Mayor Tom Leppert and the city council have spent much of 2008 moving forward with plans to build a $600 million, publicly funded convention center hotel. Most of the key decisions regarding the project, such as selecting the site, funding method and developer for the hotel, have taken place in executive session, with the taxpayers left in the dark. Leppert, along with the council and Dallas Visitors & Convention Bureau, have assured the public that this hotel will be a money maker for the city and is an essential tool to bring more convention business to Dallas, especially because everyone else has one. We think this is a great argument, as we used it often to get what we wanted when we were in third grade. If a referendum happens in the future, we can only hope the argument elevates to middle school level.