City of Dallas "Strong Mayor" initiative

[crispini]

Anyone got any thoughts on this yet? The buzz I am hearing is that it's "too strong" -- too much power being given to the mayor & he/she could run rampant over the CC.

There's even an anti-proposal-website up already:
http://www.strongarmmayor.com/

Anyway, there's an interesting "top 10 reasons against" here:
http://www.barkingdogs.org/barkingdogs_archives/121404_topten_blackwood.shtml

I read my way through all of the proposed changes (there were a lot!) and I think that the top 10 is pretty accurate. Although I don't particularly care about abolishing the city manager. I mean, I think I'd like a strongER mayer, but not a despot, which I'm wondering if this will be...

Thoughts?

[crispini]

1. Oooo, the good folks at DallasArena.com

are totally ripping the idea upside and downside:

http://www.dallasarena.com/t041230pierce.htm

btw, I just found that website and I'm lovin' it. It's like all the best Dallas political gossip all in one place. TASTY.

[jburton]

2. Tough call for me....

The City Manager system is not adequate for Dallas anymore.

But what if we got an evil mayor who then had more control?

Another bizarre thing: Avi Adelman (BarkingDogs.org) and Sharon Boyd (DallasArena.com) are both against it, yet supported Laura Miller in her first run. Oh yeah, they are also the last people in the world who would be on the same side as Al Lipscomb on anything political!!!

Gonna be some interesting coalitions on this one.

[crispini]

3. Isn't it fascinating?

I spent most of yesterday reading DallasArena.com. She has apparently decided that this whole strong-mayor thing is a power grab by some folks from the Park Cities, and that Mayor Laura knew about it all along and was merely being disingenous by pretending not to support it. Interesting theory, but it does have a whiff of :tinfoilhat: to me. This is the first I've encountered of Sharon Boyd, is she reputable? I certainly enjoyed her populist style and was somewhat surprised to read elsewhere on the site that she's a Republican -- what with all her railing against Park Cities fatcats and "Our Downtown Betters." :shrug:

I haven't made up my mind yet, but I *am* leaning towards the "anti" side.

I'm so glad we have another election coming up, even if it's a small one. I'm turning into a serious political junkie! :D

[crispini]

4. Oh, whoa, I don't like the people who are supporting it.

This is baaaaaaad. This is some bad shit....

What everyone seems to be ignoring during all the shouting is just who it is who wants Dallas to have a strong mayor--aside, that is, from the mayor herself, who said last week she supports Blackwood's proposal that Dallas do away with the city manager and make the mayor the city's chief executive.

Supporting Blackwood are five wealthy and powerful men who've given her and her husband, Tom Thomas, almost $150,000 to put this issue before the voters. Together, they've also donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to, among others, President George W. Bush, Governor Rick Perry, Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Tom Craddick, Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, Senators Arlen Specter and Dick Armey and various local, state and national Republican Party committees--not to mention Miller and her husband, former state Representative Steve Wolens. In fact, former Dallas Times Herald managing editor Will Jarrett and Vance Miller (no relation to Laura) were part of the mayor's original campaign finance committee.

At least two of their ranks were part of a campaign out to sink John Kerry by suggesting maybe he wasn't really in Vietnam after all.

And two of them have given thousands to an ultra-conservative Dallas-based political action committee whose Web site tells you which GOP officials to pray for each day and, in 2002, sent out direct-mail campaign brochures charging so-called liberal Republican incumbents with "promoting the radical homosexual agenda," according to stories that appeared in the Austin Chronicle and The Dallas Morning News.

The rest of the article's pretty hairraising too:

Source:
http://www.dallasobserver.com/issues/2005-01-13/news/news.html?src=newsletter

Ok, I'm probably gonna be against it, I'm thinking, just because of who these people are. Jeez....

[outraged2]

5. I don't know

I don't know enough about this, but what I have heard doesn't sound very workable to me. There is no doubt in my mind that Dallas needs to do something, but it seems whenever something 'new' is proposed it ends up sounding like the old days of the Citizens Council (whatever they called themselves) or something worse.

