Dallas: Still a fascist sh!thole after all these years.

How about moving on to the city's lack of animal control and code enforcment Jim?

There's that indomitable Schutze spirit! Yes, this will indeed be a long slow trainwreck.

Considering that every single elected official (except Angela) endorsed the NO side, I am kind of impressed by how many independent thinkers there are out there. Basically, 47% think that ALL of their elected officials are full of sh*t. Hee.

I'm just happy I live in the sensible quadrant of the city. :) Yay for the EDT! Or, as Frontburner suggests, the People's Republic of East Dallas. Go us!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/crispini/Results.jpg

Jim -
Thanks for that. See if you can hit on or expand on my theme that Dallas is really that much more shallow than LA or Miami. The place is all about Benjamin's.

Bad air? So What? You can move out to the cookie-cutter burbs when you get sick - everyone else does...

Congestion at the few good parks we already have? Big Deal - join the Premier Club if you want to walk or swim...

Scenic views that actually draw people and companies here (Like Boeing)? Well, it's not like any LOCALS actually go to Reunion Tower any longer. And instead of a small river of red and white lights going NW from the city center, there will be a RIVER of red taillights and white headlights along the area. It's a PERFECT SUBSTITUTE!

I remember an NPR show comparing Dallas to Indianapolis. We keep falling further and further behind. Laura screwed us with the Olympic bid/revitalization of Fair Park, and I know how you feel about that one, but c'mon - this vote really IS an IQ test. Obviously, people's perspectives of civics are kinda skewed. I mean, what's South and West Dallas going to get for their vote? JOBS? Yeah, right.

Find a vein of a mineral, extract it in the most ecologically perverse method possible, and leave the toxic tailings for someone else to clean up. Just like Butte, MT. 50 years later, LOTS and LOTS of empty buildings downtown. Thanks, Dallas. Ring another bell for 'progress'.

Schutze, I hope you are right about feasibility. My two concerns:

1.) The Army Corp bends to accommodate. (No way!!!)

2.) The NTTA tells bond holders that their investments will be secured by other NTTA projects. Think about it. Many of the interests who financed the 'No' campaign (Allen Group?) will be happy to buy the bonds and the NTTA will pay them off buy raising tolls on other assets.

Ironically, the new toll road climate in Texas will create the ultimate redistribution of wealth. If we are lucky, the voters and taxpayers in the northern part of the metroplex who are dependent upon toll roads (DNT, PGB, Lewisville Bypass, 121) will put pressure on the NTTA Board when the realize they will be footing the bill for the Trinity Toll Road.

Now for my sour grapes, Mother'n'law, cover your eyes.....F***!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm keeping my yard sign, so I can pull it out again with "I told you so" written on it.

what in the hell is wrong with people? seriously. if there weren't people, this world would be a better place. and i like sour candy.

Jim, thanks for shining a light on this crazy project and for keeping the issue alive.

We were unable to kill this road at the polls. Hopefully you and other people with a voice can continue to point out how ill-conceived this project is. Maybe Dallas will eventually pull our head out of our collective ass and decide to try something else.

I am pleased that so many people found a voice in the TrinityVote campaign. It made me think differently about this city. Looking at the precinct returns, I'd say a lot of the cool people live in East Dallas. I may have to pack my bags and move south a couple miles one day.

NTTA could come up with the funds, in their bid for 121 (Which was Cintra's original bid) they bid 3.3 billion but would be able to control toll rates for the next 50 years. In Cintra's case they would have rights to charge a "peak" and "non-peak" rate, so far all I could find was starting at 14.5 cents a mile AND, this is key - they would have the right to raise rates every 2 years. I'm assuming NTTA will have the same rights as Cintra, in other words Collin and Denton county are getting royally screwed.

Thus, as Sam Merton mentioned, the NTTA could get the money, they'll simply raise the rates elsewhere and in 121's case jack up the peak rates. Rumor has it when 121 is complete the service road speed limits will drop from 55 to 45 and they'll time the lights to have longer red lights, i.e. non-compete clause. Not sure how this works with the trinity tollwa...sorry, parkway but history has taught us to expect a rip-off in Dallas.

As far as the non-cool voters, I'm willing to bet my lunch money that 90% of them got their info solely from Pop-up news and only voted for the road because they think Hunt was the reason why nothing has been done in 9 years, thus why I check here for news before I ever give Pop-up the luxury of a site hit.

Waaaaait a minute - you hope he's right about the feasibility?

