Personnel Problems

04/07/03 The City MisManager refuses to manage.

What good are rules if no one enforces them?

For some time, Dr. Elba Garcia's Administrative Aide has been playing politics at City Hall. That's something elected officials and private citizens get to do. It's something that City Hall employees are forbidden to do by City Charter.

When you take certain jobs, you accept the restrictions of that particular job. Pilots cannot drink alcohol within certain hours of flying a plane, etc. If you don't want restrictions, go to work for yourself. When you go to work for the citizens of Dallas, you are employed under codified restrictions on your political activities. As recently as February 21, 2003, the City Attorney's Office advised the City Manager regarding employee political activity (full text appears at City Charter Rule):

Political Activities of City Employees, Chapter XVI, Section 16(b) of the Dallas City Charter contains specific restrictions on Employees' Political Activities in City Council elections, which restrictions have been judicially interpreted in Wachsman v. City of Dallas, 704 F. 2d 160 (5th Cir. 1983). With the exception of sworn police and fire department employees who must follow Section 150.002 of the Local Governmental Code.
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DATE        February 21, 2003
TO           Teodoro J. Benavides, City Manager
SUBJECT   City Council Election - Political Activities of City Employees Chapter XVI, Section 16(b) of the Dallas City Charter contains specific restrictions on employees' political activities in city council elections, which restrictions have been judicially interpreted in Wachsman v. City of Dallas, 704 F. 2d 160 (5th Cir. 1983).

With the exception of sworn police and fire department employees who must follow Section 150.002 of the Local Governmental Code, the following restrictions on political activities in city council elections are binding on all city employees:

(1) No employee of the city or association of such employees may publicly endorse or actively support candidates for the city council or any political organization or association organized to support candidates for the city council; however, city employees are not prohibited from privately endorsing a city council candidate or expressing their support for city council candidates with other individuals and with groups of 15 or fewer people. The spouse of a city employee, and associations and organizations of spouses of city employees, may publicly endorse and actively support city council candidates. . . .

(8) An association or organization of city employees may mail or otherwise distribute endorsements of city council candidates to the city employee members of such organization or association. . . .

Pretty clear language, but apparently not to Yolanda Lara, or she believes she is exempt from regulations or restrictions. Lara has been publicly campaigning for Mary Poss and against me, Roxan Staff, Mark Housewright and John Loza. DallasArena.com will report some other specific Charter Sec. 150.002 violations by Yolanda Lara later this week, but this edition regards Lara's circulated e-mail letter to Hector Flores, National President of LULAC (an Hispanic organization that encourages political and community activity). The full text of Lara's e-mail appears at Lara to LULAC. DallasAren.com's comments will follow in the yellow boxes below Lara's text:

Dear Mr. Flores,

I was at city hall about a month ago and watched you unleash your frustration at Laura Miller. I was encouraged by your actions and the actions of the other leaders with you. You were justified in your frustrations for the blatant disrespect Ms. Miller has shown the minority community, especially Latinos.

We must assume this was on her lunch hour or comp time or vacation time or coffee break. Lara starts her attack with her typical racist charge.

On March 29, 2003 I read a press release that announced Dallas Lulac Council 4496 and Jesse Diaz renewed their relationships with Laura Miller. I also read that in return for his endorsement he gained ?quarterly meetings? with her and an agreement that she will return phone calls. . . . By her calculations, one hour every three months is all it takes to buy off the minority community. This, in and of itself, is an insult.

Jesse Diaz announced a renewed LULAC relationship with Mayor Miller, but he PERSONALLY endorsed Laura Miller for Mayor.

Laura Miller has stated over and over that Hispanics just don?t vote, so she knows all she has to do is stroke a few ?egos? and an endorsement will follow. Unfortunately Jesse Diaz proved her right. Jesse Diaz stated he was not contacted until later in the race by Ms. Poss, which obviously hurt his delicate pride. So he responded by giving an endorsement to Miller, who you described in your own words as ?a power hungry bigot.?

