Team OSD – Page 46 – The Other Side Dallas

June 15, 2021July 21, 2021

Dallas Parks Pools Disappoint Post COVID19

Dallas Parks pools are disappointing previous season ticket holders with confusing rules and a cumbersome new entry website post COVID19.

Season tickets which are sold out for the season require passholders to book multiple entry times per day unlike in past years.

There were several people who had season passes for last year and were never able to use the aquatic facilities due to coronavirus. In many cases they were slow to get a refund this year due to red tape.

The primary complaint seems to be that the new website is difficult to use and you have to leave for COVID19 decontamination at Dallas Aquatics facilities every two hours. Depending on the day of the week these mandatory half hour breaks turn into two to three hours of lost swim child for local participants.

Dallas Parks is also limiting entries into local facilities.

Dallas Parks created socially distanced “seating pods” which consist of a picnic table or a group of lounge chairs at each facility. Each seating pod is intended to accommodate one family group and will serve as a place for them to gather when not in the water. We are defining a family group as individuals who are attending the facility together (typically from the same household) and are regularly in close contact with each other.

The maximum capacity for a Community Swimming Pools for 2021 is 60 based on the deck space and available seating. Seating pods will be available to guests on a first-come first-serve basis and cannot be reserved, “saved,” or moved.

Dallas Parks Pools Locations

The City of Dallas has a listing of community pools and aquatic centers to find the location closest to you.

Dallas Parks did sponsor several drive through Halloween events last year to provide a positive parks experience during the pandemic and many are using facilities full bore for games, exercise, and meetings at various park facilities.

June 15, 2021June 15, 2021

Huffines: June Rolling Blackouts Ridiculous

Texas Governor Candidate Don Huffines says June rolling blackouts are “ridiculous.”

Huffines has announced for Governor and the gloves have already come off over issues such as border security, government spending, and now what Huffines describes as a “track record of failure.”

June Rolling Blackouts Come To Campaign 2022

Huffines campaign goes on to say “current leadership failed to properly address our power grid issues, and as a result countless lives are at risk once again.”

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has not responded to multiple requests for comment about the situation or Huffines’ comments, but last week claimed that the ERCOT situation was fixed.

June Rolling Blackouts

The news of potential June rolling blackouts came yester day as ERCOT announced it was nearing energy production capacity just days after the Texas legislature adjourned without taking serious action on the February blackouts that led to millions being left in subfreezing temperatures for up to a week.

June 14, 2021June 14, 2021

ERCOT Fails Again

ERCOT fails again power users across Texas.

Per a release, The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is asking Texans to reduce electric use as much as possible today through Friday, June 18, 2021.

A significant number of forced generation outages combined with potential record electric use for the month of June has resulted in tight grid conditions.

Generator owners have reported approximately 11,000 MW of generation is on forced outage for repairs; of that, approximately 8,000 MW is thermal and the rest is intermittent resources.

According to the summer Seasonal Assessment of Resource Adequacy, a typical range of thermal generation outages on hot summer days is around 3,600 MW. One MW typically powers around 200 homes on a summer day.

ERCOT Fails Second Time In Five Months

This is the second time ERCOT has asked the public to reduce energy consumption due to an outdated system. The state legislature recently adjourned without taking up significant changes to the regulation of ERCOT.

In February 2021, ERCOT was unable to sustain power to the grid leading to millions of people without power and major home damage due to burst water pipes in subfreezing temperatures. At the time, the public expected Governor Greg Abbott and Austin leadership in the Texas legislature to take up grid reliability. It never happened this session.

Temperatures have been rising lately hitting the 90s. Last year, our first 100 degree day was July 2020.

Other Side Dallas will update with additional information on cooling stations and power issues locally as it becomes available.

June 11, 2021July 8, 2021

Marty Walsh Photo Ops Dallas Without Answering Questions

United States Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh was in Dallas yesterday providing a photo op for United State Representative Colin Allred and the administration’s American Jobs Plan. While he did a lot of talking, he did not answer a lot of questions.

Walsh did a multistop tour in Dallas including the Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce, Garland Veteran’s Administration facility, and the Semones Family YMCA.

His tour was focused on pushing the Biden Administration’s American Jobs Plan, but locally economic development has been questionable at best.

Walsh tweeted that the YMCA location helps “make child care accessible and affordable, invest in early childhood programs, and provide development opportunities to young adults.”

Marty Walsh Missed Opportunity

One area of concern was a high school student believed to be from Hillcrest who tried to ask Secretary Walsh questions about the Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. The student had started a nonprofit focused on bringing assistance to children with cancer.

The nonprofit has received a loan qualification, but SBA staff have not finalized the loan to assist the nonprofit in staying afloat. The student was briefly detained by staff believed to have been associated with Secretary Walsh or Rep. Colin Allred.

Rep. Allred’s staff did say in a statement that this was a constituent services issue they would look into, but no questions were allowed during the photo op with Secretary Walsh at any of the locations he visited on this topic.

June 11, 2021July 5, 2021

Eric Swalwell Spies In Dallas

Eric Swalwell (Dem, CA-15) was in Dallas last night for an event with new Dallas County Democratic Party Chairwoman Kristy Noble.

The event may show the strength of Noble in bringing national attention to Dallas County’s party which has had a recent history of financial problems. Swalwell’s office would not comment on the current allegations or his work supporting local Democrats across the country.

In 2019 Swalwell was a candidate for President.

Eric Swalwell – Security Issue

In late 2020, Swalwell was accused by Axios of having ties to a Chinese spy through local fundraising efforts.

