Dunno how we missed this one, but on her blog yesterday Angela Hunt took a long, hard look at City Manager Mary Suhm’s proposed FY 2009-2010 budget and wrote at great length about her most major concern: the pile of debt that would result from bond projects proposed in the…
Don’t know how we missed word of the Whole Foods “buycott,” which kicked off Tuesday night in St. Louis and at the Preston Forest location. Read about it in this morning’s Los Angeles Times, where author Meghan Daum brings word of the National Tea Party’s response to the response to…
In this week’s paper version of Unfair Park, Schutze uses two of Mayor Tom Leppert’s top political consultants — Carol Reed and Mari Woodlief — to explain why the mayor is hardly the “Angel of Ethics” despite the new lobbying rules presented (per some council members’ requests, behind closed doors)…
Tuesday morning, Texas Monthly’s Paul Burka took note of Schutze’s column from July, in which Jim got a no-nuthin’ from the mayor and his peoples concerning his interest in running for Kay Bailey Hutchison’s could-come-open Senate seat. Wrote Burka, he’s never taken the idea seriously, as big-city mayors haven’t done…
In case you missed it, over the weekend the Texas Nationalist Movement — whose motto is “Independence. In Our Lifetime.” — held a rally in Austin demanding secession now or else goddamnit. And tomorrow is the TNM’s “National Day of Action,” during which organizers want folks to call Governor Rick…
Kinky Friedman’s been running for Texas governor ever since, oh, March, far as I can figure; that’s when he told folks at the Texas Film Hall of Fame dinner in Austin he was running as a Democrat this go-round, rather than the indie he ran as in ’06. He’s already…
With the role of consultants in the city under the microscope because of what we’ve learned in the Dallas City Hall federal corruption trial, it seemed like a good time to check in on newbie Tanya Watkins, who started Grassroots Strategies in March, seeing how she’s the wife of the…
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 proposed by City Manager Mary Suhm. The…
Jerry Killingsworth had lots to say while on the stand as a witness in the City Hall corruption trial — including how distrustful he was of FBI informant Bill Fisher — but his uneasy demeanor made us wonder what the city’s housing department director was trying to keep secret. Turns…
Its been more than a month since word broke that the United States Postal Service was considering — or, rather, planning on — moving some operations out of the Dallas Main Post Office on I-30 to a facility in Coppell. Since then, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson and Mayor Tom Leppert…
Representatives from Preservation Dallas and the Landmark Commission met yesterday morning with the Zoning Ordinance Advisory Committee and first assistant city attorney Chris Bowers to hammer out the details of a proposed ordinance aimed at expediting the demolition of historic structures, but once again, the committee voted to delay the…
Rick Perry came to Dallas yesterday for a bill-signing — two months after he’d signed the bill.Then he swung by Opening Bell on South Lamar for some coffee-talk with campaign workers, which was closed to the media but open to YouTube. Drink up…
“Did Kay Bailey Hutchison cross an ethical line by supporting a rail line that is a payday for her husband?” That’s the question addressed in this morning’s Texas Watchdog piece written by former Observer-er Matt Pulle, who examines the Texas gubernatorial candidate’s involvement in procuring funds for Dallas Area Rapid…
Texas Workforce Commission chairman and Dallas resident Tom Pauken has informed the offices of Governor Rick Perry and Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst of his interest in running for U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison’s seat. “I’m taking a look at it, but I’m a long way from making a decision to…
Haven’t yet seen those Obama-Joker posters — then again, I clearly haven’t been downtown in a few days. At least some members of the Alex Jones street team have been posting black-and-white copies of University of Illinois senior history major Firas Alkhateeb’s Photoshop project ’round Dallas; after the jump, “2…
This morning, The Wall Street Journal recaps the Dallas City Hall federal corruption trial for outsiders and others not glued to Schutze’s riveting running narration from the Earle Cabell, where Bill Fisher takes the stand yet again this morning. Since most of it’s more than familiar territory to the Friends…
Sam and former Observer-er Matt Pulle have done bang-up jobs of keeping tabs on state Sen. Royce West’s tabs — except when West doesn’t fill in his financials, which Matt discovered recently whilst trying to add up the numbers. As it happened, West didn’t completely fill in his personal financial…
Angela Hunt’s been on a bit of a tear today, having posted to her Web site three items: one concerning the proposed rules changes for council meetings; one about the city’s turning over the keys to the Dallas Zoo to the Dallas Zoological Society; and one concerning the city budget…
I see Rudy’s already posted his item about tomorrow’s vote on Dallas City Council rules changes, which showed up earlier this week on the addendum for tomorrow’s meeting. (It’s Item No. 2.) But what he doesn’t get into is why the council will vote on reducing and, in some cases,…
By no later than tomorrow, we should get our first look at City Manager Mary Suhm’s proposed budget for the coming fiscal year — specifically, what stays and what goes to clear out the $190 million shortfall. (Suhm had told Unfair Park last week she expects to present the budget…
The debate surrounding the proposed health care bill can seem distant. The bill is some 1,000 pages. Those who claim to have read it become experts either for or against the legislation. But last night, a cherry-faced, white-haired politician successfully tied this unwieldy document to a singular concept his constituents…
Few days back, Politico ran a piece about how politicians’ town hall meetings have gotten a little out of control. Such phrases as “house of horrors,” “angry, sign-carrying mobs,” “disruptive behavior,” “pointless” and “boiling anger and rising incivility” crop up throughout, often in reference to House Democrats’ meet-and-greets where they’ve…
