We’re back in not-so-executive session, breezing through the rest of the council’s agenda so Mayor-For-Now Tom Bailey Leppert can hop a flight for his swan song at the US Council of Mayors. First, though, Dave Neumann apologizes for his last motion to defer the gas drilling applications till October 12…
I’m wedged into the corner of the briefing room at City Hall — no complaints, because really, Brad Watson needs his legroom. The council’s running through its various opening proclamations — Delia Jasso just introduced Oak Cliff’s Better Block Bunch right now, including Jason Roberts and council challenger Scott Griggs,…
On Monday we took a couple of looks at bcWORKSHOP’s public-art installation known as 5750Dallas, intended to spark a conversation about homelessness and consumption and so forth. It certainly got noticed — by Dallas Code Compliance, which wants ’em vanished by week’s end, per last night’s WFAA lead-off piece. Shouldn’t…
As you’ll no doubt recall, Brian and Cheryl Potashnik were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn the week before Christmas. The couple, of course, was among the first to take guilty pleas in the Dallas City Hall federal corruption case that eventually landed former Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill…
Between court hearings and cover stories, we couldn’t spare a warm body to attend this morning’s Trinity River Corridor Project Committee, the first since December 7. On the agenda: an update on the Standing Wave and Santa Fe Trestle projects, about which a Friend of Unfair Park will occasionally ask…
Soon as I got back to the office, Jim Rogers showed up with a press release and a photo. Rogers, the first president of the Bryan Place Neighborhood Association perched in the shadow of downtown, came by to announce that he’s running for Dallas City Council — the District 14…
This morning’s hearing got started an hour late, and court’s in recess till 1 p.m. — I’ve sent Intern Jesse to cover the afternoon portion of the proceedings. Should be interesting: Shortly before Judge Laurine Blake called for the noontime lunch break, City Secretary Deborah Watkins was on the stand…
Just rode up to the briefing room with Tennell Atkins, who — and I’ll try not to take it personally — seemed awful anxious for those elevator doors to open on five, and we’re shooting the breeze in the gallery as the rest of the Economic Development Committee trickles in…
Off to the George Allen in a few for that 9:30 court date I told you about last week, during which attorneys representing the city, Keep the Dollars in Dallas and those contesting the election allowing for the wetting up of Dallas will hash over some legal matters, baby. Top…
Patrick Michels, our go-to guy on all things having to do with XTO’s efforts to drill for oil and gas at Hensley Field, is presently occupied, and so, once more, it falls to me to point out what some Friends of Unfair Park have mentioned in the comments below: On…
At this very moment, Mayor Tom Leppert — for now — is taking part in the annual Elite News MLK Parade, after which he will fly to Austin for Governor Rick Perry’s inauguration. When he returns Wednesday, there will be a budget workshop at which time City Manager Mary Suhm…
Perhaps you’ve heard by now. It’s official: Mayor Tom Leppert has decided not to run for a second term. On his website, he explains:Since 2007, I’ve had one of the best jobs in the world: Mayor of Dallas. In that time, I have worked with committed Council colleagues, talented city…
I’m guessing the male “potential candidates” for mayor listed in a Wednesday Dallas Morning News article have personal lives. They’re probably in relationships or unmarried singles. Some of ’em might have kids. Others could have ailing or aging parents they’re responsible for. Maybe one or two once had or is…
Back in August we got a look at that city council briefing titled “Effective Business Strategies to Support Sustainable Growth,” in which there were numerous new fees and rate hikes proposed by the ever-shrinking, oft-backed-up Sustainable Development and Construction department in order to “recover the true costs of delivering services…
As advertised, Brent Brown, Larry Beasley and the rest of the Dallas CityDesign Studio crew welcomed 100 or so friends, neighbors and urban planning devotees to chat about their latest “Urban Structure” plan, meant to put a walkable, complete-street face on the development explosion everyone seems to expect once traffic…
Of course, no word yet from the likely local contender to run for KBH’s still-warm seat: Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert. But while poking around his website this morning (where you’ll find his positions on health care, education and public safety), I did find one interesting and heretofore overlooked note on…
There’s no shortage of names being tossed out there as would-be replacements for Kay Bailey Hutchison, who yesterday announced she won’t run for re-election to the U.S. Senate. Top o’ the list, of course, is Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, who made his intentions clear Thursday afternoon on his blog: “I…
No, no, it has nothing to do with whether or not Tom Leppert’s going to run for her Senate seat following today’s bit o’ breaking news. Sorry. That announcement’s still a few weeks off — after the Super Bowl, that’s my guess. Chris Heinbaugh, the mayor’s chief of staff, sends…
Here’s the full statement just sent out by Courtney Sanders in the senator’s D.C. office, which speaks — at length — for itself: Announcement by U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison To my fellow Texans: For the past 17 years, it has been my greatest honor to serve the people of…
Now that the city’s worst-kept secret is out in the open as Far North Dallas council member Ron Natinsky expressed his desire to replace Mayor Tom Leppert, we probed millionaire businessman Harlan Crow to get a read on whom he sees as the favorite contender among wealthy, politically connected folks…
The Dallas City Council kicked off the afternoon with a few minutes in executive session, and it didn’t take long for Mayor Leppert to bring up the SUP application for XTO Energy to drill at Hensley Field — the one we expected Dave Neumann to push for deferring for a…
At the very bottom of today’s city council agenda you’ll find a topic first introduced back in August, when the city was looking for every possible penny during the latest budget squeeze — a proposal to increase fees for zoning, development and building permit applications. Last summer, preservationists in particular…
