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City Hall reporters Rudolph Bush and Steve Thompson provide political junkies with in-depth features, breaking news and off-beat tidbits through lively coverage of Dallas government. Readers are encouraged to join the conversation. February 2010
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Kosher chili cookoff to be judged by Mayor Tom Leppert, among others CM Jerry Allen dukes it out over school drum lines Speaking of Dallas City Hall bureau partners, where in the world is Dave Levinthal? UPDATE: Council approves historic district overlay for Stanley Marcus home Libertarian group, businesses take shot at Dallas sign ordinance Dallas council approves modified ethics rules for special tax districts Council formally approves 'meet and confer' for Dallas cops, firefighters Judge grants restraining order to Fair Park railroad museum Recent Comments
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February 25, 2010
Being mayor requires doing all sorts of things like ribbon cuttings and contests. Earlier this week, Mayor Tom Leppert literally branded the new Chop House in downtown Dallas. This one's a bit unique. The Texas Jewish Post reports that the mayor and others will be judging a Kosher chili cookoff at Tiferet Israel Congregation in March. "Our judges have cast-iron stomachs, but hearts of gold to come forward and help make this a successful event for our synagogue, which is celebrating its 120th year!" the item says.  Comments (0) Leave comment
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|  E-mail entryThe entry "Kosher chili cookoff to be judged by Mayor Tom Leppert, among others" is tagged: Dallas , Tom Leppert February 24, 2010
Council member Jerry Allen loves to talk up his Lake Highlands Wildcats. This morning, after a long and tedious council discussion on housing, Allen put on his boxing gloves and challenged other members' schools to a drum off, or something like that. It's to happen at City Hall on March 11 at 11 a.m., and it's meant to bring attention to the March of Respect, a walk to support Texans with developmental disabilities. Comments (3) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "CM Jerry Allen dukes it out over school drum lines" is tagged: lake highland wildcats , march of respect
Steve Thompson's first official day in the bureau is today. So it was fitting that on the way into work this morning, I was reminded of the late, great Dave Levinthal, my longtime partner and good friend in the business of Dallas City Hall news. Once in awhile, less frequently now, people ask what ever happened to Dave. Well, if you were tuned into KERA this morning and caught the Diane Rehm Show, you already know that he is the director of communications for the non-profit Center for Responsive Politics. Since leaving our little burg, Dave has become a major watchdog of the flow of money in and out of the hands of the nation's most powerful politicians. He's more or less all over the news. I thought he'd reached the toppest of the poppest with an appearance on PBS's the News Hour. But Diane Rehm, that's big. Comments (2) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Speaking of Dallas City Hall bureau partners, where in the world is Dave Levinthal?" is tagged: Dallas City Hall , Dave Levinthal
In 2008, the home was nearly bulldozed by Dallas banker Mark Lovvorn, who bought it from Marcus in 1994. But after an outcry from preservationists, Lovvorn had a change of heart, and he has since become enthusiastic about renovating the home. The City Plan and Landmark commissions both have recommended the council approve the historic district overlay. See the agenda item here. Test your Neiman Marcus knowledge here. Comments (0) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "UPDATE: Council approves historic district overlay for Stanley Marcus home" is tagged: historic district , marcus stanley
A few months back, the libertarian Institute for Justice filed suit against Dallas over a sign ordinance intended to diminish advertising clutter on businesses around town. The ordinance impacts the whole city but has been particularly effective in southern Dallas where convenience stores and other businesses long covered as many square inches as they could with free signs advertising everything from smokes to frito pie. This morning, at AAA Vacuum, there was a protest against the ordinance. I'm at City Council today and couldn't attend. But the institute forwarded along this video, which I think makes their point just fine.
