This City Council

09/23/03 Can It Get Worse?

At the risk of sounding like a sore loser because I went nuts last year and ran for council, this has to be the worst city council we have ever had. There are a couple of individuals who are quality people and do the right thing, but they are usually on the losing end of a 15-3 or 15-2 or 15-1 vote.

A few days ago, I got this e-mail:

Please explain to the citizens of Dallas how and why our council has aligned themselves with communists. They ought to be arrested for aiding and abetting in the transport of illegal aliens. Oh. Never mind. I forgot. Dallas is a racist city and the council goose steps with the racists instead of insuring laws are enforced in the city that leads the nation in crime. http://www.iwfr.org/dallas.html
Office of the Mayor, City of Dallas - Proclamation (in league with:)
Communist Party USA Communist Party of MD/Northeast Club Democratic Socialists of America International Socialist Organization Latino Commission of Democratic Socialists of America Young Democratic Socialists People of Color Commission, Socialist Party USA	Socialist Party of Oregon L.A. County Mecha Central MEChA de Brown Mecha de Georgetown MECHA de UCLA MEChA De Whittier College Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztl? (MEChA)
WHEREAS, Dallas is home to a diverse immigrant and refugee population that have shared in the building of our nation and contribute to making America a land of ethnic and multicultural diversity; and WHEREAS, immigrants and refugees continue to contribute to the building of a better Dallas, and have proved to be more durable than the forces of bigotry and discrimination and they have graced this country's political and cultural life with a spirit of courage and idealism; and WHEREAS, a Coalition of Labor, the community, churches, students, politicians, and immigrants workers are joining forces for a nation-wide Immigrant Workers Freedom Bus Ride event; and WHEREAS, the Immigrant Workers Bus Ride event will be modeled after the Freedom Ride Bus Rides of the 1960's, with the focus being on immigrant workers, their rights on the job, the rewarding of their work with a legalization program and access to citizenship; and WHEREAS, the kick-off for the Immigrant Workers Freedom Bus Ride will take place on Saturday, September 27th at 3 pm at the John F Kennedy Memorial; and WHEREAS, in an effort to encourage all people to live together in peace and harmony, the City of Dallas salutes those committed to this worthwhile endeavor and reaffirms it's commitment to ensure equality and freedom for all people regardless of race, religion, or ethnic background. NOW, THEREFORE, I, LAURA MILLER, Mayor of the City of Dallas, and on behalf of the Dallas City Council, do hereby proclaim September 27th, 2003, as IMMIGRANT WORKERS FREEDOM RIDE DAY In Dallas, Texas. Laura Miller, Mayor, the City of Dallas

I inquired and was advised "Loza read the proclamation at a city council meeting, like we do 1000's of others". Excuse me? Is our council doing 1000's of partisan political proclamations?

These are radical, partisan, political groups, and our council has absolutely no business participating in something like this. The City Charter prohibits partisan politics, doesn't it?

This same council now plans to delay the second phase of the 15% pay raise promised to cops and firefighters. Not only to delay this 5% promised raise, but Ch. 8 says Don Hill claims he has 8 votes to split it into 2% October and 3% April, 2004. This is so wrong.

JAMES NORTHRUP:
The decline of the DPD was a team effort - not a one man job - as it has been portrayed by the Dallas Observer and the DMN. Not that simple.
We have a mayor that tricked them (twice), a manager that keeps them in a budgetary box, and a council that is too busy voting on marginal matters.
Leadership is lacking at all levels.

Many on this council (excluding Blaydes, Griffith and Salazar who were not on the 2002 council) campaigned against the 17% police referendum promising that cops and firefighters would get a 15% raise split over 3 years if the voters voted NO. There was also a subtle reminder that even Terrell Bolton would get the 17% if the voters approved the referendum.

We are leading the nation in crime. Acting Chief Hampton claims BMV's (car break-ins) are down, but you and I know better. A neighbor on Darvany called to report his home was burglarized last Wednesday evening with lots of damage. A week or so earlier, another neighbor actually took pictures of 3 guys breaking into and looting a nice pickup truck parked in front of his home.

This is brazen stuff! What is our council doing about it? Shafting our police and firefighters, that's what! At that same time they are co-signing proclamations with a bunch of Communists.

We are losing officers every day -- some just weeks after we spent thousands of dollars training them. Re-read Dark Shield's comments. This is a huge thing!

