JC
Mary Lou Montes Zijderveld
Officer K
Officer CS
Officer Dan
Frank Stitch
Gary Turner
                             

02/19/04  Let them eat cake?

Do you ever find yourself in an impossible position of having to defend a friend when you know they are doing wrong?  What do you do if it happens over and over?  Welcome to my world.

A Mayor Tom Dunning might have been able to find some better management or business approaches to our city problems.  He certainly would have been more sensitive to personnel issues than is Our Mayor.  Of course, he would have been ready to give Jerry Jones the key to what's left in our city coffers after his buddy Tom Hicks has robbed us blind.

A journalist friend says of Our Mayor, "she doesn't respect working people."  That may sound simplistic, but sometimes the truth is simple.

Many police and firefighters will never forgive me for standing with Our Mayor when she flipped them after her first mayoral win.  Those guys worked their tails off for her.  She really never knew how much work anyone did in her campaigns because she had never worked in anyone else's campaign before she ran for office.  She didn't know how many officers and firefighters delivered and put out yard signs. She never asked who they were or for a list so she could thank them personally.  She certainly never knew how many of them and their spouses were calling voters for her.  She never asked for a list so she could thank them personally.  I knew because I coordinated much of that effort in the first election and runoff.

I was wrong to make excuses for what she did to the cops and firefighters in their pay referendum.  Had she not asked for and received their help in her election or had she not signed their petition to get a referendum for a 17% pay raise, it might have been different.

Then, while they were reeling from that betrayal and her effective campaign against their pay raise, the Mayor went after employee SIP pay.  She still doesn't understand why you give an employee a bonus for loyalty and longevity.  After all, they should be thankful for a job!

Like most everyone else, I was aware council changed the rules on time off for on-the-job injuries to city employees, but it never crossed my mind that such a change would include cops or firefighters injured while protecting our lives and property.  I should have paid more attention. 

So, here we are.  Three men who placed their lives and family's financial security on the line to protect others are reduced to taking handouts from the same guy who passed out money to Old Al Lipscomb all the years he was taking bribes at City Hall from others.  I am glad Old Al's benefactor is helping these officers after what his largesse helped Old Al do to this City for so long.  I am ashamed that Our Mayor and City Council have put our police and firefighters in such a humiliating situation.

The arrogance and flippancy of our Mayor is right up there with Marie Antoinette.  She's all but saying -- so what if these guys are laid up from shooting injuries and have no income and can't feed their families --

Let them eat cake.
 

Disability review is demanded; Gift to injured officers makes council members rethink limits on pay 12:22 AM CST  Wed, 2/18/04 by Michael Grabell/The Dallas Morning News

A local businessman's donation to three police officers has prompted several Dallas City Council members to call for a review of a policy that limited supplemental disability pay from a year to 13 weeks. . . .  "That is an embarrassment to the city that the private sector has to step in and pick up," council member Mitchell Rasansky said after a Public Safety Committee meeting Tuesday.     Other committee members agreed that the council should revisit the new policy, which went into effect Oct. 1 in an effort to balance the budget.    But Mayor Laura Miller said the council might run into money problems if it were to extend the pay past 13 weeks.    "I think that whoever wants to put it on the agenda needs to figure out how we're going to come up with the million dollars to pay for it," she said Tuesday. "All of this is a juggling act in terms of the budget." . . .  The issue has been pushed by local police associations that say the policy change has hurt officer morale and represents a lack of support from City Hall. Other major cities such as Houston and Fort Worth offer supplemental pay for at least a year for officers injured in the line of duty.    Injured city employees receive medical benefits and 70 percent of their salary from workers' compensation, which is not taxed. The city then makes up the final 30 percent of their regular wages for 13 weeks.     Sgt. Michael Flusche, Officer Douglas Brady and Officer Eddie Coffey received $650 checks this weekend from Pete Schenkel, . . .  said he plans to continue to supplement the officers' income each month until they can return to work.     The three officers were shot several times in a November standoff with Francisco Fuentes, who killed two men and then held his ex-wife and three children hostage.     "You should not have to suffer financial hardship for voluntarily putting yourselves in harm's way to save the lives of children," Mr. Schenkel wrote . . .     The officers have been unable to return to work and must use their sick and vacation time to make up the difference between workers' compensation and their usual salaries. . . .  Ms. Miller disagreed with comments that the private donation makes City Hall look bad. "We have turned to our private sector over and over and over again in the last two years because of our budget problems," she said. "This is a city policy that we currently have, and if anybody wants to come in and help these officers out, I think it's terrific."

If Our Mayor would be consistent in her approach to the city's needs, I might not feel so responsible for what has been done to these officers.  I wanted someone to be Mayor who would be careful with our tax dollars.  I voted for someone who promised her priorities would be smooth streets, green parks and fair pay for our cops and firefighters. 

Instead, Our Mayor is out chasing millions for bridges to nowhere.  After all, working stiffs are just temporary blips on the landscape.  Bridges are permanent monuments to a Mayor's legacy.  If not permanent, at least for a long time.  Those civic leaders in 1912 thought future generations would appreciate and maintain the viaduct they sacrificed to build.

The Mayor may not get her legacy bridge.

Bridge funding at risk; Rep. Johnson says she'll pull high-dollar request if colleagues hesitate 09:19 PM CST  Wed, 2/18/04 by Dave Levinthal/The Dallas Morning News

U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas, says she will withdraw her multimillion-dollar Trinity River bridge funding request if her congressional colleagues don't commit to supporting the project. . . .  "It's not there at this point," said Ms. Johnson, a senior member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure who has pledged $15.3 million in federal funds that she controls. "If it's not there ... I will remove my funding." . . .  latest indication that partisan politics ? most notably the race between sitting congressmen Democrat Martin Frost and Republican Pete Sessions ? are threatening financing for one of the centerpieces of the city's Trinity River plan. . . .   the bridge project, which Dallas Mayor Laura Miller has deemed the "most important public works project the city of Dallas will ever undertake." . . .  The bridge project's magic number is $75 million ? the amount needed in federal funding to get it built. Dallas city officials have secured $55 million through other federal, state and private channels. . . . But Ms. Johnson said Mr. Young told her last week that he understood the bridge project's importance to Dallas ? despite his displeasure with Mr. Frost's actions.    Mr. Sessions and Ms. Johnson have spoken with each other, and both say they're "on the same page" and working together to ensure that the bridge project is funded. . . . Ms. Miller and Mr. Frost have, through their actions, driven the project "off kilter a bit," Ms. Johnson said. "I would have preferred it was done in a different way." . . .  Ms. Miller said. "I do look forward to the rest of the delegation telling us that we've made our $75 million goal."

 
Who is the person pretending to be Laura Miller?