Sharon C
                             

12/18/04  Let's give Bah! Bah! Blackwood the boot!

		Christmas is the time for giving and receiving.  Bah! Bah! Blackwood got an early start on doling out unwanted presents.  We're already in the process of returning her gift for something we really want and need.

This week, I got 2 long dissertations from a 20's-something new-to-towner accusing me of being an aginner.  Can you imagine someone saying such a thing about me?  Read for yourself, but I warn you she's long-winded, tedious and smarter than us, but see Sharon C:  Misguided.
 
Sharon C is so up on all things local she thinks the development in Uptown is a result of the Hicks/Perot Arena, and that Coppell was named after an ABC anchor man with big hair. 

There is not enough time to save them all, but at least Sharon C's reading DallasArena.com.  Maybe she will come over to our side one of these days.

Right now, "our side" is a pretty big group.  We have 12 of the 15 council members with us.  We have African-American leaders and North Dallas White Republican leaders with us.  Who are we?  We are not just aginners intending to stop this Park Cities coup d'?at of our Dallas city government, we are supporters of the status quo (with a few minor adjustments)!

It's been a long time since I was a team player or since it bothered me one iota to be called an aginner.   Only an idiot would believe and fall for all the plans and schemes that come from Our Downtown Betters (the ODB).  Considering how many times I've bought Our Mayor's stuff, I guess I should not be calling anyone an idiot, but that hasn't stopped me yet.

Our Mayor and all of you should understand that I am very fond of her and want her to succeed.  It's just that neither my opinion nor the opinions of others who backed her matter to Our Mayor in her decision-making process.  Powerful guys who live in the Park Cities have much more influence with her than anything that might be said by those of us who worked our tails off for 3 months to get her elected in the first place. 

I know that "THOSE WITH THE GOLD RULE", but like most of her backers, I thought Laura Miller would be immune to the siren song of the ODB and the Park Cities Mafia and would focus on what she promised to do as a candidate -- improve the little things that make the city more livable.  I did not expect her to wage war on city employees' benefits or enlist a hit woman from the Park Cities to hire a gang of thugs to undermine our existing form of government.

As much pride as I take in being the town's #1 aginner, on this city manager vs strong mayor fight, I'm a supporter of Dallas citizens controlling our own government without the assistance of the Park Cities Mafia.

At this time of year, we should all be standing around drinking eggnog and wishing each other Merry Christmas, etc., but here we are planning a major campaign to save control of Dallas City Hall for Dallas citizens and to keep it out of the hands of a few Park Cities fat cats. 

I'm a Republican, and I have no problem with people acquiring great wealth and spending it as they please -- so long as they don't try to buy our City Hall by eliminating the city manager and reducing all council members to ribbon cutters with little or no say with what gets done and where in this city.  My district has a good councilman (who beat me soundly in our 2003 campaign).  Steve Salazar is responsive to my community and keeps me informed and seeks advice on decisions that impact NW Dallas.  I like having one person at City Hall who I can reach.

Laura Miller is a personal friend, and I can count on one hand how many times we have talked since she was elected last year (and I was defeated). 

These are personal examples of why I like a council/city manager form of government vs a strong mayor form, but you know it is personal.  It's personal when you want to protect your home and neighborhood from city mistakes and neglect.  It's personal when your taxes exceed the value of the services returned.  (The biggest hunk of our taxes go in the DISD Black Hole, but that's another story and article.)  I want to keep things personal at City Hall, and I do not want to live under a monarchy.  We came close to that with Con Jerk/Ron Kirk.  His tyranny should be reason enough to keep the power at City Hall out of the hands of one person who would never be available to regular folks like you and me.
 
Bah! Bah! and her backers (all 3 of them) intend to turn this into a Black vs. White fight.  She and her goons intend to goad council members Thornton-Reese and Fantroy into another meltdown where they scream and holler at Our Mayor.  It looks like the African-American council members are onto the scheme and are working hard to keep their cool.

Last Monday night, councilman Mitch Rasansky hosted a debate between Mayor Miller and Deputy Mayor Don Hill on the Blackwood plan vs. what we have now.  Our Mayor looked great, but she took some bad cues from Mary Mpossible and got mean and strident trying to sell her points to a crowd that was not buying.  On the other hand, Deputy Mayor Hill was cool and collected and used Our Mayor's own words to counter her.  This was an overwhelmingly White crowd, and we were pretty unified with Don Hill.  It was a crowd of people who overwhelmingly supported Mayor Miller in both of her elections, but we are supporting Don Hill's position.

We should have been Our Mayor's crowd, but most definitely most of us were not with her.  Don Hill got most of the applause.  So much so, that councilman Rasansky kept fussing at us because we were not applauding both sides.

Back to Bah! Bah!'s plans to play a reverse race card.  It's not going to work.  Several very White, very establishment, very ODB types are ready to step out to lead the opposition group that will be made up of Dallas citizens of all colors.  I would just as soon have Don Hill out front because he knows his stuff and can keep his cool.

It certainly was not her intent, but Bah! Bah! may do more to unify this city than all the meetings and symposiums and studies we have all endured for the past 25 years.

Most of what you hear is that Bah! Bah! wants to do away with the City Manager and give all of his duties and powers to the Mayor, but her plan also calls for an end to civil service and lets the Mayor hire and fire all the aides and assistants to the rest of the council.  What Bah! Bah!'s plan does is put all the power of City Hall and the City Council in the hands of the Mayor, exclusively.   Rather than having to dole out hunks of money to 14 council candidates and the Mayor, Park Cities Kingmakers can lump all their money behind one mayoral candidate and rule Dallas.  Which means, they decide who gets good city services and how our tax dollars will be spent.

In my last article, I said "Sometimes, something is better than nothing -- this is not one of those times."  Last Monday night, Our Mayor said even Bah! Bah!'s bad plan is better than what we have.  That is just not true.  What we have needs some work, but what Bah! Bah! wants to do to us will change our city government from a council-manager system to a monarchy!

Please don't fall for the line that Bah! Bah! and her buddies in the Park Cities Mafia care about Dallas.  They care about control! 

Bah! Bah!'s plan is no gift to the city.  It's a Trojan Horse, and we need to look it in the mouth.  We will find a bunch of fat cats who don't want to live in Dallas but want to control Dallas.  Let's all grab a piece of the rope and drag that horsey back to the Park Cities where it belongs.

So, don't call me an aginner on this plan for a "strong-arm" local government (as Avi Adelman refers to it).  I'm a full fledged supporter of our city manager form of government.  I'm a team player with Deputy Mayor Don Hill's side to protect civil service and consequently protect city employees from pressure by crooked politicians.  I'm so positive on this issue that people are going to start calling me Pollyana.

In the spirit of Christmas and since it is more blessed to give than to receive, I want to give Bah! Bah! back her Trojan horsey and the bottom of my shoe right on her rich hiney. Ho! Ho! Ho!  'Tis the season to start planning a big campaign in SUPPORT of the Dallas way.

sb