A.C. Gonzalez

Dallas Police Will Soon Have License Plate Scanners

Dallas police will soon be able to run your license plate through state and federal crime databases without ever lifting a finger. This morning, the City Council approved DPD's $3.2 million plan to equip some of its squad cars with automated license plate scanners, which can check up to 1,800 plate ... More >>

Some Worried the City's Truckin' Around By Relocating, Storing Some Fire Engines

​Earlier this afternoon City Hall sent out the video you'll find after the jump, in which City Manager Mary Suhm walks you though the proposed FY2011-12 budget presented to media last week and council on Monday. And it reminded me: One of the smaller but more controversial items contained therein ... More >>

Scenes From a Better Ross Avenue

​Tomorrow, we'll have much more from the Build a Better Boulevard event presently slowing traffic along a stretch of Ross near and into downtown; maybe I'll even let Leslie run the photo she took of me submerged into the dumpster swimming pool parked in Fellowship Church's lot at Ross and Central ... More >>

Council Told If The City Doesn't Pony Up for Studio, TNT Won't Shoot Dallas in Dallas

WireImageMary Crosby, Larry Hagman, former Dallas and Walker, Texas Ranger director Michael Preece and Sheree Wilson at the auction of Hagman's memorabilia in Beverly Hills last week​Saturday morning we sneak-peeked an item that was just the subject of much debate during this morning's meeting of ... More >>

In Other Economic Developments, The City Wants To Turn City Lights Back On. And: Dallas Wants Dallas to Furnish a Studio, Apparently.

The old George Dahl library in a cleaned-up rendering found in Monday's briefing​First off, as promised yesterday, here's that Statler Hilton update, which was posted last night to the city's website as the cumbersomely titled Filling in the Missing Pieces Downtown Upcoming Redevelopment Projects ... More >>

City's Going to Need Private-Sector Partners to Design, Build, Operate and Maintain Streetcars

​As we saw this morning, the city's having enough problems funding that 1.6-mile streetcar starter line from Union Station to Methodist Hospital (or close to). So how does it expect to stretch track over more than 40 miles in and three miles around downtown Dallas, which is the ultimate goal? Easy ... More >>

What Qualifies As "a Relatively Small Public Investment"? Let's Take a Look Downtown.

400 N. Akard​This morning, the council's Economic Development Committee will take up whether or not to give Dean Foods a $250,000 economic development grant (and $1,673,964 in tax abatements) for that new factory in the southern sector, which Ron Natinsky mentioned last week.At the same time, the ... More >>

City Hall Wants You to Know: It's Got that Whole Cabbie Strike Thing Covered Tonight

Patrick MichelsFrom the September 15 cabbie protest in front of Dallas City Hall​Not sure how much longer I'm here today -- still need to head out and stock up on celebratory shotgun shells and kegs of Natural Ice, and I'm guessing most of you are in the same solar-powered water taxi. Still, there ... More >>

Complete the Streets! And Sell Executive Airport While Yer At It! A Liveblog In Progress.

A Downtown Dallas 360 rendering, which also graces today's Complete Streets briefing. Because they are, you see, related. Very.​Afternoon, Friends. Thanks for tuning into today's liveblog of the Transportation and Environment Committee meeting up here in City Hall, during which we'll hear about pl ... More >>

Voters Tell City of Dallas That It's Not OK to Sell Elgin B. Robertson and Joey Georgusis Parks

​Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm first suggested selling Elgin B. Robertson Park in mid-May, in a document presented to the city council titled "FY 2010-11 Budget: Brainstorming Ideas." Wrote Suhm and city staff, money raised from dispensing with the 257 acres on Lake Ray Hubbard -- a parcel of land ... More >>

Love and Money: New Airport Concessions Deal Gets Pricey.

Things Learned From City Hall Lobbyist Registration Forms, One in a Series

Harry Wilonsky​Sam's already gone though Willis Johnson's lobbyist registrations forms, which were due to the city at the end of last week. But there's still plenty of ground to cover, as evidenced by the five pages' worth of revelations stashed away on the City Secretary's Office's Web site. So, ... More >>

Angela Hunt Thinks She Has Support to Punt Love Field Concession Contracts to August

flickr member: Angela HuntWill Hunt and Mayor Leppert kiss and make up if she votes against lucrative contract extensions for concessionaires at Love Field? We may have to wait until August to find out.​Angela Hunt, revealed in last week's Observer as the swing vote on the controversial conces ... More >>

Are Vonciel Hill and Carolyn Davis About to Call Out the Mayor? (Update: Apparently Not.)