At this point, it's a ship that's sailed. While the vote may not have gone the way 47 percent thought it should, it doesn't mean that we should necessarily hope for failure. That's an awful lot of money to pray they piss away just so righteous indignation can keep us warm and cozy at night.

Wouldn't the more productive mindset be to now keep an eye on the project with the idea of making sure it happens - to the letter - as it is supposed to, and if it doesn't, demand answers? I think maybe it's time to go from opponent to vigilant watchdog mode, instead of hoping for failure just so people can feel right.

I'm so disappointed in my fellow Dallasites I'm thinking of moving to Plano. It's freaking depressing that people knew what was being proposed and STILL voted to keep that road in the park. Jim, keep pointing out their lies. If we can't win, at least we can make them look bad. I'm gonna order a case of sour grape soda and drink it for the forseeable future.

Even though he got his "victory", I'm sure on some level that Tom Leppert is still haunted by actually getting laughed at during a debate. Unless he really is just that oblivious.

As my blood pressure was rising last night after hearing the results, I had an epiphany. I am no longer investing one iota of emotion in the City of Dallas. I've wanted to get out of this town for 2 decades (and WILL retire in the Hill Country soon), but had second thoughts and got all involved in this Trinity Project...believing that finally Dallas might get something right. The politics are ugly, as is much of the city with the exception of White Rock Lake and Turtle Creek. I'm very sad.

You are correct, Dr. Schutze. What makes me smile this morning is that there are now hundreds of newly-minted City Hall watchers who are going to pay very close attention to the actions of the minders until the house of cards falls and the idiot corps is vanquished. Nathan, as to the NTTA spreading a billion dollars to other projects, let me introduce you to the representatives on the NTTA's board from Tarrant, Collin and Denton Counties. They have already been through two bloodlettings over 120 and 360. They will fight to the death any attempt to saddle their projects with the Trinity Tollway debt.

As to the individual companies buying the bonds, first the bonds have to be underwritten by publicly-traded financial institutions before they are marketed. I'm betting the First Southwest's of the world never touch this.

"People's Republic of East Dallas." I like that.

Things to do.

1) Take care of Fair Park
2) Watch the development of the Trinity River Park like a hawk.
3) Use lawsuits if you gotta.

Hey, Brian, Schutze and I both live in East Dallas, so you must be right about the cool people. We tend to be well-educated, dedicated to the city (which is why we live near downtown and not out in the 'burbs), and we actually get it. Ol' Sheffie Kadane must be beside himself with the way the vote went in his district.

Yes Bethany,
I did not like this toll road yesterday, I don't like it today, and there's a damn good chance that tomorrow, when I wake up, that I ain't gonna like it then either. I think it is bad transportation policy, period. I think that it will harm our downtown area and our flood plain.

With the exception of May 2, 1998 and November 6, 2007 we do not and will not have a voice in this matter. If the NTTA needs to, once again, modify the road at the expense of other elements of the project, it will do so, the city will support it, and the voters will not be asked to weigh in on it. I am only hoping that something which is completely out of my control will come to fruition. Nothing wrong with that now is there?

A few observations:

1. Jim, thank you for at the very least having a great hand in uniting 47% of the city.
2. Eastern Bloc (thank you FB) is my favorite reference to East Dallas, however, there is a class system in this neighborhood.
3. Anyone notice that all of the Plano looking houses in the Eastern Bloc had "Vote No" signs in the yard?
4. I still don't think this road will be built, but I do believe the park will eventually be a reality one day.
5. I am wondering why I moved back to Dallas, Texas.

The bad news is that the "NO" crowd got their small victory, the good news is that ACoE is going to put the kibosh on this road unless they elevate it or put it underground. Dont give up hope yet you padawans, We will get our park...

Jim, this east dallas comrade thanks you for the tireless work that you put into shining a light on the endless river of greed and stupidity that runs through city hall and the moneyed part of downtown.

this town is according to what best serves the rich and powerful. it's mayberry with neimans. like many I know have cauterized my connections with dallas, and am waiting for the clock to signal it is time to quit chasing a paycheck, wear my pants up under my armpits, and start bitchin bout the gubment full-time.

Do not harbor such sadness in your soul, Señor Schutze.

Even if you are the one and only Anglo to ever come visit us, we will still sit together with our backs against the warm concrete of the flood wall and roast a delicious cabrito on one of the beautiful new 55-gallon-drum barbecues El Gato has promised us, as the lovely cabras saunter down lazily to drink from the cool green water of the Trinity stock tank and the cars and trucks roar like the Texas wind overhead under a sky so very, very blue.

