Jerry Allen

Tom Leppert: Predictable and Classy

Dallas City Council Grills DART Boss Over That Missing Billion

Giving Joyce Foreman a Break

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 ... More >>

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

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 ... More >>

A Really Long Post About Last Week’s Council Meeting. Worth Reading, Though. Swear.

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 ... More >>

Before Council Votes to Ban Smoking, a Lot of Smoke is Blown at City Hall

After nearly three hours of discussion, the city council wrapped up yesterday's briefing on the proposed strengthened smoking ordinance seemingly prepared to vote on the item at next week's agenda meeting. Council members appear poised to approve a ban on smoking in bars, pool halls and within 15 fe ... More >>

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 ... 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 >>

Is Expanding the Dallas Smoking Ordinance a Commie Plot?

City Council debate over expanding the smoking ban gets heated

Pave it to save it?

City Council debate over expanding the smoking ban gets heated

Jerry Allen Suggests Demolishing Convention Center If Hotel Isn't Built, Compares Trinity Toll Road Project to Landing on the Moon

Sam MertenNow we know why Jerry Allen hasn't been allowed to debate about the convention center hotel.While researching our upcoming cover story on Mayor Tom Leppert, which will appear in the paper version of Unfair Park Wednesday, we sat down with Lake Highlands city council member Jerry Allen, wh ... More >>

If Anti-Hotel Ad's Going to Refer to Our Reporting, It Should At Least Be Accurate

To be clear, council member Jerry Allen didn't tell Sam, "When the hotel fails, I'll be off council, so I can't be held accountable." Rather, Sam had asked him: What happens if the city drops $500 million on the hotel and it doesn't post the promised profit? To which District 10's rep responded: "Th ... 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 >>

Hunt Attributes Delayed Car Booting Ordinance to Budget and The Reeds; Deep Ellum Group Uses Petition to Lobby Council

Sean FitzgeraldThe Deep Ellum Community Association used a petition measuring more than 50 feet with more than 850 signatures to push the council to take the car booting issue more seriously.We're already breaking our promise, but because we're strangely obsessed with the city's struggle to get a ca ... More >>

Hunt Proposes Trimming Meals, Travel, Copies and Lube From Council Budget. Wait. What?

Angela Hunt​This is probably what happened: Angela Hunt got a phone call yesterday afternoon from Rudy Bush at The News, who wanted to know why the council person was one of seven to sign a letter telling Jerry Allen and the mayor, that, look, they'll cut their own budgets, thanks very much. Hunt, ... More >>

Must-See TV: Watch the Budget Briefing

​At this very moment, the Dallas City Council is being briefed by Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm, chief financial officer Dave Cook and others on the proposed FY2009-1010 budget, which the council will approve on September 23. But before Suhm and Cook took control of the meeting, Mayor Tom Leppert ... More >>

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 s ... More >>

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 ... More >>

City Council Reboots Parking Ordinance

​Angela Hunt and Pauline Medrano got today what they requested last week: immediate implementation of the citywide parking-boot ordinance, which prohibits parking-lot operators from booting vehicles unless they provide paper receipts either handwritten or machine-made. Only four of their colleague ... More >>

Outside City Hall, Marching to the Respectful Beat of Dallas's Top Drumlines

Of council members Dwaine Caraway, Jerry Allen or Tennell Atkins, we're not sure who's a bigger fan of the high school drumline, but this morning in the plaza outside City Hall, the three city officials sure looked ready to wrestle for it.Speaking to a few rows of guests and flanked by four high sch ... More >>

How Should Dallas "Stop the Violence"? By Moving the "Punks" to "Punksville."

Sam MertenCaraway pointed to a map showing all of the churches in his district. Davis twice felt it necessary to tell the audience: "I have the same map."​Citing the April 26 murder of longtime Dallas Morning News delivery driver Robert Lawrence in South Oak Cliff, Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway ... More >>

Live Blogging Judgment Day (Maybe) For Love Field Concessions Contracts at City Hall

​It's another Wednesday morning here at City Hall, and love is in the air -- special proclamation time, and the house is packed with folks in matching T-shirts (I've got 10 bucks for the first one that can get the mayor to put one on over his suit), PowerPoints at the ready. Not so fast though, k ... More >>

Stirred up by political opportunism, a progressive Oak Cliff neighborhood tries to keep out the homeless.