Sam MertenDMN'er Rudy Bush thought I was taking a picture of him walking into the meeting, but I assured him I was merely capturing City Manager Mary Suhm with a smile on her face, which he agreed is rare these days given the city's $130 million budget shortfall.​The second meeting of the city ... More >>

Mayor Leppert Just Stopped Checking His E-Mail to Chime In on the Love Field Concessions

Sam MertenMayor Leppert, five minutes into the presentation.​Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Pauline Medrano began this afternoon's Love Field Concession Committee meeting by letting folks know why the committee was formed -- to clear up "perception issues reported by the newspaper" -- and what the groun ... More >>

Liveblogging Today's Economic Developments

Something about this reminds us of the phrase "squeaky wheel gets the grease."​After an hour spent in exile while the city council's Economic Development Committee spent an hour talking about The Mall Formerly Known as Red Bird, we're finally down to business -- and, no mention of what they decide ... More >>

Convention Center Hotel Referendum Turns One, And, Aw, Lookie, Ain't It Cute?

Photos by Sam MertenConstruction crews are working on the 12th of what will ultimately be 23 floors.​One year after Mayor Tom Leppert and the pro hotel'ers narrow victory at the polls over Harlan Crow and the anti-hotel folks, the Dallas Omni Convention Center Hotel is approximately half its h ... More >>

Amazing But True: City's Not Giving Up On, Um, "Problematic" Bama Pie Project

This is what the Bama Pie building looked like when I drove by it on New Year's Day of this year.​Longtime Friends of Unfair Park probably don't need a recap concerning the tragicomic goings-on at the former Bama Pie Co. building across the street from Fair Park. This blog is littered with stories ... More >>

From the Council Memos, Rising Sales Tax Receipts and Good Grades for Code

​Council's off this week and next for spring break -- which, for Mayor Tom Leppert, includes a trip to D.C. early tomorrow morning to, yet again, ask Washington suits to expedite the stuck-in-a-ditch Trinity River project. After the jump, you'll find the batch of memos that ushered the council out ... More >>

City to Take Film, TV Biz Out of DCVB's Hands and Hand It Over to Economic Development

For the last week, this sign directing folks to The Deep End set has been posted at the Walnut Hill Lane exit on the Dallas North Tollway.​Since its inception in October 2002, the Dallas Film Commission has been charged with trying to lure filmmakers to Dallas -- no easy task, given that until rec ... More >>

Angela Hunt Tells Council and City Manager of City's Permit Process: "I Hate to See the City Have a Hand in Shuttering Any Businesses."

In response to DMN'er Sherry Jacobson's story about the city's frustrating permit process and its effect on neighborhood farmers markets, council member Angela Hunt has requested the investigation of the permitting processes in other cities so the city council can consider changes as soon as possib ... More >>

You Say You Want Some Downtown Dallas Progress Reports? Well, Then, You Got 'Em.

Justin TerveenOur old pal, The Urban Fabric, grabbed this shot of downtown just last night, matter of fact.​I had Karl Zavitkovsky, head of the city's Office of Economic Development, on the phone this afternoon, so I asked him for a couple of updates per several Friends of Unfair Park's requests p ... More >>

What a Difference Five Years Makes: Public Funding and Ownership of Hotel Goes From "Considerable Risk" to $315 Million Cash Cow

flickr member: Angela HuntSo how did Mayor Leppert accomplish what his predecessor was unable to do? It's all in the numbers.In December 2003, the city of Dallas issued a request for proposals to build a convention center hotel after former Mayor Laura Miller and her husband, former state Rep. Steve ... More >>

With More Than $315 Million in Profits Expected From the Convention Center Hotel, Why Don't We Build Two of These Suckers?

Now that we're one vote away from getting a convention center hotel, it looks like the College Football Hall of Fame is a done deal. At least that's what we gather seeing it across the street from Hotel Dallas in this rendering.The city council's Economic Development Committee this morning predicta ... More >>

In Memo to Council, Angela Hunt Asks Colleagues to Stop Talking Out of Their Asses

Natilee DeeAngela Hunt has delivered a sound thwacking to fellow city council member Ron Natinsky and Assistant City Manager A.C. Gonzalez over some loose-lipped claims Natinsky and Gonzalez have been making about our upcoming referendum on a city-owned hotel downtown.She says Natinsky and Gonzalez, ... More >>

Roll dem bones:

Wednesday's Planned Construction on Convention Center Hotel Canceled; Bond Issuance Appears Unlikely Before Vote

Voters can thank the bond market for the opportunity to endorse or kill Mayor Tom Leppert's convention center hotel project at the polls May 9.Since the Dallas City Council approved the developer and operator agreements for the convention center hotel, the Vote No'ers have been eagerly awaiting an ... More >>

Jerry Allen and the Former Dallas City Council ... All-Stars? Sure. Go With That.

