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Michael Davis
Casie Pierce
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12/30/04 Park Cities Fat Cats
conspire to expand their Bubble of Influence.
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Something may be happening in our fair city that will
make the scam Tom Hicks and Ross Perot, Jr. pulled off seem downright
charitable. Two little towns with a combined population less than
30,000 are planning to take open control over the 9th largest city in the
country with a population of 1,188,204 (per 2000 census information
available on
www.census.nctcog.org, North Texas Central Texas Council of
Governments). |
In my typical "I told you so",
I want to remind you that I have said this "strong-arm Mayor" plan promoted by
Bah! Bah! Blackwood and now supported by Our Mayor is a Park Cities coup.
Now, my suspicions and warnings have been confirmed by Bah! Bah!.
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5 donors drive strong mayor;
Each has given $10,000 or more to effort, says lawyer in council race
December
27, 2004 By EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas
Morning News |
Five major donors are funding Dallas
lawyer Beth Ann Blackwood's $180,000 campaign to strengthen mayoral power ?
including a Texas oilman, a retired newspaper editor, a billionaire and two
real estate developers.
In an interview Monday, Ms. Blackwood
said former Dallas Times Herald managing editor Will Jarrett, real estate
executive Vance Miller and Dallas financier Harold Simmons each have
contributed $36,000 to the campaign. Ray Wallace, retired chief executive of
Trinity Industries Inc., donated $26,000. And developer Albert Huddleston
added $10,000 to fund the petition drive. ...
"The deterioration of performance at
City Hall is astonishing," said Mr. Jarrett, who has
lived in Dallas for all but three of the last 30 years. "Who is in
charge? No one. A city this size needs strength."
... Under a traditional strong-mayor system, the
mayor is the chief executive ?the individual who crafts the budget, hires
and fires department heads and puts policy in motion. City employees are
accountable to the mayor.
Under the council-manager system, the
city manager is responsible for day-to-day activities and is a buffer
between elected officials and professional supervisors.
... Ms. Blackwood said the idea for a strong-mayor
form of government came to her and her husband, lawyer Tom Thomas, last
spring as she was planning her run for City Council.
"We were looking at ways to make
Dallas better, and we concluded that the form of government really doesn't
work," she said.
... Ms. Blackwood said at first, she and Mr.
Thomas were planning on conducting the petition drive themselves. But when
they realized how big a job it was, they hired National Voter Outreach, a
professional firm.
This step raised the campaign's price
tag and set the fund-raising wheels in motion. Mr. Thomas focused his
efforts on a few key players ?individuals with strong views on governance
and thick wallets.
The list of potential donors narrowed
when they learned their names would be disclosed through the public process,
Mr. Thomas said. Campaign finance reports must be filed in mid-January.
While some of the donors live in the
Park Cities, they all own land and pay taxes in Dallas, he said.
... |
This is clearly a very
sensitive issue at Belo and with the pro-strong-arm Mayor crowd -- the fact that
MOST of the donors either currently are Park Cities residents or just recently
moved from the Bubble is absolutely relevant.
It doesn't matter if they own land or pay taxes in Dallas, they don't want to
live in our city. That means they don't get to vote in our city.
That's why they want a strong-arm mayor system. It's a lot cheaper to buy
the mayor's seat than try to buy enough council seats to control decisions made
at the Horse Show.
When a bunch of American residents got tired of taking orders and being
controlled by the gentry who lived in England, they revolted. Their battle
cry was "no taxation without representation". |
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JC:
Re: Sharon C:
I have no
problem with "new blood". Someone living here all their life means
nothing to me.
Logic and working to keep us free FROM GOVERNMENT.
Thomas Jefferson said that would make us different from all other countries
that ever existed on the planet.
Interference is what I am all about.
Sharon C statesin the amenities other cities
offered to their citizens "I do not remember being
taxed more than I am in this city. So what is the problem?"
I do not want to rely on her memory when it comes to my freedom, my
money. If having arts halls and football stadiums is her thing then
take a meeting with Mr. Jones and help arrange a personal loan from a bank.
All those who want to attend the events will help pay the bills.
It's really that simple. |
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Avi Adelman came up with the
phrase "strong-arm Mayor", and now has a website
www.StrongArmMayor.com.
He was on Mike Gallagher's KRLD talk show this week, and apparently did a good
job stating his case for opposing Bah! Bah!'s plan. The following e-mail
from one of my smart friends to Avi states things succinctly.
| Mr.
Adelman: I agree with your position on the "strong mayor" issue. The
proponents, in the name of efficiency and accountability, seem to be willing
to sacrifice all remnants of representative democracy,
which is the one principle that has made our country great. As I
read the Blackwood proposal, I find no reasonable
limitation on the power of the mayor. As you suggest, this will lead to the
potential for abuse far worse than anything we have seen at Dallas City
Hall. This proposal is just not well thought out. Darrell Jordan |
Attorney Jordan is absolutely
correct. The potential for abuse by the Mayor cannot be dismissed.
Our Mayor tried to assure the crowd at the debate sponsored by Councilman
Rasansky that she would never be mean to other council members, even if she has
the right to do it. We were not buying her assurances. What seems
beyond her comprehension is that she will not always be Our Mayor.
What is that phrase "absolute power corrupts ... absolutely"?