This may be a bit off topic, but I bring it up because while reading this thread I remembered an article in the Observer a few months ago. I almost fell out of my chair reading it. I would hate for any part of Dallas to be subject to this kind of plan, but this is dangerously close to my own neighborhood.

Grab for Privates
Dallas Observer

Up With Fascism
Dallas Observer

[crispini]

6. Oh, yeah, I read those.

I really like Jim Schutze, he's one of the few people who really seems to cover the local scene. Some pretty alarming stuff!

I'd agree we need a change, I'm just not sure this is it. :shrug:

[crispini]

7. LOL, DallasArea.com's bringin' the snark

to the anti-Strong Mayor campaign. Recent blog:

01/19/05 Belo and Council know we are on to something.

When a Dallas Managed News (aka Belo Corp.) editorial using the phrase "Park Cities Cabal", you know they are reading us because the phrase came straight from DallasArena.com. Then in CBS 11'S Ace Reporter Sarah Dodd's Tuesday night interview, Councilwoman Veletta Lill talked about a Park Cities power grab. Well, being human and all, it pleased me to no end.

(snip)

There are several groups opposing this mess. Some may work together, some may do their own thing, but the goal is to send Bah! Bah!'s Cabal back to the Park Cities. We are not going to become their serfs.

One group whose membership includes several public relations consultants and representatives designated by "Coalition for Open Government". I will be working with that group, but other organizations and groups are stepping out, too. Several chambers of commerce will be opposing this plan. Even some ODB groups that usually are big rah! rah!'s have made it known they will be fighting Bah! Bah's plan.

Since we know Belo and Bah! Bah! are reading DallasArena.com, we would like to suggest that they just give up all this foolishness and go back to what they do best respectively, sell overpriced advertisements and practice law.

Ooooooo! Wack upside the head to Belo! Bwahahahahahaha. I like this chick, even if she says she IS a Republican. :P

http://www.dallasarena.com/s050119.htm

[crispini]

8. The blog Is This Dallas weighs in:

with a biiiiiiiig ol' swipe at Mayor Laura:

The Strong Mayor Decision

I've finally made up my mind on the upcoming strong mayor referendum. It is ironic that my decision to vote not only no, but hell no, is based almost entirely on Mayor Miller's own words and actions. Read the statements, and campaign promises below, and ask yourself, if any of them sound like they came from our mayor. It's the classic lies on the campaign trail, and do what ever you want in office political move. Realize, that if you vote yes on this proposal you are rewarding Laura Miller for her lies. Imagine the damage that she will rain down on our city if she has no leash. I keep hearing all this talk about accountability. What? Do you actually think it would be easy to get rid of a strong mayor that voters felt weren't living up to their expectations? HA! Accountability to no one will be the order of the day. I rarely agree with the decisions that (some of) the idiots on the council make, but they can't help that such a low number of people actually vote, and the wrong people get elected. However, they aren't totally out of control, and this imperfect system is better than allowing liars carte blanch.

More:

http://www.isthisdallas.com/issues/articles/the_strong_mayor.htm

The author then follows it up with some Miller campaign mailers, which, if you have been following Dallas local politics, are SO completely antithetical to what Mayor Laura has actually DONE that it really makes you wonder if they haven't been made up.

[crispini]

9. City Council candidate Angela Hunt's editorial:

Angela Hunt's Unedited DMN Editorial: Strong Mayor Bad for Neighborhoods

Angela Hunt is a candidate for city council, district 14. www.angelahunt.com

In 1893, a clever salesman and self-proclaimed cowboy by the name of Clark Stanley began selling a “miraculous” tonic at the World’s Fair in Chicago. Promising immediate relief from everything from rheumatism to sciatica, the tonic quickly sold out and remained quite popular until the public realized that Stanley’s elixir was little more than turpentine, mineral oil, and a touch of camphor.

