Line in the Sand

	Do you have a line in the sand you will not cross? Or, do you make up your life rules as you go? By their actions and excuses, some officials indicate their code of conduct is so fluid, they need a cup to contain it.
There are some who are worthless, without an ounce of integrity, but we have a few council members with character and integrity to spare. The Al Lipscomb vote will make it clear who fit which group.

This week at a breakfast meeting, when I told another board member Ed Oakley would vote for Al Lipscomb to the Police Review Board, he nodded and said "Good!" I was flabbergasted because he's a pretty good guy. I had to remind myself he was one of those young men of the 50's/60's who got all their civic and business training on the ODB-training circuit -- the Leadership Dallas circuit. He's not a bad guy, but he's part of a bad problem we have in this town.

Citizen J:
   Thank you for speaking out about the problems in Dallas.   I have lived here since 1971. I have watched this city crumble under the weight of incompetency. Mayor Miller is our last hope before this city declines to the level of a third world city.
   The main thing I have noticed is the Police Dept's degeneration. The Dept's philosophy seems to be ignore quality of life issues and applicable laws (noise, disturbance of the peace, etc.).   They don't seem to get it that laws must be enforced across the board, or criminals and potential criminals will not respect any law. In my opinion, that is one reason for the rise in crime.
   Thomas Jefferson said: "No country can survive with an uneducated population".
   Many of our city leaders act as though they are uneducated, such as nominating a convicted briber to a city board. That's scary.
   Thanks again and keep up the good work!

Our Downtown Betters (the ODB) are responsible for our mess, and we are in a mell of a hess. They are responsible for our neglected infrastructure, for our financial problems and for Old Al Lipscomb.

They only talk to each other and have run out of ideas. Thank God!

The Wednesday news had a report about a nationwide terrorist threat to our bridges and their current state of disrepair and our water system, as well as our power systems. It tied into last week's Black Out and the general deplorable state of our infrastructure throughout the country. They interviewed the Mayor of Atlanta about that city's weekly water main breaks. The report said it would take billions and there is no hue and cry from the citizenry to fix the problems because most infrastructure problems are underground, so people don't care unless they personally have a problem.

Someone in the story said repairing infrastructure is not "sexy".

It really hit home! People think I'm just an aginner. Partially true. I am against big-hair ticket projects that divert money from our basic and infrastructure needs to some ego monument. During one arena campaign debate, Con Jerk said I was against everything and had even opposed DART. Another Ron Kirk his big lie.

As President of the Oak Lawn Committee, I fought to put DART in a tunnel under Central to keep it off the M-K-T (the Katy) line near Turtle Creek, but I support mass transit, particularly rail. I don't expect mass transit to survive on fare-box revenue because the benefits to the city far exceed the benefit to an individual rider. Light rail will keep the center of Dallas alive, help the environment and give people without cars freedom of movement, etc., etc., etc.

Mass transit is as vital to an urban area as clean water.

The ODB support mass transit because there's lots of money to be made if you own land near a line route. Can't remember the last time I heard one of our civic leaders beating the drum to do something about our broken water mains. It's one of those problems the ODB don't like to admit exist in Dallas.

We only speak Happy Talk in Dallas.

You are to focus on the big picture or the next big ticket project. Don't ever mention the bad stuff because there are no problems if we don't talk about them.

Bolton should blame our crime problems on the ODB who built or allowed to be built so many badly designed and poorly constructed apartment complexes all over town that were intended for high-rent-paying swinging singles. Many single family neighborhoods were wiped out to build apartment complexes on narrow streets that could not support the increased traffic. No planning was involved. In many cases, zoning ordinances were violated.

Some remaining neighborhoods were overwhelmed and ruined by traffic, noise and congestion generated by multi-family developments with too much building and pavement and too little parking. Crime increases when multi-family projects go into a single-family residential area. Criminals go where there are plenty of opportunities for victims.

I'm for code enforcement and forcing apartment owners to limit occupancy and create green spaces for children to play INSIDE their FENCED complex. That might help Bolton reduce his crime stats.

If in the unlikely event that happens, it will not be in time to save Bolton's sorry rear. Bolton and his keepers, City MisManager Ted Benavides and Asst City MisManager Charles Daniels, need to go. Daniels "groomed" Bolton and guided his assent to Chief. Daniels recommended Bolton to Benavides. It was Benavides who hired our bigger version of Gary Coleman without even interviewing him.

Now, Beat that Indictment Fantroy is saying we will have street riots and violence if Bolton is forced to resign or fired. Who's going to lead the riots? A bunch of greedy, sick old men? They are the only ones active in the Black community because they have squelched any young people who have tried to get involved or take leadership roles. John Wiley Price hired street bums to man his picket lines.

