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Politicklish
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04/04/15 - Thanks in large part to Ted Benavides.
When he has done so much harm already, some members
of the City Council are finally considering an early departure for Ted
Benavides.
The problem with waiting until the City MisManager's decision on Chief of Police
to fire him is we will need to wait several months (at least until October or
November) to know whether his choice is a bad one or the right one. Of
course, we will know immediately he has screwed up if he picks Danny Garcia for
Chief of Police. If that happens, the council can terminate Benavides
immediately and instruct the new City Manager to get us a new Chief of Police.
Danny Garcia is the Chief over the entertainment districts (West End, Deep Ellum,
Lower Greenville), and look what a sorry job he has done of PREVENTING crime.
Granted, they finally caught the muggers, but the situation would likely have
never developed had Garcia properly staffed the areas with adequate numbers of
officers to DETER mugging in the first place.
Now, I admit to telling all who would listen that there was some Godfather
relationship between the Garcia and Benavides families, specifically that
Garcia was Godfather to one of the City MisManager's sons. Ted Benavides
denies such a relationship, so we will have to take his word on that
matter. Still, they are tight buddies. |
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Officer M:
I work at the Central Patrol Station and know
our lack of staffing was not
Chief Garcia's fault, but instead was Terrell
Bolton's fault. Bolton made no
bones about not liking Garcia and intentionally
understaffed Central hoping
crime would soar under Garcia
and provide a reason to demote or re-assign Garcia.
Not until Bolton was fired did
Central start getting manpower needed in the form of recruits to
bolster its ranks. We are still behind in
manpower.
It is not uncommon for a sector
(1 sector = 6 patrol elements + 2 relief
elements) to have only 1 officer assigned to it
during week days.
Central officers took the cards
Bolton dealt us.
Some like Chief Garcia, some don't. It is
misguided to lay the blame for lack of
manpower solely at his feet.
I work for the man and have seen him
do nothing but the right thing. Garcia
administers discipline in a fair manner, unlike
Bolton. Most of his officers like him,
unlike Bolton.
Editor's comment: Garcia should have gone public
if Bolton was in fact not properly staffing Central with all the resources
council has and is devoting toward rejuvenating Downtown.
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That aside, Benavides is a disaster and needs to go yesterday.
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Police
chief pick a make-or-break choice for Benavides,
5 council members and the mayor are ready to fire the city manager if his
pick for police chief is less than stellar
07:20 AM CDT
4/15/04 DAVE
LEVINTHAL & MICHAEL GRABELL/The Dallas Morning
News |
City Manager Ted Benavides' job
security depends on his choice of a new Dallas police chief, a growing
number of City Council members say.
... longtime Benavides naysayers, including
Mayor Laura Miller and City Council member Mitchell Rasansky, are most
outspoken, interviews by The Dallas Morning News indicate that six council
members would consider firing Mr. Benavides if he selects someone they
consider to be an ineffective police chief.
"Ted's future tenure as city manager
depends a lot on who he chooses," said Mayor Pro Tem John Loza, who sits on
the council's public safety committee. "It's fair to say that there are
probably some of us who are getting impatient with him."
Mr. Benavides, who serves at the will
of City Council, ... "A lot is riding on my
choice. I feel the pressure they're feeling," said Mr. Benavides, who
oversees a staff of 13,000 city employees, a $2 billion budget and makes or
approved most high-profile hires, including the police chief.
... Two-thirds of a quorum of council
members are needed to remove the city manager. The News spoke to 11 council
members ? four others could not be reached for comment.
... "This is at a very critical juncture for
Mr. Benavides, and if there's problems with this police chief, that could
very well affect his career," council member Ed Oakley said.
... last week, the head of the Dallas Police
Association ? the department's largest officer group ? called for the city
manager's resignation. "
... Mr. Benavides said he intends to pick
only the finest applicant. For Dallas' habitually high crime rate to drop,
he said, the city needs an effective police chief to replace Terrell Bolton,
who was fired by Mr. Benavides in August.
... City Council members suggested various
criteria for judging the city manager's choice of a police chief. But
overall a chief needs to be able foster confidence among the rank-and-file
officers, they said.
... Mr. Loza said that if Mr. Benavides
picks one particular candidate from among the three Dallas Police Department
executives in contention ? he would not specify whom ? "that choice would,
in my mind, call into question his continued ability to serve as city
manager."
The internal candidates are
Deputy Chief Daniel V. Garcia, Acting Chief
Randy Hampton and Assistant Chief Thomas Ward.