Emilio

Isn't it kind of funny that every elected official except Angela got behind Vote No but couldn't put up an intelligible reason why? They talked about sebding ten years of planning going down the river and how Angela Hunt wants to raise taxes. How close are they to a feasible plan after those ten years of planning? How's that extra billion gonna get paid? When all of our elected officials get behind a big wall of sh*t and pat themselves on the back for a job well done, it gives cynicism in government a huge boost. Congratulations, losers.

I have to agree with Bethany. The thing to do now is stay vigil. Calling the other side stupid and with no I.Q. is unnecessary and non-productive. Let's face it. Dallas is never going to have the topography to be a "Beautiful" City. No beaches, mountains, waterfalls are here, never will. The Trinity can never be a "Town Lake". Its an "All work and no play make Johny a dull Boy" City. When people want beauty in their lives they go on vacation and they keep their home and work here. Lets work to make Dallas better with other important issues like safety and crime.

I voted "yes". But at the late, I kinda came around to the thinking that even if there was a pretty park with boats and whatnot, would people really come? I mean I live right next to White Rock which has the potential to be "The Central Park of Dallas" but its not. People just don't go there enough and nobody from Frisco or outside of LBJ goes there. I bet nobody north of NW Highway even spends time at White Rock and I bet less would even go to the Trinity Park. Hell, they would probably just overcharge or make you use a stinkin' valet to park anyway.

I hate these people that root for their side with all the depth of rooting for a sports team. This "Us vs. Them", "lets always be competative no matter what", "Never give up the fight" is really allot of B.S. It does nothing for the real future of OUR city. The people have spoken yesterday, now shut your trap, and make sure we get exactly what we now have to pay for.

wow. i just threw up a little (a lot) in my mouth.

even with the election over and done, channel 8 (and i'm sure others) can't seem to report the facts about the project correctly. shoot, they can't even accurate convey what the vote was for in the first place.

their report would be laughable if it wasn't so infuriating.

Will somebody at the Observer please give Emilio his own column, for crying out loud? I don't know who he is, but he's fucking gold every time he chimes in. Bless you, Senor Velasquez. (Sorry, no tilde on my gringo computer...)

Is it possible for me to agree one hundred percent with both Bethany AND "partyreptile"? Cuz that's pretty much where my head's at today. I told my dear friend up in Minnesota earlier, "Dallas voters did something astonishingly stupid again yesterday. I can’t decide if I’m really just an elitist snob or if the collective public is actually as dumb as they appear. And I’m getting sick of trying to figure it out."

I have no other explanations. Does that make me a bad person?

Tapped out...but not giving up.

I am so sorry, and feel I must apologize to Mr. Schutze because the people in Dallas are just not good enough, or smart enough, to suit him. We should listen to Mr. Schutze on everything, because he is smarter and better looking than we are. He knows all, and he reveals all.

I voted for the Toll Road because I was mad at Mr. Schutze and his elitist attitude. He says he's for the common man, but he does not seem so to me. He's for Jim Schutze. I don't blame him, because his s*** doesn't stink.

No one should be surprised this happened. After all, we keep electing Leppert-like business types to offices hither and yon under the mistaken belief that they can run things better.

But public administration is not business, there's no profit margin. Whereas business rewards favored customers, public administration is about serving everyone equitably. Business types don't and won't understand public service.

You do know, don't you, that in higher education business schools lead the pack in cheating and plagiarism and unethical behavior? And yet we scratch our heads and wonder how Enron (and now the Trinity River Project) occurs.

When we elect from the business underworld, it's always commerce before citizens.

You people crack me up.

If Mr. Schutze, Angela Hunt, et. al. are so cocksure that this road wouldn't be built anyway, why spend the time, effort and money to have a pointless referendum?

I don't like Angela Hunt for this very reason. This is the third major item since she has been on council that she has tried to tank at the last minute. The first being the Junius Heights Historic District and the second the Forward Dallas comprehensive plan.

She was lucky enough to get enough traction for the Trinity, but for what?

Good luck on future elections, Ms. Hunt, because you won't be able to raise a dime of money in this city. I certainly hope all your Republic of East Dallas comrades have deep pockets, because you have successfully alienated those that could have supported you for Mayor.