Like Stanley’s tonic, the current strong mayor proposal has been promoted as a cure-all for our city’s ills. Tired of running over potholes? Think we need more police officers on our streets? Want to see our parks revitalized, our economy thriving, and the Trinity ditch rebuilt into a glorious river? Just sip a little Strong Mayor Tonic, dab a touch behind your ears, and things will be better in no time.

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. There are few things more attractive than change when the status quo doesn’t seem to be working, but this proposal is not the change we need. It puts too much control in the hands of one person, the mayor, with no checks and balances.

While giving our mayor more control over some aspects of city governance may be a good idea, it’s important to be clear that that we aren’t voting on the general concept of a strong mayor system. Instead, we are voting on a very particular amendment to our city charter that eliminates the city manager, transfers all authority to the mayor, and renders our city council impotent.

More:
http://www.isthisdallas.com/issues/2005/strong_mayor_bad_for.htm

[crispini]

10. I can't help notice...

that every link and article I've collected on this thread so far has been anti-strong-mayor. Therefore in the interests of balance here's the official pro-strong-mayor site:

http://citizensforastrongmayor.com/

Looks like they need to update it, or something; the "endorsements" page only has one endorsement on it:

"Strong Mayor and Council Research Institute"

Snerk.

[crispini]

11. Dallas.org weighs in

with some good points.

In summary:

The Blackwood proposal was drafted in secret by real estate attorney Tom Thomas in the name of his city-council-candidate wife: Beth Ann Blackwood. No public input was solicited. It is the sole work product of one man and his wife.


After Thomas drafted it, six (6) people (half of whom don't live in Dallas) paid about $150,000 to a public relations company to collect signatures at shopping malls and grocery stores.


The proposal doesn't simply remove the city manager (as supporters claim). It is a complicated rewrite of the city charter with literally hundreds of changes--some of which are errors, and others which blatantly conflict with State Law.


Should it pass, the Justice Department will likely gut it (because of the Voting Rights Act of 1965). Other parts will end up in expensive litigation and will cost Dallas' citizens millions of dollars in court costs and legal fees before the dust settles.


After the legal dust settles, it creates a mayor who can levy taxes, assess "fees", single-handedly declare "ordinances", control courts and other non-traditional executive powers. In most cases not even the actions of all 14 other members of the city council can overrule the mayor.


Finally, as one would expect from a real estate lawyer: the proposal has a healthy dose of real estate special interests. It creates a mayor who single-handedly controls everything from building permits, fees and condemnation proceedings down to details like construction materials. As one opponent put it: "one palm to grease, and you can forget about the other 14."


By law, we can't change or "fix" this proposal before the election. It goes to the voters the way you see it now. It either passes in its flawed form--errors and all, or it fails.

more...
http://www.dallas.org/

[Horse with no Name]

12. From what I heard about it

It seems like Park Cities is trying to take control back and leave the folks down in Oak Cliff hanging again without any representation.
I could almost understand and support it is there were a mayor like Laura Miller or Ron Kirk, but would be extremely fearful of giving one person the title of President of Dallas,lol. Might give shrubby a hardon when he is run out of office ya know.

[yellowdogintexas]

13. No offense, but once again I am glad I live in Fort Worth

and by the way we are going to re elect our totally Democratic Mayor as he is running unopposed. YAY Mike

[crispini]

14. LOL, yellowdog!

It's all-circus, all-the-time over here! ;)

[yellowdogintexas]

15. yeah, Crispini, we are pretty boring over here

although it could get really interesting since three of our council have decided not to run this year. ....including my personal favorite Jim Lane. I am sorry to see him leave the Council but his house has been shot at in drive bys three times, so I don't blame him.

He represents the North Side which is heavily Hispanic and he has publicly stated he hopes a Hispanic gets his seat. So do I.


My council man is also retiring and I have never liked him; he is the resident gadfly on the council. Time for research.

I like living in a city where the mayor is standing in line for the takeout at Red Hot N Blue and strikes up a conversation with you based on your employee badge (which I happened to be wearing at the time).