Public Safety Committee Vice Chairman
Gary Griffith said that although he's generally supportive of Mr. Benavides,
he, too, wouldn't tolerate a police chief that doesn't quickly establish
himself as an effective leader.
... Council member Veletta Forsythe Lill said she
would know within 60 to 90 days of the police chief's installation whether
Mr. Benavides should keep his job. ... "This
police chief will not have much of a honeymoon. And the performance of a
police chief can make or break the city manager."
... support for the city manager has eroded in
recent months.
... Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill
... "He's been here for six years as city manager,
and I'm told the average life of a city manager is four or five years."
... Since the January performance review,
Mr. Benavides sparked a row with police when he acknowledged that he didn't
know about a $500,000 Police and Fire Welfare Fund that could be used for
several injured officers whose supplemental disability pay ran out after 13
weeks.
... "the issue of changing the 52 weeks to
13 weeks," Cpl. White said. "The council didn't come up with this stuff."
... But talk that council members might move
against Mr. Benavides is greeted with some skepticism by leaders of other
local police associations and members of the Citizens Police Review Board.
... "We feel that Ted Benavides might be
taking full load of the responsibility," said Senior Cpl. George Aranda,
president of the Latino Peace Officer Association. "The majority of city
employees feel that Ted Benavides has a job to do, but when he gets little
or no support from the mayor, then his hands are tied."
Texas Peace Officer Association
president Sgt. Malik Aziz agreed.
... Council members Bill Blaydes and James Fantroy
have this year also supported Mr. Benavides' work and quashed talk of his
removal.
... Al Lipscomb, a former council member and
longtime rival of the mayor, said tensions over Mr. Benavides' handling of
officers' injury pay issue and the police chief search have been fueled in
part by Ms. Miller.
... Even if Mr. Benavides remains city
manager this year, Mr. Loza suggested the council begin looking beyond Mr.
Benavides' tenure regardless.
... One upcoming date could prove key to Mr.
Benavides' future: In November, he becomes eligible for a pension.
Mr. Benavides smiled as he noted that
the council might fire him "any day they want." ...
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This council is over the top in their meddling. At least my council
representative, Steve Salazar, is not playing mini-City Manager. The only
thing this council should be focused on in this Chief of Police issue is
accepting responsibility for not firing Ted Benavides. That's their only
role in this matter. They don't get to recommend nominees for Chief. The City Charter
prohibits their meddling or pressuring the City MisManager about selecting a
Chief. Our Mayor is
not from Dallas and wants to turn our city into something that runs as badly as
the East Coast cities she left behind. Our Mayor thinks she can just
ignore our City Charter.
The last Charter Review Commission went so far off her preferred path that it
was a joke. Changing the Charter is a Pandora's box Our Mayor could not
get closed once she pries it open. She needs to leave it alone and focus
on mending fences with other council members.
Regardless, the City MisManager needs to go. He is the most absent person at
City Hall in the Jones stadium discussions. Since they have been focused
on two sites in Dallas and now just the Fair Park site, TB needs to be part of
the negotiations -- not some Asst. City Manager -- Ted Benavides.
Ted Benavides is the only person at City Hall who should have the entire picture
of related matters impacted by a Jones stadium at Fair Park. Of course, he
doesn't!
Where is the city going to get the $400+ million for Jerry Jones? Why is
the County Commissioners Court still involved if Jerry Jones will build his
stadium at Fair Park? Why does Jerry Jones need public money to build his
stadium at Fair Park? Why isn't the City MisManager warning about
diverting sorely needed money to another sports facility?
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Officials: Cowboys favoring Fair Park;
Team may make announcement soon, wants up to $400
million
06:21 PM CDT on Wednesday, April 14, 2004
By DAVE MICHAELS and DAVE LEVINTHAL / The
Dallas Morning News |
The Dallas Cowboys are moving
closer to announcing Fair Park as the preferred site for their new stadium
and are still asking the public to fund up to $400
million of its cost with hotel and rental car
taxes, county officials said Tuesday.
In meetings with Dallas County
commissioners Monday and Tuesday, Cowboys representatives "talked about the
kind of global support they are getting across the board for Fair Park,"
Commissioner Mike Cantrell said.
Over the last several weeks, the
team's political advisers commissioned a poll that revealed support for a
taxpayer-financed stadium at Fair Park, county officials said. The poll
showed that 58 percent of respondents supported
financing for a Fair Park stadium, officials said.
... Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones, who met
with Dallas Mayor Laura Miller on Tuesday ...
"It'd be a good investment," Mr. Jones said of the $400 million.
