Politics

DOJ, FCC Settle With HP (For $16.25 Mil!) Over E-Rate Fraud In Dallas, Houston ISDs

Ruben Bohuchot​Back in June 2009, you may recall, the Dallas Independent School District and the U.S. Department of Justice settled up over the misuse of funds provided to the district for the feds' E-Rate program, which was created in 1996 to give "affordable access to telecommunications services ... More >>

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

Liveblogging Today's Council Meeting During Which It'll Vote on FY2010-11 Budget

Friendship-West's Dr. Frederick Haynes, a longtime Leppert ally, spoke in favor of a tax hike: "We cannot ride first class without paying for it."​Hey y'all. I rode the elevator up to City Council Chambers this morning with Carolyn Davis, who is doing this whole Jackie O thing in a fun-collared ... More >>

Doing the Math After Today's Tax Rate Vote

City of Dallas Facebook pageFrom yesterday's Pavaho Pump Station groundbreaking, though feel free to write your own caption​Didn't even get my print-edition column out the door this week before I got a major correction, and this one from a person who would know -- city council member Angela Hunt. ... More >>

Mayor Leppert Won't Say What Other Federal Agencies He Lashed Out Against Last Week; Suhm Calls Criticism "Not Very Harsh"

Sam MertenMayor Leppert giving his State of the City address last week.​As we mentioned last week, Mayor Tom Leppert spiced up his State of the City address with, among other things, some harsh comments directed toward the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Not only did he claim the corps is "not a ... More >>

Mayor Tom Leppert's Last Ditch Effort to Pick Off One City Council Member Before Wednesday's Big Budget Vote

​While Mayor Tom Leppert has dismissed headlines surrounding the budget as "perpetuated unfortunately by politics," we pointed out that he's been sending out campaign e-mails and mailers in a desperate effort to secure enough votes among his colleagues to prevent a tax hike. Despite his campai ... More >>

Governor Perry Drops By East Dallas Gun Shop to Remind Us How Much He Loves Second Amendment, Hates Coyotes

Sam Merten​Gov. Rick Perry said concealed handgun laws have made Texas safer during a campaign stop at McClelland Gun Shop yesterday afternoon while receiving endorsements from the National Rifle Association and the Texas State Rifle Association. He also continued to milk his story about killi ... More >>

Liveblogging This Morning's Packed, Star-Studded Budget Workshop at City Hall

​Bon matin, Mes Amis de le Parc Qui Est Unfair. Overflow crowd this morning at the City Council Budget Meeting in 6ES, and Tom Leppert, pin-striped as ever, has just told the packed house to sit tight while they figure out what to do with everyone. Atmosphere is stuffy and contentious -- this is t ... More >>

Are Mexican-American Border Patrol Agents Traitors?

City Manager Mary Suhm: Call for Tax Hike "Pretty Universal" at Budget Town Halls

Sam MertenMary Suhm​"Do a tax rate increase." That's how City Manager Mary Suhm sums up the feedback from Thursday night's budget meeting at Edna Rowe Elementary. "That's pretty universal when we're at town hall meetings," she says. Despite the overwhelming number of residents pleading for ... More >>

The More Things Change: Yesterday's Council Walkout Brings Back Fond (?) Memories

​Fine print alert! When Mayor Tom Leppert tells you that yesterday's agenda item vote on the city tax rate didn't mean anything, he's got his hand deep in your pocket. It may be fine print, but ask Leppert why the vote was required by state law if it didn't mean anything. Yesterday's council walko ... More >>

Angela "Swing Vote" Hunt Gives Us a Hint of What to Expect at Tomorrow's Love Field Airport Concessions Shindig

Angela Hunt's flickrWill this be the scene after tomorrow's council briefing?​Tomorrow, finally, the city council will be briefed once again on the concession contracts at Dallas Love Field Airport that has the council is split along racial lines. Mayor Tom Leppert failed to mention the racial ... More >>

Illegal Immigrants, Desperate To Find Work In The U.S., Risk Kidnapping, Rape and Murder From Those Smuggling Them Across the Border

Local Republican Party Drops Three Grand to Protest President Obama's Visit to Dallas

​While President Obama drops by the Highland Park home of lawyer Russell Budd this evening to raise dough and break bread with local Dems, Republicans are rallying at Franklin Stadium next to Hillcrest High School to ... well, to do what? "It's not just complaining about the Democrats," says ... More >>

SMU Professor Hired By Aranza Pens 24-Page Report Defending City Staff's Love Field Food and Beverage Contract Recommendations

Brandon ThibodeauxWhile the city council took a month off, concessionaire Gilbert Aranza hired one of the mayor's former consultants, who convinced him to pay an SMU associate professor to take a look-see at the controversial Love Field food and beverage contract.​After the city council on Jun ... More >>

In Battle Between Feds and States Over Arizona's Immigration Law, Guess Which Side Rick Perry and Greg Abbott Are On?

