Dallas City Council

With Dallas City Council's Opening Prayers, It's Jesus 96, Allah 0

At the beginning of every Dallas City Council meeting, long before most spectators (and many council members) are fully awake, a religious leader of some stripe stands at the podium and offers a brief prayer. A few months ago, we wondered whether the U.S. Supreme Court might declare such displays un ... More >>

Dallas' Bike-Helmet Mandate Is Basically Toast

When Dallas City Council members first entertained the idea of doing away with the city's 18-year-old bike helmet requirement two weeks ago, they left promising to give the proposal "strong consideration." At this morning's meeting of the Quality of Life committee, it became clear that they will do ... More >>

The Helmet Rule Isn't Dallas' Only Stupid Bike Law. It's Also Illegal to Do a Wheelie.

The Dallas City Council may soon decide that requiring adults to wear bike helmets is a stupid idea -- and if the city is indeed serious about starting a bike-share program, it probably is. But the helmet law is at least aimed at achieving a legitimate public policy goal (i.e. keeping people from s ... More >>

Federal Judge: Dallas Ministries Can Feed the Homeless Wherever They Damn Well Please

It's been eight years since the Dallas City Council passed its homeless feeding ordinance, which barred charity groups from serving food except at certain designated sites. And it's been just more than six years since two of those groups, Big Heart Ministries and Rip Parker Memorial Homeless Ministr ... More >>

Six Months After New Ordinance, Two-Thirds of Dallas Boarding Homes Still Aren't Licensed

In June, after months of debate and a glaring need, the Dallas City Council passed an ordinance regulating the 300 or so boarding homes that provide -- or sometimes merely purport to -- shelter and support to the mentally ill. The ordinance addresses a wide range of issues, from sexual abuse and ex ... More >>

Frackers Are Walking Through Gaping Holes In Texas Chemical Disclosure Law

Last summer, as the Dallas City Council was briefed on the ins and outs of bringing heavy, industrial processes into a densely populated, urban area, industry boosters like Ed Ireland of the Barnett Shale Energy Education Council assured council members we would know in virtually all cases what was ... More >>

On Flood Control, Dallas Better Think Nationally or Be Ready to Drown Locally

Man, talk about whistling past the graveyard. At yesterday's Dallas City Council meeting, council members Tennell Atkins and Delia Jasso asked good questions about the city's flood control plans, and City Manager Mary Suhm and her assistant, Jill Jordan, gave good answers. But it was all deck chairs ... More >>

Angela Hunt Is "Pleased" With Make-Up of Council's Ad Hoc Gas Drilling Task Force

​Yesterday Leslie recounted the Dallas City Council's vote on the membership of the ad hoc gas drilling task force -- during which rookie Scott Griggs's attempt to add Mountain Creek resident Ed Meyer to the roster was met with a deafening silence. Angela Hunt has posted to her website her thought ... More >>

Council Candidate MacLeod Takes Concerns Over Polling Place to the Justice Department

​A couple of weeks back, Sam mentioned that Billy MacLeod, who's running for the District 2 city council seat against incumbent Pauline Medrano, has a few problems with the coming elections. Chief among them: Votes will be cast at Esperanza "Hope" Medrano Elementary School -- which so happens to b ... More >>

"Regionalism" Just Means Dallas is Going to Get Drilled When It Comes to Fracking

​So-called regionalism is a rip-off, a scam and a hoax designed to neuter cities and sell them down the river to the damned suburbs. A few weeks from now the Dallas City Council will take up the issue of fracking, the kind of natural gas drilling in which drillers pump millions of gallons of ... More >>

Dallas City Council Member Jerry Allen Goes to Austin to Cash Out Payday Lenders

At its meeting two weeks ago, the Dallas City Council passed a resolution urging the state Legislature to crackdown on payday lenders and "to pass any necessary legislation to protect the citizens of the State of Texas who may find themselves with no alternative but to seek the type of short-term, h ... More >>

Your Latest Garage Sale Permit Update

​Or: What do voluntary compliance mean?No doubt you're well aware of the fact that for the last six weeks or so, you've needed a city-issued $15 permit to hold a garage sale in the city of Dallas. But when last we peeked at the permitting process, there were but three locations at which you could ... More >>

As Deep Budget Cuts Loom, the Dallas Genealogical Society Sends Out a Cry for Help

​This morning, there were several e-mails in the Unfair Park in-box concerning City Manager Mary Suhm's latest suggestions for cuttinggutting the budget of the Dallas Public Library system. Two I'll need to set aside till Suhm calls back (she's in meetings all morning). But others direct our atten ... More >>

It's Old Home Week at Council, as Sid Stahl to Handle Sandra Crenshaw's Ethics Complaints

Just noticed this on the council's meeting addendum for tomorrow:​I called Crenshaw, who served on the council from 1993 till '95, to find out the details of the complaint, but a friend of hers answered the phone and offered this rather stunning news: "Her mother died Thursday, and her father died ... More >>

How Do Dallas's Lobbyists Earn Their Dough?