And for all you people that keep waxing poetically on how 'wonderful' this 'crown jewel' park was going to be, just remember the very arguement against putting a road down there. It is a flood plain, so if a road shouldn't go down there, then certainly anything resembling Central Park or Millenium Park in Chicago shouldn't either.

Y'all should be mad at those 90,000 'phantom' petition signers. I guess signing something in a Wal-Mart parking lot doesn't exactly equate to going to a voting booth.

This may sound cynical and jaded, but after watching both sides go after each other, I can tell you who voted.

Sheeple. There's sheeple that believe the toll road is the Devil's handiwork, and there's sheeple on the other side that feel everything about the project is wonderful and amazing.

What is off putting to most of us is that both carry this elitist attitude that just makes me not want to care at all. Nobody can be all right, all of the time, regardless which "side" you're on.

But the average Dallas citizen, I wager, just wants the following out of this whole mess: Someplace nice to eat lunch or take the kids occasionally to play, a shorter commute home, and less of their money going toward funneling gas into an idling engine at 6 in the evening.

Whoever can tell me how that gets accomplished gets to talk to me more. Anyone else can just shush, and quit back-patting or hand-wringing.

If you look at the voter turnout map, you will see that this election was actually a battle between North Dallas (No) and East Dallas (Yes(White Rock Lake area, specifically)). No one else really voted.

Wish I had known this.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/graphics/1107/trinityelex/electionsMap.html

What is this, a day of silent protest by Unfair Park because the vote didn't go their way?

Losing this referendum may be a Godsend. This boondoggle could eclipse Boston's Big Dig in terms of scandal.

Any "VOTE YES" supporter (like me) who voted for Ed Oakley for Mayor should see what he said about our hard work in today's DMN:

"What they have done has been a disservice to the community."

Even though I'm a liberal Democrat, I'd vote for Dick Cheney before I'd ever vote for Oakley again (though he's pretty much washed up now and won't run again).

He has every right to be PRO-tollway (even if he does have $$$ to gain with his land holdings in the Design District), but to say giving citizens the opportunity to vote on an important issue is a disservice to the community is unforgivable.

who is this dave little and why does he say
unfunny things??

PJW

I'd have no problem backing the No guys, except they never once were honest about the ordeal. They lied (Billion dollars, no trucks, cleaner air), got their asses kicked in every debate so they had no argument, begged to the Southern sector via song to save their butts, used pop-up morning news to spew their venom, called all the stations begging for votes (Which eliminates pop-up news' claim that Lie-ppert was 20 points ahead from the beginning) and tried in vain to prevent Dallas residents from voting in the first place.

So no, no congrats for them. Good luck uniting this city Lie-perrt, it's going to be hard since you've been exposed by those smart enough to read something other than pop-up news.

A couple of points. The vote seemed to split between those who would most benefit from congestion relief in the downtown traffic arteries (South and North Dallas) and those who would not (East Dallas). So you have a pretty classic battle of self-interested people, nothing more. As for stupid, what about all the petition-signers who didn't bother to vote? Supposedly there were 90,000 of you. Perhaps Whole Foods Greenville Avenue should have been a polling location, as that seems to have been ultimately more convenient than bothering to vote your convictions at a real polling location. My constructive criticism of this whole thing would be to focus on crime, jobs, and education, the things that drive people and employment out of Central Dallas. Until the central arteries longer have to be used as feeder roads to jobs in the suburbs (I myself have to drive from Expo Park to Coppell every day), you will continue to see plans like this one, however ill-thought-out you deem them to be. Put the jobs back in downtown, and you might get a different result if there is a next time.

Yo, Mark, I'm plenty mad at the folks who signed the petition and then didn't vote (or didn't vote "for," anyway).

Can't quite get your Angela-hating, though. I don't think being well into a lousy project is any reason to keep it up. Could you see Hitler bitching to his staff, "Well, here we are, well into the Final Solution and now some persnickety complainer wants us to stop? Why didn't he speak up at the Wannsee Conference when we showed the pictures of the concentration camps with the pretty sailboats?"

Bad propaganda and lying politicians can make anything sound reasonable if you don't look under the surface. I hope that maybe the Vote NO! folks will be a bit more careful with their facts from here on out. I hope Angela makes them account for every penny and follow through on every single promise (jobs! landscaping! no taxes!).