Come on, let's have a riot! Dallas needs a good wake-up call.

It very well may come when the rest of the country is laughing at us for having a CONFESSED & CONVICTED BRIBE-TAKER on the Police Review Board.

Apparently, enough people have beat on Gary Griffith that he will not vote for Al Lipscomb after all. Good for him and Good for Dallas. It should have never been a question.

For the life of me, I cannot understand why Lois Finkelman would vote for an Anti-Semite to any board or commission. Al Lipscomb is a racist and a crook . Lois Finkelman should have no part in his serving on a city board. If an old White guy made the Anti-Semite statements we have heard many times from that CONFESSED & CONVICTED BRIBE-TAKER, he would be run out of town.

No one would consider a self-professed White Bigot for a board or commission. Ignoring Lipscomb's racism and bigotry, he took bribes as an elected official.

Why would Lois Finkelman want a crook on a city board?

Ed Oakley is just lost to us. I personally love the guy, but this is Ed's typical approach to his public responsibilities. It's all about Ed. If it happens to be for the city's good and it happens not to hurt him in any way, Ed will do the right thing. But if doing the right thing might cost him some political points, forget it.

As a Plan Commissioner, Ed Oakley voted for the Lakeside Club on NW Hwy at Bachman Lake when there were so many violations and reasons to oppose it. Thanks to former Commissioner Rick Leggio, the neighborhood prevailed. Ed actually told one Bachman warrior it would destroy HIS political career if he opposed it because then Councilwoman Barbara Mallory was for it and she might take him off the P&Z. Convincing the NW Hwy community to later support Ed for council was a tough sell, but we got 95% of the voters to back him.

Rick is no longer a mover and shaker at City Hall and Ed is on the council, so Ed probably feels justified. It may have been good for Ed's political career to shaft the Bachman/NW Hwy community, but what about his soul?

After Oakley was drawn out of District 6, he forgot his NW Dallas supporters and volunteers completely. They were of no use to him.

When council members were each allocated $4 Million in discretionary spending in our 2003 bond package, Ed could only find $400,000 to spend in what is now District 6 (which includes Arcadia Park and the Sylvan/Ft Worth Ave. area, as well as Bachman-NW). He diverted the rest to what is now District 3 (West Dallas and Oak Cliff). He rationalized it was going into the area he was elected to represent, but the council decided before December, 2002 it was to be spent within the new district lines. A big hunk of the remaining $3,600,000 went for projects in and around the Stevens Park area, which was never in District 6. There was no political benefit to Ed Oakley to spend his $4 million discretionary bond money in the new District 6.

Ed's current excuse for supporting Al Lipscomb is lame. He claims to owe his political career to Al Lipscomb who got him on the ZOAC Committee of the Plan Commission. He justifies selling out the city on a sense of loyalty to Al Lipscomb. What about NW Dallas people who gave Oakley his winning margin of victory? We were betrayed by Lipscomb's deal with Bolton and Caligula Rizos where Lipscomb got a measly $7,700 bribe to victimize hundreds of Dallas homeowners and legitimate businesses. What about loyalty to us little guys?

Oakley has again demonstrated he has no line in the sand. He will do whatever he thinks will benefit his political career. Apparently, Griffith has determined his political career is dependent on his not crossing his constituents' line in the sand.

Our only hope is for the City Attorney to contradict former City Attorney Anna Leslie Muncey's ruling that Old Al's drug pushing conviction in California was not a felony.   Muncey claimed it "didn't count" because he served his time in jail, not prison. Excuse me? Lots of convicted felons opt for the more uncomfortable city or county jail time because they get their term reduced -- not because their crime is less than a felony. If she rules that his California drug conviction prohibits his serving on a city board, we are saved.

Not going to happen.

Madeleine Johnson is as much the politician as Ed Oakley. She is not going to make the 4 Black council members her enemies by doing the right thing.

What happened to "duty first"? With the Mayor, we have 15 council members. Are there 8 honorable people on this council who will vote against having a CONFESSED & CONVICTED BRIBE-TAKER on the Police Review Board?

At this point, it appears the winds of self-interest have erased the line in the sand that differentiated between right and wrong. Some on the council have NO PERSONAL MORAL COMPASS and would cross any line and do anything. They know a vote for Al Lipscomb would be immoral and a dereliction of their fiduciary responsibilities to all law-abiding citizens of Dallas. They don't care!

If you were Ed Oakley or Lois Finkelman, what would you do?