Danny FulgencioGovernor Rick Perry​Arizona's new immigration law has been a polarizing political issue to say the least, with President Obama challenging its constitutionality through the Department of Justice by launching a July 6 lawsuit against Arizona and Governor Janice Brewer. So it was ... More >>

At the Poor People's March, Davis and Caraway Demanded Tax Hike to Cover Budget Shortfall

Photos by Evan ClintonCarolyn Davis briefly joined John Fullinwider, left, at the Poor People's March in front of City Hall today.​About 75 people gathered outside Dallas City Hall today -- accompanied by a 20-foot banner that said, "To Redeem the Soul of America" -- and accused city leaders of wa ... More >>

Minority Council Members Blast Mayor For Not Supporting Love Field Contract Extensions

Photos by Sam Merten"Enough is truly enough," said Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway at today's press conference before explaining why he and Mayor Tom Leppert are on opposite sides.​The Dallas City Council's seven minority council members launched a counterattack this afternoon against Mayor Tom L ... More >>

The Battle Over Airport Contracts Opens a Rift Between the Mayor and Minority City Council Members.

FCC Tells FOX to Hand Over Indecency Complaints. Instead, It Sends 'Em to KDFW.

​Variety's reporting that the Federal Communications Commission is fining FOX $25,000 over the January 3 episode of American Dad titled "Horse Chores," in which -- as the trade's Ted Johnson puts it -- there's a scene "in which two characters engage in ribald dialogue, followed by a scene in which ... More >>

County Commish Maurine Dickey's Campaign Report Long on Smoke, Short on Fire.

As City Awaits Ruling in "Billion-Dollar Case," New Lawsuits Were Just Added to the Pile

Joe Betzel, one of the Dallas Fire-Rescue workers who filed suit against the city -- yet again -- today​Back in December we wrote a few items about the so-called "billion-dollar case" currently being considered by the Supreme Court of Texas. Very long story way too short: It stems from a 1979 refe ... More >>

Why Do The Powers That Be In Dallas Want To Regulate A South Dallas Scrap Metal Yard Out Of Existence?

So, If The Mayor's So Unhappy With Love Field Deal, What's He Gonna Do About It?

Tomorrow, the role of Laura Miller will be played by Tom Leppert.​So tomorrow's shaping up to be a very interesting Dallas City Council meeting: As Rudy Bush wrote yesterday, the mayor's mighty unhappy with the no-bid concession contracts being doled out to Dallas Love Field Joint Venture and Huds ... More >>

Mayor Pro Tem Caraway Wants to Make Sure Jim Gets His Quote Exactly Right

​Sometimes I feel that life is unfair. I have way too much fun. On occasion I think I should share some of it with others. In that spirit, I offer the following: In tomorrow's paper version of Unfair Park I will have a column dealing with efforts by Dallas city council member Dwaine Caraway to sh ... More >>

Manufacturing Dissent: Bush Institute's Cyber Dissidents Panel Gathers Friends of the Freedom Agenda

Patrick MichelsPresident Bush opens his institute's Conference on Cyber Dissidents: "The Bush Institute is going to be involved in the freedom movement."​The George W. Bush Presidential Center at Southern Methodist University won't be breaking ground till November, but its policy arm, the Bush Ins ... More >>

Call It a Tea Party, Serve Beer: On Tax Day, Getting Populist at the Ballpark

Patrick MichelsThe Tax Day Tea Partier's sophomore effort drew the largest crowd QuikTrip Park's ever hosted.Heading west on I-30 from downtown last night, you'd have passed two stretches of stalled traffic -- the first, along the access road just across the Trinity, made up of the grumbling masses ... More >>

The Humane Society and big agriculture slug it out over animal rights

Take One Guess Why Council's Messing With Judicial Nominating Commission

​Interesting item on the Dallas City Council's agenda this morning: "Judicial Nominating Commission." (It's Action Item No. 5, for those playing along at home.) City Attorney Tom Perkins is offering the council three alternative ways to fix the body that vets candidates for municipal judgeships. S ... More >>

Wait a dang Minute Man: Who's This Guy Filling in for the Mexican?

