Dallas News Blog

Sam Merten

​Earlier this week, state Sen. Royce West sent to Dallas County Democratic Party precinct chairs a missive beneath the subject heading "From One Democrat to Another." It has become, during the last 48 hours, a subject of much conversation among those who received it. (Well, that's not entirely true. Some of the precinct chairs to whom I spoke this afternoon don't recall getting it or went ahead and deleted it upon receipt. Nothing personal, Royce, swear.)

It was sent by Daniel Clayton, who works in West's campaign office, and was typed beneath West's official "Senate of the State of Texas" letterhead. It reads, in full:

Fellow Democrat:

As we approach the 2010 election cycle, we should take pride in the resurgence of the Democratic Party as the dominate party in Dallas County. Citizens have put their faith, hope, and trust in democratic elected officials to provide the concerted leadership necessary to maintain our county government, judiciary, and criminal justice systems.

We know that the best is yet to come if we continue to work as a team! The team approach requires cooperation between elected officials.

I assert and hope you agree with me, that the best interest of the citizens in Dallas County and the Democratic Party are far more important than the self interests of any one elected official.

Know this, that no elected official is indispensable!  If you agree with this assertion, I ask that you email me an acknowledgement.

From one Democrat to Another,
State Senator Royce West

​Nearly three months after he told us that Tanya Watkins -- the wife of District Attorney Craig Watkins -- working as a campaign consultant for judicial candidates posed an "ethical dilemma" for the couple and presented "the potential appearance of impropriety," Dallas County Republican Party chair Jonathan Neerman was quoted in yesterday's Dallas Morning News regarding Tanya's gig.

"It's one more brick in the wall," he told The News. "One more reason for voters in Dallas County to oppose Watkins."

This prompted an e-mail, which can be read after the jump, from Watkins' campaign sent at 10:22 last night to supporters featuring photos of both Craig and Tanya. In the missive, Craig writes: "I personally take issue with Mr. Neerman" for, among other things, mounting "an attack against my wife and family."

Tanya hasn't responded to a message left on her cell phone, and Jamille Bradfield, Craig's spokesperson, says he is out of town and unavailable until Monday. Neerman, however, tells Unfair Park that he's surprised Watkins singled him out because he viewed his comment as "fairly innocuous," especially when compared to the statements in the same story from Craig McDonald and Lynn Pride Richardson, who both called it "a conflict of interest."

"It raises the appearance of impropriety when a family member is a political consultant for candidates in Dallas County, and the voters have a right to question that," Neerman says. "If he has such tunnel vision that he doesn't see that voters would raise questions about this, then I can't help him."

Danny Clancy

Here we go again. First it was Phillip Linder. Then it was David Finn. Now Danny Clancy is the latest criminal defense lawyer to announce his plans to do the seemingly impossible: knock off incumbent District Attorney Craig Watkins.

The former Dallas County prosecutor and judge says he has been considering it since he heard Toby Shook decided against running himself for a second time against Watkins. Then Clancy received a call yesterday from Finn, who told him he wanted to spend time with his children. "I think David just jumped the gun a little bit," Clancy says.

Finn agrees that he made his announcement prematurely, and after a discussion with his four young children (ages 11, 9, 7 and 5), he realized he was being selfish. "I could tell that I was putting my desires ahead of their needs," he says.

Clancy stresses that he'll run a positive campaign, and the Dallas County District Attorney's Office needs a leader at the top who has his experience and ability to lead by example. Much like Finn, who is now supporting Clancy, he couldn't resist complimenting Watkins when asked about what he'd do differently, calling the Innocence Project a "blessing," saying Watkins has done an "outstanding" job of bringing the issue to the forefront and labeling it as "a credit to him and his administration."

However, he does say Watkins could do a better job of communicating with the commissioners court. "I honestly believe that Dallas County is tired of turning on the news and seeing our DA going toe-to-toe with our commissioners," he tells Unfair Park. "We would all be better served if we were all working together looking for solutions with budget issues instead of trying to beat each other up."

So, how long until Clancy's out and someone else is in? "I'm committed 110 percent," he says.

George W. Bush has been seen this week trying out his Thursday afternoon speech on anyone he can find at SMU.

​George W. Bush has been spotted quite frequently hanging around the SMU campus since his retirement -- grabbin' a Goff's No. 2, playin' a little Frisbee golf in front of Dallas Hall, doin' a little 2 a.m. backstroke at Perkins Natatorium, the usual. But today, he makes it for reals with an afternoon speech at McFarlin Auditorium, where he'll talk about his George W. Bush Institute -- his first real sneak preview of the so-called "action-oriented think tank" attached to the George W. Bush Presidential Center on the SMU campus. James Glassman, executive director of the institute, gives The New York Times a hint of what George and Laura will talk about:

Mr. Bush will announce the appointment of the first five of two dozen scholars to be affiliated with the institute, which has already scheduled a half-dozen conferences for next year, according to organizers. The former first lady, Laura Bush, will also speak at Thursday's event to discuss how women's issues will be injected into all the institute's program areas, including sponsorship of a conference on the education of women in Afghanistan.

"The president has been working with these ideas for a long time now," said James K. Glassman, a former top State Department official now serving as the institute's founding executive director. "He wanted to do something very different from other former presidents, and that is to create a research institute that's independent, nonpartisan and scholarly and that will have an impact on the real world."

Update at 12:36 p.m.: More Dubya news today: He's chosen the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia to conduct a "comprehensive oral history of his presidency." Says Bush, "This oral history project will offer future generations a comprehensive look at what it was like to lead the country during some extraordinary challenges."

Update at 3 p.m.: The Washington Times provides the initial coverage of Bush's speech, during which he said, "As the world recovers, we will face a temptation to replace the risk-and-reward model of the private sector with the blunt instruments of government spending and control. History shows that the greater threat to prosperity is not too little government involvement, but too much."

David Finn

Less than two months after we introduced you to criminal defense lawyer Phillip Linder, the would-be Republican challenger to Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins has stepped aside and is now supporting David Finn, a fellow criminal defense lawyer and former trial judge and federal prosecutor.

At least that's what we've been told by Finn, who says he also has the backing of Toby Shook and others yet to be announced. Finn adds that he doesn't expect a challenger in the primary, so it will be smooth sailing until November. So what makes him think he's got a shot against Watkins?

"I like Craig. He's a friend. I've known him for a long time. I've supported him. I've had at least one fund-raiser for him and contributed to his campaigns, but this latest series of stories on Channel 8 on this catch-and-release policy really concerns me as a citizen. When we've got alleged or arrested murderers and child rapists being deported to Mexico before they step foot in court really concerns me."

More from Finn tomorrow, along with thoughts from Dallas County GOP chair Jonathan Neerman. We hope to talk to Linder as well.

Sam Merten

Neerman's right. He does have a lot more gray hair than Perry.

When Dallas County Republican chair Jonathan Neerman told us that the election of Cathie Adams as the state party's new chair "set the party back five years," even the editorial board at The Dallas Morning News took notice. A few days later, DMN'er Gromer Jeffers tried to make peace between Neerman and Adams, and then Jeffers brought up Neerman's comment to Governor Rick Perry during Sunday's broadcast of Inside Politics.

"Jonathan probably wished he could probably take that back, actually." Perry said near the 15:10 mark. "Look, Jonathan's a great kid, does a wonderful job up in Dallas ..."

Jeffers offers Neerman's response to the "kid" characterization in today's paper, but what struck us was Perry's statement that Neerman wishes he could take his comment back about Adams.

"I don't [wish I could take it back]. In context of how we move forward as a party, I stand by what I said," Neerman tells Unfair Park. "I haven't spoken with the governor or his office about it, so I'm not sure why he'd make that assumption."

Neerman says while he doesn't know the motivation behind Perry's remark, he doesn't believe it was nefarious. "It may be that he has heard criticism and he thinks that I'm hearing that same level of criticism, but I'm not. I'm actually hearing more supportive comments than negative comments."

Given that Adams supports Perry and the two are like-minded on social issues, Neerman says he hopes Perry doesn't view his comment as indirect criticism. "I've made clear that I am not taking a side in the governor's race, and I certainly wouldn't criticize any of our elected leaders."

Brian Harkin

Sure, you've probably already heard by now that Mitchell Rasansky might run for Dallas County judge. However, the benefit of not speaking with the former North Dallas council member until today yielded a much more definitive answer about his intentions.

Rasansky tells Unfair Park that while he hasn't made up his mind and he still needs to discuss the decision with his wife Rita, he's "thinking extremely, extremely seriously about it" after fielding numerous phone calls from politicians and citizens urging him to challenge Cedar Hill council member Wade Emmert in the Republican primary.

"My phone has been ringing off the wall this morning," he says. "I'm probably leaning toward the race."

Emmert called him yesterday, Rasansky says, but he has no comment on the details of the conversation. Emmert tells us, "I just wanted to find out if the rumors were true, and at the time, he said he hadn't made his decision yet."

Danny Fulgencio

Perry fields questions from reporters today in Grand Hall at Union Station.

The land of opportunity still exists in America, and it's in Texas. At least, that's what Governor Rick Perry told nearly 200 folks gathered this afternoon at Union Station for the Texas Economic Development Summit.

