Letters

Family man
I read with great interest your article titled "Rambo justice" [March 19]. Like dozens of other lawyers in this town, I, too, put in my time at Bickel & Brewer as an associate. During that time, I worked closely with Bill Brewer for nearly two years and got to know him pretty well. While I agreed with some of your observations, and disagreed with others, I found one to be particularly disturbing and inaccurate. Specifically, the suggestion that Brewer's affection and attention to his children was somehow an act couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, Brewer often put his children ahead of his law practice--sometimes to a fault.

On more than one occasion, while working late in the Bickel & Brewer tradition, I found myself in the kingdom waiting for a few minutes of Brewer's time to discuss a case we were working on, while he rolled around on the floor with his son Will in the gym adjacent to his office.

Similarly, there were times when Brewer would show up late for important meetings with Will in tow, because he had been catering to Will's needs, ahead of his clients' and employees' schedules.

There are a lot of things you can fairly say about Bill Brewer--some flattering, and some less so. He is an intense and extremely complex man, driven with such a passion for what he does that sometimes it seems to work against him. But whatever you might fairly list among his faults, inattention or lack of love and affection for his children are not among them.

Michael J. Betz
Via e-mail

Dr. No
In response to the article on Hollis Brashear ["Bored to cheers," March 12] I find Ms. [Julie] Lyons' choice of adjectives to describe Dr. Lois Parrott to be either poorly informed or totally naive. I have worked with Dr. Parrott, helped on her last two campaigns, and continue to support her tireless efforts to hold others accountable for that which they are elected or hired to do: to return public trust to our public school system. To educate our children.

As elected trustees to the board of the Dallas public schools, each of the nine trustees has been given the responsibility of overseeing the fiduciary expenditures of this city's public school system. She continues to base her affirmative vote on the presence of a checks-and-balances system that offers her constituents some assurance that the operations in DISD are not "business as usual." She continues to insist on putting an end to the siphoning of money from the education of our children. Perhaps her counterparts on the board are satisfied to pretend that all is well. It is this type of denial that has brought this school district to the point of discord that has been just below the surface for many years and does not serve any benefit at all.

Yes, Dr. Parrott is relentless in her pursuit of answers about where the moneys that are budgeted for the education of our children are spent. Her continued overtures for an outside investigation into allegations of fraud and corruption must be addressed. Simply pretending that there is no problem does not fix the underlying issues. This is why our district sent Lois Parrott to the school board.

I would call a person with those qualities someone with integrity; I would say that she is courageous, independent, and not easily fooled. If Ms. Lyons or the other members on the board are uncomfortable with her behavior, perhaps they should examine their own motives.

Jeannie M. May
Dallas

Taking the race bait
Re: Buzz's "Run, Jesse, run?" [March 19]. What Dallas does not need now or in the year 2000 is another political candidate who will continue to play the race card. Jesse Diaz, an activist with LULAC, said it all when he said, "I think if a Hispanic like myself should run, I think I could pick up a lot of the Anglo and Hispanic vote." With comments like that, Mr. Diaz would do well to walk down that narrow plank already set out by himself leading to nowhere.

Let's hope that between now and the year 2000 the Latino community can produce a commissioner candidate who will not be described as the "Brown JWP" and field a candidate who will not cross out constituents based on the color of their skin.

Alas, it's times like this when even I want to say, "Yo quiero Taco Bell."
Pablo Hernandez
Dallas

Win a date with Christina
Regarding the review of the Good/Bad show ["Honeymoon suite," March 12]--let's just say that your writer was just a little biased. Conduit Gallery has always been progressive as well as supportive of the UNT School of Visual Arts. I applaud Nancy for opening her space to these students. But let's not forget that that's what they are...students! Christina Rees gushed a bit too much. Which artist in the collective is she dating?

Jennifer King
Via e-mail

Discrimination in the NFL
I personally believe that this is just another of Jerry Jones' blunders ["Black out," February 26]. I have been a great Cowboys fan for years, but I must admit that since Jones purchased the team I have become very uninterested. The thing that I feel is most important is getting the best people in organization. I think that George Seiffert or Sherman Lewis would have been a better choice than who was picked. I am seriously considering boycotting the Cowboys until Jones sells the team. First, we lose Jimmy Johnson, and now we get this new coach; what's next? I guess that the star is really tarnished for good.