Cast Away

The Biggest Tax from City Council is On Our Patience.

Cast Away

If You Don't Want to Raise Taxes, Better Look At The Kind of City You Do Want.

Cast Away

City Council Members Tour the Bridge for Latest Update on Housing Dallas's Homeless

Photos by Patrick MichelsCity Council members Jerry Allen, David Neumann, Carolyn Davis and Pauline Medrano look on as Jay Dunn shows off facilities at The Bridge.The Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance's Mike Faenza and John Castle have been pretty regular faces at City Hall over the past few months, bu ... More >>

Seven Council Members Tell Suhm: Find Some Way to Allow Free Public Parking at City Hall

Patrick Michels​Seven council members have signed a memo to Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm telling her to figure out some way not to bar the public from parking in the garage underneath Dallas City Hall (well, the fountain, actually). Unfair Park was told that more members would have signed it, but ... More >>

Top 10 Schutze Columns of '10

​Nothing slow about us, but just when you thought my third annual list of Schutze's best columns wouldn't take shape, Jim's check finally cleared, so I took the time to look back at his fine work throughout the year and picked out the 10 that made me fall in love with him all over again. As in ... More >>

Dallas City Council Member Jerry Allen Goes to Austin to Cash Out Payday Lenders

At its meeting two weeks ago, the Dallas City Council passed a resolution urging the state Legislature to crackdown on payday lenders and "to pass any necessary legislation to protect the citizens of the State of Texas who may find themselves with no alternative but to seek the type of short-term, h ... More >>

Endorsements Aplenty For Ron Natinsky, Including Mayor Dwaine Caraway, Who Says There's No Time to Learn About Anyone Else

Photos by Sam MertenMayor Dwaine Caraway asked mayoral candidate Ron Natinksy to put an endorsement sticker on his blazer this afternoon.​Mayor Dwaine Caraway and 11 current and former council members endorsed council member Ron Natinksy for mayor this afternoon at City Hall Plaza. Caraway urg ... More >>

New Anti-Poverty Coalition to Demand Dallas City Hall Zone Payday Lenders Out of Business

​Been trying to reach council member Jerry Allen ever since yesterday; no luck so far. But we know where he'll be at 3 today: in the Flag Room at Dallas City Hall, standing beside Dr. Frederick Haynes and Rev. Gerald Britt at an anti-payday lender press conference on behalf of the Anti-Poverty Coa ... More >>

As Package Stores Feel "Significant Impact" From Citywide Beer and Wine Sales, More Docs Are Filed Before Next Week's Hearing

Via.​City Hall was kind enough yesterday to pass along a recording of Monday's meeting of the city's Transportation and Environment Committee meeting. That's the meeting during which DART board member Jerry Christian told council member Jerry Allen he was no longer associated with the litigation a ... More >>

Because We Have Nothing Better to Do Than Pore Over Campaign Finance Reports

Photo by Sam MertenDonna Starnes raised more than former city council member Sandy Greyson in the race to succeed Ron Natinsky.​Now that you've had time to chew on our analysis of the mayoral candidates' fund-raising prowess, we thought it was time to take a quick look-see at how the city coun ... More >>

City, Prescott Realty Working to Jumpstart Long Delayed Lake Highlands Town Center

Like the sign says, don't drink the water. But on a hot, humid day, it was tempting to go for a swim.​Well, that was certainly fortuitous timing: On Sunday the 7-year-old who lives in my house and I went for our weekly trip to the Scotty'sTop Golf batting cages, after which we took a little drive ... 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 >>

The Larry O'Brien Trophy Will Drive Itself to Mark Cuban's House (And a Parade Update)

​We had a photographer out at Love Field, where fans met the 2011 National Basketball Association Champion Dallas Mavericks; a slide show, of course, is forthcoming. But one good Friend of Unfair Park was out at the airport and moments ago sent this shot, along with this note: "Cuban put trophy in ... More >>

