11/03/05  Nothing is working at City Hall under the status quo!

There is no one in charge at City Hall and the inmates are running the city.  Most of the flipfloppers on the council have just proved beyond a doubt that they are incapable of keeping their word, much less showing leadership.

We have a council now renouncing a charter amendment they themselves crafted and spent $1 million to put on the ballot for November 8th.

Letters: Oakley's new stance on Prop 1:   Yes, I changed my mind; the people have spoken    05:06 AM CST on Thursday, November 3, 2005

Re: "Feuds and Flip-Flops ? So this is what's written between Oakley's lines," Sunday Editorials.    I take vigorous exception to The Dallas Morning News' editorial characterization of my decision-making process on Proposition 1. The paper appears to favor an elected representative who will be rigid and not listen to constituents. That's not my definition of leadership.    Yes, I have changed my mind. Times have changed. The situation is much different from last spring, and the 80,000 people I represent have spoken: Don't endorse a "strong-mayor" proposal that puts all power on issues ranging from the budget to the agenda into the hands of the mayor's office, with no input from your council representative.    Frankly, many of us have gotten smarter on this issue. Compare this to my profession, building contractor. What if, during construction, a severe soil condition was discovered? It is my ethical responsibility to tell the client. I wouldn't and couldn't cover up the change. That's the right thing to do.    We know more now than we knew then, and I will advise my constituents about the appropriate course for the future.    And as far as "reading between the lines," I refer to one author's famous quote: "The only man who can change his mind is a man that's got one." Ed Oakley, City Council member, District 3, Dallas

FlipFlop Oakley clearly cannot read between the DMN lines and what others are saying about him.  We are not accusing him of changing his mind, we accuse him of out right lying through his teeth.  FlipFlop Oakley makes no decisions based on new information.  FlipFlop Oakley makes all decisions based on self-interest and sticking his political finger in the wind.  This is the same guy who diverted $2.5 million in designated bond money from poor District 6 when he was our virtual council representative (we never actually saw him in NW Dallas after we won the election for him). 

Do you know what he did with District 6's $2.5 million in designated bond money?  He spent most of it in Stevens and Kessler Park, which were never in District 6.  Many neighborhoods in District 6, NW Dallas down to Sylvan in Oak Cliff over to Grand Prairie in West Dallas do not have sidewalks or curbs for kids to get to school.  FlipFlop Oakley spent much of our $2.5 million on a sound wall for Stevens and Kessler Park voters.

Things do change, but FlipFlop Oakley's tearful excuse in his letter above is more hot air from a public liar.  This is November.  He and the other council liars who now oppose Proposition 1 drafted its language in April, barely 6 months ago.  If he's so in touch with his 80,000 constituents, did he not know what all 80,000 wanted six months ago?  I take great vigorous exception to his even having a "decision-making process".

The only decision-making process FlipFlop Oakley uses is to evaluate how something is going to help him and his interests, not whether it's for the general good. 

As chair of my neighborhood crime watch and homeowners association, I'm on a first-name basis with our Police Chief, our ICP officer, the Substation Deputy Chief and other police officers.  I know a few big and little shots at City Hall.  That said, I can't get any more done for my neighborhood than you can for yours.

A week ago, I turned off Walnut Hill to Brockbank to enter my neighborhood and nearly had a heart attack.  Sitting right out on the front yard of an unkempt duplex on the corner of a major intersection in NW Dallas area were two old trucks and a trailer with "for sale" painted on the windshields.  A few yards East of the corner were a couple more cars parked up on the yard.  The tenants have clearly got a used car lot going on a very visible corner of NW Dallas.  Never mind that it's a residential lot and against the law!  Who enforces laws in Dallas these days, anyway?  Sweet deal!