Zazzle​On October 28, the Dallas City Council will vote to renew its contract with the lobbyists who do the city's bidding in Austin and D.C. Right about now, the city spends $502,000 with the likes of CapitalEdge (which also lobbies on behalf of Arlington; Denton, Reno, Nevada; and Huntsville, Al ... More >>

Exactly One Year After Cole Berardi Was Killed By DPD Car, Council to Settle Family's Claim

Cole Berardi​Late last week, word came down that the Dallas City Council was close to settling with the family of Cole Berardi, the 10-year-old boy who was killed one year ago after he was struck by a Dallas police car. No doubt you recall the incident, which was captured by the dash-mounted camer ... More >>

At Last, a Parking Boot Ordinance!

​It took long enough, but the Dallas City Council finally got around to the parking-lot booting ordinance -- and it passed council almost unanimously. There was but one "nay" vote: newcomer Ann Margolin, who said, well, "I understand there has been a lot of work to get this done, but I have to say ... More >>

Keep on Truckin'. Just Not in the Left Lane.

​For the last four years, the Texas Department of Transportation and the North Central Texas Council of Governments have been restricting big rigs from driving in the left lane along small sections of I-20 and I-30. And they're delighted with the results of the pilot program: Dan Kessler, NTCOG as ... More >>

Five Council Members Lobby for Transparency at Dallas City Hall. Good Luck With All That.

Psssst, Carol Reed, they're talking about you ... ​Five Dallas City Council members want the city to think about requiring people to register as lobbyists if they get paid to influence the council. The ongoing Dallas City Hall federal corruption trial has brought a series of revelations about s ... More >>

Jim and Sandra's Affairs

What you'll find below is the first episode of what we hope will become a weekly series starring Jim Schutze and former Dallas City Council member Sandra Crenshaw, who've been spending way too much time together in an auxiliary courtroom at the Earle Cabell during the Dallas City Hall federal corrup ... More >>

Sweep the Legs! It's Gonna Cost More -- and Take Longer -- to Get Rid of Reunion Arena.

​When last we saw Reunion Arena, it looked like "a coffee table from 1974." Or, "that carport thingie that's going up in the Arts District." Turns out, it'll stay that way a while longer -- like, oh, till at least January of next year. How come?Under the arena's exterior plaster finish, there is a ... More >>

Once Again, the Mayor Had the City Attorney Rewrite Rules for Council, Public Speakers

Natalie Dee​I see Rudy's already posted his item about tomorrow's vote on Dallas City Council rules changes, which showed up earlier this week on the addendum for tomorrow's meeting. (It's Item No. 2.) But what he doesn't get into is why the council will vote on reducing and, in some cases, elimin ... More >>

Who Knew There Were Residents at the Delux Inn? No Matter. It's Going Bye-Bye.

I didn't know till I looked at the Dallas City Council's addenda for this week that for the last couple of months, the city's been the proud owner of the Delux Inn on Stemmons Freeway. (The expenditure was approved last September, for $3.18 million in 1998 bond money.) Alas, don't get too excited: S ... More >>

Look Out, Kids! Because Starting Next School Year, There's a Daytime Curfew!

Moments ago, the Dallas City Council voted on the 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.daytime curfew ordinance -- and, not surprisingly, it passed almost overwhelmingly, by a vote of 12-2. The vote was taken shortly after Mayor Tom Leppert stressed that the ordinance (which you can read here, beginning on Page 63) i ... More >>

The City Wants to Pay You Up to $10,000 to Improve Your Neighborhood

City of Dallas Code ComplianceThe Dallas City Council gets back to business today with three committee confabs, chief among them the Quality of Life hoedown where they're poring over the Code Compliance Accountability Report Card -- so "modeled after a 3rd grade report card" and lettered A through F ... More >>

Angela Hunt Explains Her Opposition to Expanding the Juvenile Curfew

Ever since early February, The Dallas City Council has considered extending the Juvenile Curfew Ordinance -- which keeps 17-and-unders off the streets from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and 12:01 a.m. till 6 a.m. Friday and Saturday -- to include the hours when, ya know, the 17-and-under ... More >>

As Dallas Wrestles With Regulating Private Parking Lots, a Public Meeting Invite

Ever see the doc Parking Wars? You really should.At the end of March, the Dallas City Council's Transportation and Environment Committee took up the discussion of regulating a "relatively new practice being employed by private parking lot operators to enforce payment in their lots" -- booting cars. ... More >>

In Downtown Dallas, Central Expressway Inches Closer to Going Both Ways

After disappearing for a little while, the Central Expressway expansion in downtown is back on the Dallas City Council's radar. Angela Hunt had a few concerns back in January and got the item off the council's agenda hours before it was going to a vote, but at 2 p.m. the council's Transportation and ... More >>

There Go Our Cinco de Mayo Plans

Merten's going to two Mayor Tom Leppert-Anne Raymond convention center hotel debates this morning -- no doubt to add to his voluminous photo album, so those seeking special poses speak up now. And Schutze is swamped with a cover story, which leaves no one to cover this morning's meeting of the Dalla ... More >>

