Subject: Ann Margolin

• They're Still Horsing Around With That Texas Horse Park

  August 26, 2008

• Good Lord, Who Isn't Supporting Ann Margolin's Bid for City Council?

  September 30, 2008

• New Candidate Joins Race To Replace Mitchell Rasansky on Council

  As we mentioned here a couple months ago, Ann Margolin seemed like a tough candidate to beat in May for Mitchell Rasansky's open city council seat. However, comments she made to us about a certain $520 million boondoggle may have sparked Mayor Tom and others to find someone who will fall in line and play nice. Enter Brint Ryan, founder of Ryan, one of the largest tax firms in the country. Ryan's campaign will be managed by Leppert's ally, Allyn & Company, and his treasurer is familiar too,

  December 9, 2008

• Ann Margolin Leads the Pack As City's Finance Report Deadline Looms

  As we mentioned a while back, District 13 city council candidate Ann Margolin appeared to be the heir apparent to Mitchell Rasansky with a long list of notable supporters and a strong résumé. And as the 5 p.m. deadline approaches for candidates and committees to file their finance reports, Margolin's stock just took another spike as she's blowing everyone else away with $130,360 raised from July to December (more than twice as much as Mayor Tom), including 86 maximum contributions of $1,000 f

  January 15, 2009

• Ann Margolin Has a Survey For You

  Dallas City Council candidate Ann Margolin, who's already raised something like $328 trillion as she looks to replace Mitchell Rasansky as George W. Bush's council member, has created the niftiest little game: "Rank the Top Five Issues Facing Dallas." Problem is, she's already chosen the issues for you: traffic, crime, street and alley maintenance, code enforcement and "building Dallas' tax base." Aw, c'mon, that's no fun. Alas, she writes in a virtual missive sent to her would-be constituency,

  January 21, 2009

• Crime, Ann Margolin's Top Campaign Issue

  Mitchell Rasansky and Ann MargolinFew weeks back, we directed you to an online survey Dallas City Council candidate Ann Margolin was taking as she vies for Mitchell Rasansky's District 13 seat at the horseshoe. Well, the results are in, and Margolin writes in a mass e-mail sent to her would-be constituency today that the No. 1 issue facing voters come May is .... crime! "By far." As in: "The bottom line: We need to add officers, put them on the street, and give them the tools they need to fight

  February 17, 2009

• One More in a Neverending Series: Brint Ryan Talks City Budget Deficit, Convention Center Hotel, Trinity Project and Much, Much More

  Brint Ryan is hoping a big bank account, a high-priced consultant and 20 years in accounting will be enough to knock off Ann Margolin in the fight for the District 13 council seat.Editor's note: From now till the May 9 city council elections, Unfair Park will attempt to profile every candidate running for office. Today, Mr. Merten catches up with the taxman.Back in September, we said the race to replace District 13 council member Mitchell Rasansky (who's leaving because of term limits) was all b

  February 26, 2009

• Who's No. 1? Dallas City Council Candidates Pick Ballot Positions.

  Sam MertenPauline Medrano and Sheffie Kadane were two of only three (Vonciel Hill was the other) incumbents who showed up this morning.City Secretary Deborah Watkins and her staff this morning in the Flag Room at City Hall announced the ballot positions for the May 9 city council elections, as Billy MacLeod, Victoria Walton, Tiffinni Young, John Jay Myers and Anita Dade gained an early leg up on the incumbents in their respective district races by nabbing the top spot. Ann Margolin was able to

  March 10, 2009

• Brint Ryan Makes Good on His Threat to Sue Fellow Council Candidate Ann Margolin

  Last week, when District 13 city council candidate Ann Margolin started circulating to the media a copy of a $482,337.09 federal tax lien filed by the Internal Revenue Service against Brint Ryan, who's also running for Mitchell Rasansky's soon-to-be-vacated seat, I contacted the IRS for further explanation. At the time, Clay Sanford, who handles media relations for the IRS's North Texas Region office, said he couldn't discuss Margolin's allegations: "Federal disclosure regulations prohibit IRS e

  April 30, 2009

• Hotel? No Hotel? Hard to Say, as Early Voting's Split Darned Near Right Down the Middle.