Like a good citizen and neighborhood person, I called 311.  No one answered except an automatic system which took me nowhere.  So, I called 911.  After painfully explaining the problem to an operator who only has a mantra to recite, I asked for her to send an officer to ask the people to move the cars off the yard.  The 911 operator said he could not (would not) dispatch an officer for a problem on private property, but someone from Code Enforcement would get to it in 3 or 4 days!  Even when I told him the trucks and trailer blocked traffic visibility -- NADA.  The operator told me to call 311, which I had already done. 

The next morning, I started the process over -- calling 311 several different times, but it was a Saturday.  Never could get a live person, so I left messages.  Still waiting for someone to call from those messages.

Monday night (Halloween), one truck was gone, but the old truck, trailer and red car were still there.  So, I sent e-mails to some big shots at City Hall in a vain attempt to get some action.  Wednesday night, I called 311 again because the cars and truck and trailer are still there.  This time I was told the wait for action would be 1-10 days.  I swear the city has out-sourced 311 to some off-shore outfit!

Look at these two shots.  This first picture is the red car, which has been on this yard for over a week.  This is very visible from Walnut Hill.  How can there be a single code enforcement officer in the area and this not be noticed and cited?  Why is illegal activity not a police issue?

	This picture shows the truck and trailer from Walnut Hill.  Look how deep on the yard the truck and trailer sit.  A driver on Brockbank waiting to make a right hand turn cannot see westbound vehicles.

I've been told this is not a police issue.  It's an illegal activity, but it's not a police issue?  It's a code enforcement matter, but there are no code enforcement officers in NW Dallas.  If we have someone assigned to our area, he or she clearly is not enforcing the City Code.  How much does Code Enforcement Director Kathy Davis make?  Clearly too much when this stuff continues to go in our city.

I haven't even mentioned that every night at this same duplex 2 or three late model pickup trucks park half ON THE SIDEWALK and half IN THE TURN LANE.  If Code Enforcement people don't see this stuff in the day time when they are supposed to be on duty, you know nobody's minding the store after dark.

To add insult to injury, tonight I got my 2005 tax statement.  It reminded me that Bill Blaydes and FlipFlop Oakley voted to raise my property taxes and a few weeks later they acted as Ray Hunt's agents to get him a $6.3 million tax abatement.

Under our present system, all of our lack of adequate city services are absolutely the fault of City MisManager Mary Suhm.  She's in charge and answers to no one.  I don't get to vote for or against her. 

You can't blame Mayor Miller for Mary Suhm, because the three retiring Housewife Extraordinaires Greyson, Finkelman and Princess Velvetta pushed through a motion to hire Suhm and discontinue the national search for a more qualified city administrator.

Mary Suhm hires and fires the Director of Code Enforcement, Kathy Davis.  Other than illegally firing a bunch of code enforcement officers who almost all got their jobs back, what has Kathy Davis accomplished?  See "Kick Down A silly boss--not civil service--is the problem with the city's code department" by Jim Schutze, DallasObserver.com, Published: Thursday, June 9, 2005. 

I'm certainly not going to fault Ms. Davis for firing a bunch of incompetents, just wish she had done it the right way.  If someone doesn't know they are supposed to be inspecting for code violations during the day rather than sleeping in their cars, I'm not sure what you can teach him or her about work ethic or job responsibility.  How can you define someone's job description to them if that someone can drive past and ignore six properties with code violations yet issue citations to a homeowner for peeling paint on non-existent structures on his property? 

I don't fault Kathy Davis for trying to fire a bunch of losers.  I fault her for not being a good administrator and not taking the time to follow Civil Service rules or get City Attorney guidance in the firings. 

Blackwood's proposal would have done away with Civil Service, and I will never support that.  City employees must have some protection from political hacks. 

If you don't live near Downtown, what do you get for you city tax dollars?  No code enforcement, neglected parks and inadequate police protection seems to be the common lot of Northwest Dallas.  All the money is going into Downtown and the Trinity Project, and I don't live near either.