Less government results in fewer hurdles for businesses, Perry said. "Bottom line: The word's out on Texas. The word is good."

After wrapping up his 10-minute speech by saying Texas is the best place "on earth" to live, work and raise a family, we caught up with Perry to answer a burning question on our mind.

Sure, there are a lot of things about Perry we don't quite understand, but we especially can't get a handle on his rhetoric regarding the stimulus funds. Perry is the face of the tea party movement, which rails against the stimulus package. Heck, he even entertained the idea of secession if government spending gets out of control. The governor also pats himself on the back for balancing the budget and rejecting $550 million in stimulus money for unemployment insurance, while his campaign refers to Kay Bailey Hutchison as "Kay Bailout."

It all seems to make sense until you realize that the Legislature used $14 billion in stimulus dough to balance the budget during this year's session. (House Democratic Leader Jim Dunnam discussed this issue in an op-ed piece for the Austin American-Statesman last week.) So it seemed natural to attempt to get the governor to descramble these mixed messages. Jump for his attempt, but mind the gymnastics.

Sam Merten

Ann Margolin and Angela Hunt

​Yesterday, just after Angela Hunt posted her lengthy essay titled "Ethics Reform at City Hall," Jim wrote that "we can thank council members Hunt, Ann Margolin and Linda Koop for adding the only real teeth in this poor gum-smacker." So happens that on Monday, Margolin also weighed on the subject (and last Wednesday's meeting that ended up in a pile of straw) on her occasionally updated Web site -- and her item's a two-parter. First part's titled "Ethics Reform: What Happened"; the second, "Ethics Reform: What We Did." An excerpt or two, in advance of the November 9 council vote:

These ordinances are not simple. It may sound simple to say we should register lobbyists but you have to carefully define lobbyist or you risk including neighborhood associations that talk to their council member about a zoning case.

What does it mean to register? What are the reporting requirements? Do contacts with staff have to be reported or just council members? What are the fees? If you are going to prohibit contributions from a developer during a zoning case, when does the zoning case start? Each of these questions needs careful consideration.

The Dallas Morning News contributed to this sense of urgency and implied that council members were resisting and dragging our feet. I promise you that I was not and I don't believe this was true for the huge majority of the council. We had our first full briefing on the subject on October 19, nine days before it came to the council as an agenda item. ...

Before I explain what we did, I want to be clear that nothing we did or can ever do will stop corruption if an officeholder is willing to be bribed.

There are laws that landed Don Hill in a courtroom. They were in place and did not stop corruption. We are now passing stricter ordinances. They make an important statement. They will shed light on who speaks with whom and prohibit certain contributions. In the end it comes down to each public official.

Peter and Tamara Lowe

​Apparently, there was some miscommunication at the offices of A. Larry Ross Communications, the firm that handles publicity for Get Motivated Seminars, Inc. Last week, as you will recall, Ross's office sent out a press release announcing that Tamara Lowe, co-founder of Get Motivated, wasn't at all happy with some of the coverage George W. Bush received after making his speaking debut at last Monday's motivational hoedown in Fort Worth. In the note, Lowe was quoted as saying Bush "delivered an inspirational, articulate and engaging speech" that received thunderous applause, yet the "media coverage continues to caricature his performance."

We didn't talk to Lowe Friday, as we'd hoped, because she didn't OK the press release after all, or so she tells Unfair Park today: "My publicity team sent that out without my approval," she says. "I was disappointed it went out. I don't have any frustration. Everybody's entitled to their opinion." Well, all right then.

"Part of it's entertainment," she says. "I consider it a badge of honor to be spoofed by The Daily Show or Jay Leno." Fair enough.

But what about the line in her missive about Bush's speech being "the best ever" given by a former president?

​You are aware that are there elections tomorrow, right? Probably not, unless you're in a district of the Dallas Independent School District with a seat on the board of trustees that's ripe for the takin'. (What constitutional amendments?) Hence Bruce Sherbet's prediction that no more than 3 percent of Dallas County will have cast their lots by 7 p.m. Tuesday. "And probably 40 percent of that has voted early," the county's elections administrator tells Unfair Park today, pointing to the 14,750 tallied by Friday's end. "That's nothing to write home about," Sherbet says.

Two years ago Dallas managed to get 14 percent of its registered voters to the polls -- but that was when the Trinity River Toll Road was on the ballot, luring an impressive 37,237 to the polls during early voting. Tomorrow, as Sherbet puts it, is just a "standard, low-profile constitutional election." The only drawing card is the DISD races, and Sherbet expects all of them are likely to wind up in runoffs. (Which is bad news for my neighborhood, where Edwin Flores and Kyle Renard supporters, many of whom are good friends, have turned on each other with surprising and unfortunate vitriol.)

