Ed Oakley with some supporters who, sadly, could not vote for him to become mayor First I thought it was pretty amazing in 1995 when Carol Reed elected the city’s first black mayor. But in 2007 I think it may be more amazing she was able to elect a white…
You need more Scovells? We got ’em! Meet Dupree, who does not need a couch upon which to crash. I sit up in the cheap seats in the city council chamber collecting the political equivalent of sports trivia. This week I was there waiting for an item to come up…
Leo Chaney is a man worthy of being honored with a statue that dwarves tall buildings and small children. So sayeth Leo Chaney. Thank you, Leo Chaney, for giving us one of the more undignified moments in recent local history yesterday. I’m talking about the city council debate about the…
Only in Dallas. Ed Oakley, the Democrat in the June 16 mayoral runoff election, is running on a platform of tax giveaways for the rich, highways in the parks and demolition of housing for the poor. And he’s the liberal. Tom Leppert, the Republican, is running on the divine right…
Dear Mexican, So often when we see Mexican bands perform in the U.S. and Mexico, the crowd at some point starts chanting “¡Cu-le-ro (Ass-hole!)!” Why does the crowd yell “Cu-le-ro” at a band that they seemingly adore and paid a lot of money to see perform? Even fellow Latinos are…
Here I am, cooling my heels and other body parts in the city council chamber, waiting for Herroner, Laura Miller, to show up so that the council can debate Leo Chaney’s Park of Heroes. For some reason, the council says they can’t discuss the Park of Heroes until Miller gets…
Seriously, wasn’t Jack Pierce the name of a popular local band in the early 1990s? Three people get that joke. If you happen to hear the new anti-Ed Oakley ad on the radio, featuring the guy I wrote about a couple weeks go whose land was almost zoned out from…
I attended a typical East Dallas Dem-fest last week — a fund-raiser for U.S. Senate candidate (Cornyn’s seat) Emil Reichstadt. Got there for the tail-end of Emil’s remarks. Over the weekend what kept replaying through my head were remarks not by Emil but by lifelong loyal Dems with whom I…
Yesterday I was all worried about being shut out of a closed city council meeting that turned out to be a luncheon for officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. So today I got to go. And it was … odd. The guest of honor was John Paul Woodley…
Dear Mexican, Why do we always think Mexican men drink tequila and sing mariachi tunes, while the women are pretty señoritas? —Viva Mexico Dear Gabacho, Mexicans frequently blame ustedes for perpetuating various stereotypes about nosotros over the centuries, but a big part of the blame also falls on us. During…
The city council’s supposed to meet with this man — John Paul Woodley Jr., Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works), tomorrow. Rest of us ain’t invited. Yeah, sounds odd to Jim too. Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm sent a memo to the city council a couple weeks ago inviting…
Sing along: Whoever it is, we’re against them. The mayoral election has gone facial. Runoff candidate Ed “Eminent Domain” Oakley has ads running on TV portraying his opponent Tom “The Leppert of Two Evils” Leppert as a guy with a major facial twitch. Leppert hasn’t struck back on that one…
Just got back from a Tom Leppert press conference calling on Ed Oakley to clean up his act. No shit, Ed! The Ed Oakley for Mayor campaign has turned into the runaway Steam Engine of Sleaze in the last few days. His grimy team are stoking sleaze into the firebox…
Ed Oakley was all for taking a man’s land, till he realized, ya know, people aren’t gonna react well to that. Which, come to think of it, is very mayoral. Well, well, well. I am getting quite a bit of response to my column in this week’s paper version of…
Dear Mexican, Has the 1965 Immigration Act proved to be a good thing or bad thing for America, and has the recent unprecedented flood of immigrants (both legal and illegal) been an overall good thing or bad thing for America? Please fully explain your answer and include economical, cultural and…
I have to tell you this story because it’s three things: 1) an appalling example of arrogance and sleaziness at City Hall, 2) a stirring example of integrity and courage at City Hall, and 3) it’s about Laura Miller. This guy owns a business that has been in his family…
Trinity Vote late yesterday posted the ultimate in-your-face FAQ-to-FAQ rebuttal of all the stuff the road pushers over at Sink the Trinity! are saying. Sink the Trinity!, of course, is the Web site run by the folks in favor of putting a toll road through the new river park downtown…
Colleen McCain Nelson was a crackerjack City Hall reporter for The Dallas Morning News before becoming an editorial writer. She’s a very smart and accomplished pro. The tortured logic, pathetic attempts at obfuscation and ultimate dishonesty of her editorial in The News yesterday about Congresswomen Eddie Bernice Johnson served to…
Lucky me, I attended two debates on the Trinity River toll road referendum this week — one held by the Dallas Homeowners League and the other by the Belmont Neighborhood Association. I would like that on my tombstone: “Jim Schutze, 1966-2076, attended two debates on Trinity River toll road in…
Day Eight: The Dallas Morning News still won’t do the Eddie Bernice Johnson story. I called the Washington office of Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson yesterday and spoke with her chief of staff, Rod Hall. He told me that as of yesterday, Johnson still had not spoken with The Dallas Morning…
Dear Mexican, I was going through a local state college’s academic program the other day and found that they offer a bachelor’s degree in Chicano studies. My question is in what field of work would someone with a bachelor’s in Chicano studies land? Here are a few jobs I came…
Carol Reed, the political consultant, told another staff member here at the Dallas Observer that I was “a man without a country” because nobody I liked for mayor got into the runoff election. I like it. Call me the “Flying Dutchman of Bryan Parkway.” It’s because I made the horrible…
