Subject: Carolyn Davis

• And How About Them Council Races?

  June 16, 2007

• The Unholy Trinity: Kirk, Miller and Leppert

  August 15, 2007

• Tom Leppert: Predictable and Classy

  September 12, 2007

• Till Today, Andrea Grimes Had Never Been in City Council Chambers

  December 12, 2007

• Paying the Toll, One Road at a Time

  January 31, 2008

• Dallas to Get in the Hotel Biz -- And Turndown Service Won't Be an Option

  February 13, 2008

• Headache Hotel and Other Dallas City Council SUPs and WTFs

  February 28, 2008

• Yet Again, Council Committee Wastes Time and Gets Nowhere With Booting Ordinance

  The city council's Transportation and Environment Committee failed Monday afternoon to vote on a proposed ordinance to regulate booting vehicles in private parking lots, opting instead to hold a third meeting on the issue. After some committee members asked questions already outlined in the briefing and others sought to modify the city staff's recommendation, chair Linda Koop said there were "too many outstanding questions" and called for a second special meeting to be held before the council's

  June 2, 2009

• An Industrial-Sized Misdirect

  May 6, 2008

• Everyone Knows That Hotel's a "Risk." Which Ain't Stopping Anyone.

  May 14, 2008

• Towing the Line at City Hall

  May 30, 2008

• In the Absence of a Trinity River Project, Fun and Fascinating Meetings

  September 2, 2008

• The ABC's of Carolyn Davis' "TRCP" Question, Complete With Audio!

  September 4, 2008

• Why the New Smoking Ordinance Should Have Been Delayed, and Sorting Through the 10 Amendments

  There's a line where government stops and the rights of the people begin, and when Mayor Tom Leppert and nine of his council colleagues voted to strengthen Dallas' smoking ordinance, that line wasn't blurred, they drove right past it as if it didn't even exist. But no matter where you stand on the issue, one thing should have been clear in yesterday's council debate: The council opposition posed an excellent argument to at least delay the vote so the council could hash out some of the finer p

  December 11, 2008

• A New Year's Resolution for Carolyn Davis: Get Better at Fund-Raising, Math

  Brian Harkin Whilst searching city records, we stumbled upon council member Carolyn Davis's semiannual campaign finance report. She filed the document November 17, which was nearly two months ahead of the January 15 deadline. Since Davis is hardly the model of punctuality when it comes to filing reports and she's the only council member to file early, we thought it was worth a look-see. Why the rush to file? Well, the calculations weren't particularly difficult after her July 29 fund-raiser

  December 30, 2008

• Carolyn Davis Demands City Build New MLK Bridge, Makes Another Gaffe at Trinity Meeting

  Brian HarkinDistrict 7 council member Carolyn Davis isn't doing herself any favors in a potential campaign face-off against DISD trustee Ron Price. Humor me for a minute. Imagine you're a city council member on the Trinity River Corridor Project Committee. You walk into yesterday's meeting and Page Six of this schematic is on the screen as Dan Chapman, project manager of the Trinity Turnpike for the North Texas Tollway Authority, is in the middle of explaining details of the rendering. Someone

  January 28, 2009

• South Dallas Sheds Another Hot-Sheet Motel

  View Larger MapThe Dallas City Council just voted on an agenda item in Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway's wheelhouse: permanently shuttering a South Dallas motel surrounded by "ladies of the evening at all times of the day and night," as Caraway put it before begging Carolyn Davis to continue going after hot-sheet motels in her district. The motel at issue is the Colonial House Motel at 3103 Colonial Avenue, which applied for a specific use permit to continue operating there. The council vote

  January 28, 2009

• On S. Lamar, Drinks Are on the Council!

  View Larger MapThis council meeting leftover, which is no small morsel: Mayor Tom Leppert was vehemently against granting Augustine Ekukpe a specific use permit to open a bar called Neighborhood Sports Cafe on South Lamar Street, between Starks Avenue and Haven Street. Said the mayor during the council's Wednesday meeting, "If we look to the future in these neighborhoods where we want to see good things happen, at some point we need to make calls" against allowing permits for "alcoholic beverage

