayor, Stronger Dallas ... $36,000 ? Alon USA, Stronger Mayor, Stronger Dallas $25,000 ? Baron & Budd, Stronger Mayor, Stronger Dallas $25,000 ? Headington Realty & Capital, Stronger Mayor, Stronger Dallas $20,000 ? Stanley, Mandel & Iola, Stronger Mayor, Stronger Dallas $20,000 ? Waters & Kraus, Stronger Mayor, Stronger Dallas $20,000 ? Marketing Investors Corporation, Stronger Mayor, Stronger Dallas

Boone Pickens has a bunch of water he wants to sell Dallas, and he must think working with a monarchy would be easier than dealing with 14 people representing their districts.  The current council thinks developing our own water resources with another reservoir is a better plan than giving more of our tax dollars to another millionaire.  Pickens once ran for Governor in the Republican primary.

Harold Simmons?  Isn't he the guy whose daughter sued him over questionable practices with family trust funds? 

Fred Baron is a law partner of the Mayor's husband, and they both are with Baron & Budd

Southwest Housing has its own questionable practices problems just now:

Police investigate housing firm; Ex-employee alleges forgery; Southwest denies charges April 13, 2005 By RICHARD ABSHIRE / The Dallas Morning News

Garland police are investigating allegations of misconduct at the company that is planning to build Primrose at Crist, a senior housing complex, in partnership with Garland Housing Finance Corp.    In a lawsuit filed Feb. 28 in County Court at Law No. 1, former employee Christine Sullivan accused senior executives of Southwest Housing Development of rewriting a letter by Neil Montgomery, the city's managing director of planning, to obtain $3.9 million from Wachovia Securities. ... According to Ms. Sullivan's suit, Mr. Montgomery's Jan. 19 letter described several steps that remained for the developer to take before final approval, but the version of the letter that Southwest sent to Wachovia with Mr. Montgomery's signature had been changed to say that the project was approved except for the payment of fees.    Southwest executives were pressed for time, according to the suit, because they would lose their funding if they didn't get a "permit ready letter" to Wachovia by Jan. 20.    The suit alleges forgery, wrongful termination and slander, and seeks actual and exemplary damages. ... Mr. Bailey said that Southwest president Brian Potashnik informed Wachovia and others as soon as he learned of Ms. Sullivan's allegations. ...

and Our Mayor herself questioned the need for their use of taxpayer funds:

Housing goals at odds in city's southern half; Officials want more homes there but mostly help fund complexes November 1, 2004 By EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News

... Yet while elected officials preach the need to redevelop blighted neighborhoods with single-family homes, they continue to authorize new multifamily projects south of Interstate 30. ... The city has approved 40 federal housing tax-credit projects ? which reduce taxes for developers who build rental units for low-income residents ? since 1999, the majority of them south of I-30. The council approved four of these projects last week, and at least one more probably will be authorized this month. ... Federal housing tax credits are distributed to state agencies, which award them to individual developers. The developers sell the credits to investors to raise capital, allowing them to offer affordable rents to low-income tenants. ... Already, 7 percent of the city's multifamily projects have been developed through the tax-credit program, he said. ... Mr. Chaney said that even in his district's poorest neighborhoods, residents go on the offensive when a multifamily property moves into the community. ... Ms. Miller said she fears that in 10 to 15 years, today's high-density tax-credit projects could be the next generation of rundown, crime-ridden apartments. Dallas needs to make great strides to attract single-family developments in a city where just 45 percent of residents are homeowners, she said.    "We could end up with an ocean of cheap multifamily," she said. "Our top priority in the southern sector should be high-quality single-family homes that are $200,000 and up." ... But not everyone can afford to buy a home. And not everyone who can afford it wants to, said Brian Potashnik, president of Southwest Housing Development.    Mr. Potashnik, who has built 10 tax-credit projects within the city limits, said the federal support allows him to build top-tier projects and to provide his residents with after-school programs, health screenings and computer training. ...

		This is another one of Our Mayor's position changes.  Last November, she rightfully questioned the need for taxpayer dollars to be used to build apartment complexes in South Dallas, but she is now accepting $10,000 from this outfit that wants to create the next Vickery catastrophe in South Dallas.

Those of us who remember her "candidate" platform of smooth streets, green parks and fair pay for cops and firefighters, have not forgotten that Our Mayor turned on the cops and firefighters as soon as she was elected.  Our public safety officers know first hand that Our Mayor is wont to change her mind.

Last week when the council voted 11-3 for their proposal for a "stronger mayor" charter amendment for a November election, the Mayor was dismissive of their sincerity.  The council members are not the one who campaigned on a platform that she completely disregards today.

Council OKs chance for 2nd referendum 11:13 PM CDT on Wednesday, April 13, 2005 By EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News

A divided Dallas City Council passed a nonbinding resolution Wednesday to give voters a chance to strengthen mayoral power next fall, so long as they defeat the strong-mayor referendum on the May ballot.    "We're giving every citizen of this city an opportunity to say yes or no," council member Bill Blaydes said of the 11-3 vote. "We are in agreement that this is in the best interest of the city of Dallas." ... Miller critical    Ms. Miller, who supports the May referendum that would eliminate the city manager position and grant the mayor a slate of new powers, said that even if the council puts its alternative on the November ballot, its provisions ? including one that would allow a majority of the council to remove the city manager ? make it a sorry attempt at a strong-mayor government. ... Ms. Miller said she believes the current council intends to put the alternative on the November ballot. But the resolution is nonbinding, she said, and there's no telling what will happen once at least four new council members take office.    "If people want change, they only have one choice, and that's what's on the ballot in May," Ms. Miller said. ...

