News & Notes & A Day in the Park

Patrick Michels

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Where to begin -- Vegas, maybe? Perhaps you've heard: Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa's now just one of two finalists for the Clark County School District's top job, since the Floridian in the mix dropped out. Meanwhile, this Thursday, the DISD's board of trustees will meet to give "consideration and/or approval of extension to the employment contract of the Superintendent of Schools." Some trustees (like, say, Edwin Flores) are on board with that; others, like Carla Ranger, not so much. On her blog, she writes that Hinojosa's looking elsewhere with two years left on his contract is "more than bad faith." She's prepared to move on:

It is now clear there is an immediate need for a succession plan for Dallas ISD. The Board should develop such a plan immediately -- rather than being held hostage to the decision of another school district.

David Leininger

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Dallas Area Rapid Transit's about to sell $825 million in revenue bonds, not so long after revealing that a steep drop in sales tax revenue is putting the kibosh on some significant projects and delaying others with the hopes that a rapid recovery will cure all ills. The board will approve its 2011 budget next week, the same week the bonds go to market, and Standard & Poor's has downgraded its rating on DART's revenue debt; Moody's Investors Service, however, stuck by its glowing Aa2 rating. S&P said DART's stable, just not super-strong as it takes on more debt -- $3.7 billion worth, all told. David Leininger, DART's CFO, tells The Bond Buyer he's "disappointed" by the downgrade, but that, look, "there are periodically instances in which the economic interests of the agency diverge from the interests of the rating agencies in regard to preservation of a rating."

After a sentence like that I need a day in the park ... or A Day in the Park, planned by AIADallas this Saturday in Main Street Garden. On the to-do list: "live music, kid activities, yoga, sporting activities, etc for the public to engage in." Walking tours with architects too. And: sketching! See you there. If I haven't taken a job in Vegas.