05/09/05  Not so strong plan!

The Dallas Morning News Editorial staff helped me make up my mind on Proposition 1.

Their constant drum beat of cheerleading for Blackwood became more shrill, strident and biased as the election neared.  The Editorial staff's position was parroted by virtually all of the columnists at the News.

When a news organization's coverage becomes this lopsided on an issue that is clearly a close call at best, that tells me something is amiss.  Either with the plan or the News itself.   As a long term reader for the News, it was down-right embarrassing. 

This was exactly the problem of the Blackwood proposal - the fact that there appeared to be a hidden agenda from the outset.  Crafted in obscurity and in haste, funded by non residents, first melodramatically shunned by the Mayor, then embraced when early polling indicated it might pass. 

It was all a bit hasty and half baked to merit such unanimity at the News. We have better ways of improving City  governance.

Although the Blackwood Proposal did not pass, it served as a much needed wake up call for better municipal government.  Let's not misinterpret the results of this vote. The fact that a third of the voters and The Dallas Morning News would support what amounted to a drastic, hastily conceived overhaul of City Hall means there is a lot of dissatisfaction with city government.  

Add to that total, all of the voters that voted against it in anticipation of the Council's promise of a better alternative - and you have a clear mandate for change. The incoming Council may be tempted to back away from the compromise proposed by the out-going Council -- thinking that the defeat of Blackwood means that the status quo - the buck passing, the lack of leadership, the lack of accountability - is all acceptable to a majority of voters. 

A third of the voters and probably half of Blackwood's opposition say "don't go there".  Most voters would support a stronger plan, along the lines suggested in the News' May 8th editorial, or the Brookhaven recommendations.

We need a well thought-out plan, and we need it for the next election. Or,  the new Council will find that they are the ones that missed the message and the opportunity, and the recall will be on them.

Now is time for the new Council to deliver on its own version of reform,in the open and hopefully with more open mindedness from The Dallas Morning News.

James Northrup