Hunt Wants to Know Why She's to Blame For City's Failure to Make Levee Repairs

By Robert Wilonsky Mon., Mar. 29 2010 at 8:29 AM

Categories: News

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Jim's wrapped up his review of Michael Lindenberger's Sunday story in The Dallas Morning News -- you read it, right, the front-pager headlined "Analysis: Dallas' crucial levees only weakened amid debate on park, toll road." Schutze's essay is forthcoming shortly. But till then, then, here's what council member and vote-nay-sayer Angela Hunt has to say on that particular subject. Hunt -- who, once again, was not interviewed for a story about the Trinity River toll road -- posted her comments at 2:39 this morning. And they are lengthy. An excerpt:

I challenge Michael Lindenberger to back up his statement that the referendum delayed much-needed levee improvements by even one day. What particular aspect of the levee project "came to a halt"? At what point did flood control plans halt due to the referendum and later resume and who made those decisions? What evidence exists to support this unsubstantiated claim?

Aside from this clearly erroneous assertion, there is no news in this article. The city has known for decades that our levees are in critical condition. The mayor, council, and city manager have known for years that by interlocking the toll road with levee improvements we are irresponsibly and interminably delaying flood control safety.

Update at 1 p.m.: Lindenberger has responded (sort of, kind of, not really) to Hunt's item:

Hunt take[s] issues with the assertion in the piece that the 2007 referendum over the toll road halted progress on the road. I think the story stands fine as it is. It's clear that momentum on the parkway, which has since become entirely entwined with the parks and levees, stalled as the fate of the referendum was decided.