The suspected Chinese intelligence operative developed extensive ties with local and national politicians, including Congressman Swalwell. Officials in the United States believe this was a political intelligence operation run by China’s main civilian spy agency between 2011 and 2015 and resulted in a FBI briefing to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy.

Swalwell serves on the House Special Committee on Intelligence, a position McCarthy says he should be removed from given current allegations.

June 11, 2021June 11, 2021

Fair Park Raid

An early morning Fair Park raid by the Dallas Police Department in conjunction with the FBI resulted in almost two dozen people being arrested. The raid which included four hundred agents happened west and southwest of Fair Park.

Fair Park Raid Details

Suspects arrested were connected to organized gang activity, including murder and drug sales. Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia in February had referred to drug houses as a detriment.

Despite being one of thirty-five sectors in Dallas, the area where the raid occured makes up ten percent of all violent crime in Dallas. In 2018 there were 10 murders and 315 aggravated assaults in the area. In 2020, murders more than doubled to 23 and Agg Assaults was 485.

Federal authorities, including the FBI, said the area where the raid happened is one of the most violent areas in the Metroplex, and Dallas police said the area makes up 10% of all violent crime across the city.

An FBI taskforce called “Safer Streets,” was launched to combat violent crime in the area.

Officials with several law enforcement agencies – including the FBI Dallas Field Office; the Dallas Police Department; the Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms – all contributed to the investigation and arrests.

In addition to Chief Garcia, FBI Special Agent in Charge Matthew J. DeSarno, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Prerak Shah, DEA Dallas Special Agent in Charge Eduardo Chávez, and ATF Dallas Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Boshek II were all present during the briefing at the FBI Dallas Headquarters.

Shah said they decided to move in now, because they feared the violence would only get worse in the summer months.

“Dallas is bracing for sure and we watch with alarm as summer will spike in the summer,” said Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Prerak Shah. “But the chaos of the pandemic has made everything even more volatile.”

Shah said the inclusion of federal investigators, and federal charges – which often carry steeper penalties than state charges – acts as a possible deterrent.

“The know the difference between state time and federal time, and they do not want to get federal time,” Shah explained, saying that the operation today achieved two goals: taking violent criminals off the street and sending a message to would-be-criminals that the Feds are watching.

Chief Garcia added, “the message today for the residents is simple: DPD is not alone in keeping community safe, DPD is not alone in weeding out the criminal element and DPD is not along in seeding the community with hope,” he said.

Last summer when Governor Abbott sent in the Texas Rangers to patrol much of the same area, local City Councilman Adam Bazaldua responded sharply. He was oe of the ringleaders to defund Dallas City Police last summer in favor of bike lanes, art, and solar power programs.

June 7, 2021June 7, 2021

Barry Wernick: The Smell Is Gone

On Saturday, Barry Wernick lost his race for Dallas City Council District 11 to Jaynie Schultz. On Sunday, he acted as if his campaign hadn’t played dirtythroughout the race.

Wernick claims in his Facebook post above that “we have it a good fight without resorting to name calling or personal attacks.” This statement is completely contradicted by his campaign team who admittred in a secret recording to creating fake Facebook posts to create a negative public safety image of the ultimate winner in the race, Jaynie Schultz.

Barry Wernick Results

Despite leading in the May 1 race results, Wernick lost the runoff of June 5 by eight points. Several voters stated the false negative campaigning was their major reason for voting Schultz over Wernick.

Wernick was supported by several Park Cities Republican Women Club members. We are reaching out for their comment about the race results both in District 11 and in other parts of the city they were involved.

June 4, 2021July 5, 2021

Fair Park Redistricting Rumor

Rumors from 1500 Marilla is Fair Park redistricting may place the area into City Council District 02 after the runoff election is concluded.

Fair Park Redistricting

It is unclear how accurate reports are, but two sources have now confirmed that City of Dallas staff is looking at how to gerrymander Fair Park into D02. The same sources pushed back on the campaign narrative that Eric Johnson would be successful with his campaign endorsements.

If this redistricting plan comes true it would place the area under the leadership of Jesse Moreno instead of Adam Bazaldua.

One person close to the process said on background “Jesse is a real community leader – a work horse. Adam is too much show horse.”

They went on to describe the need of a person better versed with the Fair Park Master Plan than Adam Bazaldua who has been “too busy” planning a mayoral run in two years against Eric Johnson, who he has battled with since his election.

June 3, 2021June 15, 2021

Kristy Noble: New Democratic Chair

Kristy Noble was elected the new Chair of the Dallas County Democratic Party.

The campaign became heated in some instances with a last minute attack mailer against opponent Candace Quarles. The mailer did not state who paid for or authorized the attack – a possible violation of state election law.

Kristy Noble Background

Ms. Noble’s background includes three decades as a small business owner in the Information Technology sector.

She was also a co-founder and leader of the Funky East Dallas Democrats, which grew from 35 to 4,500 people in just four years.

Noble won her race after four rounds of voting between the five candidates.

June 2, 2021June 15, 2021

Danny Defenbaugh Responds – Sort Of

Danny Defenbaugh responds to our post yesterday with a sentence that answers none of our assertions.

Readers will note we asked what evidence he has to substantitate President Joe Biden is a pedophile. He doesn’t respond with any evidence. Dfenbaugh if the former Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Dallas Field Office.

Danny Defenbaugh Responds…

This is Mr. Defenbaugh’s full email response.

It does make us wonder about his investigative prowess if he can not answer the question asked. He is not even deflecting well.

Defenbaugh is perhaps best known for his role in the Oklahoma City Bombing where his mishandling of paperwork led to an execution date change and could have imperiled Timothy McVeigh’s prosecution.

We are unsure if Mr. Defenbaugh had the same outspoken political views during his tenure in the FBI as now.