10/28/04  A Fine Mess

I just finished the DallasArena.com article, City Manager  vs. strong mayor, the DDMC, and how the city council district 14 is being used as a battleground.

Without addressing motivations, the Blackwood strong-mayor proposal put forward last week lacks the wisdom, cultural understanding, and coherency required to effectively lead change at Dallas City Hall. Introducing an agenda in this manner demonstrates naivet?about the history of Dallas, organizational change, and the city council. Before I even thought about sending an editorial to the Dallas Observer on this topic, I read Roger Kemp's "Forms of Local Government" cover to cover along with some constitutional law articles. A reasonable person that had sufficiently researched the topic would have known that the strong mayor form of government typically utilizes a chief administrative officer. After seeing the news last week, I stopped by Dallas City Hall and picked up a copy of Ms. Blackwood's proposal. What I found was a copy of the Dallas City Charter that had been red-lined like a run of the mill contract. I was left with the impression that the depth of work expended for a fundamental change to our city government was not much more than a global replace on the word "city manager" with "mayor".

I would be shocked if any respectable management consulting organization would sign their name to this document. A coherent proposal for organizational change would include recommendations for reporting structures, a chief executive span of control fewer than eight people, roles and responsibilities for all major executives, checks and balances, and a transition plan. None of these critical elements are found in the Blackwood proposal. Ms. Blackwood?s hollow grandstanding has needlessly ingrained the southern sector?s greatest fears that they will once again become disenfranchised. What could have been good constructive change for Dallas may now have been delayed for years. As a son of Dallas, I am deeply troubled by the negative media attention that Dallas will receive in a knock-down, drag-out, court battle over the city charter. Is this the Blackwood proposal for improving trade and tourism?

City Hall is not a courtroom. It is a public square. As an attorney, Ms. Blackwood has confused her branches of government. District 14 is part of the legislative branch of government, not the judicial. The courthouse is down the street on the right.