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Hensley Field Redevelopment back and it will cause more headaches. This time Dallas City Council will have no one to blame, but itself. Per a tweet from Mayor Johnson this morning, the Dallas City Council unanimously approved a contract to create a master plan for redeveloping Hensley Field in southern Dallas.

Hensley Field Redevelopment History

In January, Mayor Eric Johnson and a Trump White House official toured the former Naval Air Station Dallas. The gargantuan site known as Hensley Field is the one the city hopes to redevelop.

Both the Mayor and the Executive Director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council, Scott Turner viewed the 738 acre site, which fronts Mountain Creek Lake, as a blank slate.

“I see incredible potential. A large site like this where you could do some mixed use housing. You could do some work force development and training. You could partner with Dallas Baptist University and some of our educational institutions. You’ve got multi-modal transportation opportunities here. It could be absolutely catalytic for the city,” said Johnson.

“To see the type of potential as the mayor said that’s here is very encouraging,” said Turner.

Mayor Johnson was there, and told Turner afterwards, he wanted to speak with him about Hensley Field. “I immediately said I want to come see it. I want to tour it. I want to see it for myself,” Turner said.

Johnson agreed.

“He said I’ll come see it, I want to put my feet on the ground there and I want to come look at it to help me understand it better so I can communicate it to the people I need to help things get rolling. So I’m confident we’ll make some progress. I’m very confident.”

Turner, a Republican and Johnson, a Democrat both served as State Representatives in the Texas Legislature and have remained friends since they moved on.

Johnson said, “He (Turner) really in a very convincing and heartfelt way expressed on behalf of the administration he works for their desire to be partners and work with local government on a bipartisan basis to get stuff done.”

The city’s Director of Environmental Quality and Sustainability, James McGuire said developing a site like Hensley Field from the ground up is rare. The city said while the Navy agreed to fully clean-up the contaminated site nearly 20 years ago, progress has stalled in recent years.

The Hensley Field Redevelopment could end up costing the city millions. The city current has not fulfilled its obligations to the mess created by Shingle Mountain despite a recent arrest. The past decade has been marred by city council choices to increase tax revenue with the equivalent of get rich quick schemes which always cost the taxpayer including the choice to frak on park land and more recently the plans for Reverchon Park.

The Shingle Mountain landowner and operator was arrested by the Dallas city marshal arrested on Thursday, according to a statement from Dallas City Council member Tennell Atkins.

Atkins said several city departments, including code compliance, searched the property in the 9200 block of Teagarden Road and found “numerous violations of local and state laws – including the illegal dumping of an estimated 1,000 tons of material.”

“As I have stated on numerous occasions, I expect all property owners in the City of Dallas to follow the laws intended to protect the public and the environment,” Atkins said. “We will continue to do everything that we can to ensure that this property owner is no exception.”

The homeowner who has fought for the site’s cleanup since 2018 has a pending lawsuit against the city, the owner of the site, and the company that brought in the shingles.

Shingle Mountain History

According to the statement the case has been referred to the city attorney’s office and the city will ensure prompt cleanup, but the city’s injunction has been ongoing for years.

Blue Star Recycling LLC started collecting roofing shingles on a property just off of South Central Expressway. They had the intention of recycling them into asphalt type roading at some point. They also had been given permission from the city to store around 260 tons. Again, as noted above the current estimate is 1000 tons of material. 

The female D2 candidate in the Dallas Independent School District race, Nancy Rodriguez, has been told to get out of the race just two days after the anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment providing women the right to vote.

Alex Enriquez was asked for comment and confirmation he made the statement. He has yet to respond, but that has not stopped the fireworks on Facebook pages and other social media.

D2 Candidates

The three candidates in District 2 will have their hands full once elected. Those candidates are Alex Enriquez, Dustin Marshall, and Nancy Rodriguez.

Their election has been moved to coincide with the November general election due to concerns about COVID19.

Not only will they contend with the ongoing COVID19 pandemic, but the results of the November bond election.

The Dallas ISD now includes a socially distant school open. Classes will begin 100% online on September 8, 2020 until at least October 6, 2020 per a Press Conference with Superintendent Michael Hinojosa.

Superintendent Hinijosa just announced the district will be 100% virtual for the first four weeks of school though October 6.  He said he’s hoping to make a decision month to month because he knows how important it is to get kids back to in person school.

These decisions follow weeks of consideration of Back to School plans which may not have been sufficient to handle the current pandemic.

Socially Distant School Extra-curricular Events

The decision on 100% sociall distant school openings effects all extra-curricular activities too. This includes strength and conditioning, band and drill team, all UIL and visual and performing arts activities.

This information was first reported by Townview Magnet Foundation.

North Texas Giving Day (NTGD) returns to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex in just over four weeks.

NTGD has been operaring for eleven years and during that time the online event has transformed from an idea to help raise awareness of nonprofits to a movement that has ignited a broad culture of community-wide giving. During North Texas Giving Day, everyone has the opportunity to be a philanthropist to build a stronger and more vibrant community.

As North Texas Giving Day approaches we will highlight various nonprofits in the community and offer them a highlight.

North Texas Giving Day Champions

The Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT) created North Texas Giving Day. They say their charge is to put giving to work. To take generosity and amplify it. To take passion and focus it. To seed impact and harvest it year after year. They want Dallas to invest in each other. We nourish the best in our cities, our neighbors and our communities. Because we know where giving thrives, communities thrive, too.

As one of the largest community foundations in the nation, CFT professionally manages more than 1,000 charitable funds for families, companies, foundations and nonprofits and has awarded more than $2 billion in grants since its founding in 1953.

In many ways the Dallas Police Department reflects departments across the country. The public has already expressed criticism on how police departments across the US handled the George Floyd protests. Now, the Dallas Public Safety Committee will review Dallas Police Department’s actions during the mass hysteria. DPD’s Official After Action report can be found here.

The 85 page After Action report details the other side of the protest. It includes topics such as how the police planned for the protest, a logistics view on equipment use, a detailed timeline of when the police responded to incidents and finally a way they can improve and “Move Forward”.

Unfortunately the Dallas Police Department still maintains their lie about what truly happened at Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. Which is expected, no one, especially Police Chief Reneé Hall, wants to admit they were wrong. At least not verbally.

Dallas Police Department mistakes

Here are some things the Dallas Police Department admits they can improve on.

Knowing when and when not to take action should be something to clarify with officers. Apparently that never happened. According to page 22 of the report “Operational Plans for May 29 and 30 did not list the rules of engagement.”

Communications was also an issue. One sergeant stated, “The communication was terrible. During detail, officers were given clear communication about what was expected. When the protesters moved and went on the bridge, the communication went out the window.” As a result, DPD plans to upgrade to 800MHz radio communications in order to more effectively inform every officer on the rules of engagement (which should have been told before hand).

Additionally General Orders will be modified to only allow the use of less lethal tools (Stingers, OC spray, C.S. gas, etc.) when there is an immediate danger of injury to person or damage to property, and only if approved by the Chief of Police.

Of course, if a specific individual is seen to be violating the zero tolerance rule, officers are still allowed to fire without approval. At least now less lethal tools are not allowed to be used on peaceful crowds anymore (like they were used on the bridge).

Lastly the Dallas Police Department hopes to buy 500 new body worn cameras in order to better review situations in future After Action Reports.

Despite this mostly being about the mistakes of the DPD, there is one thing to credit them on. The addition of a Duty to Intervene. