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10/29/03 Hell has frozen over ...
You can just imagine how
pleased this former Miller supporter is to learn in what high regard our Mayor
holds former Mayor Con Jerk. There has been a lot of discussion over all
this today from several other Miller supporters. Below the Belo clip,
there are several even more interesting comments:
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Recall effort goes on
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Mayor takes steps to improve black outreach;
activists consolidate
09:16 PM CST on Monday, October 27, 2003
By GROMER JEFFERS JR. / The Dallas Morning News |
. . . In her first appearance on KHVN, she
told listeners that she had always intended to have a regular spot on black
radio. . . .
Miller praises Kirk
During the broadcast, Ms. Miller surprised some by praising her
longtime adversary, former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk. She said she asked Mr.
Kirk to lead an advisory committee to aid the search for a new police chief.
"He's very charming. He's very
funny. He's very bright and articulate," she said. "All those things are
good, and I hope that he continues to be involved in things we work on for a
long time."
Brenda Fields, a longtime
member of the Dallas NAACP, said she was confused by Ms. Miller's comments
about Mr. Kirk. Ms. Miller countered that she opposed Mr. Kirk because he
tried to curb her remarks at meetings.
"When Ron used to cut me off, I
didn't appreciate it and I said so very strongly." . . . |
Sharon:
The people the Mayor
is courting now will never buy her act.
She shows them
disrespect by assuming do is some public relations stuff and they will be
won over. She takes
her supporters for granted by assuming that we
were just into star worship. We supported her
because SHE WAS NOT RON KIRK.
Ron Kirk is the reason her children had obscene
signs outside their windows, and she knows
it.
Ron Kirk is the reason we are in such financial straits now, and
she knows it.
Ron Kirk has no personnel experience -- no business experience.
He's just a carnival barker, and she knows it.
Ron Kirk has never been a friend of the police
rank and file police officer, and she knows it.
What authority does the Mayor have to interfere
with the City Manager's responsibility to recruit and hire a new Chief of
Police? |
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Mary Lou:
Betrayed is what I feel. Laura Miller
has shown her true colors by appointing Ron Kirk to this
committee. It was Ron Kirk who after
all made sure that Bolton stayed as long as he did as our Police Chief. I
guess for Miller it is more important to be a politician then a person of
integrity and principals. I agree with Sharon no
more excuses for our mayor. From now on she is on her own with her "new "
friends. I do not wish her ill because I was not raised that way. In closing
I guess that there is much to be said about the expression, "Absolute power
corrupts. And power corrupts absolutely." Hope this is not the case in
Miller's case. Time will tell. |
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Jim:
This gal has been looking out for #1 since day one.
That means a career in Democratic politics, where Ron
Kirk is still three steps ahead. Talk shows and
sucking up are of no help to the black community. Results are. |
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Mary V:
The quote is from 16th Cen. French political essayist Montaigne:
"Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts
absolutely."
Probably worth keeping in mind! I don't
think Laura has reached the "absolute" stage yet,
but certainly all the council needs to think about
their actions and words-- past and present.
After all, there were a LOT of
political neophytes who let Ron Kirk, John
Ware, Sam Lindsey, et al. run away with
the store (our tax dollars).
Check our bond rating today --
losses in $$ of failed lawsuits -- check per
capita debt situation for citizens of Dallas.
Does anyone have a clue what the real
return on all our tax abatements is today?
In 1998,
the amount of infrastructure repairs needed in Dallas was $3
BILLION -- and that's according to Ware at
the time. Anyone know today? Think the council
even asks? This is only the beginning.
In 1998, the Corps of Engineers stated we
could afford our matching commitment to them of
$24M (out of $130M program) for the Floodway extension
project ONLY because we were "UNDERTAXED" - their word - and had a
large
capacity to raise our tax rates since they were so low.
Hummmmmmm.
And so, we
passed a $560M bond program then, and another last year...