... But a move to Fair Park might hurt the team's
ability to win support for the $400 million subsidy. Club officials think
the stadium will cost a total of $650 million.
At Fair Park, the club would not have
to buy land or build roads. Fair Park is a city property that already has
thoroughfares, highways and other infrastructure. The team's funds could
instead be used to build the stadium.
... the Industrial Boulevard land would
require transportation improvements, environmental remediation and land
acquisition that would cost $166 million.
... Locating at Fair Park might also
complicate the use of countywide car rental taxes, which could go as high as
6 percent.
State law says
car rental taxes cannot be used to finance a venue that "is an area or
facility that is part of a municipal parks and recreation system."
... former Texas Secretary of State
George Bayoud ? raised the specter that the team might consider leaving
Dallas County if they could not secure a deal with commissioners.
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Adios, vacaros! As Wick Allison (D
Magazine) said Wednesday on Kevin
McCarthy's 990MainStreet
show (990 AM or
www.990MainStreet.com), "... let Collin County give them $400
million." Allison says we should "call their bluff". This is spooky
when I agree with anything he has to say.
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With
stadium plan, 'Boys could be back in town
09:42
PM CDT on Wednesday, April 14, 2004
By KATIE FAIRBANK / The Dallas Morning News |
The Dallas Cowboys' plan for a
stadium at Fair Park would create one of the largest entertainment venues in
the country, sources close to the project say.
The $650 million project would
include an all-weather stadium, a practice facility, corporate offices, a
retail shop, banquet facilities and a hall-of-fame museum, all built on land
that's available within the 277 acres of Fair Park, according to plans
obtained by The Dallas Morning News.
... To fit into Fair Park, the team would
use a smaller concept that has been scaled back to fit within the historic
structure of the area.
... the stadium. It would still have the
retractable roof long coveted by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, sports fans and
civic leaders hoping to attract a Super Bowl. The facility would seat about
75,000 and have about 300 luxury suites.
... aging Cotton Bowl would be scrapped.
... Cowboys have been meeting with groups
involved in overseeing various aspects of Fair Park, including the mayor,
Landmark Commission, city council members, county commissioners and State
Fair representatives. ...
The Cowboys are expecting the public to put about $400
million to $450 million into the project.
... for Fair Park, ...
team would build the stadium project and let the other developments
take care of themselves.
... Fair Park doesn't need as much
development work as other sites the Cowboys have looked at. It has eight
museums, performance sites, conference facilities and 7 million visitors a
year.
... Fair Park Master Plan
... plans for a roller coaster, sky needle, aerial tramway,
hotel and additional restaurants. The State Fair owns an additional 68 acres
outside the park that could be used for further development.
Fair Park offers good highway access,
and Dallas Area Rapid Transit plans to put in light-rail stations right
outside the park. Fair Park already plans to add shuttle connections to
them.
... Some team owners are developers at
heart; others take on the job because they want new
stadiums to generate extra revenue they don't have to share with their
leagues. Teams can keep money from corporate sponsorships or leases
on luxury suites, for example.
... "If an owner can find a local or
regional government to have the stomach to finance a building, they're going
to be giddy about it," Mr. Carter said.
... teams sell taxpayers on the sites by
promising surrounding development and the jobs that creates.
... empty space around The Ballpark at
Arlington and American Airlines Center in Dallas.
... "It would be terrific for Fair Park, for
South Dallas and downtown Dallas. I think it would bring a lot of people
downtown and help us revitalize the area between downtown and Fair Park."
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Do you notice how The Dallas Managed News
reporter only talks about "the Cowboys" or "the team", not Jerry Jones being the
developer? Also, I haven't seen any report where our City MisManager was
remotely involved in this planning process. Fair Park is a city owned
facility (which we have horribly neglected). How Fair Park is to be used
is more the City Manager's responsibility than Our Mayor, who is about to become
officially "Our Meddling Mayor" on DallasArena.com. She is way too
involved in things the City Charter designates as the responsibility of the City
Manager.
Kevin McCarthy had Our Mayor on his show Tuesday, and asked the right questions,
rather than the type of fluff stuff those newcomers to Dallas throw at her.
She told him she asked the City MisManager to sit in on the interview sessions
with the Chief of Police applicants. TB refused her request, as another of
his middle finger gestures on his way out the door. Do you think TB would
have denied Ron Kirk/Con Jerk that opportunity, had he asked? Well, Con
Jerk would not have asked -- he just told TB that John Wiley Price wanted
Terrell Bolton and to make it happen -- and so it did.
These are hard times for our city, but the City MisManager is the primary reason
Dallas no longer works.
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