Bill Blayes, Alan Walne and Donna Halstead -- The Ex-Council Members out of costume!Few days back we peeked at Carolyn Davis and Dwaine Caraway's what-updates as served up on Dallas Delivers, the city's riotous no-holds-barred talk show served up on Time Warner Cable Channel 16. Alas, some of us don ... More >>

Surrounding Development Sold As "Key Component" to Convention Center Hotel Project, But What Do We Know About It?

We know we're getting this. But what else?When the Dallas City Council started the process of selecting a site for the convention center hotel in August 2007, it was stressed that the location "foster economic development in the downtown core through retail and entertainment establishments." Sure, ... More >>

When Al Lipscomb's the Voice of Reason About the Convention Center Hotel, We're All Screwed

Sam MertenLeppert was too focused on the hotel votes to enjoy today's performance by the Dallas Black Dance Theatre.In separate 10-2 votes, the Dallas City Council approved developer and operator agreements with Matthews Southwest and Omni Hotels for the convention center hotel, leaving the $525 mil ... More >>

Crappy Bond Market Could Make Convention Center Hotel Referendum Relevant

Patrick MichelsEven though Mayor Tom is committed to building the hotel before the May 9 vote, Assistant City Manager A.C. Gonzalez says it won't happen until the bond market turns around.While the city council continues to face delays regarding the selection of an operator for the convention cente ... More >>

Bill Marriott Makes Last-Ditch Effort to Operate City's Convention Center Hotel

Nickelodeon Resorts by MarriottMarriott International chairman and CEO Bill Marriott manages to crack a smile after Mayor Leppert threw a bowl of guacamole at him in response to a letter he sent asking to operate the city hotel.With three intriguing items on the city council docket, I was originall ... More >>

UNT Wants to Make Sure Municipal Building Still Standing By 2010

The Dallas Municipal Building on Harwood and Main streets is a historic heap o' mess -- one short short of a full-blown catastrophe, according to this story and friends who work out of the building. And it has the University of North Texas, which hopes to turn the former Dallas City Hall into the si ... More >>

Playing With The Convention Center Hotel Numbers, And ... Wait. What? Someone Wanted To Build This Thing With Their Own Money?

When Mayor Tom Leppert brought his Christmas list to Capitol Hill yesterday, he wasn't shy about asking for $386 million from the government to pay for a shiny convention center hotel. After taking a look at our story, Becky Mayad, spokesperson for Build the Hotel, sent an e-mail to Robert correctin ... More >>

And The Maximum Price For Your New Convention Center Hotel Is...

Moments ago, Assistant City Manager A.C. Gonzalez announced a GMP (Guaranteed Maximum Price) for the convention center hotel of $356 million to the council's Economic Development Committee, which will be voted on by the full council in January, along with a final development agreement with Matthew ... More >>

Reserve Fund May Not Protect Taxpayers If Trouble Finds Dallas' Convention Center Hotel

Just how safe are taxpayers in the convention center hotel deal? Good question.

Dallas, We're Made of Money! At Least, That's the Message from City Hall.

Dallas Convention Center Hotel's Murky Future

Petitions to kill the public project are gaining momentum

Now, About That Other Downtown Hotel, the Poor Ol' Statler

Just Checkin' In: Council's Gonna Begin Writing Those Big Hotel Checks Today

So, How're Those Convention Center Hotel Negotiations Going, Anyhow?

Shocking! Surprising! And Exciting!

A Peek Inside the Ugly Convention Center Hotel Bidding Process

Careless Whispers, the "Advantageous" Reunion Site and Other Convention Center Hotel Revelations

Fix The Streets Or Build A $500 Million Hotel. Seems Like A No-Brainer

A Vote Could Be the Secret Weapon to Slow Down the Convention Center Hotel Plans

Economic Development Committe to Hold Special Meeting Friday. You're So Invited.

Land Owners' Rep Insists He Isn't Hustling City Over Price of Convention Center Hotel Land

Finally, We Appraise the Appraisals for the Convention Center Hotel Land

Look, You Don't Need to Know Jack Squat About the Convention Center Hotel, K?