Do Not Disturb

Last week, Dallas continued its speedy progress toward completing a deal to build a $500 million, publicly owned convention center hotel when a city council committee selected a developer for the project. But key questions remain unanswered, and the cancellation of a debate on the issue has opponents crying foul.

Just three days before the event, however, an e-mail was sent to members by Susan Abrahamson, chair of The Dallas 40, saying the meeting had been canceled "due to circumstances beyond our control." This communication came one day after Abrahamson sent an e-mail telling members that Crawford and Rasansky were added to the panel, with Crawford serving as a replacement for Phillip Jones, president and chief executive of the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau, which also supports the hotel. Members were told that Jones "rescinded his acceptance of our April invitation to participate." Jones did not return phone calls to the Dallas Observer to provide an explanation for his withdrawal.

Abrahamson refuses to comment on the matter, including why the meeting was canceled, why Jones decided not to attend and even why Rasansky was asked to join the panel.

Raymond says she was told that Jones' assistant canceled his participation "with no real explanation." Then, after agreeing to replace Jones, Crawford "abruptly canceled" approximately 48 hours later in a "very strange turn of events," Raymond says.

"It appears the city is unwilling to discuss, in a public forum, the expenditure of over 500 million of taxpayer dollars, with hundreds of millions more at risk," says Raymond, whose company owns the Hilton Anatole, just blocks from the proposed site of the new hotel.

Crawford would not offer an explanation for canceling. "I don't have any comment about that right now," he says.

Rasansky says Abrahamson sent him an e-mail asking him to participate in the debate, and he accepted her offer because the meeting was located in his district, only three minutes from his house. Rasansky, a member of the council's Economic Development Committee, has been restricted from speaking about the hotel issue in council and committee meetings because of a conflict of interest regarding his stock holdings, but he has been a vocal critic of the hotel project outside of City Hall and offers his opinion why two of the biggest proponents of the hotel canceled at the last minute.

"I cannot pinpoint it, but it's pretty obvious that it came from City Hall," Rasansky says. "You don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that if Phillip Jones canceled and John Crawford canceled...it's pretty obvious where it came from."

Chris Heinbaugh, Mayor Tom Leppert's chief of staff, says Leppert has "no comment" regarding Rasansky's allegation.

"I didn't expect anything different," Rasansky says. "It's a shame when people cut off freedom of speech and avoid a true American debate."

Council member Angela Hunt, another critic of the hotel project, expressed concern that the public is being asked to pay the $500 million bill for the hotel, yet hasn't been able to hear both sides of the issue.

"It's always better to have an open debate and discussion on major issues like this," she says. "And it's a little frustrating when, for whatever reason, we don't have an open public discourse on issues like this that are important to our city."

The same day that The Dallas 40 meeting was scheduled, the council's Economic Development Committee selected Matthews Southwest as its top choice to develop the hotel project, which Hunt calls "an additional layer of a poorly calculated plan." The city is negotiating with Matthews for a maximum of 60 days while also analyzing bids from potential hotel operators—the last major step in the process.

Dr. Heywood Sanders of the University of Texas at San Antonio, who is considered the leading independent authority on convention center research, says he is "constantly amused" and "astonished" at the haste at which the city has moved forward in the process of building the hotel.

"They seem fully committed to going off this cliff at 100 miles an hour," he says. "It suggests that there was some sort of deal set between Leppert and the council members some time ago. Either that, or they're just totally oblivious."

Assistant City Manager A.C. Gonzalez, who has been significantly involved in the process, claims the city has also been criticized by hotel supporters for moving too slowly.

"It's probably a good sign that we're being criticized on both sides," he says. "It probably means we're doing it right."