  One of the city of Dallas's official renderings of the convention center hotelMerten and Pulle are out; Schutze is about. They'll offer their reports from hotel shindigs pro and con -- and, just maybe, some council member throwdowns -- later in the night, as Dallas County Elections begins kicking out returns from the day's vote. But till then, the early-voting results are in, and, as of 7 p.m., the Vote Yes faction is out in front by hair's breadth, with 19,048 votes -- or 50.51 percent of the v

  May 9, 2009

• A 200-Vote Margin for the Hotel Is Now Closer to a 2,000-Vote Margin

  The convention center hotel, now the frontrunnerWaiting for the boys to call in, as no doubt the mood's shifted at both The Loft at Gilley's and Tucker on Ross Avenue just a bit. Because, with 427 of 534 precincts reporting, the margin's grown wider in the pro-hotel faction's favor: 39,506 (51.28 percent) who voted for the convention center hotel, as opposed to 37,539 (48.72 percent) who cast their lot against. That's a 1,967-vote margin, if my chisembop is correct.Proposition 2's all but dead:

  May 9, 2009

• At the Pro-Hotel Party, It's all Hugs and High Fives as the Counting Nears the End

  Sam MertenDCVB CEO Phillip Jones, a very happy man right about nowWith 510 of 534 precincts reporting, and the convention center hotel now looking more like a sure thing -- it's 42,433 for, 40,484 against -- Pulle reports that it's all hugs and fist bumps at The Loft at Gilley's. Says Matt, Mayor Tom Leppert was just spotted giving Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway a big ol' hug, while Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau honcho Phillip Jones "is going around giving everyone fist bumps."Matt also

  May 9, 2009

• And It's Only Getting Closer: Hotel Race Now Separated By, Oh, 200 Votes

  Perhaps Carol Reed was right about closing strong: With 79 of 534 precincts reporting, the Proposition 1 race is only getting tighter -- separated by a mere 207 votes now. At the moment, the pro-hotel faction has taken the teensy-weensy lead with 22,481 votes, or 50.23 percent of the vote. Which mean CATOH has thus far scored 22,274 votes, or 49.77 percent. Pulle sends this missive from the pro-hotel's shindig:Mayor Tom Leppert, looking a bit nervous and tired, just walked into The Loft at Gille

  May 9, 2009

• Angela Hunt on City's Budget Crisis: "We're Cutting Muscle; We're Cutting Bone."

  Hey, at least Dallas doesn't have budget problems like Conan is facing out West. So we've got that going for us, which is nice.As we mentioned yesterday, the city council's Quality of Life & Government Services Committee got a look-see Monday afternoon at some of the proposed budget cuts before the full council is updated in a June 17 briefing. To close the $190 million deficit, City Manager Mary Suhm is recommending significant reductions in funds set aside for public libraries, swimming pools

  June 9, 2009

• Hunt Ready to Support Hotel Funding if Protections Are in Place, Claims Special Meeting Called to Avoid Input From Margolin

  Mark GrahamAngela Hunt is making sure taxpayers are protected as much as possible before voting to approve bonds for the convention center hotel.After a special June 19 city council meeting popped up on Wednesday's addendum, we reached out to City Secretary Deborah Watkins and Danielle McClelland, assistant director of the city's Public Information Office, for an explanation. Neither had an answer as both cited the lack of an agenda for the special meeting. But, as The News discovered, the coun

  June 11, 2009

• Harsh City Budget Cuts "Unavoidable" and Only "the Tip of the Iceberg"

  While we had Angela Hunt and council member-elect Ann Margolin on the phone yesterday, Unfair Park asked for their evaluations of the city's $190 million budget deficit. Hunt says right now it's hard to pinpoint the cut resulting in the biggest impact to residents because it's early in the process, and things are about to get worse before the council votes on a final budget in September. "We've only hit the tip of the iceberg of what we're cutting," she says. With approximately $1 billion in t

  June 12, 2009

• Rasansky Calls Budget "Non-Transparent," Says Increased Fees Are a Tax Increase and Introduces $21.7 Million in Savings

