Why is Mayor Leppert Putting the Brakes on Dallas' Inland Port Future?
The Perots have solid business reasons to slow down Dallas' inland port. But why is our mayor helping them?
So where will they go instead? How about Alliance?
OK, here is the big question. Why would Leppert be pushing for this initiative—especially given his public stance in favor of South Dallas development? I wrote to Leppert's press person, Chris Heinbaugh, and pointed out that Leppert had promised to back off this whole "interlocal agreement" idea in a speech he made some months ago to the Real Estate Council of Dallas. I asked Heinbaugh why Leppert seemed to be pushing it again.
"I don't think that is accurate," Heinbaugh wrote back, saying the mayor was only working to eliminate the valid concerns of developers.
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I wrote back, telling Heinbaugh that more than one person at the real estate council told me that the mayor said the interlocal agreement was "off the table." So he changed his position. "Right?"
Didn't hear back by deadline.
Last December Leppert drew some fairly scathing criticism for allowing Ross Perot Jr. to throw a Christmas party for him, a few council members and top city staff at Perot's penthouse at the W Hotel, which Perot owns. No press allowed.
On November 8, Perot Jr. was one of several hosts for a $250,000 fund-raiser for Leppert, who isn't running for anything.
Don't get me wrong about the Perots. They play hard, but straight. Perot Jr. has stated publicly that Dallas' inland port is a "direct threat" to Alliance.
I had a frank talk last week with David Pelletier, director of corporate communications for Hillwood. He said Hillwood isn't afraid of competing for commercial tenants, but the company knows that public infrastructure money is scarce, and Hillwood worries about how that divvy gets made.
"Our point is that at Alliance we have 30 million square feet developed and 29,000 employees. Alliance is a proven commodity," Pelletier tells me. "Our point is, let's finish Alliance, extend the runway to where it needs to be extended to, get the rail infrastructure completed, the highway infrastructure completed before we start spending infrastructure dollars on a project that hasn't really proven itself yet."
So there you have it. The Perots have solid business reasons to slow down Dallas' inland port. And Tom Leppert is walking arm-in-arm with them.
Why wouldn't we run as hard as we can and risk everything we can to get solid business enterprise up and going in southern Dallas? I recently looked at demographic data that show some parts of South Dallas with an average per capita income of less than $9,000.
And why is John Wiley Price so ardent for planning? I asked him. He says it's crazy to put this much infrastructure on the ground and not have a master plan. He thinks the southern Dallas cities have allowed landowners to get away with lousy land-uses in some cases, like a huge salvage yard right along the freeway.
I said OK. "But what do you get from a plan that could possibly be worth screwing up this huge opportunity for South Dallas and giving Alliance the edge instead?"
He started talking about a 30-inch water pipe.
A water pipe? The inland port is a paradigm-shifting economic opportunity—a whole new tomorrow for South Dallas. It's honest work, solid investment. And these people are willing to jack with all that for a water pipe?
Price is an infrastructure wonk. He tells me he never talks to anybody from Perot. But in Leppert's case, we know better. We don't know what they talk about, because the public is not allowed to attend their parties. But it worries Allen. And me, for that matter.
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