The racer's edge

And, of course, he was right. When Crenshaw ran two years ago, Oberwetter took care of her campaign financing--to the point of sending her solicitation letters out to potential donors. "I didn't have any idea who to ask for money," she told me. "He did it all."

Does that mean her owns her?
Hang tough, Sandra Crenshaw. Do the right thing--for the citizens you represent.

Forget Oberwetter. Forget Hunt. Forget Bartlett. Fight the lying, cheating city manager's staff. This time, make sure we do a straight-up business deal with the man who has the bigger, better mousetrap. And no purchase power over the city council.

Last Wednesday, after the council had passed its second resolution aimed at leveling the playing field between Smith and Meyer, Bartlett took the floor and, in a stern, sanctimonious voice, laid some ground rules for the negotiations that lay ahead.

"This is really important..." the mayor declared. "This needs to be an open, public process with no inside dealing, no one on the council doing the negotiating...no politics, no sense of who we like or who we don't like. It needs to be strictly based on criteria."

At which point, members of the Dallas city council broke into laughter.