  Sam MertenMitchell Rasansky and Linda Koop celebrate the end of his eight years on the council and her birthday with glasses of grape cider. Rasansky later crushed the plastic glass with his foot and yelled, "Mazel tov!"City Manager Mary Suhm, Mayor Tom Leppert and CFO Dave Cook all stressed this morning that the city is facing the same budget challenges as other cities and states. As Cook briefed the city council for the last time before a more detailed budget is presented August 10, he said th

  June 17, 2009

• Leppert at Council Inauguration: Dallas Won't Succeed "By Cowering When the Storms Hit"

  Patrick MichelsUpdate: Check out more photos in this slide show.Not far from a downtown courtroom filled with memories of a time when cash allegedly flowed more freely through City Hall, Mayor Tom Leppert officially welcomed aboard two new City Council members with a promise to work together to do more with less.This morning's inauguration ceremony at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center included a recognition of outgoing council members Mitchell Rasansky and Elba Garcia -- sent packing with a

  June 22, 2009

• Finance Reports Confirm What You Already Knew: Harlan Crow and Ray Hunt Are Loaded

  Sam MertenWhat recession? As Harlan Crow told us right after the losing the election and more than $5 million: "I'll get over it before I get home."The spending gap between the two convention center hotel campaigns predictably didn't mimic the narrow margin at the polls, as Harlan Crow's $5.2 million anti-hotel effort dwarfed an otherwise impressive haul of more than $1.9 million by three pro-hotel committees. Nearly all of the funding for Crow's campaign came from his company's hotel, the Hilt

  July 17, 2009

• Rasansky Says Supporting Leppert Was His Biggest Regret, Explains Support of Trinity River Toll Road And Much, Much More

  Sam MertenAfter serving eight years as a city plan commissioner and another eight as a council member representing some of North Dallas's more upscale neighborhoods, 72-year-old Mitchell Rasansky is no longer roaming City Hall when he's most needed. Replaced last month by Ann Margolin because of term limits, Rasansky now must sit on the sidelines as the council struggles to balance a $190 million budget deficit. "He was a rare bird on city council in that he really understands a budget," says D

  July 27, 2009

• Park and Rec Director Paul Dyer: "There's Not a Sheet in This Budget That Makes Me Smile."

  Park and Recreation Department Director Paul Dyer​If you've got the time this morning, you should check out the live feed of the city council's budget workshop, where, at the moment, the topic of discussion is the Park and Recreation cuts. Earlier, council member Ann Margolin told City Manager Mary Suhm she's concerned about the trims to park maintenance: "Eliminate contract and day labor impacting litter pickup and removal, mowing and trimming," per the briefing presentation. Said Margolin, s

  August 24, 2009

• Five Council Members Lobby for Transparency at Dallas City Hall. Good Luck With All That.

  Psssst, Carol Reed, they're talking about you ... ​Five Dallas City Council members want the city to think about requiring people to register as lobbyists if they get paid to influence the council. The ongoing Dallas City Hall federal corruption trial has brought a series of revelations about so-called consultants -- a broad term apparently meaning anybody who can get you the votes you need for your deal with the city, for a price.Five council members this morning signed a letter to City At

  August 24, 2009

• And If City Council Members Stay for the Whole Meeting, They Get a Gold Star

  ​Two weeks ago, at the last minute Mayor Tom Leppert -- or was it City Secretary Deborah Watkins ... or Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway? -- added to the Dallas City Council's agenda several controversial rules changes that were tabled the night before they were to be discussed. One of those proposed amendments to the City Council Rules of Procedure resurfaces this morning as Addendum Iten No. 4 -- the rather uncontroversial item that requires city council members show up for at least half of a co

  August 26, 2009

• Up the Sleazy River At the Dallas City Hall Corruption Trial

  August 27, 2009

• At Last, a Parking Boot Ordinance!

  ​It took long enough, but the Dallas City Council finally got around to the parking-lot booting ordinance -- and it passed council almost unanimously. There was but one "nay" vote: newcomer Ann Margolin, who said, well, "I understand there has been a lot of work to get this done, but I have to say I don't have enough time to digest this right now, and I am reluctant to vote on something I don't understand. ... The rushed nature is troublesome to me." Well, sure, Ann. Rushed. Or the opposite.Th

  August 26, 2009

• Up the Sleazy River At the Dallas City Hall Corruption Trial

  August 27, 2009

• Ann Margolin on Why She Opposes Mary Suhm's Proposed Water Rate Increase

  District 13 council member Ann Margolin​At last, another council member with a blog: Ann Margolin, who's penned a little sumpin-sumpin about the budget by way of an invite to one her town hall meetings. Specifically, Margolin writes, she's opposed to the increase in water and stormwater fees as proposed by City Manager Mary Suhm. The city manager wants to raise monthly Dallas Water Utilities fees by 4.2 percent and up stormwater management fees by an average of $1.72. To which Margolin respond

  August 27, 2009

• Council Members (At Least Those Without Rent Homes) Supportive of Registration Idea. Except Dave Neumann, Who Blasts "Tax."

  ​If the Dallas City Council winds up passing an ordinance requiring rent-house owners to register with the city -- a proposal we mentioned Sunday and just discussed at the council's briefing -- it'll apparently have to do so without three members' input. In the middle of Code Compliance's presentation, two years after this notion first surfaced at City Hall, Mayor Tom Leppert said that Pauline Medrano, Vonciel Jones Hill and Tennell Atkins had to step out of council chambers because they "have

  September 2, 2009

• The City's Budget in Just Under 45 Minutes

  Courtesy Angela Hunt​You know why it seems like Angela Hunt's always on Unfair Park? Because she's the only council member with a regularly updated Web site to which she posts items of significance to Dallas residents. Hey, Carolyn Davis gets herself a blog, we'll post the hell out of it; same for Dwaine Caraway or Dave Neumann or Ann Margolin or the mayor or anyone else sitting at the horseshoe. Till then, all we have is the District 14 council member, who last night posted the entirety of he

  September 11, 2009

• Things Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison Apparently Hates: Rick Perry, Iran, Iraq, Obama's Health Care Plan and TxDOT

  Sam MertenSenator Kay Bailey Hutchison criticized Governor Rick Perry in a speech to the local Republican Jewish Coalition this afternoon, claiming Texas has the country's highest property taxes, an education system with the worst dropout rate in the nation and a government growing faster than the federal government with more than 600 agencies. She said as governor she'd reform the Texas Department of Transportation. "We have the most arrogant Texas Department of Transportation of any state ag

  September 11, 2009

• While Breaking Ground for Convention Center Hotel, Mayor Tom Leppert Unveils Updated Design and Becomes Bellhop for a Day

  Sam MertenCaption contest!It took Mayor Tom Leppert approximately two years to accomplish what no one else in Dallas could: begin building a convention center hotel. And hundreds of assorted politicos, city officials, business leaders and supporters were on hand Tuesday afternoon at the site of the Omni Dallas Convention Center Hotel to celebrate the man whose vision made it all possible. For his part, Leppert acknowledged everyone else's involvement, thanking them for their effort. "It's been

  September 16, 2009

• Several Council Members Say That, You Know, a Teensy-Tiny Tax Hike Ain't a Bad Idea

  ​Speaking of the council and the budget and fees versus taxes ...As we mentioned yesterday, Tennell Atkins's budget amendment called for a 1-cent property tax increase -- which I didn't think would get terribly far, given council members, the mayor and the city manager's oft-repeated vows not to raise taxes despite the $190 million shortfall. But after Atkins made his presentation -- which, summed up, was, "It'll cost you $8 a year on a $100,000 house ... and I paid $9 to go to the movies" --

  September 16, 2009

• Dallas City Hall Needs a Bike Rack

  Photos by Kimberly ThorpeJason Roberts, organizer of today's bike ride to City Hall, and his official proclamation​This morning, Angela Hunt made a discovery: Dallas City Hall has no bicycle rack. "It's nuts!" said Hunt, who was standing with other bikers on a chilly morning in the plaza. "We're going to get us some bike racks for City Hall if I have to buy them myself." More than 100 musicians, artists, activists and city councilpersons rode to City Hall on their bicycles from Union Sta

  October 7, 2009

• Bicycle Race: Angela Hunt Explains the Rift Over Separate Cyclist-Only Lanes

  Angela HuntJerry Allen was among those on the ride to City Hall Wednesday. Not as good as the Ann Margolin photo, but, still.​On Wednesday, we mentioned the city's plans to make Dallas more bike-friendly by creating separate cyclist-only lanes. And, as usually happens when the subject comes up, the conversation turned a little, well, contentious. And so we headed to the Texas Theatre last night for a movie screening to find out why bike lanes rub some the wrong way. "People are not upset," c

