Ann Margolin

City Council Delays Vote On The Don't-Throw-Things-At-Bikers Ordinance

The city's proposed rules for drivers operating motor vehicles near cyclists -- that they must pass at a safe distance, can't turn right into their path, and, last but not least, aren't allowed to pelt them with things from car windows -- seem like no-brainers. Anyone who doesn't think they are a go ... More >>

The Dallas Police and Fire Pension's Big Real Estate Gamble

Museum Tower isn't the only troubled real-estate deal that the pension fund has gone all in on. But so far, only its investment advisers are winning big.

City, Developer Will Finish Making Your Walk Down Lamar Street Suck Less Right After it Pays this Cable Bill

You have always been able to walk from the site of the Convention Center Hotel over to, say, police headquarters, but why would you? That stretch of Lamar Street has never been particularly inviting to non-motorized transport, but some long-delayed street improvements designed to make the stroll les ... More >>

Dallas Passes Twice-a-Week Watering Restrictions; Watering Can Stocks to Soar?

A key battle was won this morning in what cable-news commenters might call the War on Sprinklers: The Dallas City Council just voted 13-2 to permanently limit sprinkler use, either by hose or by automatic system, to two days per week, in what can only be seen as a huge victory for the hand-held wate ... More >>

Texas and OU, Count Your Money: The Cotton Bowl's $25 Million Facelift is a Lock

The backdrop, the pageantry, the Fried Everything: There are plenty of reasons the folks at Texas and Oklahoma wouldn't mind keeping the schools' annual rivalry at the Cotton Bowl. But these are college football guys we're talking about, so you can't underestimate the Big R. The schools split $10 ... More >>

Vonciel Jones Hill Asks Fellow Council Members to "Catch the Vision" of Texas Horse Park

​In the end, the council's Economic Development Committee didn't want to talk about economic impact studies or debate the risk of sinking $12 million into a project where its partner fell millions short when it came to raising matching funds. In the end, most of its members wanted to make it clear ... More >>

Glacial Pace of Dallas Library's Top Job Head Hunt Is One Reason the Interim's Out of Here

Corinne Hill​Dallas Public Library system interim head Corinne Hill says she wasn't pushed out. The decision to quit Texas for Tennessee and helm Chattanooga's Public Library system was hers alone. But the city's leisurely search for a new director -- and a blown Thanksgiving deadline -- sure ... More >>

Before Signing Off On EV Charging Stations, the Council Breaks Down Cost of Plugging In

​On Monday the council's Transportation and Environment Committee took up the subject of setting up electric vehicle charging stations at several city facilities, including City Hall and the downtown central library. For the most part the committee was on board with the initiative, which includes ... More >>

In the Weeds: The City's Again Dealing With Shabby Highway Medians, Including Central

This photo of the Central Expressway median, shown during today's briefing, did not impress council members. At all.​Perhaps you were under the impression that the Texas Department of Transportation is responsible for mowing and maintaining the highway rights-of-way throughout the city. Or may ... More >>

Well, Here's One School the Dallas ISD Won't Be Building After All: Joe May Elementary

What would have been Joe May Elementary ...​I got the word late Friday: the long-disputed Jose "Joe" May Elementary School, which the Dallas Independent School District had planned to build on Webb Chapel between Royal and Walnut Hill as part of its 2008 bond program, is dead. Far as the neighbors ... More >>

Council Checks Out Our Libraries, Some of Which (Hint: Bishop Arts) Will Get Quite Fancy

Corinne Hill​Yesterday we got 'round to covering the first half of the council's Arts, Culture & Libraries Committee meeting -- the part about how other cities spend more on their arts organizations than Dallas, and how we might be able to fix that. (Smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette tax.) Th ... More >>

How Will Angela Hunt, Ann Margolin, Gerald Britt and Steve Blow (Settle Down) Fix Dallas?

Via Scott DornSay what? Jump to find out.​For those Friends of Unfair Park who don't have Jewish mothers, I will tell you: They get stuff done. That would probably be their motto, if they ever organized themselves into some kind of union. (Possible sub-motto: "But, Really, Would It Kill You To Cal ... More >>

Pure Imagination: At Its First Meeting, Council's Arts & Culture Committee Talks New Revenue

​I'm dialed into the inaugural meeting of the council's Arts, Culture & Libraries Committee, tasked by Mayor Mike, as you'll recall, with finding "alternative funding sources" to help make Dallas "a smart, cultured and creative city." And God bless her, Maria Munoz-Blanco, director of the city ... More >>

During Debate Over DFR Dispatch Schedule, Rawlings Warns About Too Much Meddling

Photo by Sam Merten​The council's wrapped up straw-voting on those budget amendments, one of which involved those changes to Dallas-Fire Rescue's dispatch scheduling. Sheffie Kadane had proposed leaving the schedule as it is now: with DFR employees working one 24-hour shift, followed by 72 hours o ... More >>

Dallas PD's Investigating Yet Another Cat Mutilation in Northwest Dallas

​Last time I noted the Dallas Police Department's concerns over cat killings 'cross the city, the great Bud Kennedy of the Star-Telegram jumped in the comments and insisted, "Every 'cat mutilation' hoax nationwide has turned out to be the work of animal predators." Far as Bud's concerned, it's all ... 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 >>

Ann Margolin Endorses Mike Rawlings

​Only a handful of city council members have so far stayed away from offering their endorsements in the mayor's race, among them Angela Hunt and Ann Margolin. But that changes today: Mike Rawlings's camp sends word that the District 13 (meaning, Rawlings's) rep has thrown her support behind the fo ... More >>

Theme of Today's Trinity Corridor Project Meeting: "Where's the Money Coming From?"