Thanks, Jim, Mike, Knottygirl, etc. for making me feel vindicated that this project is like the SSC (super conducting supercolider, remember that?) as far as feasibility. The first time that road goes underwater and the lawsuits start rolling in, it will be blocked off and eventually torn up. Now I'm feeling like 'so what'? The people who live 25 miles from their office deserve to be nickeled and dimed to death five days a week in exchange for covering every square inch of my city in concrete. $10 per gallon gas can't come soon enough for me; I commute by walking and bike anyway.

I think it's interesting that the most 'no' votes came from the farthest areas of downtown, almose 'commuter' terriroty. Those people are suffering from a bad case of disconnect, but that's probably because they're Republicans.

Hey, comrades of East Dallas, what do you think we need to do to secede from the big D? We could have us a pretty nice little socialist burg here! Angela Hunt for Mayor of the City of White Rock! ;)

Great sour grapes, Jim! Have a couple for me, please.

It simply amazes me that Ed Oakley says things as he did today, and that James Ragland actually wrote what he did today. Nothing worse than a sore winner, my dear departed grandma used to say.

In fact, to show the true spirit of "yes" side generosity in the face of our loss, I'd like to offer them both a free cup o' coffee, on me.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v72/Billusa99/?action=view¤t=shutup.jpg

knottygirl, good point.

My main beef with Angela is that she tore this project apart, however bad you may think it may be, yet offered no viable solutions.

Again, where did this vision of the Trinity being the next Central Park or Millenium Park come from?

The only alternative given for the Toll road placement was along Industrial. I wasn't particularly thrilled at having to spend tax-payers money on buying out all those properties along Industrial. And why destroy a neighborhood (the Design District)that is beginning to revitalize?

The Trinity debate will come back and be the great Larry Craig moment for all of the council members and leaders who pushed so hard for the VoteNo side. Too bad we will have to shoulder the cost in this grand experiment...

I think I will be joining Emilio down by the river some day to enjoy some cabrito and cold beverages. Too bad I am not a beer drinker though. While Sr. Velasquez and his familia sip on cold Mexican beers, I will just have to sip my gin and tonic from a thermos...

Can we talk to the engineers and get a bridge / trail over to Fuel City so I can get some tacos and go eat in the park while watching 18-wheelers roll by? I have now decided to go after the small attainable victories. I am on my way to Craig Watkins' office to craft the "Trinity Taco Referendum" ballot language right now. Save me some of those "Sign the Petition!" t-shirts!

I've got no problem with people who signed the petition and then either didn't vote or voted No. The point is, they signed to get it on the ballot, and so they did a good thing.

Yeah, I wish there was a direct relationship between those who signed it and those who voted Yes, but I am trying to make lemonaid.

Now we have some realistic percentages to work with the next time a referendum comes around.

The best advise that I can give everyone concerning the future of the Trinity River and its park and freeway is: paddle faster, I hear banjo music.

Alot of you guys are missing the point of yesterday's vote, which was to force a public accounting of the project plans, money, beneficiaries, etc. It was not an up or down vote on a tollroad per se, but a chance to take a step back and look at the project post-Katrina, post-Ron Kirk, post-Laura Miller, post-Leppert. It was a chance to stand up to the rush-to-pave rhetoric that came to a head once Leppert took over as mayor.
What cynical Dallas has done by Voting No! is allowed the big money and sweetheart deals that (probably) won't benefit more than a dozen people to remain behind closed doors.
Whether he realizes it or not, Schutze has really been asking the voters to stand up for once and say "Hey, we want to know where our money is going, who makes up the shortfall, who's going to come out on the other side with a yacht." Jim's been writing about "Dallas As A Whole" for at least 25 years, and this is just the latest chapter.
Modern Dallas is built on greed, there will be another fight, guaranteed.

So why would the smart and cool people –- who, after all, only had to convince voters to support a beautiful park –- lose this election to the stupid, evil side, which had to convince those same voters of the wisdom of building an expensive, ugly toll road?

I think part of the answer was the dismal failure of the smart and cool side’s press secretary -– you.

It's possible that a significant number of undecided voters read your ceaselessly hysterical and paranoid rantings, compared them with the civil and measured arguments made by the other side, and concluded that you were full of crap.

It's possible that Ms. Hunt made a strategic error in choosing as her publicist someone whose chief rhetorical skills are condescension and name-calling. (You know, it takes a real wordsmith to make fun of a guy named “Blow.”)

You wrote, displaying a characteristic lack of class and a sad inability to comprehend numbers, that “half the city thinks Leppert is a liar.”