"It's possible with a low turnout, it'll be hard to eke out 50 percent plus one vote to avoid a runoff," Sherbetsays. On the good-news front: No lines, and Sherbet figures the results should be in 'round 9 p.m., which is when we'll post our results. Maybe.

Sam Merten

Houston Mayor Bill White, who won't run for governor, even though he has a hard time saying the words himself.

At the conclusion of his poorly attended campaign stop in Plano on Saturday, Houston Mayor Bill White addressed the rumors that he'll take his $6 million in campaign contributions and head over to the governor's race if Kay Bailey Hutchison hasn't left her Senate seat by the January 4 filing deadline. After all, while heavyweights Hutchison and Governor Rick Perry square off in an epic battle for the Republican nomination, the Democrats are sorely lacking in star power as Tom Schieffer, Kinky Friedman and Tyler rancher Hank Gilbert are among the candidates in the Democratic primary.

Katy Bacon, White's spokesperson, quashed similar rumors to The Dallas Morning News in August circulating from his vague bumper sticker slogan of "for Texas" as opposed to "for U.S. Senate," but then White himself struggled to answer the question when asked a month later by the Houston Chronicle. White continued to avoid answering the question directly when we asked him four times about it, but Bacon sent this missive our way this morning.

I see that folks are picking up your slant on "Will Bill White run for gov?"

The answer is no. Bill's running for Senate, period.

I think because your first question started with, "What's Senator Hutchison going to do?" he started answering about that instead of about what he is or is not doing.

I didn't ping you on it because I figured you were just looking for a catchy headline, but just wanted to make sure you knew that he's running for Senate, period.

Searching for a link between President Obama and Hitler? No worries. New state GOP chair Cathie Adams has you covered.

If you didn't notice when Texas Republican Party chair Tina Benkiser stepped down last month to join Governor Rick Perry's re-election campaign as a senior adviser, you're forgiven. We didn't pay it much attention either. But when the State Republican Executive Committee recently elected radical right winger Cathie Adams to finish out Benkiser's term, we found ourselves actually caring about what the SREC is and how best to avoid its members.

Call us crazy, but for a party in desperate need of new leadership, is Adams really the best they have? After all, she was one of the loudest voices during the Republicans scare campaign against President Obama's speech to students. "This is eerily like Hitler's youth movement," Adams wrote in a September 5 e-mail to fellow Republicans. (Some free advice: Never invoke the name of Adolf Hitler. Those who do are often found in a room with four padded walls.)

Dallas County GOP chair Jonathan Neerman says the party needs "serious leaders with serious ideas," and Adams apparently doesn't fit that description. "She has been part of an issue group that has gone after Republicans, and I don't know how she can shift gears and go from being an issue-group leader going after Republican candidates and elected officials to now being one where she has to try and grow the party."

Photos by Sam Merten

Houston Mayor Bill White's speech Saturday afternoon in Plano was initially as insipid as the front of the brochures handed out at the door touting his experience as a Sunday school teacher. "I'm here to work for you, and that's about it," White said at the Baker Bros American Deli on West Parker Road.

After apologizing for arriving an hour late and introducing himself to the dozen local Democrats on hand, White -- one of several candidates lining up to battle in a potential special election for U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison's seat should she resign, as she's indicated, to focus on winning the Republican gubernatorial primary against Rick Perry -- said he'd fight for better education and reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil as senator. He briefly discussed his experience as U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy and subsequent tenure as the chair of the Texas Democratic Party, stressed that he "knows how to win" and didn't hesitate to reinforce negative stereotypes associated with the Republican Party.

"I'm frustrated with people that stand up at town hall meetings and try to out shout their neighbors. Aren't you? I mean, really," White said. "I'm embarrassed as an American by people who get up and shout liar at the commander and chief of the United States in the House of Representatives of our country. We need leadership in this country who want our national leadership to succeed, not people who are wanting them to fail to satisfy their right-wing agenda."

​Maybe you've heard the radio ads: Rudy Giuliani (didgeridoo), Colin Powell (bass), Terry Bradshaw (lead vocals), Zig Ziglar (banjo), Robert Schuller (keytar), Rick Belluzo (hurdy gurdy) and Tamara Lowe (bagpipes) are getting the band back together for an all-star jam session at the Fort Worth Convention Center this Monday, Monday, Monday. All killer, no filler. And, on spoons and bongos, it's George W. Bush, who's been working as a maître d' at a French restaurant in Preston Royal after a brief stint as a back-up dancer for a touring African combo. All for the low, low price of $19 (for the whole office!), concert tees and 34-tape boxed sets sold very separately.