The Belleview Connector, which has no funding. Which doesn't stop Dallas.​Yesterday, we sneak-peeked a couple of the big-ticket items on the Trinity River Corridor Project Committee's agenda. Question is: How'd they sit with council members? First up, let's visit that Belleview Connector, the esti ... More >>

Because, Apparently, You Don't Need to Spend $1.5 Million on a Dog Park. In Oak Cliff, Anyway.

FIDO Oak Cliff co-founder Michael Reagan, left, and Jason Roberts on Saturday​Remember back in February, when council member Ann Margolin said, sorry, but she just couldn't support spending $1.5 mil in bond funds on a dog park, which the city couldn't afford to maintain in the first place? No. Of ... More >>

Mayor Assembles Council Brain Trust, Or Something, to Review Ethics Rollback

City Attorney Tom Perkins and Mayor Dwaine Caraway at last week's council meeting​While I was on the phone with Chris Heinbaugh about the item just below this one, he mentioned that Mayor-Not-For-Long Dwaine Caraway informed his council colleagues today that he's ready to go with that whole ad hoc ... More >>

At Inwood & Forest, Concern That Proposed Gas Station and Convenience Store Is Lowe's Blow

​Once or twice a week for the past couple of months, an e-mail will pop up in the in-box about a proposal to put a gas station and convenience store in the Lowe's parking lot on Inwood Road just off of Forest Lane. It's no small development, either: According to city docs, the complex will eat up ... More >>

The City and Dallas Independent School District Are At Odds Over Planned Joe May Elementary

A rendering of Jose "Joe" May Elementary School, which is supposed to be built on Webb Chapel Road between Royal and Walnut Hill Lanes​Last night, Dallas Independent School District trustee Edwin Flores held court in the E.D. Walker Middle School auditorium, where some 100 district parents bundled ... More >>

Cabs, Keys and Taking a Bite Out of Dog Parks: Highlights From Council's Morning Session

Shortly before recess, the council and mayor sang Dave Neumann "Happy Birthday." Adorable.​Council's already in recess -- till 1:30, said the mayor, citing a brief afternoon agenda. But the morning began with a bit of a bite -- bark too.First up, a man repping the striking cabbies said the strike' ... More >>

At Today's Economic Development Committee Meeting, Where Downtown Comes Alive!

The Grand Ricchi, some day​Afternoon, Unfair Friends! Once again I find myself at City Hall, moving and shaking as I do among the political hoi polloi, bringing you the livest, bloggingest account of today's Economic Development Committee, wherein we'll be hearing about the Downtown Connection TIF ... More >>

News & Notes: More Tax Hike Talk, More DPD Officers Put on Leave, D's Logo And ... Sports!

Some killer filler this early a.m. before the showdown at City Hall:​Speaking of: Ann Margolin has posted to her website "10 Reasons Why a Tax Increase is a Terrible Idea." (And by "terrible," I assume she means terrrrrrible. Anyway.) Margolin, of course, is among the handful of council members jo ... More >>

Camped Out at City Hall for the Latest Briefing on Permanent Supportive Housing

​Now that Steve Salazar's run the City Council's Public Safety Committee out of the briefing room, his Housing Committee is powering through the afternoon in here for a look at the latest on efforts to place homeless folks into permanent supportive housing. With bullet-pointed stats presented in s ... 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 >>

"Cyber Dissidents" at Dubya Institute, Wrong-Way Tickets and a $100,000 Dare

Terry Dorsey ... for now​A few news and notes with which to end your red-flag Tuesday:The Bush Institute on the SMU campus today announced its very first "human freedom" event, scheduled for April 19 at the James M. Collins Executive Education Center: The Conference on Cyber Dissidents: Global Suc ... More >>

City Says It's Serious About Cleaning Up One Beleaguered NW Dallas Intersection

View Larger MapLast week, council member Ann Margolin told a room full of Northwest Dallas residents that the city was going to start cracking down on crime at and around the intersection of Royal Lane and Dennis Road, where day-laborers while away the daylight hours in front of a convenience store. ... More >>

"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, ... More >>

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 o ... More >>

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 ... More >>

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 r ... More >>

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 pr ... More >>

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 ... More >>

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 Mar ... More >>

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 milli ... More >>

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, ... More >>

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, a ... More >>

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 ... More >>

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 ou ... More >>

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 pe ... More >>

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 expl ... More >>

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 ... More >>

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 runni ... More >>

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 const ... More >>

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 ... More >>

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, Margol ... More >>

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 an ... More >>

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