Food For Thought 4.6.09

"We're in a recession, hard times. We shouldn't be hurting business. I'm not saying, 'Let's take away this issue.' We're just saying, 'Let's give these businesses some time.'" (Tennell Atkins, member of the Dallas City Council, on an effort to delay the city's smoking ordinance, which bans lighting ... More >>

Some Folks Trying to Turn Out the Lights on Extending the Juvenile Curfew Ordinance

'Member how, last month, the Dallas City Council's Public Safety Committee started talking about changing the Juvenile Curfew Ordinance to include daylight hours as well? Turns out, a group's done sprung up to oppose such an alteration: the Citizens Against the Dallas Daytime Curfew, which IDs itsel ... More >>

Nobody Puts Jill Jordan in a Corner. Well, Except Maybe Angela Hunt.

This is the first in a morning series of videos provided by members of Your Dallas City Council. First up, this lengthy offering from Angela Hunt (co-starring assistant city manager Jill Jordan), who writes on her Web site by way of introduction today, "If you've got 20 minutes on your hands and a h ... More >>

Dust in the Wind? Maybe.

On Wednesday, the Dallas City Council will discuss updating the city's 4-year-old water conservation and drought contingency plans, as this is shaping up to be yet another dry, dusty year. The update is necessary but won't come cheap: If and when council gives the okee-doke, the city will pay Alan P ... More >>

Crime, Ann Margolin's Top Campaign Issue

Few weeks back, we directed you to an online survey Dallas City Council candidate Ann Margolin was taking as she vies for Mitchell Rasansky's District 13 seat at the horseshoe. Well, the results are in, and Margolin writes in a mass e-mail sent to her would-be constituency today that the No. 1 issue ... More >>

City Council's Not Quite Ready to Give the Convention Center Hotel to Omni

Item No. 3 on the Dallas City Council's briefing agenda for today reads as follows:Approve the execution of the Hotel Operating Agreement between Omni Hotels Management Corporation and the Dallas Convention Center Hotel Development Corporation, the City's local government corporation - Financing: No ... More >>

City Council's Not in a Hurry to Dole Out TIF Money to Two Downtown Projects

As the Dallas City Council goes into executive session before breaking for lunch, a few notes. As Dave Levinthal mentions, the Dallas City Council postponed till next month votes on two downtown projects seeking tax increment financing money. One of them is 1400 Main Street (better known as Plush), ... More >>

A Desire Named Streetcar

Schutze's fourth-favorite subject, streetcars, goes before the Dallas City Council's Transportation and Environmental Committee this morning, where council members will be joined by Dallas Area Rapid Transit's board of directors. They've got a lot to consider, as in: Where will the streetcars go, w ... More >>

Dallas by Design: If You Can Only Attend One City Council Briefing All Year, Make It Today's

This morning's Dallas City Council briefing should be more interesting than most -- thing's almost like a meeting of a book club where the topic is urban design and development, which is perhaps why the council's moving out of City Hall and across the street to the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library's ... More >>

Suhm to Tell City Council: Do Not Live Large, and Think a Little Smaller

Seems like we were just here, hashing over the city's budget. But as you may have read -- and may have guessed -- FY2009-10 is already shaping up to be a) lousy, b) godawful, c) yech or d) all of the above. Which is why, at this morning's Dallas City Council briefing session, City Manager Mary Suhm ... More >>

Buzz Reviews the News of 2008: Yes. It Was All Bad.

Sex clubs in the 'burbs, teacher layoffs in the district, black holes in the commissioners court—Buzz makes perfect sense of 2008

Course, If We Knew Anything About Finance, Would We Be Doing This?

Earlier this month, Dallas City Council member Mitchell Rasansky -- or, as he's referred to around the big table at the Hall of Justice, the Calculator -- asked to see how the city's investments were faring during the Great Recession of 2008. This morning, during the council's Finance, Audit & A ... More >>

Get a Sneak Peek at KERA's Special on Sharing the Power in Dallas

This morning on KERA-FM (90.1), Sam Baker previewed tonight's screening at 8 on Channel 13 of Sharing the Power, which examines how Dallas wound up with a 14-1 system of governance courtesy, among others, Roy Williams and Marvin Crenshaw. It's part of a weeklong examination of the landmark lawsuit t ... More >>

The City of Dallas and Its Shiny, Distracting Thing

And In Other News

For those who have had their fill of strange preachers or who plan to wait to hear directly from God before accepting Doyle Davidson as a latter-day prophet (good plan), the dead-tree edition of the Dallas Observer has a few other tidbits that might interest you. Such as: Jim Schutze writes about Da ... More >>

What's That Smell?

The stink of broken promises in the last big bond election

2002 Revealed

An aging Buzz finds little to celebrate in the year gone by. What did you expect?

Taxpayers, Arise!

A little-known chapter of the city charter says we don't have to take it anymore

The Scarlet Letter

The Dallas City Council is about to mark itself for life with its vote on the Palladium deal

Best City Council Member

Veletta Forsythe Lill

:cueless

Buzz hacks through the past in search of the cool cats and fools of the year that was