05/21/02     DICKEY SAYS VOTE NO ON PALLADIUM -

Dear Ed-

The other day you say you were undecided on the Palladium vote and it was very likely that you would decide which way to go the moment before you pressed the vote button. I'm sending this in an attempt to convince you to say NO.   I'll try to keep it short.

Dallas/Fort Worth is the seventh largest market in the U.S.  Over the next 30 years, this city will see an astonishing rebirth and continued growth in the "inside the loop" area. 

We are the gateway to Central and South America, with a great year-round airport that's about to get a new billion-dollar International Terminal that will rival Heathrow Terminal 4. 

The resurgence of inner city neighborhoods is heating up.  Even in my blighted, club-infested neighborhood, houses are selling like hotcakes, at asking price.  

DART will open a Northwest Light Rail line in 2006 that will make it possible to go from Bachman to Downtown, connect to Fort Worth, the Zoo, Angelika, you name it!

Ed, it's only going to get better ON ITS OWN!!!  

We don't need to give these guys another penny.  They have a great deal going, without the additional TIF money.

If they can't go forward with the package they sold us three years ago, LET THEM WALK.  In a few years our momentum will attract another player.   Just once, let's have the guts to say NO to developers who want the little people to subsidize their project.  We're a great city!  They should pay US to be going in there, not the reverse. 

One of your colleagues said, "We're only in for an  8% investment?  Who could say no to that?"   Other investors get a piece of the action for significant investment.  We only have dreams and promises to bank on.  

Trust that Dallas is headed in the right direction.  Close-in, high-end development will come without incentives.  Trust THAT.

What's the downside?   Downside is that the site remains undeveloped. So what?  That will allow us to redouble our efforts to build up downtown.  In a few years, when downtown is humming along, someone else will come in and develop that site.

It's no loss if Palladium walks!

PLEASE don't be afraid to say NO to this deal.  Saying "no" doesn't mean you're against good things for Dallas.   Saying NO means you have faith in our city and in the cumulative, long-term positive results of all our efforts to make Dallas a great place to invest without having to "bribe" developers to do it.

WE ARE COUNTING ON YOU, ED! 

Best Wishes,

Tim