Last night, Rachel Maddow devoted a fairly huge hunk of her show to the daylong festival, and, for the segment titled "In a Van Down by the River" (remember?), she invited her old pal Wayne Slater of The Dallas Morning News's Austin bureau to once more dissect Bush's brain. Slater has clearly already sneak-peeked the T-shirts: "The Legacy Tour." Because the Victory Tour's already been done. The video's after the jump. Go now, you winner!

Mark Graham

Sure, Woodlief's Allyn Media has brought in about seven times the amount Reed has from Tom Leppert-related campaigns, but Reed remains the queen of consulting.

As the city council continues to discuss ethics reform in the aftermath of 23 guilty verdicts in the Dallas City Hall corruption trial, we thought it would be worthwhile to take a gander at the money that consultants and lobbyists are already required to report. Because Carol Reed's name came up in the trial (to the tune of $100,000 while securing votes of the white folks on the council for developer Bill Fisher), we decided to comb recent campaign finance reports for her combined take in Tom Leppert's mayoral campaign, along with the Trinity River toll road and convention center hotel referendums. We also looked at the committee formed to help repay Leppert's personal loans of $950,000 from his campaign called Friends of Tom Leppert. (Thus far, Leppert has been reimbursed $78,000.)

We logged the expenditures into an Excel spreadsheet, and just for fun, we included payments to Allyn Media, Kathy Nealy, Brenda Reyes and Willis Johnson. Allyn Media and president Mari Woodlief led the way with a whopping $3.6 million, with $2.4 million spent on advertising, $570,000 on direct mail and $145,000 on consulting. Reed brought in nearly $540,000 ($457,000 on consulting); Reyes, who replaced John Loza on the DFW Airport board because of his stance on the Trinity, has earned $237,000 through her company, Arriba Solutions; Nealy raked in slightly more than $200,000 for her work on the hotel campaign; and Johnson, a radio personality and Leppert's gateway into South Dallas, brings in the rear at $145,000 through his company, JBJ Marketing.

​Jim spent a few minutes yesterday trying to keep from giggling like a little girl as the Dallas City Council struggled to reform its ethics. Some council members were way for 'em; others, not so much. Which brings us to Angela Hunt's short essay on her Web site concerning restrictions on campaign contributions: City Attorney Tom Perkins has drafted a proposal that disallows folks with zoning cases from giving council members money 60 days before or after their particular issue is taken up at City Hall. A buffer, if you will. Which seems -- you guessed it -- rather arbitrary and altogether toothless. Hence, Hunt's post, in which she writes that, look, that ain't nearly enough:

Zoning cases aren't the only matters where significant financial interests are at stake. Tax abatements, TIF project requests, housing tax credits, contracts with the City of Dallas -- all of these matters have very serious monetary consequences for the applicant. So why not expand the proposed contribution limitations to include these matters as well

As for the timeframe on the restriction: sixty days is too short, especially when zoning cases often begin up to a year before zoning notices are sent out (the trigger for the 60 days). ... Instead, we should restrict contributions to a year before the application is made to the city and a year after a decision is made. Similar triggers would need to be determined for the other matters decided by the council (TIF requests, tax credits, etc.). I would not object to placing the same restrictions on non-incumbent council candidates, not just officeholders, to ensure a level playing field.

This would most likely have a chilling effect on contributions to councilmembers -- who can predict when they will bring a zoning case before the city, bid on a city contract, or request TIF funds? -- but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. We don't need the appearance of a "pay to play" system in Dallas, and broadening the scope of the issues covered by this reform, as well as expanding the time limitation, will go a long way in reducing the appearance of impropriety and helping the City of Dallas regain the public trust.

Photos by Kimberly Thorpe

​It doesn't sound like a buzzword or a catch phrase -- at least, not like "Obamacare" or "Socialism." But heading into the next election season, keep an eye out for it: "educated voter." That was the phrase being bandied about Saturday, when Unfair Park headed to Lakewood Theater for the founded-by-Dick-Armey Institute for Policy Innovation "Policy Boot Camp," sponsored, in part, by the Dallas Tea Party.

The event promised to teach the 400 attendees -- at $30 a head -- "very basic public policy," in the words of IPI president Tom Giovanetti. "If they're going to get active," Giovanetti said of protesters who've been turning out to health-care forums, "we want them to be educated activists."