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You know, momentum on the toll road stalled at the same time that Don Hill's corruption was coming to light. So, clearly, the fact that the Feds sent a clear signal that they were going after corruption in Dallas stalled progress on the toll road since the people who needed to be doing the bribing were obviously scared off from handing out the appropriate bribes to get the thing done. Or maybe it was Bob Barker retiring from the Price is Right that killed the toll road. I mean, things that happen close together are clearly responsible for each other, right? It certainly couldn't be that fact that the $1 billion that we were supposedly sending down the river if we voted no didn't exist (as reported by Sam Merten BEFORE the vote and the Dallas Morning News AFTER the vote). It couldn't be anything having to do with the project itself. It could only have been the vote. And the project remains stalled because why? Because voting yes didn't make $1 billion magically materialize? Or because $1 billion wouldn't have been anywhere near enough even if it had existed? Momentum doesn't make money appear out of nowhere no matter how comfortable the mayor is with lying about where the money is coming from. Maybe the delay is caused by Mayor Leppert refusing to tell anybody where the buckets of money for the project are buried? Wherever school gave Lindenberger his journalism degree needs to shut down their school if they can't even be bothered to teach basic logic or Cause and Effect 101 (or, even more importantly, Pick Up the Phone and Ask Someone Who Knows Something 101). At least when Jayson Blair was caught making things up, it was a bit of a scandal. Lindenberger makes stuff up and we're supposed to applaud his standing by his story.
Although I am a subscriber to the DMN and I saw the article in question, I didn't even read it. Why? Because I already knew what it said! The DMN has no credibility on this issue and its continued spin about the Trinity calls into question the paper's credibility on all other major stories.
Isn't it probable that the writers are just to lazy or uneducated to recognize when their report isn't supported by reality. Imagine each of the writers intently staring at a video game for several decades of their youth, then poof, magically they now write for a newspaper. They simnply haven't any concept about truth or fact checking. They wouldn't know how to investigate a story even if their job required it. The news today is about repeating what you heard and letting the consumer figure it out. Problem is that consumers keep turning to news agencies that have fractured and been gobbled up by Radical Christian Mega-Oil-gomaniacs.
I still don't understand Belo/city math. I can never figure out how taking the unfunded $2 billion road out of the project makes it more expensive as is continually asserted by Mr. Mayor and others (and which was in the DMN story without challenge). If the whole project costs $2.5 billion (let's say), it would seem like taking $2 billion out of that would make it cost less, even if taking the road out takes away a few hundred million in financing (which I don't even know if it does).
It is really amazing to me the spin the DMN continues to put on the Trinity issue. For loyal readers of this blog and The Observer, the DMN article should have left everyone simply scratching their heads in disbelief. First-rate reporting by Schutze has thoroughly and exhaustively fleshed out this subject for years and for the DMN to make a huge splash on the front page on Sunday is simply disingenuous and its just plain sloppy reportage. Perhaps the DMN views all its readers like simpletons and Observer reporters/readers the "nattering nabobs of negativism". To me, this article is akin to local TV stations doing "LIVE!" shots in the dead of night when everything is already over and they just need to prove they are "voting present." I just shake my head. I agree with Jim S., not too soon to begin building that ark. Dallas will never get it.
The "News" article also is incorrect in asserting Trinity Toll Road opponents lost a lawsuit challenging the cumulative adverse impacts of Flood Way Toll Roads. In fact environmental groups successfully challenged Corps of Engineers EIS on Floodway Extension Project for failing to address cummulative impacts including proposed Floodway Toll Roads. Ft Worth Federal District Court ruled in favor of plantiffs ordered Corps to address commulative impacts before proceeding with approval of that EIS. Trinity Toll Road opponents have consistantly ,since 1997, prior to the 98 Trinity Bond Election cited concerns about condition of City maintained levees and increased flooding risks caused by planned Floodway Toll Roads as well as the project proponents grossly understated cost projections associated with flood control improvements needed to accomodate Floodway Toll Roads. Floodway Toll Road oppenents have been proven 100% correct. Flood Control should have always been the primary focus of Trinty Improvements. Parks and flood control are not mutually exclusive the Flood Way Toll Roads and Flood Control are.
The answer to the levee problem is simple, really. Just have JWP and the South Side Gang demand some equity from the river. It'll roll up it's banks and move to Houston.
There will be no Toll Road finally due to cost associated with factors influenced by the location, levees, delays,but most of all the fact that the charge for toll for the few miles it circumvents will be too high for trucks,cars,and even motorcycles to take. The Hon.Angela Hubt had the foresite to feel strong about this location and her feelings have came to pass.The poiwers that be are spending time, money and lip service to cast the blame elswhere.
Oh, come ON, Angela, look on the bright side, hon. At least Lindenberger hasn't yet become so despondent over his pathetic existence as just one more intellectually crate-bound, formula-fattened Bobby Belo veal calf that he's finally strapped on a suicide vest and taken a ride on a DART train, so we can certainly be thankful for that! Have YOU ever tried to remove those gloppy, hyperthermic-fused human lipids from bright new spring colors? Like epoxy! Plus, when the levees DO break all we'll lose will be a bunch of squatters tying up potentially valuable riverine real estate who weren't going to vote for Senator Tom anyway. Hello! Can you say Big Ole Dallas Swimmin' Hole? Wait 'til those Super Bowl fans get a load of OUR New Big Thing! Really, Angela. Glass half full, dear. Malcolm
While Lindenberger mentions the flooding of Rochester Park, there is an obvious omission: Cadillac Heights. Of the latter, it is linked with the Trinity River Corridor project. The past and present politics of CH are avoided in Lindenberger's article and I want to know why. (Okay, obvious answer, there are complicated city politics involved.) The question remains: Why hasn't the city gotten around to building a levee for the folks in CH? Why is CH being left out of Dallas' levee discussion? Engineering and safety first; big dreams second. The scheming of big dreams should include a variety of sane voices not just a few elites.
Michael � Bull�s eye. Over the years, I have been shown a number of readership studies, some of them expensive and elaborate, in which newspaper companies have tried to figure out which element of the product or selling point in the paper is most important to readers in making a decision to read the paper or not. Every single time, the number one issue comes back as credibility. Shouldn�t be a huge surprise. We tell people we are selling them the truth � or the best we can do in that department with bachelor�s degrees and modest pay. So readers want to know, �Is that true? Is this paper telling me the truth or at least doing the best it can do?� People don�t expect enlightenment from journalists, but they do want to know if we have out thumbs on the scale. Every time out, the newspaper people refuse to believe the finding. It�s like staring at the sun. They can�t take it. And they always decide, �No, what they really care about is color sports photography on page one.� So the readership attrition and hemorrhaging continues. Does anybody ever stand up in the meeting and say, �What if we just turned a totally new corner and started doing balls-out chips-fall-where-they-may truth-telling coverage of the Trinity River project?� Maybe. And right after that meeting, the big boss pulls the little boss aside and says, �Who hired the nutcase?�
Hey I agree with Anony Mouse... Let's just put up a buttload of sponges along the levees and let them soak it up... problem solved
We need the tollway as the cars will soak up any flood water that will happen. All we have to do is insist that the toll tags be made of sponges!
In each and every article I read on DMN, I find equally unsubstantiated made-up facts included without any basic credibility oversight. But it's the Internet killing Big News. Right.
Ange, baby, they might backtrack slightly, find weak links to stretch to cover their points, but the DMN will never, never apologize for making innuendo doo doo.
Well, if it is in Dallas Managed News, it must be true. or true as far as our city leaders want their public know. Frankly, Hunt is the only person on the City Council who does not look like a first series Star Trek villain or 'red shirt'. That must be the <i>TRUE</i> reason for the DMN's umbrage!