Not Even The News Can Endorse Neumann

By Jim Schutze Thu., Apr. 21 2011 at 5:25 PM

Categories: Schutze

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The Dallas Morning News has just endorsed attorney Scott Griggs over incumbent District 3 council member Dave Neumann in the May election. If Neumann were a high school quarterback, this would be like his parents going across the field and cheering for the other team.

Switching metaphors, for years Neumann has been one of the screechiest cheerleaders in the city for The News' pet project, the Trinity River toll road. Apparently that wasn't enough to earn him a permanent endorsement.

Of course, ever since Neumann got his ass handed to him by angry constituents at a campaign debate with Griggs two weeks ago, the editorial board has to have been hearing from everybody in his Oak Cliff district. People are furious with him, especially over gas drilling.

It's fairly unheard of for the endorsologists at The News to ditch out on an incumbent (unless it's Eddie Bernice Johnson), but in this case the tougher move might have been to stick with him.

The endorsement says, "This newspaper is impressed not only by [Griggs's] innovative approaches, as president of the Fort Worth Avenue Development Group, to get new businesses into the area, but also his ideas for spurring growth elsewhere in the southern half of the city."

May we say, this blog is favorably impressed by the ability of The News's editorial board to pull its head out of its ass and do something smart for a change once every four or five years, and we heartily encourage the continuation of such praiseworthy behavior in the future. That is all. You may go now.

