Golden Goose
                             

04/20/05  The Star of Dallas Shines.

		On this great day in Texas, I ask all forward thinking, progressive citizens of Dallas to praise the alternative charter proposal approved last week by the Dallas City Council. On all accounts, the alternative proposal demonstrates true leadership and a strong desire to meet the evolving needs of the city of Dallas.
Judd Bradbury

The challenging issues surrounding mayoral authority and city council oversight have been addressed in the council's proposal without dismantling and stagnating the Dallas governmental system.

A large number of local government scholars suggest that the golden rule of local government is not the Mayor-Council system or the Council-Manager system.  Most scholars recommend a hybrid blend of the two. Given the information contained in the attached article, I believe the Dallas City Council has been wise to maintain the general underpinning of a Council-Manager system with new mayoral powers and better oversight for the city council.   See    Golden Goose       

Some in the media suggest that the new proposal is somehow flawed because the city council has maintained the ability to remove the chief administrative officer with a simple majority.  Every constitutional scholar will tell you that these types of checks and balances are the true genius of the American Constitution.  If you want accountability, you sure get it under the alternative charter proposal.  The mayor and the city council will both be able to keep the chief administrative officer on their toes.

The main complaint of Proposition-1 proponents has been a lack of accountability on the part of the city manager.  It is a little inconsistent to critique the city council charter proposal for being ?too accountable? when the main thrust of the previous critique was a lack of accountability.  Proposition 1: Council alternative is a step backward (Dallas Morning News, 4/19/05)

The changes contained in the council's alternative charter proposal are consistent with the universal approach used to manage our largest corporations.  If anyone doubts that a corporate board of directors can fire an executive officer, I would encourage them to put in a call to the former officers of Enron, World-com, Tyco, Boeing or Global Crossing. Corporate executives always serve more than one master, usually about a dozen of them.

The city of Dallas is a governmental institution that needs an executive and a legislative branch. The Dallas City Council has come through with shining colors delivering new and improved versions of both. For that I am very grateful.