Don't fault Chief Kunkle for the shortage of police in this city.  It's absolutely the fault of Mary Suhm and the City Council.  Chief Kunkle says we need 800 officers, and the council authorizes 50 new hires, which will not cover the DPD's attrition rate.  I've told you several times before that it was Mary Suhm who started balancing the budget on the backs of the DPD by making it impossible for the DPD to hire the allocated new officers each year.

	Sticks and Stones:  Chief Kunkle has to fight crime with the tools the council will give him By Jim Schutze Published: Thursday, November 3, 2005
... People. Personnel. Things would run much more smoothly with 800 more cops in Dallas. In the meantime, Kunkle is trying to do what he can with what he's got. ...

When you think about what you are not getting for your tax dollars, think back on the $6.3 million that Blaydes, FlipFlop Oakley and the FBI's Favorite Target Don Hill gave to Ray Hunt last month.  Sure would have paid for a few more than 50 cops.

We don't see any sign of improved code enforcement in Northwest Dallas.  We don't see any sign of code enforcement at all.

So, why would anyone be happy with the status quo at City Hall?  Why would you not want the Mayor to hire and fire the City Manager?  If the only person we all get to vote for is the Mayor, why don't we want our vote to be for more than a ribbon cutter?

Ch. 11's JD Miles had a report tonight that Grand Prairie resident Lee Alcorn has filed some complaint letter from his latest 3-member group with the Justice Department to investigate the FBI's investigation of current and former crooked City Hall officials who happen to be Black.  Is that some kind of back door racism on Alcorn's part?  It's not racism on the part of the FBI, but it's definitely racist of anyone to think Black officials should not be expected to be honest and not abuse their position.

Grand Prairie resident Alcorn alleges the FBI is investigating Black City Hall officials because the Blackwood proposal failed last May.  That's so bogus, it's hard to take it seriously -- so don't.  The FBI is investigating some Black City Hall officials because there has been some serious hanky panky going on for over a year relating to zoning cases and land deals and other outgrowths of state tax sheltered apartment complexes and those targeted officials were right in the middle of it. 

The FBI investigation's not about political contributions.  It's about votes for cash. 

Look who's opposing Proposition 1 for a Stronger Mayor (or strong mayor lite):  the FBI's Favorite Target Don Hill, Shakedown Leo Chaney, FlipFlop Oakley and Bill Blaydes.   All of these guys crafted the charter amendment they are now opposing.  That makes them self-promoting liars. 

Grand Prairie resident Lee Alcorn needs to move into Dallas and help us pay property taxes for non-existent services, or shut up.  When has Alcorn ever lived in Dallas?  He's registered to vote in Grand Prairie.  When was the last time you as a Dallas resident took a stand on anything political in Grand Prairie?  I can't remember the last time I intentionally was even in Grand Prairie.

Election day is Tuesday, November 8th.  Proposition 1 is not a perfect form of government for Dallas, but what we have is not working at any level.  Of course, it doesn't help that we have the worst city council ever (as Jim Schutze told Ch. 11's Sarah Dodd this week). 

Some who oppose Proposition 1 claim it's because they believe in our 14-1 system.  Nothing about Proposition 1 threatens 14-1.  I wish it did.  It would suit me just fine to go back to 10-2-1 with the mayor and 2 council members elected citywide.  I would settle for the Mayor to be elected citywide and the 2 council members who receive the highest number of votes in their races (not percentage) elected to be Mayor Pro Tem and Deputy Mayor Pro Tem.  The system we have now has two of the lowest vote getters as Mayor Pro Tem and Deputy Mayor Pro Tem.  Worse, our Mayor Pro Tem is the FBI's Favorite Target.  That's not representative government -- that's ward politics.

If you are not content with the status quo of council-generated chaos at City Hall and lack of city services delivered by an incompetent City MisManager, get yourself to the polls on Tuesday and vote FOR A STRONGER DALLAS by voting FOR PROPOSITION 1.

Don't let the likes of a Grand Prairie resident or FlipFlop Oakley try to make this a vote for or against Laura Miller.  Proposition 1 does not go into effect until June 2007 AFTER the next Mayoral race. 

sb