Once More, a Mayor Will Venture Down to Deep Ellum to, Like, Talk and Stuff

• I hate to be so negative about this issue. However the Mayor can not do a damn thing about this. Live music in Dallas is dead. This is really hard to put into words, but I will try. The Deep Ellum live music scene was something that built itself. It was not a master-planned music community. It was a "TRUE" scene. Not many cities have that. Now it has become a screwed up mess of political quagmire. It is not worth the effort to even think about trying to fight to win Deep Ellum back. Trust me I tried. Now, another venue is gone. RIP "Red Blood" you were the TRUE PUNK venue. Now what are the Punk fans supposed to do? I wish things were different. If they were, we would move down to the old Deep Ellum in a heartbeat.

• I do appreciate your kind words, that first dude commenting made me surly or maybe it was just having to put on the suit. Too bad I can't afford to screen print it, that is how it would look the best. I'll get you a print, but you'll have to stand in line with your glitter pen to get the Mayor to sign it. Maybe he'll use hearts to dot the i's.

• Well, Mark, as noted above, and as I told you yesterday, I dig the poster -- would love to get one for framing, but only if the mayor signs it "with love."

• Thanks, Mark for speaking out for us fellow deep ellumians...ellumites...ellumonians...us folks down here.

• I just got back from our meeting with Mayor Leppert, several members of the DEA, Alan Govenar and a ReelFX representative. The meeting went very well, our goal was to inform the mayor who we were, the issues facing the area and our strategy going forward and we achieved these goals. The presentation can be downloaded as a pdf here: http://www.printelectric.com/mark/DEA_Presentation_mayor_r.pdf Mr Govenar led off with a brief description of his credentials, which are substantial, and a general nod of approval for our organization and mission. We then started our presentation where Sean Fitzgerald laid out the DEA vision, then Sean Jensen from ReelFX described the attraction of Deep Ellum to the creative people he recruits and, all the while Gianna Madrini kept us all moving in the right direction. The Mayor�s response was very favorable and he seemed to appear as though we were preaching to the choir on almost everything we presented. He seems to carry similar thoughts of Deep Ellum as an authentic, definable neighborhood which needs to keep its unique flavor in order to build a well-rounded city. From there we did give some of our thoughts about how the current SUP process was well-intentioned but has fostered a perception of fear with regards to opening a new pub or live music venue in Deep Ellum. Our opinion is; people are avoiding the area since of all the press; in addition, the parking restrictions have kept clubs like Trees from re-opening; and some bar owners (whom I know personally) are trying to sell out before their SUP expires in 3-4 years since they risk getting shut down at the caprice of the neighbors. He expressed a great deal of concern regarding these issues since his take is the city should be facilitator of small, entrepreneurial endeavors and not an obstacle. We also brushed on the fact that some of the large property owners who appear content to sit on the land and wait for Dart to come in so they can cash in. Our take was if we could spur renovation and conscientious development when the doors open to the train in 2010, there will be something inviting greeting perspective patrons of the neighborhood. The Mayor was a bit guarded on this subject (in my opinion) but I think this is a tough thing to rectify and generally a sticky subject. The Mayor stressed the overarching need for City involvement during this process. It seemed to me toward the end of the meeting he was looking for a punch list of finite next steps, which we did not have prepared. Our goal was to sell the vision and I guess he was an easier sell than we had anticipated. Once we conduct the Town Hall Meeting he'll hear from all of you that can make it. From there we will work to gather a consensus from the neighborhood and deliver his punchlist based on the the input and guidelines set down by our mission document. Oh and I did the poster art, I think its kind of cool and Hatch-esque. But what do I know, its just my profession.

• Hmmm... Tom has a meet and greet the day after Angela has a fund raiser.

• Yeah i agree Chris, it's pretty hard for 9-to-5'ers to make meetings like this. It wasn't planned to exclude anyone, I'm sure the time was set according to the mayor's schedule but i feel your pain.

• Wow...ya gotta love them timing this thing for keeping out people who really have to work for a living in the middle of the day, not all of us ellumites have the freedom to just hang out all afternoon.

• Deep Ellum has its share of delusional crackpots just like every other neighborhood but cooler heads always prevail. The meeting will be constructive and, at the very least, demonstrate to The City that Deep Ellum is more organized and unified then ever before. Hopefully I can make it, i need an afternoon off anyway.

• Nathan says: Tom Leppert while entering Sons of Herman: "This location would make a great Gap/Starbucks combo!" ************** Hooray for Nathan! You nailed it.

• This could be fun! I might stop on my way at the Copper Tank and get a sampler platter... Oh wait, forgot.

• The Big Guy thinks that rather than looking like an election poster from Deadwood, the poster should have been a tribute to Alton Kelley. Both Mayor Tom and The Deep Ellum Committee act like people who have a drug induced distorted view of reality.

• Tom Leppert while entering Sons of Herman: "This location would make a great Gap/Starbucks combo!"

• It should actually read, "Deep Ellum: Mayor Tom wants to know just how long it's going to take to turn this bitch into Knox Street South"

• The poster should read - Deep Ellum Circle Jerk, starring Tom Leppert & The Strokers.

• could that flyer be any more un-deep ellum?

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