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Citizen K
James Northrup
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05/08/05 ... at
least not for Park Cities peanuts!
www.keep
it open |
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We said a resounding NO, but that doesn't mean all is OK at City
Hall. Things do need to be reorganized and the Mayor's authority
should be increased, but not by another power grab hatched in the Park Cities. |
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I was uncomfortable
at the victory party for the Coalition for Open Government when many in the
room took shots at Mayor Miller. For me, saying NO to Blackwood was not
about Laura Miller. My opposition was to stop a handful of Park Cities wheeler
dealers from taking control of City Hall.
As things progressed (or digressed) during the campaign, my anger was
focused on Belo Corporation's
Dallas Managed News and its
Propaganda Page, with Wick Allison and his suck-up to everyone rich rag (aka
D Magazine)
and increasingly with WBAP's Mark Davis misinformed shilling for the
Stronger Mayor, Strangled Dallas Committee.
I couldn't make myself get mad at
Dallas Observer's Jim Schutze
because his columns became increasingly confusing and disingenuous, like
someone trying to climb a tree to repeat a lie rather than stand flat footed
and tell the truth. He took "torturted logic" to new levels.
Some saying you can't compete with the guys who own the ink (the press), but
that's just what the Coalition for Open Government did on May 7th.
All of Belo's slanted editorials, all of Park Cities resident Wick Allison's
misinformation and all of Tarrant County resident Mark Davis' on-air
rudeness could not fix the broken egg that was the Blackwood proposal to
turn Dallas citizens into serfs of the landed gentry of the Park Cities. |
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JC:
5/08/05
As many Whites
publicly try and turn the city over to Blacks,
they privately do
all they can to prevent Blacks from controlling
the city.
As sure as
JWPrice always plays his race card,
you can bet your blue-eyed,
white skin that Blacks will tear down Big D and
run it with the same racist overtones and intentions that many
Whites have in the past
The same way many good
Whites did/do little
to nothing to stop the abuse of White
overlords, the same will be true of the good
Black people.
They will sit back and let revenge rear its ugly head.
To a large degree, the strong mayor
setup/vote was a matter of which race you want
running (ruining) the city.
It's sad that in this great country/city
there is still and may
always be too much revenge on the minds of people who seek and/or
get power.
I am glad the strong mayor
initiative failed, but the race-baiting
will leave this town in tatters.
Manipulators love chaos -- it allows
them to move in and restore their version of calm.
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From the beginning, I was shocked that Park Cities Babe Bah! Bah! Blackwood
would have the arrogance to try to buy our city government for such a small
investment. It doesn't matter that Bah! Bah! currently lives in
Dallas. For her, that's just an address that she can remedy.
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She initially spent buckets of money on a ridiculous run for city council
from District 14, which campaign went nowhere. Apparently, her backers
decided it would be easier and more efficient to buy the whole city than the
very politically organized District 14 -- and would not cost much more than
trying to buy a council seat which would just be worth one vote at the horse
show.
The more I learned about Ms.
Blackwood and her husband during the campaign, the angrier I got. They
clearly were just carrying water for bigger fish in the Park Cities. Then
when we got the information on Tom Mack Thompson's history with the Sharpstown
scam, our worse suspicions were confirmed.
Did
you know Bah! Bah! and her gang didn't even show up to stand with the Mayor at
their watch party? Watching Laura's interviews after the election were so
painful, I was tempted to drive over and console her.
I have been mad at Mayor Miller, but as a friend watching another
friend get attached to some serious sleaze ball and travel down a wrong road,
damaging them self and hurting those who care about them. Laura should have
never got in front of what she knew was a flawed option. She has always been such a stickler
for detail, and the Blackwood proposal left lots of "i's" un-dotted and more "t's"
uncrossed.
Mayor Miller has accepted defeat of Blackwood. She may not have wept openly, which
seems to be what some people on my side wanted at a minimum from her, but
Mayor Miller did acknowledge that Blackwood's scam was resoundingly rejected by those
Dallas voters who cared enough to vote. We don't need a broken Mayor.
We need a Mayor who steps back from a mistake and moves on to better decisions,
which is exactly what you can expect Laura Miller to do. |
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5/09 Citizen D:
Dallas voters sent a strong message. Unfortunately, I doubt
Laura Miller will listen.