So, If You're Lobbying Dallas City Hall, You Need to Report To, Um, Everyone?

​The city finally came up with that list of city officials with whom lobbyists must report contacts under the new lobby reform ordinance that goes into effect a week from now. The lobbyists had been bitching behind the scenes because the city was taking months to come up with the list. Now that we ... More >>

Mayor Leppert's Contributions Dry Up and Then His Big Fund-Raiser Becomes a Charity Event -- What Gives?

Mayor Leppert at last year's "Giraffes, Monkeys and Lepperts" fund-raiser.​For the past two years, Mayor Tom Leppert's annual "Giraffes, Monkeys and Lepperts" event at the Dallas Zoo has served as a birthday bash for the mayor and fund-raiser for Friends of Tom Leppert, a committee formed to p ... More >>

Why Is It, All of the Sudden, That Today's Starting to Feel Like 2007 All Over Again?

​Doing some Trinity River research this week, I came across an item posted on Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert's Web page talking about how the outcome of the 2007 toll road election was a real kick in city council member Angela Hunt's ass. Hunt, of course, sponsored the unsuccessful referendum. "The vo ... More >>

Do Primary Voting Numbers Spell a GOP Trend?

Hodge Admits to Receiving More Than $30,000 From Potashniks, Using Campaign Contributions For "Personal Benefit"

Hodge landed herself quite a deal.​The indictment against Terri Hodge has always looked much more damning than the evidence facing the rest of the gang involved in the City Hall corruption case, and it turns out that, well, it's all true. Hodge admitted as much in her factual résumé, which s ... More >>

With Shifting Attitudes and a Burgeoning Medical Marijuana Movement, the Future Looks Rosy for Legalized Weed

Buzz Gives '09 a One-Fingered Wave Goodbye

Betty Culbreath Sees Latest Brouhaha Between Caraway and Hill as Indictment of 14-1

Betty Culbreath​One week ago today, Shawn Williams at Dallas South News broke the news that council member Vonciel Jones Hill sent Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway a memo telling him to stay the hell out of her district, which would be District 5. Caraway, chairman of the council's Public Safety Commi ... More >>

Houston Mayor Bill White is Running for Governor. Unless He Isn't. We Think.

Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison Are Locked In A Pitched Battle Over The Soul Of The GOP. They Are Also Running For Governor.

Governor Perry Likes the Stimulus Package Now? What Happened to the Tea Party?

Danny FulgencioPerry fields questions from reporters today in Grand Hall at Union Station.The land of opportunity still exists in America, and it's in Texas. At least, that's what Governor Rick Perry told nearly 200 folks gathered this afternoon at Union Station for the Texas Economic Development Su ... More >>

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 ... More >>

The Mayor’s Proposal for City Council Ethics Reform Misses its Target: the City Council

No Justice: We've Bailed Out the Banks. When Do We Go After the Crooks Behind Our Financial Collapse?

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 >>

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 ... More >>

Arlington PD Says It Doesn't Want to Be in the Business of Enforcing Immigration Laws

CopShop.com​While Irving makes the occasional headline with its use of the Criminal Alien Program -- which involves turning over to federal immigration officials people detained for any reason, even traffic violations --  top cops in Arlington have taken a stand against that approach. Instead ... More >>

Tooth Marks: The Brawl at City Hall Over Real Ethics Reform Is Only Just Beginning

Patrick MichelsDallas City Attorney Tom Perkins​Angela Hunt is putting the bite on the mayor today on the issue of ethics reform.The council is being briefed on possible new ethics rules growing out of the City Hall corruption case. Council member Hunt and four other members signed a letter a coup ... More >>

Steer Clear of the Crescent on Monday

Former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk at the U.S.-Africa Business Summit in D.C. earlier this month​That is, unless you have business with former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, who, in his position as U.S. Trade Representative, will be holed up at the hotel Monday talking North American Free Trade Agreement. But, ... 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 >>