On the "curriculum": five speakers who addressed
the usual topics, among them health-care reform and tax policy both here and in Washington, D.C. The theater was packed with audience members armed with notepads and pens; this was serious business, like the first day of school. Bartlett Cleland, director of IPI's Center for Technology Freedom, stood on the stage beneath bright lights. Next to him was a a giant pull-down screen that read "Introduction of legislation"; it was much like a Schoolhouse Rock cartoon. Cleland said as much; the crowd laughed. Then it was down to serious business

"It's very, very interesting," said Irving's Gordon Arnold during the lunch break, for which attendees were provided with boxed lunches. "They're dealing with some very important topics, and they're very thorough." Arnold's a Tea Party member and said he attended the event to support the group -- far as he could tell, most everybody in the theater was on the same e-mail list.

"One of the speakers made an excellent comment," Arnold said, "and that was that we're going to turn into an educated voter contingency."

What did that mean?

"Educated voters," Arnold said. "So that we don't have to accept what politicians say at face value. We can think for ourselves on some of these issues."

Former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk at the U.S.-Africa Business Summit in D.C. earlier this month

​That is, unless you have business with former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, who, in his position as U.S. Trade Representative, will be holed up at the hotel Monday talking North American Free Trade Agreement. But, as Kirk cautioned in April, don't count on anyone "reopening" NAFTA any time soon. So, then, what's on the agenda? Let's ask the press release:

United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk will host two media events at the meeting of the Free Trade Commission of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in Dallas, Texas, on October 19, 2009. Ambassador Kirk will meet with his Ministerial colleagues, Canada's Trade Minister Stockwell Day and Mexico's Secretary of the Economy Gerardo Ruiz Mateos, to discuss ways to enhance our trading relationship and to ensure that the benefits of our trilateral economic relationship are widely shared and sustainable. Among the issues to be discussed is the relationship between trade, labor and the environment under the NAFTA.

On a semi-related note, Dallas Fed head Richard Fisher spoke at SMU this morning. Long story short, per The Wall Street Journal recap: "Fisher argued that despite a decline in global trade flows, globalization is still 'very much alive,' though the magnitude of the drop did come as a surprise."

Hal Samples

Family reasons? Give us a break, Neerman. Geez, like we haven't heard that one before.

On Tuesday, DMN'er Gromer Jeffers reported on one of the paper's 423 blogs (apparently they have one named after the Portland Trail Blazers) that Dallas County Republican Party chair Jonathan Neerman (and the target of the plot to blow up Fountain Place, according to one fine journalist) will not challenge Democrat Allen Vaught for the District 107 house seat (Neerman told us in July that he was considering it). I dismissed the item because I had heard the news earlier in the day, but it caught my attention when Jeffers posted a follow-up yesterday titled "I owe Neerman an apology."

In my post, I quipped that Neerman, among other things, used family concerns as a reason for not embarking on what would have been a tough race.

Indeed, Neerman has had considerable family issues this past year, including the premature birth of his son.

So I apologize if my post made it appear that Neerman was unnecessarily using his family to dodge a race against Vaught. That's certainly not the case.

Neerman is a good guy and deserves better. I hope buying him a cold beer and sending his wife some flowers makes up for the mistake.

Naturally, I then read the original post, which he wrapped up thusly:

Neerman considers the Dallas swing district a potential pickup for Republicans, if they can field the right candidate.

He won't be that candidate, which means he'll continue efforts to rebuild the local party. There's also the often used excuse of spending more time with family.

Mr. Neerman, your thoughts?

UT Southwestern

Dr. Bill Peterson

Council member Angela Hunt has nominated Dr. Bill Peterson, a professor of biochemistry at UT Southwestern Medical Center, to replace term-limited Neil Emmons on the city plan commission. Peterson's term as Hunt's appointee to the city's senior affairs commission expired Wednesday, and Hunt expects the city council to approve the nomination later this month.

"Bill has been actively involved in the community for years, and I've watched him be an advocate," Hunt says. "I've watched him participate in zoning cases, and I've been impressed with the way he's articulated his positions and the way he's worked well with others."

Peterson's involvement with the city includes serving as head of the Dallas Police Department Crime Watch executive board from 2002 to 2006 and lead database manager for the 2006 citywide graffiti wipe-out, volunteering more than 3,000 hours for the DPD and earning the distinction as the DPD Crime Watch volunteer of the year in 2008. He first met Hunt when he lived in the Peak's Suburban Addition Historic District, which is in District 2, but abuts Hunt's district and is an area she's involved in because of her passion for historic preservation.

Serving on the advisory committee for the city's comprehensive plan known as forwardDallas! and involvement in neighborhood zoning issues such as Baylor Hospital's planned development district highlight his land use and zoning experience. "I've actually done a fair amount of reading city code and following what happens, trying to analyze what happens," Peterson tells Unfair Park. "I am neighborhood friendly, as I believe Ms. Hunt would be described, but I'm not anti-development, which I believe Ms. Hunt would be described."

