Is everyplace as screwed up as Dallas?
I think every single person who reads this site is from the Dallas area, but I ask the question anyway… are all cities as screwed up as Dallas, or does, say, San Jose, California have their shit together?
I present my evidence: 1) Dallas manages to screw up the opportunity to move the home of the Dallas Cowboys to one of the most financially impoverished areas of the city, thereby revitalizing the area, presenting a financial boon to the African-American community, and allowing the Cowboys to actually (for the first time in over 30 years) play in the city that they sport their name. To be fair, much of the problem was centered on Dallas county government, and it’s inability to work with the Dallas City council in any constructive or creative manner.
2) Last night’s Dallas City Council meeting deteriorated into a screaming match, with Council member Maxine Thornton-Reese wagging her finger at Mayor Laura Miller while accusing her of racism. Ms. Thornton-Reese is black, Ms. Miller is white. At the root of the conflict was a measure before the Council that would have subsidized the Universities of Oklahoma and Texas to keep their annual football game in Dallas for the next five years. The total of the subsidies? $1.25 million. Also included was $450,000 in economic development for Fair Park (which, of course, would have been taken care of already if they had just managed to lure the Cowboys into the area) Does the Texas-OU game benefit the city of Dallas more than $250,000 per year? Undoubtedly. Would this be a good investment? Unquestionably. Besides pumping some money into Fair Park, it would guarantee that the game stays here for another 5 years (sooner [no pun intended] or later, these schools are going to figure out, tradition be damned, that there is more money to be made for the cities of Austin and Norman, and the schools themselves, with a home and home arrangement). On this point, I actually believe there was little disagreement within the Council (inasmuch as they ever agree on ANYTHING. I’m not sure you could get a 15-0 vote on whether the sky was blue). the problems arose when the Council member whose district includes Fair Park, Leo Chaney (who as far as I can tell, was simply doing his job, trying to get more money for his district) asked if it might be possible to also subsidize the Prairie View A&M vs. Grambling (both traditionally black colleges) football game. This game also brings money into the city, and without a subsidy, there was some danger of losing it to Houston. The sum TOTAL asked for? $50,000 over 5 years. I, and most people reading this site, pay more than that individually to the IRS each year. Finding $50K in the budget for a city the size of Dallas should be a non-issue.
To this point, there is still not a problem. However, city lawyers advised that the motion should not be voted on in the same week in which it was proposed. So the vote for the Prairie View-Grambling subsidy was tabled until next week. This was when Ms. Thornton-Reese got up on her high horse, and insisted that the vote on Texas-OU should be tabled until next week as well. To do otherwise would smack of racism, she insisted. The Mayor did not want to delay the Texas-OU vote, as to her, the subsidies for the two games were completely separate issues. Well, at this point, the screaming match was on, and Ms. Thornton-Reese’s aforementioned finger waggling and accusations toward the Mayor began.
How childish. Let’s recap how every single party in this escapade acted poorly.
Council Member Thornton-Reese - her actions speak for themselves. She is a racist, and a reactionary nut who woke up yesterday morning looking for a fight with the Mayor.
Council Member Leo Chaney - should have known the rules about voting the same week a motion was introduced. Asked for a delay to a non-related issue (seemingly) to allow Ms. Thornton-Reese to go on her tirade. This reeks of having been planned beforehand.
Mayor Laura Miller - Good grief, on the other hand, why did she get so uptight about a 7 day delay? She was outvoted 12-2 on that count, and the measure was delayed anyway… but when you are dealing with a hostile city council that sees EVERY issue as a matter of race, then why do you open yourself up to such abuse?
Now, do both subsidies make sense? Yes. Are the relative sizes of the subsidies correct? Probably. Texas-OU is tremendously larger both in national interest and in financial impact that Prairie View-Grambling. Should the two subsidies in any way be linked? No. Should the City Council meeting have fallen to the level of a third grade temper tantrum? No.
It should be noted that I not only do not live in Dallas, I also do not live in Dallas County. I didn’t vote for any of these idiots. But the fact that people did, and the fact that their “representatives” are a bunch of petulant children, is why we’re now rooting for the Arlington Rangers, and come 2009, we’ll be rooting for the Arlington Cowboys. If they’re not careful, we’ll be driving interstate 35 (north and south) to see Texas-OU and Prairie View-Grambling. If that happens, I hope someone remembers to knock the cobwebs off the Cotton Bowl, it looks creepy when you just let them sit there.
This is one of the things I hate about living in this area. I, too, do not live in Dallas or Dallas County, but since that city is the 800 lb. gorilla around here, their news pretty much dominates the airwaves.
And yes, I do think they’re all useless pricks more interested in their own agendas than the good of the constituents or of the city.
It goes without saying — but I’ll say it anyway, even though you didn’t say ‘fuck’ in your post — that to lose the OU-Texas game would royally suck. Being able to see the game and go to the Texas State Fair is one of the coolest things about Dallas.
So cool, in fact, that I did it my first fall here, and if I ever find another rabid Sooner fan, I’ll do it again in a heartbeat.