02/04/04  Observations from an Evening at City Hall.

Tuesday night, several hundred people attended a Townhall meeting in Council Chambers where speakers spoke and/or went on record regarding the site for the Homeless Shelter.

Sharon Boyd asked why neighborhood associations in NW were not informed of the two previous meetings held with the homeless and their providers regarding the Harry Hines site being considered.   Councilwoman Finkelman said she wanted to be clear those were the Mayor's meetings and not city council member meetings.  Therefore, it is the mayor who has kept taxpayers in the dark about plans for relocating the homeless.

I understand how this can happen because there are too many things she is taking care of.  Hope it was not that her mind has been too busy thinking about the Cowboys' new stadium somewhere downtown. 

An interesting thing happened at the start of the meeting.  They ran out of handouts.  They told us they had not made enough because they had not expected such a large turnout (council chamber was full).   

Ms. Finkelman did a great job making sure everyone who wanted to speak had a chance. 

The Industrial site was the preferred location of most speakers.

Regarding the Harry Hines location, Grant East of Dallas Can Academy said the nearby population is a dense Hispanic one and could be a potential location for a tragedy because families may resort to violence to protect families.  He also said the Malcom X site would be harmful for Dallas Can Academy's downtown location.

Ms. Twila Oliver who lives on Webb Chapel said she already has problems with several homeless people asking her young children for money.  Another concern she has are homeless sexual predators because there are so many children in our area.

Deep Ellum had the most people in attendance -- business and property owners.  This was an important lesson for me. 

I hope NW Dallas makes another  strong showing at City Hall on February 25th because that's when they vote for the location.  If people do not get involved, there is a strong possibility the Harry Hines site will be selected.

Please write the Mayor and Council and let your voice be heard before February 11th.  Written comments should be sent to:

Karen Boudreaux, 1500 Marilla 7AN, Dallas, Tx   75201

or e-mail:      kboudre@ci.dallas.tx.us

We do not have a lot of time left.  Please share this information with your neighbors who will also be affected.  I will continue to let you know what new developments occur as they happen.

 Mary Lou Montes Zijderveld