If that's true, doesn’t it follow logically that half the city thinks you’re a liar?

Have some more grapes. They're good for constipation.

Mark, I can be gracious, too (though it isn't natural, as I prefer snarkiness). I invested in a business in the Industrial area a few years ago and I did have to think long and hard about what a tollroad along that route might do in a very small way to me and in a much larger way to all the small businesses along there. The area really is spiffing itself up. There are some great views of the downtown skyline from there that are just waiting for the right restaurant, high-rise, fancy club to open up and take advantage of them.

My hope was that when their backs were against the wall and the tollroad got voted down (sigh), the city planners would pull their Plan B out of the hat. I'm cynical enough to believe there was a backup plan, but maybe I've been reading Schutze's work too long and have conspiracy on the brain. Though if you think about it, that million per mile of landscaping they've promised us along the tollway could be such a huge boost to the Industrial area, it's really a sin that the tollroad isn't going there just for the economic boost.

Dang, I wish I could hire Carol Reed and get THAT before the voters.

Obviously you have not seen the plans the NTTA has drawn up for the HOB (High Occupancy Boat) Lane. Let us all throw down these differences and unite to build a glorious aquatic future!

VIVA LE AQUAMAN! Shall be the rallying cry of our magnificent slack mouthed progeny in that moist ,glistening Dallas of tomorrow.

I take it as a lack of vision on the part of these commenters that no one sees the potential of offsetting our homeless problem by building a shantytown of houseboats in the newly minted Lake Bush. When foreign dignitaries come to town we simply flush the entire encampment into the concealing cover of the Trinity Forrest Memorial Marsh and Septic Treatment District. Like MAGIC, suddenly the unattractive visage of poverty is pulled away like a tablecloth beneath a fine set of civil war commemorative china from the Franklin Mint.

So no more tears kids, no more sour grapes. Let us join our hands and turn our faces to the blinding wisdom of City Hall and bask in the radiance of their wise council. For surely we will all reap the harvest which has been prepared on this day for many years to come.

LONG LIVE DALLAS! LONG LIVE THE AQUAROAD!

"I wasn't particularly thrilled at having to spend tax-payers money on buying out all those properties along Industrial. "

You forgot the rest of the sentence:

I wasn't particularly thrilled at having to spend tax-payers money on buying out all those properties along Industrial when we could spend hundreds of millions more not buying all those properties in order to put the road inside the levees and potentially ruin the park.

Why does spending money buying properties bother you but spending more to engineer and build a road in a floodway not bother you? Shouldn't the ultimate goal be to spend the least amount possible regardless of where it goes?

Some thoughts…

http://www.dallasblog.com/200711071000987/sam-merten/suits-prevail-over-citizens-hunt-wins-battle-of-integrity.html

Jim, I wasn’t able to catch you before you left the MAC last night. Thanks for giving us hope that we could win this thing. Most of all, thanks for inspiring me.

Wow! Sure is a lot of hate coming from the Pave the Trinity crowd.

You guys won. Right? What are you so angry about?

Bitter that you spent so much money? Bitter that the DMN is losing more readers?
Bitter that lying to the people of Dallas just keeps getting more expensive and harder every time? Bitter that your lying Mayor doesn't have the juice left to sell Strong Mayor or anything else? Afraid that Angela and her friends will keep coming costing you more money and credibility? Worried that winning might cost you more than you won?

Belo Bethany, Mark, and all you sore winners sound like you are the ones that have been eating the sour grapes. You guys probably do need to worry.

You won a battle but the war goes on. Angela Hunt is a winner. Winners never quit. You had to use the council you hate to sell this thing. Can't wait to hear you whine after you get the bill. Con grats! LOL.

Good post, Heart and Soul. I agree that the "sore winners" of yesterday's vote are "Bitter that lying to the people of Dallas just keeps getting more expensive and harder every time."

Angela Hunt and Jim Schutze are winners, as are all of us who stood up to the Belo machine, the slimy Dallas power brokers, and all those who tried to convince us that we didn't really see all those architectural renderings of lakes and sailboats in 1998.

I hope, Jim, that you will keep reporting on this project as it evolves. I predict that the Trinity toll road will never be built. The engineers will come along, take a look at it, and ask the Dallas power brokers if they're completely insane. Then they'll dig up all of your Observer articles, and say something like, "Hey, this guy did a ton of research for you. Didn't you read any of this stuff?"