Patrick Michels

Phillip Linder, the Republican who, next month, will announce he's running for Dallas County District Attorney

​Anyone who thought Dallas County Republicans would go quietly into the night just because they got their asses handed to them on the courthouse steps in the 2006 election romp is seriously mistaken. Proof comes in the form of Phillip Linder, who must not have gotten the memo that Dallas County has been stained dark blue and, if you ask the Democrats, indelibly so. Nonetheless, Linder recently has made public his plans to take on incumbent Democratic District Attorney Craig Watkins, a formidable foe in his own right, a national media darling (some say hound) for his game-changing play regarding the exoneration of defendants wrongfully convicted under the regimes of his red-meat prosecutorial predecessors.

Linder was gracious enough to grant us an interview, (the guy's a political unknown who can use all the free pub he can generate), agreeing to meet us at Unfair Park HQ. Though admittedly nervous at his first full-contact interview, the well-dressed, short-haired, criminal defense attorney acquitted himself nicely. He should also present well at all those tedious Republican women's club gatherings he will be forced to attend. Good luck with that.

What follows is our Q&A, edited for space, readability and the empathic urge to prevent a political newbie from shooting himself in the foot before he gets out of the starting blocks. Linder will formally announce his candidacy the first week in October.

Angela Hunt, preparing to vote on today's budget. Not really.

​Some time today, the Dallas City Council will approve City Manager Mary Suhm's FY2009-2010 budget. And as a sort of preview, District 14 rep Angela Hunt last night posted a flashback to last year's budget vote, when she warned on September 24, 2008, that "this budget is overly optimistic ... based on a hope that we will have more sales tax revenue and more fees coming into the city ... I think we've got to do everything we can to pull in our belts. because it's going to be a tough ride over the next year, maybe over the next two years, maybe over the next several years."

Then, she looks ahead:

I've been staring into this budget for weeks, and here's what I see: The city is going to get into too much debt in the coming year -- borrowing $355 million. That won't hurt too much next year, but it could devastate us the following year when our debt repayment goes up by $24 million. (To put that in perspective, that's the entire budget for our streets department or our code department.)

Where will we get this money? That's when my powers of insight fail me. Short of raising taxes, I can't foresee any way to cobble together the additional millions of dollars that will be needed to repay our debt. We've already cut our budget to the bone; cutting another $24 million would reduce city services to an unacceptable level and might actually threaten our infrastructure. Since there's no reason to believe we'll be getting additional revenue, where is this money going to come from?

We can avert this crisis by paring down our debt as we weather this recession. Let's borrow $140 million next year instead of $355 million. We'll still be able to complete plenty of bond projects, but we won't increase our debt repayment the following year. We can extend our bond program by a couple of years, and make it through these tough times without saddling our citizens with crippling debt.

Unfortunately, I don't see that in the cards. Instead, I have a vision of our mayor and City Council making a grave mistake in passing a budget we can't afford, and Dallas taxpayers suffering the consequences.

After that, the going gets weird, as she cracks open the dream journal. Now, who's about to "plunge a great city into dark indenture"?

facebook

Friedman with Willie Nelson at a September 16 fund-raiser in Plano.

Governor Rick Perry and U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison are sure to grab most of the headlines between now and the March 2 primary elections as they trade insults while seeking the Republican gubernatorial nomination, but Kinky Friedman spices up an otherwise bland field of Democratic candidates. The author and musician who's never afraid to say what's on his mind aims to stop the use of toll roads, legalize gambling, decriminalize marijuana use and reform the education and criminal justice systems.

"My slogan is Power to the People," Friedman tells Unfair Park. "I think that power's been hijacked by people like Rick Perry, politicians, special interests, big corporations and lobbyists. That power needs to be returned to the people. I can't do it nationally, but I think I can do it in Texas."

Friedman, who received 12.6 percent of the vote when he ran for governor in 2006, says he should have realized not to run as an independent because the only one to successfully do so in Texas was Sam Houston. "We came in there with nothing -- no money as an independent candidate. When you say that, you've got to figure out what [2006 Democratic nominee] Chris Bell would have got if he'd run as an independent. He wouldn't have gotten 13 percent. He would have gotten 1 percent if he were lucky."

Former state representative and Texas Rangers president Tom Schieffer, rancher Hank Gilbert, ex-Railroad Commission nominee Mark Thompson and teacher Felix Alvarado are also vying for the Democratic nomination, and Friedman stresses that he'll endorse whoever wins. "I would prefer any Democrat to Rick or Kay," he says. How does he stack up with Schieffer? "Oh, I don't even think about him. I don't know him -- never met him. I just know his smarter, older brother Bob."