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Libertarian group, businesses take shot at Dallas sign ordinance" is tagged: Dallas , signs
The Dallas City Council approved a narrowly tailored change to its ethics rules for board members of special-taxing district that give developers and landowners the power to issue public debt and levy taxes and fees to pay it back. The city's staff initially proposed sweeping all of the city's ethics rules off the books for board members of so-called Municipal Management Districts (like Lucy Billingsley's Cypress Waters to the right). The rules that passed this morning really only uncouple board members from the requirement that they have no financial interest in the MMD. That had to go away, since the law requires MMD board members to have some stake in the district. Council member Ron Natinsky and Ann Margolin, who expressed serious concerns about the staff's earlier proposal, said they were satisfied the final proposal provides for adequate disclosure and oversight. Council member Dave Neumann also approved of the item but said he still has serious concerns about the power of MMDs. Comments (0) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Dallas council approves modified ethics rules for special tax districts" is tagged: Dallas , Dallas City Hall , Municipal Management districts
Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm has long had a policy of opening the door to police and fire representatives to talk salary, benefits and work conditions. This morning, the council formally adopted a meet and confer policy, following a state law passed in 2009 and created guidelines cities must follow. Some have viewed meet and confer as a sort of creeping collective bargaining that would sharply shift the balance of power between the city's management and council to rank-and-file reps. Council member Ann Margolin this morning cited Texas' long history as a business-friendly state where such things have been kept at bay. She said that culture has helped keep Texas strong while other states like California are failing under crippling deals with public employees. Mayor Tom Leppert and others on the council rebuked her, saying police and firefighters deserve the chance to sit down with management and hash out their concerns. The item passed council 12-1. Comments (2) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Council formally approves 'meet and confer' for Dallas cops, firefighters" is tagged: Dallas , Dallas police , meet and confer February 23, 2010
This afternoon's hearing on the Museum of the American Railroad was briefly delayed while I witnessed a wedding and Wilonsky served as the happy couple's photographer. But that's another story altogether, and once the hearing got underway Dallas County District Judge Martin Hoffman listened to arguments for a little more than an hour before granting a 14-day restraining order against the city of Dallas. The order wasn't everything the museum had hoped for. City Hall can still stop paying for the the power and water and if the museum doesn't pick up the bill, it's lights out. But the city cannot demand that the longtime Fair Park tenant get a certificate of occupancy or fine it failing to have one. Comments (9) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Judge grants restraining order to Fair Park railroad museum" is tagged: Dallas , Fair Park
His last day here is to be March 26. Here's an Atlanta Business Chronicle report on the Georgia World Congress Center getting him. And here's a statement about his departure from Mayor Tom Leppert. Comments (0) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Dallas Convention Center director departs" is tagged: Frank poe , Georgia World Congress Center
Please join me in welcoming Steve Thompson to the City Hall blog and bureau. Steve was formerly on our police desk where he and Tanya Eiserer wrote a series of important and much discussed stories that called into question the city's sinking crime rate and the Dallas Police Department's crime stats. Steve joined the Dallas Morning News in 2007. Prior to that, he worked for the excellent St. Petersburg Times, where he covered the cop shop. A graduate of North Carolina State University, Steve is an engineer by training with a graduate degree in journalism from UNC Chapel Hill. He tells me he came into journalism sometime after attending college and deciding engineering wasn't for him. Before he found his true path in ink, though, he wandered the world surfing, catching waves in places like Bali and Java, Mexico and Panama. He tells me this life was funded through waiting tables in Nags Head, N.C. I know from my friends in Hollywood that isn't true, and that, in fact, he paid his way by robbing banks wearing a Nixon mask. Comments (2) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Steve Thompson joins the Dallas City Hall Bureau/Blog" is tagged: Dallas , Dallas City Hall , Steve Thompson |
Bio
Thank you Rudy, we trust you will find
The City of Dallas' lawsuit is foolish
As someone who was close to this situat
As someone who was close to this situat
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Appalling. City Council has basically a
I miss Dave's sharp tough and witty wri
I just watched JW price say on TV that
Mrs. Margolin seems to be the only memb