When has Miller made these statements? If the Mayor believes "Hispanics just don't vote", why would she court or bother with the Hispanic vote? If Hector Flores called the Mayor "a power hungry bigot", he owes her an apology. Deputy Mayor Pro Tem John Loza refuted those comments and defended Laura Miller's record of support for minority issues. In the precincts that make up the current District 6, Laura Miller got more votes than Domingo Garcia in last year's mayoral race. District 6 is predominantly Hispanic.

Instead of settling for mere crumbs like ?quarterly meetings? why not demand more Hispanic board appointments, minority contracting, more bilingual police and firefighters, and what about the safety of our children? Why should we endure our children walking to school being harassed by drug dealers, pimps and prostitutes? I guarantee you Laura Miller would have the Dallas Police SWAT team out in the affluent North Dallas neighborhoods surrounding the schools if any complaints came in like that. Meanwhile, Oak Cliff, Pleasant Grove, West Dallas and South Dallas continue to battle this problem.

Laura Miller's appointee to the Plan Commission (the most prestigious board appointment) is Hispanic. Pimps, hookers, drug dealers are on North Dallas streets, too. The NW Hwy/Bachman/Walnut Hill area is a very mixed community of African-American, Anglo, Asian, Hispanic residents.

By Lulac endorsing Laura Miller, it also endorses her slate of city council candidates, which include Roxanne Staff and Sharon Boyd. How quickly Lulac forgot about Roxanne Staff ?s actions while on the school board against minorities and Sharon Boyd?s long history of mean spirited and destructive name calling to our minority elected officials which clearly reflects their racially biased, narrow-minded and culturally intolerant attitudes.

There was nothing in the LULAC press release relating to an endorsement. There was nothing in Jesse Diaz's endorsement of Laura Miller that related to Roxan Staff or Sharon Boyd. I would love to have Jesse Diaz endorse my campaign. I respect him and admire his courage and energy. Anyone who reads DallasArena.com knows we take on all bad guys -- regardless of color or creed. After all, Mary Poss is so white, she glows in the dark.

Roxan Staff owns a bank that caters to a large Hispanic clientele and employs several Hispanics in good paying, responsible positions. A charge of racism against Roxan Staff is misplaced.

Laura Miller brags about filling 18,000 potholes. So what! Every mayor for the last 20 years can make the same claim. She hasn?t done anything more that Ron Kirk, Steve Bartlett, or any other mayor has done. 18,000 is the average number of potholes filled by our hard working minority laborers, not Laura Miller, and you can?t see a difference in the Southern sector. They must have been filled in North Dallas, especially on the road that leads to her new 2.5 million dollar North Dallas home.

When Bartlett and Kirk were Mayors, they had lots of money to spend and spent little of it on potholes. Mayor Miller inherited a mess from Kirk and Benavides, but did not divert our limited resources from needed road work. Every neighborhood in Dallas needs street work. Lara must not realize how many Hispanics live between NW Hwy and LBJ.

So, what has Laura Miller done in her short time as Mayor?

She has angered Latinos, African Americans, police, firefighters, city employees, smokers and the majority of restaurant owners. The economy isn?t any better. The City of Dallas doesn?t look better. The streets are not in better condition. Your taxes are higher. There are less jobs and crime is up. And what is her answer to these problems? Cut employee benefits, ask for tax dollars so rich developers can build yet another hotel downtown, and promise to meet with Jesse Diaz every three months. Let?s face it, she is destroying our city!

Laura Miller was elected to office in Feb., 2002. That's barely 13 months to compare to 6 years of Kirk and 4 years of Bartlett. Mayor Miller was right to consider a convention hotel and also right to determine this is not an appropriate time to pursue the issue. If the Jones stadium deal goes through (and Jones is spending money like crazy on politicians and consultants to make sure it does), there will be a hotel very close to the Convention Center. Contrary to "destroying our city", Miller is re-energizing our city. There is much hope out there for a return to honest government. When I tell voters that Laura Miller has endorsed me, it is Hispanic voters who are the most impressed.

I want to encourage you to meet with Ms. Mary Poss. I am certain she can offer more than a mere promise of ?quarterly meetings? to address issues that are important for the advancement of our community.

