When I spoke to City Manager Mary Suhm on Friday, she reminded: As she works to cutgut $131.1 million from the FY2010-2011 budget that’s due to council next month, the numbers change “every day.” Why, she said, at the end of last week “we got a good sales tax check…
One week ago, as you no doubt recall, attorney Andy Siegel filed a writ of mandamus in which he claimed, among other things, that the organization formerly known as Progress Dallas did not garner enough legit signatures to trigger a local option election concerning the off-premise sale of beer and…
“Painful. Painful, painful, painful, painful.”That’s what City Manager Mary Suhm said when I asked her earlier today how it’s going as she works to gut the budget before council’s return next month.”Painful.”As I noted below, I wanted to talk to Suhm about some e-mails I received this morning dealing with…
This morning, there were several e-mails in the Unfair Park in-box concerning City Manager Mary Suhm’s latest suggestions for cuttinggutting the budget of the Dallas Public Library system. Two I’ll need to set aside till Suhm calls back (she’s in meetings all morning). But others direct our attention to a…
Spent a little time Thursday talking to city officials about the McKinney Avenue Transit Authority’s $5-mil loop through downtown. And, almost always, our conversations ended with the person on the other end saying, “You really need to talk to Keith Manoy,” referring to the city’s senior transportation planner and a…
As I mentioned in January — upon the publication of Historic Dallas Hotels and its accompanying postcard set and Park and Rec historian Sally Rodriguez’s White Rock Lake — Arcadia Publishing has long done a bang-up job documenting Dallas’s history. To that estimable collection add another title: Historic Dallas Parks,…
Update at 4:47 p.m.: The City Attorney’s Office just sent a statement concerning Robert Groden’s lawsuit and his efforts to sell his magazines and DVDs at Dealey Plaza. It’s in full on the other side, but here’s an excerpt:Robert Groden has no written agreement or permit from the City to…
I know, I know — it’s a few weeks off. Still, write it down in your Trapper Keeper: Beginning at 5 p.m. that Tuesday, the Dallas Bar Association’s Public Forum Committee is holding a three-hour what’s-up-Dallas at the Belo Mansion featuring quite the foursome: Mayor Tom Leppert, University of North…
Perhaps you’ve heard: The Dallas Watersports Complex — which was scheduled to open on Fish Trap Lake in West Dallas by no later than September — has been drowned by MaryAnn Russ, head of the Dallas Housing Authority. She’ll revisit the subject later this year. Or next year. Or never…
Chris Heinbaugh, Mayor Tom Leppert’s chief of staff, just sent word that the mayor has tapped the city’s “homeless czar,” Mike Rawlings, to head the Park and Rec board. (The board president position is, at present, vacant.) Nothing’s official till council OK’s the nomination upon its return in August –…
A couple of weeks back we took at look at City Manager Mary Suhm’s proposed cuts for the Dallas Public Library system — fewer workers at the branches, shorter hours downtown and more, meaning, of course, less. But libraries are in trouble nationwide, besieged by budget cuts and encroaching technology…
A few items of interest with which to belatedly kick off your work week (lucky):On Thursday we noted that Dallas Independent School Board trustee Carla Ranger has found a new obsession: banishing the minimum-grade policy that disallows teachers from handing out grades lower than 50. This morning, she continues her…
Our weekly rock-and-roll-and send-off will have to wait till tomorrow morning, as, at long last, Andy Siegel has filed that long-promised writ of mandamus in which he contends that the organization formerly known as Progress Dallas didn’t get enough valid signatures to call the November 2 election that could make…
Last night we told you that City Manager Mary Suhm’s considering letting someone else manage Dallas Farmers Market. And, well, news of the market going private, just maybe, is news to the farmers. “Are you serious?” said J.T. Lemley when we asked him how he felt about the idea. Lemley’s…
Finally, the city of Dallas sends word. It has no Official Comment on the federal suit Robert Groden filed against the city on Wednesday, in which he says he was jailed for nine hours in mid-June for selling his Kennedy conspiracy-theory wares in Dealey Plaza — something he’s done for,…
After 70 years of municipal control, it now sounds like City Hall could be handing over the management of the Dallas Farmers Market, as well as Fair Park, to the loving hands of the private sector. City Manager Mary Suhm confirmed for Unfair Park today that the city is requesting…
Still waiting for Official Word from the city concerning Robert Groden’s lawsuit filed yesterday concerning his ability — or, in this case, inability — to sell his conspiracy-theory publications in Dealey Plaza. But when we went down to the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse, we left behind one significant…
Back in October, the Trinity Trust ponied up $2 mil for the creation of the City Design Studio, to be based out of Dallas City Hall and run by, among others, bcWORKSHOP’s Brent Brown. Larry Beasley, an urban planner known as the man who built Vancouver, was also tapped to…
Maybe you heard: A couple of weeks ago, Dallas police began cracking down on vendors at Dealey Plaza selling maps, magazines, books and other conspiracy-theory whatnots. Deputy Police Chief Vince Golbeck said some folks down there were cussing at and spitting on visitors to the Kennedy assassination site, and “that’s…
Two quick items whilst I try to clean up some breaking news:ESPNDallas asked Mayor Tom Leppert to provide 10 reasons why LeBron James ought to sign with the Dallas Mavericks. The mayor, being a good sport, complied. Examples: “Great airports at both DFW International and Love Field. Central location makes…
A couple of days ago I happened to find myself, during the waking hours of business, standing in front of Dallas City Hall, where the only person in sight was the one half-submerged in the reflecting pool. In black hip-waders and a Parks & Recreation baseball hat, Jose Peña was…
On Monday, we told you about an e-mail we received from Mayor Tom Leppert’s campaign thanking his city council mates for agreeing to defer the vote on two concession contracts at Dallas Love Field Airport so city staff could cook up some new options to consider at the council’s August…