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I still don't understand how the "thousands of members of the Hispanic community" are not served by the Minyard's, Aldi, and Cost-Plus stores that are already at that intersection? My understanding is that the Neighborhood Market will likely have a price point higher than any of these stores, so the "thousands of members of the Hispanic community" are looking for places more expensive than their current options at this intersection, but cheaper than the prices they would find in a walkable mixed-use development? Picky people, those "thousands of members of the Hispanic communicty"...
Free of charge, as long as you let me sit in on the keytaur from time to time.
I'm totally using "The Jason Roberts Mafia" as my next band name.
ze deutsche.
that there'd be dallus, texus, pawtnah. yep'n we'd shawr preciate's yawl wenz weez r ordurn awr freeto piez...
No, the News' endorsement will not sway many (if any). They generally follow, do not lead, opinion. The fact that they are endorsing a candidate simply means they have determined that candidate is likely to win. They do have better resources to gather information than most of us (not necessarily report, but gather) so their endorsement is probably a good indicator of the likely outcome.
truck full of mexicans..
hey, that's pretty funny. y'know about steve blow.. yep, that's quite a knee-slapper..
I plan on voting for Griggs. But I would classify my vote as more of a no-confidence vote in Neumann. Neumann has played the role of Leppert's lap dog to perfection, but that's not what we want. I do believe Griggs is more in tune with what a lot of his prospective constituents want, And I believe, for the most part, that he is genuinely civically interested in wanting to better his community. But I'll be casting my vote with extreme caution. First, I worry that Griggs is a political creature. His outspokenness against the gas industry is pandering, and if he genuinely believes his claims that he has no ties to the industry, he's capable of building Chinese walls in his own mind -- and that's precisely the dangerous sort of character trait that we suffer all too often of our representatives. Second, I worry that Griggs is overly enthusiatic about reshaping NOC in his own image. Walkability and sustainability are good things, and there's nothing inherently wrong with creating an environment in which people can express themselves more distinctively artistically and entrepreneurially. But the moment that the Jason Roberts mafia tries to export those things to areas currently devoid of that influence, alarm bells go off. A Wal-Mart Neighborhood would be a welcome development for the thousands of members of the Hispanic community that shops near Hampton and Inwood every day. (For those reading this, please, let's not turn that statement into a larger discussion about the evils of Wal-Mart.) That community doesn't give a flying rip about walkability, sustainability, etc. They have zero interest in getting re-zoned out of a Wal-Mart Neighborhood. That may be something that commenters here have a hard time wrapping their heads around, but it's true. If there are limitations to Grigg's enthusiasm, then fine. But if he has designs on colonizing areas too far beyond the boundaries of Kessler Park and Winnetka Heights, that's a dangerous thing.
Petulant monks named Paul.
This is welcome news and I hope that it swings the election to Mr. Griggs, but I can't quite bring myself to credit the DMN with the discovery and removal of its collective head from its collective ass. If a decision was made to withdraw what has seemed like enthusiastic support for Dave Neumann, then Mr. Neumann must now be seen by the DMN as unable to further the real estate and business goals of its editorial board.
Who you callin' "you people"?
Let's see...what can we conclude from all this? Why, that Jim Schutze and most of the commenters here believe that the Dallas Morning News Editorial Board, usually so clueless that it must take a meeting to sort out whose ass is whose among them (okay, the big, soft fat one, that's M's, the flat, scrawny one, that's T's,...), makes or breaks elections with its endorsements. Joanne R tells us "Good for Scott! This will ensure his win." Really? Is that how you people think reality works? When the organ you can never believe says something you like, not only does it magically become true, it creates future political reality? No wonder you people remain rightly regarded by your betters as dependably harvestable prey items.
Can I "like" this: "May we say, this blog is favorably impressed by the ability of The News's editorial board to pull its head out of its ass and do something smart for a change once every four or five years" two hundred times or so?
You jest, right? They are not tying themselves in knots. They are just building and waiting to climax. They intend to endorse Rawlings. Bet you all the kings horses and all the kings men, they will endorse Rawlings. He is the choice of a lot of groups.
I don't believe the voter ID bill is going to take effect yet, so let's all go vote in district 3, whether we live there or not.
I'm sorry...what land do you live in? No one I know gives a rat's ass what Dallas Morning News editorial team says. And, I ONLY know Democrats. Wouldn't have it any other way. DMNews is a Republican rag.
Naw. It's just a sign that they (DMNews) sees the handwriting on the wall. They know they have lost all credibility in Dallas. No one takes their silly paper anymore. And, since the idiots in the corporate office made their on-line stories pay-to-read, and even screwed that up so you can't sign-in, their advertisers are jumping ship. So, someone over there in Belo land must have realized they should stop pissing everyone off.
I'm still reeling over the fact that Angela Hunt is sending out eblasts with link to a DMNews article. the one where they endorsed her. I tell you, I never thought I'd see the day Angela Hunt would promote DMNews. Good for Scott! This will ensure his win. And, congrats to Angela--that was a super great endorsement they gave her.
I don't personally reside in his district, but I still believe i've got a dog in this hunt, so all I can say is if Mr.Griggs gets voted in I hope he stays true to his mission, works for his constituents diligently, and Scott... just don't let them bigwigs get under yer skin. You Go Boy!
Guess that's game over for Neumann. The News always loves incumbents unless and until it looks like an incumbent will lose; then they'll switch sides in a New York minute. Guess they've read the tea leaves on this one and concluded Griggs will win. Now they can continue tying themselves in knots over which mayoral candidate to back.
e tu, Dallas Morning News?
"I don't live in District 3, but if I did, I'd vote for Scott Griggs." -MattL1
We endorse Scott Griggs as well. But you already knew that.
I imagine the dialogue going on in David Neumann's head right now is something like, "oh...you mean I was supposed to represent my constituants and not ignore them?"..."they really care about this whole gas and homeless thing?"...."TOM LEPPERT, why hast thou forsaken me?!?!" I'm sure the news also recognizes that the toll road is dead and anything that can shoo off the old backers will allow for a quick change in re-thinking city planning and reallocating that time and energy into things that actually work in making a city great.
but he's right.
He is grumpy...
I think they're hoping some of the people that hold those same opinions will fork over $35/mo to read their screed online. My guess is readership has plummeted since the paywall went up around Steve Blow.
Could it be they actually have a conscience? The winds of change are blowing, and the DMN is reacting to it. BRAVO!!!!!!! (now all they have to worry about is all the bad stuff they have supported).
......and "justice" for all.........sometimes it takes a little time...........
Really? Not one single person in Dallas cares what the Dallas Morning News editorial board thinks? Not a single one? My we know it all, don't we...and in a very smug way, too... You sure you're a Democrat cause those are usually the traits of the other team, you know.
This probably was an easy decision. As one who lives in his district, I can honestly say he sucks as a representative.
I'm still trying to figure out how The News's editorial board can still be Latino free for the past several years, guess they could find a Hispanic Bircher. Then again maybe the Latino Community has figured out the DMN Editorial Board is useless, insignificant, and not one care's what they think.
That picture pretty much sums up how he's been looking lately. It's his own fault.
Amen, brother.
So the DMN is pro Hunt, anti Neumann, and anti bike bridge? Maybe they're starting to sense the change coming. Maybe this is a sign that ineptitude and corruption are on the wane.... n'ah
cant wait to vote him out