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Judge upholds Cianci's corruption
conviction
By BRIAN CAROVILLANO, Associated Press writer
Page A1 of The
Standard-Times on July 18, 2002. |
 PROVIDENCE -- A
federal judge yesterday upheld the corruption conviction of Mayor Vincent
"Buddy" Cianci Jr., ruling that the jury did not overstep legal boundaries
by finding the mayor guilty of operating a criminal conspiracy from City
Hall.
The ruling came more than three weeks after a jury found
Cianci guilty of racketeering conspiracy, but acquitted him of 11 other
charges, including bribery, extortion and mail fraud.
... The motion hinged on a technical legal matter:
whether the various city departments used to carry out the racketeering
scheme could be considered part of the illegal enterprise. Defense attorneys
had challenged not only the convictions but the legality of the government's
indictment as well.
... Cianci, 61, faces up to 20 years in
prison and $250,000 in fines at his sentencing,
... Torres also upheld the racketeering
convictions of Cianci's former right-hand man Frank Corrente, and
politically connected tow-truck operator Richard Autiello, both of whom
stood trial with the mayor.
... The longest-serving mayor in the city's
history, Cianci has been the state's dominant political figure for more than
three decades. He presided over the city's
"renaissance," which has seen this once down-and-out New England city
transformed into a gem of urban renewal.
... Witnesses testified that they paid bribes,
often disguised as contributions to the mayor's campaign fund, in order to
win favor with Cianci's administration. ... |
I've been to Providence since
the "renaissance", and they have a "river". They also had a new mall
Downtown. My brother took me there to shop and eat. It was
like having our own private mall because there weren't enough patrons to make a
group, much less a crowd -- but everything looked great. The
"river" was about 2 feet deep inside a concrete trough. Sound familiar?
| We have had strong mayors in Dallas without the absolute power that Bah! Bah!
and Our Mayor want for the Mayor's office. Erick Jonsson was an incredibly
powerful mayor, who used his personal will and charisma to guide his city
councils along the path he thought best for the city. As hard as it is for
me to say, Ron Kirk was a powerful mayor, who used his personal will and
ruthlessness to control his councils and keep most of them in line.
When a council member challenged him, he yanked their chairmanship or vice
chairmanship or even committee membership. He played very hard ball with
white council members, like Larry Duncan, Donna Blumer and Laura Miller.
The rest of the council toed his line. |
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Stan Aten:
Strong Mayor/Dictator Debate:
I have been frustrated many times dealing with city govt,
but I have strong reservations about a strong mayor without safeguards.
In Houston, the strong mayor has the
controller to check unlimited power. In Chicago, the mayor has few limits
and a lot of corruption. You should read the stories in the Chicago Tribune
about millions that were given to political cronies.
The old saying is "Absolute power"
corrupts absolutely. Even our federal govt has checks and balances.
Editor's comments: Stan reports he is sore but
mending since his surgery. |
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But let's get back to the Bubble Coup. The proponents, which obviously
includes Belo Corporation, are very concerned that the "Park Cities" coup image
will strike a discordant chord with Dallas voters WHO DO LIVE IN THE CITY.
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The $$$ in $trong Mayor: We got the names; now, let's
talk about the idea.
Editorial Page
06:15 PM CST on Tuesday, December 28, 2004 |
Beth Ann Blackwood's
first smart move was latching on to an issue ?turning Dallas' mayor
from a figurehead into a chief executive ?that has popular appeal. Her
second smart move was ending the cat-and-mouse
game about who is bankrolling her strong-mayor drive. Her silence was
counterproductive.
The donors she revealed this week ?
international wheeler-dealer Harold Simmons, real estate mogul
Vance Miller, retired publishing executive
Will Jarrett, retired manufacturing executive
Ray Wallace and investor
Albert Huddleston ?are, predictably, rich, white and, in some cases,
residents of the Park Cities. That may make
them targets ?if the strong-mayor opponents' strategy is to focus the
debate on personalities rather than facts and ideas.
... Opponents of the strong-mayor plan, meanwhile,
would be wise to recognize that residents all over
Dallas share the perception that City Hall is broken. Voters may be
persuaded by arguments that this plan ?which would delete the office of
city manager from the city charter ?is not the right fix. But they'll tune
out in a hurry if the message is: "Dallas is doing great; this proposal is
just a naked power grab by the old guard." ... |
We are going to focus on the
facts and ideas, but we cannot ignore the outrageous power grab on the part of
the Park Cities residents. What if a bunch of rich guys from Ft. Worth
decided they wanted to take control of our city government by funding a scam
petition drive like what the Park Cities gang is doing to us?
Americans don't like being treated like serfs. The Park Cities Gang don't
see the rest of us as "real Americans" because we actually live in Dallas.
They think we should be grateful that they are taking the time and spending
their money to shanghai our City Hall. We have to spend a huge hunk of our
budget each year to maintain all the cultural facilities that are dominated by
the Park Cities Gang.
If the Park Cities Gang pulls off this strong-arm mayor farce, you and I will be
indentured servants to the Park Cities Gang.
The guys in the Bubble don't respect Dallas residents, much less Dallas voters.
They think we are stupid and can be manipulated into ceding over our local
government to a handful of kingmakers. There will be some who buy their
propaganda, just like there were some Americans who felt safer as serfs under
the British.
I for one, think it would be better to be "dead" if we can't have liberty.
Let's take that Park Cities Champagne Bottle and shake it up until the bubbles
blow.
sb
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