New Owner of 1401 Elm Reassures Council Committee That He Will "Deliver" on Promise

Photo by Justin Terveen​For the first time since news broke that 1401 Elm was off the market, the city council got to hear all about the project -- one its new owner says could be a "tipping point" for downtown. Turkish investor Mukemmel "Mike" Sarimsakci, who purchased and plans to redevelop ... 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 >>

Your First Look at the 10 (!) Amended Redistricting Proposals Submitted by Council

One of two maps submitted by Mayor Mike. All 10 are available here.​In the end, it would be quicker to name the council members who didn't submit amendments to the Redistricting Commission by Monday's 3 p.m. deadline: Sheffie Kadane, Angela Hunt, Jerry Allen and Sandy Greyson. Everyone else had so ... More >>

The Inland Port Is Still Screwed. Score One for the Perots.

​I guess if you took a pickax and a fire hose to it, you could have dug out a little bit of the truth from this morning's City Hall briefing on the inland port, but you needed to have your tall rubber boots on. Before we wade into the bullshit, please allow me to tell you what's really going ... More >>

Jerry Allen: City Hall Needs "A Clear Ethical Standard" to Remove Stench from Marilla

Randy Skinner​OK, so maybe stench is too strong a word. (Schutze is shaking his head no.) This is actually what council member Jerry Allen said when kicking off today's meeting of the council's Budget, Finance and Audit Committee: There's an "image problem" at City Hall, which has been "tainted by ... More >>

On City Hall Ethics, Mayor Mike Passes the Buck

​So let's see if we can ride this circus train. Mike Rawlings runs for mayor pledging to clean up the "ethics" issue at Dallas City Hall. And if I may offer a small correction here at the top, I think right now it's not really so much an ethics issue at City Hall as an FBI issue. Not to quibbl ... More >>

City Council to Crash SMU Ethics Conference

​But two weeks ago Jerry Allen kicked off a meeting of the Dallas City Council's Budget, Finance and Audit Committee by boldly announcing that the city's been "tainted by ethical acts, and the challenge for us is to find ways to establish a clear ethical standard and use it to reduce the negative ... More >>

The Good and Bad News Contained Within MDHA's "2011 State of Homelessness" Report

Metro Dallas Homeless AllianceA look at Dallas County's homeless population from the "2011 Annual 'Point-In-Time' Homeless Count and Census"​Leslie's at Dallas City Hall at this very moment, where Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance is announcing the formation of the Greater Dallas Homeless Policy Alli ... More >>

Your First Look Inside City Performance Hall, Which, Again, Could Really Use Some Rentals

Photos by Anna MerlanCouncil members and others took their first tour of the City Performance Hall yesterday, beginning in the lobby​Yesterday afternoon the Arts Culture and Libraries Committee took its quick tour of the construction site that will soon be the City Performance Hall, which they ... More >>

Ethics Reform: You've Got to Know What Needs Changing Before You Can Change It

Ethics: They're hidden somewhere in City Hall, and it's a tough case to crack.​Since becoming Mayor, Mike Rawlings has been consistently passionate about a few key things: South Dallas, DISD, pizza, economic development, Halloween, ethics reform -- not necessarily in that order. On Rawlings's ... More >>

Suhm: Bond Package Is "Absolutely Critical Stuff." Some on Council Have Their Own Ideas.

​City Manager Mary Suhm reminded the council, again and again, by way of introduction: Today's presentation on the 2012 bond program is very, very, very, very preliminary. There will be many more meetings, including February confabs in every district. The numbers are rough, very rough -- guesstima ... More >>

Margolin: Horse Park Proposal Not What Voters Agreed To. Allen: But It'll Be "World Class."

The revised master plan for the Texas Horse Park, if it's ever fully built out​The council's Economic Development Committee kicked off its morning meeting by taking up the Texas Horse Park, which came up $14 million short in private funds but remains high on the city's to-do list. Hence, as we've ... More >>