		Basically, she says, you can't trust the council to keep its word, but you can trust her to keep her word -- except she already is saying she will not obey the law if the Blackwood proposal becomes the Charter of Dallas.  She doesn't understand that as Mayor under a Blackwood Charter she will not have the authority to delegate her responsibility to appoint ALL commission and board seats (even in violation of state law) to the council.

Miller vows smooth transition with plan; She tries to ease fears on strong mayor, but foes see a play for votes April 15, 2005 By EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News

If the strong-mayor referendum passes May 7, the Dallas City Council will continue to appoint members of most city boards and commissions, civil service rules will be followed scrupulously, and the search for a chief operating officer and city attorney will begin immediately, Mayor Laura Miller pledged Friday. ...  opponents say the mayor's announcement was a last-ditch effort to sway undecided voters. And while Ms. Miller may not use all the powers the measure grants, they said, there's no assurance a future mayor wouldn't. ...  Pat Cotton, a Dallas political consultant opposed to the measure. "It's disinformation. It's trying to reassure people if they go with [the proposal], she will be responsible."     Under the mayor's transition plan: ?The City Manager Search Committee would resume its search for the newly created chief operating officer position, and the City Attorney Search Committee would begin looking for candidates. ?A Mayor's Transition Task Force, chaired by SBC president Bill Blase, would develop a 100-day plan for the changeover. ?A Charter Task Force of volunteer attorneys and legal experts would convene to interpret the charter amendments, which would take effect Sept. 1.  ... "I knew I needed to once and for all say, 'This is what I commit to,' " she said. The plan is "well thought out. It's organized. ... And I hope they take comfort from that."    Under the strong-mayor proposition, the mayor would be charged with appointing nearly all board and commission members. If Ms. Miller allows council members to continue appointing them, Ms. Cotton said, she would be breaking the law.    "She's the one who wants this, and she should follow it to the letter," Ms. Cotton said. "This is an attempt to reassure people it's OK to vote for [the referendum] even though they have reservations. And I think it's very offensive."

When we all worked so hard to get Laura Miller elected as Mayor, we thought she was the exception to the "limousine liberal".  We knew she was rich and moved among the city's elite and powerful, but we thought she wasn't impressed with all the glitz and celebrity.  You know how wrong we were about that. 

A few days ago, at a candidate's fundraiser during the Q&A portion, a rich and stylish matron asked about where the candidate prioritizes "culture".  It doesn't matter what the candidate said.  What matters is that this rich air head thinks more "art" is needed to distract the regular people from our mundane problems.

The same day the rich and stylish matron was preoccupied with our "culture" needs, a senior couple in my neighborhood had experienced the joy of having their home riddled with bullets from an automatic weapon fired at 2 AM in the morning.  Don't you know they want more of our tax dollars going for art rather than police and fire protection?

Dallas is more and more becoming a city of the have and have nots -- with the have somes leaving for the suburbs where they have a chance at smooth streets, green parks and plenty of police and fire fighters to protect them. 

Those with the gold and those they have bought at City Hall are too shortsighted to realize that they are killing the middle class homeowners who lay the golden eggs that fund all the cultural and other priorities of the ruling elite.

I started this piece thinking it would be about the control freaks who want to take eliminate democracy in Dallas because they don't trust the regular people to make their own decisions or know what is best for themselves, their neighborhoods or the city as a whole.  That is still the case, but as I thought things through and read the various articles cited above, an entirely different agenda began to emerge.

Those with the gold already rule our city.  They are investing in Our Mayor's strong-arm mayor campaign because they can spend less of their gold to control one all-powerful elected official than it takes to influence 15 elected officials.

Northwest Dallas' Godmother Barbara Miller had the following comments about why we should defeat the Blackwood proposal:

Councilman Rasansky has helped us with a multitude of problems from zoning issues to derelict houses and code problems.   If the Blackwood Proposal goes through, we will not be able to call Mr. Rasansky to help us with problems in our district.  ALL calls go to the mayor?s office. We'll have to get in line, folks.  It?s a big city.  No ONE PERSON can handle it all.  Our council members will have no authority to help us.  Mr. Rasansky has been a God-send to a community that had been ignored for a long time.

Councilman Steve Salazar's concern for his constituents in the NW section of District 6 is the primary reason that we will not have hordes of street bums terrorizing children and neighborhoods in Northwest Dallas.

Our concerns may be mundane and selfish because self-preservation should always take second place to meeting the entertainment and aesthetic needs of those with the gold.  That said, I don't want to turn City Hall over to one person -- not the current mayor or any successor.  We have seen how hard it is for strong mayor cities to get rid of corrupt Mayors.  Look at Washington DC or Philadelphia or Detroit!

You must decide between now and May 7th. 

Do you believe in democracy? 

Do you believe that your basic needs as a taxpayer in this city are equal to the cultural and/or entertainment needs of the rich and famous? 

Do you want to codify what is pretty much the real world of local government?

Those with the gold rule.

sb