I guess Ron Kirk's
helping select another police chief seems like small potatoes
compared to what we voted for him already to "selected" for us all... |
Avi:
Is Kirk gonna be heading the group that holds the
hearings, or is this a separate panel? I don't like council/manager
system anymore than anyone else,
but the Mayor has to let Benavides run the process or get a
supermajority to fire him. |
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Rad:
AMEN!!
It does appear our Mayor has turned her back upon those who
helped her in the past and wanted to help her in the future.
I have been
waiting (along with a group of Dallas businessmen and law enforcement
specialists) for about two months for a brief
meeting --with not a single reply/response.
That attitude on the part of our Mayor is causing consternation in
many law enforcement and business circles. This is a very sad situation for
our City. It has changed opinions of those
who strongly supported her in the past.
Ron Kirk could not lead any group
that terminates at a destination.
What additive was in the coffee at KHVN?
Our City will go wild over this announcement. |
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Greg:
She must
think she has to do it to stop the recall or something. She takes her
voting base (North Dallas) for granted. |
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Spinzone:
Interestingly, it almost looks as
though Mayor Miller might be giving Dallas' African American leadership a
face saving political opportunity on what appears to be a sorry,
uncoordinated recall effort.
But, selecting Ron Kirk to lead an advisory committee
to aid the search for a new police chief?
I'm not at all
sure that's a great idea.
Dallas' African American community will not be hoodwinked by
this overture at all.
Charming, Funny, Bright & Articulate?
Chihuahua! Mayor
Miller, you're making Ron Kirk sound like a the
Miracle Man.
The only miracle Ron
Kirk accomplished on our city's behalf was keeping from public view just how
bad ($100 Million+) our financial
situation is and how bad
the pension plan is for City of
Dallas employees.
Let's
hope Mayor Miller's selection of Ron "The Miracle Man" Kirk does not muddy
up the ability to select a viable candidate who will be able to serve Dallas
citizens in an upright, able & qualified manner. The
last thing Dallas citizens want to hear is a deal
has been cut to select our next police chief.
In the meantime, get those signatures in so the recall
election will give the vast majority of Dallas' Hispanic community an
opportunity to show just how little political
cooperation there is between Hispanics and African
Americans in Dallas, TX.
The result of this vote will not
surprise anyone in this city. Ask Dallas
LULAC's Jesse Diaz for his opinion on this issue and it will mirror the same
opinion among a great majority of the everyday Hispanic citizens in Dallas.
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Officer C:
What is the point of these meetings? More
window dressing and smoke screens?
Pardon me for my arrogance, but the
average citizen has zero knowledge of the
qualifications that will make a good chief of police. I
wouldn't want to upset any apple carts on this, but how can a
citizenry with no experience provide any possible
input into the process?
Our mayor
doesn't even know her own role in this City. She constantly oversteps
her authority. Most recently, her
naming Ron Kirk to lead the afore-mentioned
"Advisory Committee."
Is Ron Kirk working toward some prize
for being named to the most advisory committees,
first the stadium fiasco and now this? Does
he get a free set of steak knives for getting on
three advisory committees at
one time?
Asking Dallas citizens
what they want may be good political maneuvering,
but it is not going to change anything with the
search for the new chief. A professional search
firm will simply smile, say "That's nice." and put the
recommendations of our Citizens aside. Federal laws, ethical
standards and the search firm's
desire to actually pick the best candidate (and
thereby do their job)
will not allow them to follow any
citizen suggestions.
If citizen desires are actually going to be
followed, Dallas is wasting tax money on the
search firm. If citizen desires are going to be
ignored by the search firm, Dallas is wasting tax
money on the community meetings.
Either way, Ted Benavides' is wasting
your
money.
Should the City of Dallas have a
chief of color? Possibly.
Will it happen?
Probably not.
There are not enough qualified
minority chiefs who are willing to
clean up Bolton's mess. There are 13
applications on file as of now. All are white
males.
Personally, I
would like to see Jill Muncie make a triumphant return to DPD. She
has the credibility and the respect of current
officers. But, she is happy working on the
frontlines in Kosovo. Our loss. |
Ace:
Turns out this committee was an option
floated by the public safety committee, not the Mayor. Ted
told them he would welcome it
and their suggestions on who he might appoint. The Mayor's
suggestions are among others offered by council members. Ted is not
expected to appoint this committee for some time.