JOHN WILLIS
To quote you:    "There's been a lot of dumb thinking of late at City Hall."
    This is not new. This is a process that has been going on for quite a
number of years...as you know.
    You mention things about neighborhood problems...too many people living in houses, streets
blocked by cars associated with those houses. This is also a problem in the suburbs.
   Trust me, I know. I live in one. Just two days ago I e-mailed the Garland PD with mention about parking issues on a specific street in my neighborhood. Yesterday, I got an e-mail back, which is something I believe would never happen with the DPD!.
This is a problem state and nation wide. What does it boil down to? Easy answer... Inconsiderate people.
   Be they white, brown or black. They are inconsiderate don't deserve to live amongst those of us who know how to get a long with each other. Either that, or they need to learn some manners...I don't care which.
   I also own property in Dallas, so poor judgments and decisions made by the Dallas City Council also impact me in a direct, as well as indirect, manner.

We are under siege, and our council and City MisManager are telling our front line to hit the road if they don't like working in a hell hole for a lot less money than cops earn in GRAND PRAIRIE! Frisco, Addison, all the suburbs pay much better than we pay our officers, and their situation is much easier and less stressful than what our officers work with every day.

Here is a comment from UnderGroundCop about a visit from the City Manager and Acting Police Chief (friend to sex club owner Nick Rizos):

   I'm sure most of you have heard that Teddy and Hampton paid a little visit to SE detail the other day.
   To make a long story short, when Teddy got done telling us that our raise would be postponed, our medical deductibles are going up again, that all overtime as we know it is over, and that he is doing his very best to change our fleet to natural gas vehicles, he was asked if he had anything positive for us. He said: "at least you still have a job".
   What did Hampton do? Nothing, because I'm sure he is kissing Teddy's butt for the extra two stars on his collar.
   Anyone at all have any ideas about getting something done about these issues?

I don't want to hear people saying "times are tough all over". When things were booming in Dallas, we were not taking care of our cops and firefighters. The suburbs are finding ways to put their protectors first. They are doing such a good job, they are hiring away our young officers faster than we can replace them. They are taking the cream of our crop. That's not to say the officers who are sticking with us are not qualified, but they will be the first to tell you they must work along side many people who should have never been hired as police officers.

When our council is so wacky that their priorities are endorsing Mexican ID's and supporting communist political groups, it is just over!

If you haven't got a gun, you need to get one. If you don't have a license to carry, you need to take the course and get one. It's not going to get better for a long time.

It is a Dallas issue. When you drive North on Josey Lane (as I do every day on my way to the Post Office before I hit the office) and cross into Farmers Branch, it's like another world of mowed and planted street islands. Their parks are beautiful and open. When you drive North on Denton Road and cross into Carrollton, the street immediately becomes smooth and the properties aligning the roadway are better maintained. This is not accident!

Instead of giving us the basics so our streets and parks look like those outside our city limits, our council plans for big parks and infrastructure improvements in areas where most of us will never go in the day time, much less at night. Only someone who lives in the Park Cities Bubble could honestly believe we can build and maintain a park in Downtown Dallas that will be safe for anyone except the street bums!

RAD FIELD:
   Do you suppose there is something in the water fountain at City Hall?
   I just cannot understand some of the Council's actions of late. (The Lipscomb appointment and now recognizing Communist organizations).
   I cannot envision any large corporation wanting to settle within the boundaries of Dallas city limits. Of course, it all reverts back to the voters and who they elect.
   I'll just try to shield myself from the effects of what City Management is doing.
   Your Concealed Handgun License recommendation should be heeded by many. Recent State legislation has assisted the CHL laws and made them much more favorable to the holders.

Who is going to be there to protect us? We don't have enough officers now to patrol our neighborhoods.

criminals prey on those rich folks who party hearty. If you were a bad guy and wanted some easy pickings, wouldn't you hang out where you knew some drunks with money in their pockets would be stumbling to their cars?

The thieves probably think they are doing the drunks a service by robbing them so they don't drive home drunk. It can be a very sobering moment to have someone stick a gun in your face or brandish a knife at you.

Yesterday, in Ft. Worth's Sundance Square (which every Dallas politician envies) a street bum stabbed a man and tried to stab the man's wife. They have lots of security in Sundance Square, and that couple was still assaulted by a street wacko. We have no security and lots more street bums (because we encourage all those downtown feeding stations), and no one is going to stroll around after dark no matter how fancy the park.

I have run out of excuses for why we are not seeing the smooth streets, green parks and better paid cops and firefighters we were promised. The only explanation is the promise only included Downtown Dallas.