We need to get a major flaw fixed
-- AND SOON! It takes only 20,000 signatures to call an
election to change our charter but 73,000 to call an election to recall
the mayor. THIS IS CRAZY and needs to be fixed immediately.
It's almost like the crack vs.
powder cocaine issue. BOTH are dangerous and illegal and BOTH should
carry EQUALLY harsh penalties. It is a fallacy to
think that nice people use powder cocaine and bad people use crack
cocaine. It is a BAD THING TO USE EITHER!)
As a city employee,
an insider and an observer, the system is just fine in
my opinion. The Council is the problem. They do not let the city
manager do his/her job, nor do they let the
employees do their jobs. They try to micromanage rather than hold the
city manager accountable! Eight votes (a simple majority) gets them
removed. That is a lot simpler than trying to get a "Stronger Mayor"
system in place.
As a city, we are
under staffed, under equipped, and
under funded to do the quality job that the
citizens deserve.
The council's maniacal desire to NOT RAISE TAXES over the
past 15 years has left the city virtually bankrupt to anything other than
a poor job of providing services and facilities.
We are 500 police officers short of
what a city this size needs to have. Don't
think the "BAD GUYS" don't know this. The list goes on and on.
Listen to the employees and
let them do what they know how to do. Get out of our way,
and let us deliver high quality services to our citizens. Listen to us!
We really do know what to to do and how to do it.
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Basically, the Park Cities coup d'?at was
exposed and repelled by those Dallas citizens who bothered to vote.
Apparently, the rest of the city's residents want to be serfs to Highland Park
landed gentry.
It was a real shock to learn some Black preachers filed documents to
start another recall effort late Friday afternoon.
That is disgusting and wrong. It was also wrong for the City Secretary
not to advise the Mayor about the filing.
Unless you have a convicted felon like Old Al Lipscomb holding public office,
recall is not an appropriate remedy for disappointment at the ballot
box. Laura Miller was elected to a 4-year term, and I was one of the
majority who voted to give her that term. More of us supported
her right to a 4-year term than there were voters who wanted someone else -- in
two different elections.
Recall petitions are no less a coup d'?at effort as was the Park Cities
Cabal's plan to buy our city government via the Blackwood proposal campaign.
When we changed our charter to have the mayor eligible for 2 four-year terms and
the council eligible for 4 two-year terms, there was a goal for continuity and
to make the office more winnable for non-millionaires.
A Mayor's race is a million dollar effort, not to mention exhausting. When our mayors had to run every two years, they had little time
to be mayor when most of their time and energy was taken up being a candidate.
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I don't know whether Laura Miller will run for a second term. Since her
mayoral priorities have not jived with her visions as the candidate I supported, I don't
expect to support her
for re-election. That said, I will work my rear off to keep her in office
for her full 4-year term if the Black preachers are successful in securing the 73,000 signatures
needed for a recall election (which I seriously doubt will happen). |
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05/10/05
Pauline Hill
Please explain the difference between
the N.C. minister telling his members they must vote for George Bush and
the Dallas Black preachers
telling their members they must defeat Laura
Miller.
I don't understand.
Is it because the N.C. preacher is
White?
Is it because it is
culturally accepted for Blacks
to use their church for political
communication?
I am trying to make sense of
this.
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It is wrong for churches and preachers to be involved in political campaigns. When a church that pays no taxes
engages in political action against or for an elected official, it's time to
start yanking that church's tax-exempt status.
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No minister should take political stands from the pulpit
of a tax-exempt institution. No equipment or property of a tax-exempt
institution should be used in a political movement - not even for organizational
meetings. If a church does not make itself available for both sides in
any political campaign, it should take no position whatsoever. No exceptions! |
This was an interesting election. We had a bizarre issue on the ballot
that would not just amend our city charter, it would have completely
replaced it with a flawed system that would not have worked. Hooking up
with the Blackwood proposal has certainly damaged the Mayor politically and
likely cost Danny Harrison any chance of winning his race against Linda Koop.
I like both Linda and Danny. She will be a great councilwoman, but Dallas
could have used some of Danny's energy and naivet? He would certainly
have made some blunders, breaking some eggs on his way to making an omelet.
DallasArena.com endorsed the following winners:
| Dr. Elba
Garcia - Dist 1 |
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Steve Salazar
- Dist 6 |
| Ed Oakley -
Dist 3 |
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Bill Blaydes -
Dist 10 |
| Don Hill -
Dist 5 |
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Mitch Rasansky
- Dist 13 |
Granted, Dr. Garcia and Mitch
Rasansky were unopposed, but DallasArena.com supported them when they did have
challengers.