Mary Poss is great at promises -- short on delivery. See Diaz to DMN. Here's where Lara violates the City Charter. This is not a letter to personal friend. Lara is writing to LULAC's National President and is soliciting a meeting for her preferred mayoral candidate. This direct campaigning is prohibited by City Charter Ch. XVI, Sec. 16(b). If she does not resign this week, Lara should be fired. Council members are answerable to Dallas voters, not to city employees. It would have been easy for Councilman Loza and Councilman Housewright to weanie out of their vote to cut personnel benefits like some and claim they voted without all the information. Both men stood by their vote. With my experience as a former city employee and a cop's kid, I would probably not have voted to cut benefits, but I respect both of these councilmen for sticking with their decision.

Laura Miller has publicly stated ?There is no room for Jesus Christ at city hall.? I work at city hall, and I do believe in Jesus Christ. And I will pray for your vision to be clear and not clouded when making an endorsement.

I grew up Southern Baptist and am now a Methodist. I do not believe in mixing Church and State. I do not want to listen to a prayer outside my faith, nor do I want to impose my religious beliefs on others at any event sponsored with tax dollars. I will always support moments of personal meditation, but not public prayer. Remember what Christ said in

Matthew 6:05 "When you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners that they may be seen by man. Truly, I say to you they have received their rewards. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret; and your father who sees in secret will reward you."

It is very inappropriate for Lara to shroud herself in Christ's name.

Mr. Flores, I have the utmost respect for you as the National president of Lulac, and a man of high ethical standards. I am confident you will strive to preserve the professional and respected reputation Lulac has established among our people, our local elected officials, and the community as a whole. I can honestly tell you, when Jesse Diaz made the Miller endorsement, Lulac was the joke of the week at city hall.

We will see who is laughing on May 4th.

Yolanda Lara's activities have not improved the image of city employees. People who stereotype our public workers as lazy bureaucrats love to jump on stuff like what she's doing to justify their prejudices. Most public employees are busy doing their job, trying to stretch limited public money the furthest, trying to offer the most to citizens with fewer employees. Unfortunately, dedicated, hard-working city workers frequently get pushed aside by their political and ambitious co-workers.

Here's something Lara can jump on me about. An African-American woman high up in Code Enforcement should be replaced immediately. She refuses to do her job and plays the race card whenever a citizen complains about code violations in their neighborhood. Last night, a voter told me a homeowner in her single family neighborhood has built a structure in his backyard and has cots inside where he houses illegal aliens. When she called it in, she was warned her concerns were racist. The same thing happened to a lady in my neighborhood who reported her neighbors across the alley had people living in a storage building with a single exposed electric wire going out to the building. That Code Enforcement lady needs to go. That's a management decision that our City MisManager refuses to make.

Where was Yolanda Lara when the fake drug scandal broke? Why hasn't she called for Terrell Bolton to be fired? He is directly responsible for the chaos in DPD drug enforcement because he put people in commander positions who were not qualified to serve in those roles -- lack of experience and know-how. Steve Salazar told one of our interview boards the fake drug problem was 'not about a Bad Chief -- it was about some bad cops'.   I disagree. I believe it is bad management. Chief Terrell Bolton and several of his Asst. Chiefs need to go. That's a management decision that our City MisManager refuses to make.

With Mayor PreTend Poss pandering to some disgruntled city employees, she is creating an impossible situation at City Hall. She claims to have a degree in "Human Resources", whatever that means. When she and I were in college, the term was "personnel". Does anyone know why "human resources" is more politically correct than "personnel"? But, I digress.

Poss claims an extensive business background, but what company would allow the kind of political activism we are seeing from Lara? What company would allow an employee to publicly ridicule the Chairman of the Board and/or individual Board of Directors? Some union spokespersons can get away with that stuff as speaking for their membership.   Lara cannot speak on behalf of the City of Dallas Employee Association because only public safety unions are allowed her type of activity by state law and City Charter regulations. Yolanda Lara needs to be fired. That's another management decision that our City MisManager refuses to make.

Because he refuses to replace people in Code Enforcement who refuse to do their jobs and enforce our city laws and regulations

Because he refuses to replace the Chief of Police whose management decisions have cost us millions and will most certainly cost us millions more when the fake drug cases get to Court

Because he allows a city employee to publicly campaign against Our Mayor and several Councilmembers and council candidates in violation of the City Charter

Our City MisManager needs to go.