When he does, Kirk would be a likely choice. |
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Eric K:
You may not post this, because I'm
raising some very politically incorrect points.
I
admire Laura Miller for appearing on KHVN radio,
but it reminds me of the bull standing on the railroad tracks. You admire
the courage but question the judgment.
For purposes of
self-education, I regularly listen to KHVN's "Community Forum" with Robert
Ashley weekdays from 12-2, and heard Mayor
Miller. What a hatchet job that was.
Laura was articulate, but I
doubt she scored any points. Ashley isn't a "moderator" in the least --
he is just another "black leader" -- one who has a microphone to spout the
word "racism" in order to get their "community" riled up.
It doesn't matter whether "racism"
is involved or not. These so called "black leaders" will play the race
card whenever they can. It is sad Ashley spouts his
daily racist message from a station that
calls itself Christian.
Playing of the "race card", when racism is clearly not a
factor, is in itself a racist act. Yes -- blacks can be racist too!
The recall effort will not
work---the numbers simply aren't there. Since their
original "Miller is a racist" cry is not spurning enough support, the
desperate leaders of this ridiculous recall
effort are now pointing to other "factors" to
gain support. Even if they get the required signatures, the recall will
be soundly defeated.
These "leaders", most of whom
are preachers, should focus their anger and efforts on the real problems
facing blacks, such as 70% of black babies born out of wedlock. But a
message like that doesn't prompt action within the community. A skillful
playing of the "race card" does.
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Tim Dickey:
All the following is said with the
understanding that I respect your opinion, and your views, but I want to
weigh in with my two cents here...
I think this whole "help the city manager pick a chief" was a useless,
stupid waste of time. Sharon wrote that on
DallasArena.com,
and I completely agree:
It doesn't matter where the meetings are held. Holding these meetings in
the first place is inappropriate. Recruiting, hiring or firing the Chief of
Police is absolutely the prerogative of the City Manager. It is not a group
effort -- not even a council effort -- until someone revises the City
Charter.
So whats'
wrong with letting Ron Kirk waste his time heading up a useless, stupid
"advisory committee"?
Are you really sure Laura is just playing the suck-up game? Maybe she's
getting ice cold revenge on Kirk by having him waste his time, thinking he's
back in the "game", but in the end, nothing he says or does will be
considered.
The city manager won't be bound by anything this committee comes up with.
Think of how many thousands of hours were wasted by all the folks who were
on that Charter Review Commission!
I continue to be happy that Laura Miller is Mayor. It's entirely possible
she's playing games with Kirk.
If
it turns out that she's not and is trying to suck up to the big guys, she
must have a reason.
I'm
going to stay loyal until she does something really really bad that makes me
question her direction. This doesn't qualify as that, for me.
I've lived under Folsom, Taylor, Strauss, Bartlett & Kirk.
Laura
Miller is ten times better than any of them.
Guess
what? I'm glad there's no smoking any more in Dallas restaurants, even
though she didn't campaign on that.
So, there!! |
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Mary Lou:
Miller is a good mayor. She has learned fast how to be an astute politician
(it does not hurt to have a husband involved in politics).
She will do much for the city because her goal is to do many things so that
one day she will be remembered well. Time will tell how she will be
remembered. For now,
I do not trust her.
Selecting
Kirk is a way
to appease
some
angry African American citizens who wanted her out after Bolton got fired.
As you may remember,
Kirk did nothing to get Bolton out when it was apparent that he was
in
way over his head. Now,
Kirk
will be doing the
City Manager's
work. It sounds to me more like Miller is working behind the scene's being
in charge of running the city and not Ted Benavidez. Again, I will have to
agree to disagree with you. Time will tell which one of us is wrong.
As
far as I am concerned,
the less we hear from
Kirk
the better off we all are. Getting
Kirk
back into the political scene is like Lipscomb being appointed to
the Police Review Board.
It is too double standard for me. |
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