  January 29, 2009

• Ron Price Is Very, Very Proud of Academic Accomplishments in South Dallas

  Mark GrahamRon PriceDallas school board trustee Ron Price made it official at 3:44 p.m. on January 30, when he turned into the City Secretary's Office paperwork announcing that he's running for Carolyn Davis's District 7 seat on the Dallas City Council. (Ex-City Manager Richard Knight Jr., now in the waste disposal business, is serving as Price's treasurer.) Which, no doubt, is why he's now making a serious push to show progress in his District 9 -- and to show off Ron Price.Two weeks before fil

  February 17, 2009

• 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 million bond issuance as the final vote remaining before the project is officially given the green light. While the city waits to float the bonds until the financial markets settle, the question everyone

  February 18, 2009

• The Ready for Prime Time Players

  This morning, Danielle McClelland in the Dallas City Hall Public Information Office posted to YouTube updates from District 4 and District 7, courtesy Dallas Delivers on Time Warner Cable Channel 16. Hosted by Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway and Carolyn Davis respectively, they're the very definition of edutainment -- or irritainment, judging by the look on Southeast Division Deputy Chief Patricia Paulhill's face after Davis asks her for a phone number folks can call in case they need to rep

  March 9, 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

• 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't have the cables, so the city's been posting throughout the week the entire series on YouTube; I'm totally getting the boxed set for my father for his birthday. There are so many episodes from which

  March 13, 2009

• No Love Field Lost at Briefing Today

  Assistant city manager Ramon Miguez, at left, is having no fun today at the council's Transportation and Environment Committee briefing.If you want to drive yourself insane, dial up the Dallas City Council's Transportation and Environment Committee meeting, where, at this very moment, the committee is discussing the Love Field concessions expansion. Because, in case you weren't aware, Love Field's getting a makeover, part of which will including adding more than 15,000 square feet in retail and

  April 13, 2009

• At Some Point, Maybe, the Council Will Run Out of Trinity Parkway Alignments to Approve

  Patrick MichelsToday's meeting of the Dallas City Council's Trinity River committee -- during which the committee endorsed this alignment for the proposed Trinity River toll road - was dull and uneventful in ways that were of keen interest to trained Kremlinologists. By observing which members of the committee made eye contact with others and which guest speakers sat on their hands while others spoke, trained Kremlinogists were able to deduce the following possible facts:The Trinity River Commit

  May 19, 2009

• Leppert and City Council Loyalists Retreat on Convention Center Hotel Plan

  May 1, 2008

• Letters

  July 29, 2004

• Right Now, the DISD Board is Probably Yelling At Each Other Behind Closed Doors

  DISD board trustee Ron PriceAs I noted, earlier Jim's at 3700 Ross Avenue, where, at this very moment, the board of trustees is behind closed doors, no doubt arguing over the ramifications of the Texas Attorney General's opinion that the trustees should not have extended their terms from three years to four last November. Jim filed this moments ago, just as the board disappeared -- "for hours, I fear," said Dr. Schutze, who's too scared to leave and lose his seat in the packed house.As soon as t

  May 5, 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

• You Know Who Doesn't Like the Daytime Curfew Ordinance? Kids, That's Who.

  If nothing else, the debate over the daytime curfew sure did get more than a few kiddos active in city politics. The Dallas City Council just got through hearing from a parade of folks opposed to the 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. curfew, about which Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle told Unfair Park, "I think it could be helpful for those parents who are trying to do everything they can do get their kids to school -- to have some more leverage over their children about why they should be at school because

  May 13, 2009

• Look Out, Kids! Because Starting Next School Year, There's a Daytime Curfew!

  Moments ago, the Dallas City Council voted on the 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.daytime curfew ordinance -- and, not surprisingly, it passed almost overwhelmingly, by a vote of 12-2. The vote was taken shortly after Mayor Tom Leppert stressed that the ordinance (which you can read here, beginning on Page 63) is not "trying to address the issue of kids staying in school," which, far as he's concerned, remains an issue for the Dallas Independent School District. The city will "do all we can do to support pub

  May 13, 2009

• Council Doesn't Want to Raise Taxes, Cut Key Services to Trim Budget. Good Luck With That.