  October 9, 2009

• City Council's Handing Out Money Today

  ​We're in the midst of a staff meeting, but The News' Rudy Bush, of course, is at City Hall keeping tabs on the council's doings. And this morning, he offers two updates on items that first appeared on Unfair Park. First off: The council unanimously approved to give Deloitte LLP the $2 million it wanted to stay downtown after it threatened earlier this year to hightail all of its local operations to Irving. According to The News's City Hall reporter, Ann Margolin said, "The economic model is v

  October 14, 2009

• Leppert Calls for Another Ethics Reform Briefing, Doesn't Want This "Petering Out"

  ​Chris Heinbaugh, Mayor Tom Leppert's chief of staff, tells Unfair Park this morning that the mayor still hopes to get those ethics reforms passed at Wednesday's regular city council meeting. (Good luck with all that.) We should have a better idea of what they actually look like later this evening, when the meeting addendum is posted. But there's still one more briefing to go: The City Secretary's Office posted late yesterday this notice for a special called city council meeting, during which

  October 23, 2009

• The Waters Are Murky as Dallas City Council Seeks Clarity Before Ethics Reform Vote

  Sam MertenCouncil member Carolyn Davis talks to zoning lawyer Kirk Williams as Willie Cothrum (right) listens.If nothing else, the city council's hastily planned ethics reform briefing early this morning showed that this group is capable of a spirited debate. For the most part, Mayor Tom Leppert has been able to keep everyone, with the exception of Angela Hunt and former council member Mitchell Rasansky, on the same page, sharing their toys with no complaints. But today, Dave Neumann, a Leppert

  October 26, 2009

• After Spending All Day Talking Ethics Reform, City Council Punts the Whole Shebang and Wraps It Up With a Freakin' Straw Vote

  ​As the Dallas City Council reached the end of its painfully long discussion about the proposed ethics reform, Dave Neumann said, "It was productive for the council to go through this briefing, but that's OK." Yup, the council began its agenda meeting this morning chatting about fine points of the amendments and stopped around 4:30 p.m. That, dear Friends, is the very definition of a briefing, especially when the result is a half-assed straw vote. It wasn't that there weren't attempts t

  October 28, 2009

• If You Think Ethics Reform at City Hall Was All Mayor Tom's Idea, Pass That Pipe, Willya?

  Patrick Michels​In an editorial today The Dallas Morning News gives all the credit for better ethics at City Hall to Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert because, "In the end, Tom Leppert didn't blink." They must have sent a greenhorn over to cover the city council's straw vote on ethics reform last week. An experienced reporter would have known that Mr. Leppert never blinks --- a trait that usually gives people the willies. In this case The News's editorial page is on a mission. It wants people to know t

  November 2, 2009

• "Nothing We Can Ever Do Will Stop Corruption If an Officeholder is Willing to Be Bribed."

  Sam MertenAnn Margolin and Angela Hunt​Yesterday, just after Angela Hunt posted her lengthy essay titled "Ethics Reform at City Hall," Jim wrote that "we can thank council members Hunt, Ann Margolin and Linda Koop for adding the only real teeth in this poor gum-smacker." So happens that on Monday, Margolin also weighed on the subject (and last Wednesday's meeting that ended up in a pile of straw) on her occasionally updated Web site -- and her item's a two-parter. First part's titled "Ethics R

  November 3, 2009

• Angela Hunt Wasn't Pleased to Find Out About Chief Kunkle's Adios from Media, But Does Want Mary Suhm to Conduct National Search

  Chief Kunkle and Angela Hunt at the Katy Trail lighting ceremony last year​Several members of the Dallas City Council are in San Antonio at a National League of Cities conference. Angela Hunt is not, which is why, like most of the city, she found out that DPD Chief David Kunkle was retiring by turning on the local news at 10 last night. Was she pleased? Not really: "I am disappointed that our city manager didn't apprise the council of this and that we learned about this from the media first,"

  November 12, 2009