AVI ADELMAN:
    The Dallas City Council will vote Wed, Sept 24th to break yet another promise to the citizens of Dallas. They will not approve the full 5% raise for DFD and DPD officers., but will split the raise: 2% in October and 3% in April.   By my figuring, it's about 1.5% in total decrease in what was promised.
    Regular City Staff should get the $500 bonus (knowing our council, that will be done in weekly increments of $10), but we - through our council - made a promise. Many (not me) voted against the 17% immediate raise just on that promise.
    We should not be surprised. In fact, I am meeting with a few officers this weekend to publicly sing the Israeli folk song - "Ani Omarte Zeh" (I Told You So). Bill Dickerson (ran against John 'Loser' Loza) will provide back-up vocal.
   The funny thing about this mess - - it's perfectly legal. There is absolutely no way a City Council in 2002 can force a City Council in 2003 to vote in a certain way just cuz they said so.
    I have some big differences with how Mayor Miller and the Council deal with some important issues - like ignoring them in favor of the show-and-tell issues.
   This is the biggest stink so far, and it is probably not going to get any better for the next three and a half years.   You know how to use the internet. Here is a link to contact the Mayor and council. Please tell them to give DPD and DFD officers the 5% they were promised last year.
http://snurl.com/2g07

We are pouring millions into the arts center that will be primarily a playground for people with millions of their own who want another building where they can show up in their finery and watch some artsy performance in a half-filled hall.

Council encourages bars and nightclubs and then gets surprised that hoodlums and
Oh, I know, it's to attract new business and tourists. Give me a break!

Nothing is going to attract new business to our city limits until our city looks better. Even if they get some big prospect to consider locating in Dallas, the prospect must drive through Third World conditions to get to Downtown. Unless they are driven in a limo with painted over windows or forced to wear blinders, there is no way any outsider can be impressed with the way our city looks at the street level.

A visitor will not see are an abundance of squad cars cruising around watching our backs -- unless someone figures out a way to move the cars around by remote control. We don't have enough officers to man the cars -- even one to a car -- that's assuming the cars run. The City MisManager and the council are delaying replacing our aging squad car fleet.

Where are our tax dollars going? To Downtown parks, to entertainment halls for the elite, to slush funds for friends of Leo Chaney (grandparents child care training and senior drug abuse counseling). The grandparents are probably safer with their grandkids living with them than living alone -- there sure are not enough cops to watch out for them. As for substance abuse by seniors, who can blame them?

Here's a message to the City MisManager and the Mayor and the council.

Pay our cops and firefighters their 5% NOW. So, we can keep the few good men and women who are still willing to protect us.

Repair our existing parks NOW before one cent is spent on any new parks.

Force the utilities and communication companies to schedule their street tear ups with the city so that the work is done simultaneously and make them fix the street back to where it was before they tore it up. If the street was in bad shape before the work, make them put it in good order. They stick it to Dallas taxpayers anyway through our exorbitant rates which MPossible always supported.

Give us what we wanted in February, 2002 - Smooth Streets, Green Parks and Well Paid Cops and Firefighters.

That's where a city council is supposed to be focused -- city issues. Not national issues like Mexican ID's or Freedom Rides for Immigrant Workers!

Immigrant Workers in Dallas, Texas? Are they talking about US citizens who are immigrant workers? Are they talking about Mexican Nationals who are here legally, who followed our immigration laws? Why is it no one cares about the law-abiding Hispanic people who live here? Who have lived here for generations?

The radicals who co-sponsored the council's resolution are more likely talking about those guys who mob the corner at Royal Lane and Dennis Road and similar sites around town. Why does the city allow that kind of thing to go on? We have panhandling laws (which surprisingly are not enforced). Do those laws not include those day labor guys who wave down cars and cause all kinds of traffic problems?

Before our Mayor and city council take one more action or pass one more non-city resolution, I want to see some code enforcement. In my neighborhood alone, we have many single-family homes (very nice houses) being destroyed by multiple people using them like apartment buildings. Some of our streets are barely passable with cars parked bumper to bumper from one or two problem houses. Most everyone in our neighborhood (Hispanic or Anglo or Black or Asian) are responsible residents, but what the city is allowing to happen to us is criminal.

This citizen is outraged that our council would co-sign any proclamation with these communist groups.

It is no more appropriate than co-signing with the Republican Party or the Democrat Party. It was dumb thinking on the council's part.