  Sam MertenThe city's budget is $190 million in the hole because of "revenue erosion," according to CFO Dave Cook.The Dallas City Council yesterday afternoon wrapped up a lengthy discussion on how best to tackle the city's $190-million budget deficit by agreeing that a tax increase and making cuts to the police and fire departments are not the answers. Council members opposed several of the proposed cuts by City Manager Mary Suhm and her staff, yet were unable to provide alternative solutions to

  May 21, 2009

• Council Members' Web Pages Revamped as City's Web Site Gets a Slow Makeover

  The city wisely didn't bother to make a new Web page for term-limited Mitchell Rasansky, but it did find the time to cook up one for Carolyn Davis, who faces Ron Price in the June 13 runoff election.Whilst digging around for info on the city's Web site yesterday, I clicked on one of the council members' pages, which, to my surprise, looked nothing like the previous page design that was apparently implemented shortly after Al Gore invented the Internet. Of course, while the new design is long

  May 22, 2009

• Transportation Committee Minorities Favor Concession Monopoly at Love Field; Booting Ordinance Briefing Delayed

  Brian HarkinVonciel Hill wants concessions at Love Field to remain in the hands of one company, whose CEO is a director for the Citizens Council and contributed to her campaign. The city council's Transportation and Environment Committee yesterday afternoon met for 90 minutes in executive session after Unison Consulting, the city's consultant for Love Field airport, presented a briefing on the benefits of competition for the airport's concessions. Because rent is paid to the city based on a per

  May 27, 2009

• While Council Kicks Around Booting Ordinance, DPD's Forced to "Put This Fire Out" as Downtown Dwellers Get Kicked to the Curb

  Sam MertenThe Transportation and Environment Committee failed to vote Monday on the proposed booting ordinance, choosing instead to schedule a third meeting before the city council's July recess. In the meantime, booting companies continue their aggressive tactics, as we witnessed last night during a ride-along with a Dallas police officer patrolling the Central Business District. At approximately 11:30 p.m., officer Stace Hayward pulled up to the private parking lot at the corner of San Jacin

  June 5, 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

• The First Look at the City's FY2009-2010 Budget. But, In Truth, It's Just a Tease.

  Sam MertenCity Manager Mary Suhm presented a teensy peek at the budget to Your Dallas Media this afternoon.​I have a notebook and digital voice recorder full of Mary Suhm quotes in which the Dallas city manager offers encouraging words about the FY2009-2010 budget, a teensy-weensy bit of which we saw at City Hall this afternoon. (Turns out, she's especially excited about once-a-week trash and recycling pick-up.) But none of it really matters for now. Because until we see the actual budget some

  August 7, 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

• Dallas Reads

  August 27, 2009

• After First Claiming It Couldn't Without Trinity Parkway, City Prepped to Do the Wright Thing

  Once more, a proposed S.M. Wright realignment, which you'll need to click to enlarge​Here's another early peek at the Dallas City Council's briefing agenda -- this one concerning the list of projects, major and minor, the City Manager's Office is proposing to pay for out of the bond sale scheduled for May 2010. While we pore over the details for future Unfair Park items, one item in particular sticks out immediately: a proposal to spend $34 million acquiring properties "around the southern ter

  August 31, 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

• The Dallas City Council, Paper Dolls

  The city manager and mayor look awful beaten down by this particular discussion.​If you've got some time this afternoon, you may wanna tune into the city council's budget amendment briefing, which has turned its attention to the council members' proposal to cut their own budget. As you may know, the council's modest proposal got more modest last week. But the council -- which, so far today, has restored funding to the Office of Cultural Affairs and given back some dough to the library for mate

  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

• Off Track, or: Some Notes from the City Council's Downtown Streetcar Briefing

  Courtesy Justin CozartThis piece from 1945 must be what DowntownDallas's Kourtny Garrett means when she writes, "I'd say we're coming full circle."​Grudgingly, I have to say that the two Dallas City Council members who asked the best questions at today's council briefing on downtown trolleys were Ron Natinsky and Dave Neumann. Both of them wanted to know why the proposed governing body for a downtown trolley system would put the City of Dallas in a minority role, since the system will be in do

  October 12, 2009

• MartyB Can't Even Get a Second Grader to Throw Him the Ball, But Mayor Tom Will!

  Photos by Sam MertenEight-year-old Kendall Tubbs, a second grader who's had type 1 diabetes since she was 3 years old, managed to upstage appearances by Dallas Cowboys tight end Martellus "MartyB" Bennett and former Heisman Trophy winner and Woodrow Wilson High School grad Tim Brown at this morning's second annual Passport to Health Diabetes Awareness campaign. "Sometimes diabetes means making tough choices," a poised Tubbs told the crowd gathered at the press conference held in City Hall's Fla

  October 13, 2009

• Downtown Trolleys Are a Good Idea. So You Know It’ll Never Work.

  October 15, 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