I would have preferred a win yesterday, but I'll never forget the sense of pride I felt when I cast my "yes" vote. Just getting it on the ballot was quite an accomplishment, and a slap in the face of the Dallas big-money establishment. Hooray for us!

I grew up here, but have lived here all of my adult life. I have resigned myself to the fate of living in a city that sucks. I visit freinds in Austin, Minneapolis, or Chicago and wonder, why can't my city be more like that? I don't have an answer yet.

Angela Hunt "is a winner" and "gracious"??

Hardly.

Her post today and her "concession speech" last night only advance her grain-of-sand-in-the-teeth status as whiner and High Priestess of the Self-Marginalized.

Wah, wah, wah, you'd better spend a million a mile on plants. Wah, wah, wah, you'd better hire 36,000 illegals. Wah, wah, wah, where am I going to wear all my pretty red dresses?

Already people are saying she should be "invited back to the table in the spirit of civic collaboration."

Hell, no.

Now my city council district is going to suffer because everyone else in Dallas --and deservedly so -- feels like my council representative is a self-centered harpy.

Where do I sign the Recall Angela petition?

I'll even raise the $2-a-signature SHE paid to harvest her lauded petition signers.

Good post, Heart and Soul. I agree that the "sore winners" of yesterday's vote are "Bitter that lying to the people of Dallas just keeps getting more expensive and harder every time."

Angela Hunt and Jim Schutze are winners, as are all of us who stood up to the Belo machine, the slimy Dallas power brokers, and all those who tried to convince us that we didn't really see all those architectural renderings of lakes and sailboats in 1998.

I hope, Jim, that you will keep reporting on this project as it evolves. I predict that the Trinity toll road will never be built. The engineers will come along, take a look at it, and ask the Dallas power brokers if they're completely insane. Then they'll dig up all of your Observer articles, and say something like, "Hey, this guy did a ton of research for you. Didn't you read any of this stuff?"

I would have preferred a win yesterday, but I'll never forget the sense of pride I felt when I cast my "yes" vote. Just getting it on the ballot was quite an accomplishment, and a slap in the face of the Dallas big-money establishment. Hooray for us!

And don't forget that if the road is ever built not only the Continental bridge will have to be demolished but so will the Commerce street bridge be and how about the Houston street viaduct, oh i forgot that bridge is under historical designation ;)

Heart and soul, I'll tell you why I am angry. I am angry that a bunch of time, effort and money, on BOTH sides, was spent on something that, according to Mr. Schutze, is never going to happen anyway. Seriously, what was really accomplished after all this?
You keep believing that Angela was a 'winner'. She will need your support and check if she decides to run for office again. She certainly won't be receiving my, or my friends, support again.

Downtown Dave, let me know when you start that recall petition. I'll throw in $4.

Wow Downtown Dave, I guess you don't believe in holding people accountable.

I think you are confusing wah, wah, wah with what are we getting for our money?

What the people that Voted Yes are asking for is trust that what was on the plan is followed without adding the power of greed into the equation. If this is going to happen, let's make sure it is done right.

Well, heck, if folks like Dave and Mark are gonna start raising money to recall Angela, I guess Mr. Knottygirl and I will have to scrape our pennies together for the other side. I know we have more than a lousy $4 hidden in those sofa cushions, and I bet Knottybaby has swallowed at least $.50 in the last week or two while I was busy reading my Star magazine and not watching carefully.

Look at the way her district voted, folks. Sure North Dallas may want to give her the ol' heave-ho, but most of us (with some exceptions, clearly) were with her on this issue. If the mayor and the rest of the council marginalize her and make a martyr out of her, it will come back to bite them, I guarantee it. (Remember the pickets outside Laura Miller's house way back when? She couldn't have bought that kind of publicity and she ended up as mayor.) Her constituents (again, with some exceptions) have shown that the business-types can go jump in the Trinity as far as we're concerned.

I'd be happy to send a little Lake Highlands $ to Angela to make sure she stays in office. She represents my interests better than my councilman.

Oh dear Antonio, so bitter!

Did trading in the Mercedes for the Honda really hurt that badly?

Is Crunchy Cons becoming so much harder to find these days on the remaindering tables or at Half Price Books? How then will you ever be able to continue to afford on your News salary alone those imported organic larks' tongues from Whole Foods while contining to lecture the rest of us little people on our derelict lifestyles and our blind foolishness in mingling with those sneaky Mexicans and Muslims?

Understandable that someone with such a turgidly impacted soul would have a ready remedy for constipation though.