Sam Merten

It took Mayor Tom Leppert approximately two years to accomplish what no one else in Dallas could: begin building a convention center hotel. And hundreds of assorted politicos, city officials, business leaders and supporters were on hand Tuesday afternoon at the site of the Omni Dallas Convention Center Hotel to celebrate the man whose vision made it all possible. For his part, Leppert acknowledged everyone else's involvement, thanking them for their effort.

"It's been a long road, and we've all been down it together," he said.

Aside from what amounted to a pep rally, with rounds of applause for each person and organization, Leppert unveiled an updated design for the hotel, which includes "a more streamlined and classic look at the top" and "a more dramatic and timeless look to the exterior skin using more consistent darker glass." Leppert also noted the rounded ends of the structure and said it will feature "new ways to engage downtown" without elaborating. A sneak peek is available after the jump, with the full renderings available in our slide show.

Sam Merten

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison criticized Governor Rick Perry in a speech to the local Republican Jewish Coalition this afternoon, claiming Texas has the country's highest property taxes, an education system with the worst dropout rate in the nation and a government growing faster than the federal government with more than 600 agencies. She said as governor she'd reform the Texas Department of Transportation.

"We have the most arrogant Texas Department of Transportation of any state agency in the history of America," she told the crowd of approximately 80 folks at the Jewish Community Center of Dallas. "Anyone who's dealt with them will tell you that."

Hutchison acknowledged that Texas is in "pretty good shape" compared to other areas of the country, but stressed that it's because Texas has no state income tax and is a right-to-work state -- two things Perry can't take credit for. She also cited cronyism within the state government, claimed Perry doubled the state's debt with payments extending beyond the useful life of what the money is spent on and said the reputations of universities have been damaged because Perry has been pressuring her supporters to resign from boards.

"I do think Texas is better off treading water than every other state, but I don't think treading water is good enough," she said.

​So, let's see ... we've got those Victory Park shirts. That Leppert poster. Maybe a Schutze tee or two. Guess it's time to open up an Unfair Park store, now that our very own Alexander Flores has taken our Friend Heywood U. Buzzoff's suggestion and turned Angela Hunt's "hell of a syllogism" into a T-shirt. Either that, or we use the proceeds to pay down the city's budget deficit.

​Dunno how we missed this one, but on her blog yesterday Angela Hunt took a long, hard look at City Manager Mary Suhm's proposed FY 2009-2010 budget and wrote at great length about her most major concern: the pile of debt that would result from bond projects proposed in the budget. She's voiced this concern before, but this time 'round she's (virtually) shouting in all caps; writes Hunt, "I'm worried about this. Really worried. Because if we have to spend $24 million more on debt repayment, that means $24 million less that we'll have for all our other city services: police, streets, parks, libraries, code, the arts, etc." It's a lengthy treatise in which she calls out both Mayor Tom Leppert and Suhm. As in:

I went over to the mayor, thinking, "He's a business guy. Surely, he gets this." Instead, he did that thing he does when he wants to dismiss any opposition. You know the thing I'm talking about. It goes something like this:

"We must do [X] to make Dallas a great city. If you oppose [X], you don't want Dallas to be a great city."

It's a hell of a syllogism, and it's worked for him through the Trinity Toll Road and Convention Center Hotel campaigns, so why not go back to the same well?

​A few minutes ago, I spoke to Dallas Independent School District spokesman Jon Dahlander concerning his voice-mail message this morning. I wondered if today's decision, to let teachers and principals decide whether their classes could watch President Obama's speech to students on Tuesday, was a change from any kind of previous policy in place regarding the talk. As it turns out, Dahlander says, the speech "wasn't even on the radar till yesterday," when district officials began hearing that some folks were up in arms about the talk being broadcast in classrooms.

"I don't know if someone else received some kind of communique, but there was nothing till everyone started saying, 'Ya know, presidents shouldn't be allowed that platform,'" he tells Unfair Park. "And we were like, 'Oh, there's a speech?'"

Then again, Dahlander says, at least a few district officials knew something was up: For the last two weeks, the DISD's been prepping for a visit from former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, who, of course, is now the U.S. Trade Representative. Kirk will be at the Booker T. Washington High School for the Visual and Performing Arts on Tuesday "watching the speech with students," Dahlander says, and Kirk will "also speak with them as part of the initiative."

​So, the Plano Independent School District has opted out of President Obama's speech to students on Tuesday, but what says the Dallas ISD? I asked Jon Dahlander, district spokesman, via e-mail this morning about the district's plans. While I was out of the office, he left the following message on my voice mail: "The president's address will be available to all of our schools on our cable system and on C-SPAN, and principals and teachers have the option to show the speech to students. That's it."

Update available above.