Don Abbott

04/17/04   What was their first clue?

How astonishing that the keeper of the scrolls, the venerable Dallas Mourning News, has awakened to Dallas' dilemma.

Their April 18th edition is already out as I write this on Saturday.

Aptly, the 20-page section devoted entirely to the mess Dallas is in is contained in Section W, as in Waste of Time. I won't read it, I don't need to. When you've lived in Dallas a long time, no one needs to tell you that the wheels came off years ago.

What might be interesting about whatever buzz comes out of Belo's break from hibernation is a tacit acknowledgement that there's big trouble right here in River City.  The only viable way to clean it up is to change the accountability tree down at City Hall, but old habits die hard. Especially in this town.

The right thing to do usually (almost always) is trumped by the devil on the other shoulder saying "How can I make more money ?"

For example, some right things to do regarding:

		The Cowboys' idea of a new stadium, VOTE NO and call Jerry's bluff.

		The Cotton Bowl, leave it alone and let Norman and Austin have The Shootout.

		The Trinity, forget the bridges.

		Fix the streets, make code compliance here the best in America, and revive the parks.

		Change the management hierarchy of this city. Tear it out by its roots. Set up a leadership structure that works and learn to never fall under the trance of a real estate developer or sports team owner again.

The last piece of the puzzle of the picture of the new Dallas is, of course, us.

We have to vote. We must criticize. We must stop looking at this place as just one gigantic cash register --- take some out, put some in. This has happened on our watch.

Let's change it back to the way it used to be on our watch.