DallasArena.com endorsed the following non-winners:
| Dwaine Caraway
- Dist 4 |
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Albert Turner
- Dist 9 |
| Danny Harrison
- Dist 11 |
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Matt Bach -
Dist 12 |
| Candy Marcum -
Dist 14 |
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Dwaine Caraway ran against an
incumbent, but had a real chance. He got more votes than six candidates
who either won their districts or lead in their runoffs.
Albert Turner ran against an incumbent, but never had a chance to beat
Griffith's machine.
Danny Harrison was within 800 votes of Linda Koop, so he also had a solid
chance.
Matt Bach was a long shot against Ron Natinksy who was backed by the out-going
incumbent and her predecessor.
Candy Marcum's failure to make a runoff is the biggest shocker of the day.
She had such a well-financed and organized campaign, and she has a strong r?um?
She would have been great on the council.
DallasArena.com endorsed the following candidates who are now in runoffs:
| Pauline
Medrano - Dist 2 |
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James Fantroy
- Dist 8 |
For this runoff,
DallasArena.com recommends:
| Pauline
Medrano - Dist 2 |
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James Fantroy
- Dist 8 |
| Ron Natinsky -
Dist 12 |
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Kathy Ingle -
Dist 14 |
We need to focus on this runoff
election and getting the council back to full count. We need to hold the
entire council, new blood and all, to supporting the stronger mayor
recommendations they worked out before May 7th.
Just because 62% of the voters (who bothered to vote) opposed Blackwood does not mean that we don't
want things to work better at City Hall and for the mayor to have more power.
Wanting the mayor to have "more" power does not mean we want a monarchy like
Blackwood would have created.
One change we need is for
the City Attorney's Office to start litigating again, to start being the attorney
for Dallas citizens. I want Dallas police officers to have the right to
shut down illegal businesses when they encounter them. Currently, the City Attorney
orders them to ignore an obvious crime (operating a business without a
certificate of authority to do so).
Only 107,123 people voted for or against the Blackwood proposal. Many of
those voting NO were voting AGAINST Laura Miller, but many of us who voted NO
voted AGAINST the Blackwood proposal. Less than 20% of the eligible voters
in Dallas bothered to vote one way or the other.
If the Black preachers think the defeat of Blackwood gives them a green
signal to go after Mayor Miller, they may want to re-think what happened in the
different districts.
In North Dallas, only Bill Blaydes' District 10 went against Blackwood, and by a
mere 611 votes.
In District 11, where Linda Koop opposed Blackwood and Danny Harrison supported
it, 7,560 people voted on Blackwood (4,750 for/2,810 against), but only 7,027
people voted for the candidates (Koop/3,956 vs Harrison/3,071).
In District 13, where Mitch Rasansky only had a write-in opponent, 9,447 people
voted for him or Sheridan, but 12,878 voted on the Blackwood proposal. Mr.
Rasansky is much loved in the district and opposed Blackwood, but almost twice
as many (8,055-4,823) voted FOR Blackwood as voted AGAINST it.
In District 14, where out-going Princess Velveeta campaigned against Blackwood
and for Angela Hunt - 10,138 people voted for 1 of the 4 council candidates, but
10,829 people voted for or against Blackwood. All 4 candidates opposed
Blackwood, but almost 800 more voters supported it (5,803) than those who
opposed it (5,026).
Had North Dallas voters known about the Black Preachers recall petition filing
at the 11th hour on Friday, I guarantee you more people would have voted FOR
Blackwood. More than likely, more people would have gone to vote in North
Dallas Saturday if they had known about the petition drive.
Rather than building on the unity against the Blackwood proposal, the Black
ministers are showing themselves to be vengeful power-grabbers. They are
fools to think Dallas voters want another divisive election this year.
Most of us who opposed Blackwood did so because it was too much power in the
hands of one person. However, giving too much power to an elected official
suddenly seems like a better idea than giving too much to a bunch of preachers
who run churches that don't pay income taxes, property taxes or sales taxes.
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Dallas voters
told those Park Cities tycoons that we can't be bought for peanuts. We
also told the Mayor we don't want a monarchy. Looks like we may have
to tell a bunch of preachers that we don't want a theocracy either. |
And the people said, Amen!
sb
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