Shelby

Hey knottygirl,

I'd be happy to gather some buddies here in Frisco to form truth squads, we can hand out fliers and tell people the truth to persuade them not to sign the petition. And if they ask why, we'll tell them "Steve Blow says you're too smart for petitions" :)

Well Mark, I don't think your side accomplished much. I think it is a net loss for you guys.

You have less money, less political power and less credibility than when you started. You are stuck with the lies you told and you will be held accountable for them. I feel good about it.

Those elected folks you brought won't stay bought. After they saw the vote they probably have a few questions about the project. LOL
They probably have questions for city staff too. Ouch.

Oh and about that road. We changed it. It may never happen now and if it does it will be a hell of a lot different than it would have been without our efforts.

Mark, I'd say we did pretty good. We didn't win the vote but we have you guys set up for the kill. And you know it.

We have more political power and more credibility than we ever did. The vote was that close and we took you down plenty without even winning.

Actually, we will probably see more from our efforts by losing and continuing the fight than we ever could have gotten by winning.

Oh and about that recall of Angela...
BRING IT.

Your threats inspire me.

I think I'll just start the recall of your lying, lackey mayor. I am sure as hell ready for round two. Are you?

Knottygirl, you have a good sense of humor. I like it.

Heart and soul, wow, who is the angry one now?

Use whatever you need to get yourself through. I don't personally believe in moral victories, so good luck with that.

BTW, I didn't vote for the current mayor, but nice try.

Shelby C... that's the funniest retort I've read in quite some time. Even it Antonio *wasn't* the stone-cut oatmeal man, it nailed him to a T!

Thanks, Jim. This article cheered me up.

That and imagining our 'magnificent slack mouthed progeny in that moist, glistening Dallas of tomorrow'. Honkeybot, the aquaroad cheered me up, too.

Ha. I think we won a little bit more than a moral victory. I am certainly not angry. I am not even all that disappointed.

I am not sure there was any winning or losing to be had. The winner has to deliver. We losers are off the hook.

I am a happy warrior, Mark. I love the fight. I think this was all great fun. I am ready to go again because I love it. I like grapes. I like the sweet and the sour. It's all good.

Wonder if the election was "manipulated" as in a replay of 2000 or Ohio '04? After all our corporate overseers have plans long down the road for us. (marginalize us, watch us, fleece us, toll us, progagandize us, and shut us up.) After all there's money to be had for (bushcorpco etal). Remember: it's all about money. This was a confrontation of the facts versus the liars and if the city council has swallowed the line of bull about Dallas being better off with a huge pollution source over the river then they might as well align themselves with all the greedmongers on earth. At some point people are going to connect the dots about: (what "they" don't want you to know.)
Schutze, Hunt, and the 47% (could it have been more than that?) have connected the dots as Dallas did when they voted Democratic and put in democratic judges and a courageous & fair-minded D.A.
In the future I think you'll be able to tell which is the corrupt side of the issue by counting the number of expensive flyers you receive before an election trying to reassure you that they have your best interests in mind. Keep that in mind the next time you vote - because the rich side is just a bunch of new-cons (old liars) who stand to gain millions or billions from dirty ill-thought out deals (which appear to be endless). Be ungrateful for the upcoming (next 1000 years or so no doubt) toll fees you'll have to pay while you're desecrating the park and city with increasing pollution, depleting your pocketbook with increasing tolls just to get to where you need to go, and wondering why the radio frequency from the surveillance cameras on the toll road is making you dizzy. But by all means be grateful for Schutze, Hunt, Merten, and all the growing number of truth tellers and have a wonderful Thanksgiving (one and all).

Antonio makes some excellent points. Both sides went over board in their claims but the evil side sure did get their message out at the right time. I knew the No vote would win when I arrived at the election booth at 6:30 and there were 25 people waiting to vote. They didn't look like Yes voters.

On a side note, Denton County Constable Jason Quigley is a dirty cop! Don't even drive through Copper Canyon if you don't want this fool to pull you over, and then screw you over. Just a thought!!!

Jim,

I stumbled across this old piece of yours (http://dallasobserver.com/2006-03-30/news/devil-creek/) regarding Mill Creek. It occurred to me that we don't need the No-ers and their viewed-through-the-windshield tollroad park. We need to dig up Mill Creek, and we can have our very own People's Republic of East Dallas park and waterway. I'll bring the shovels, you bring the beer.

Bryan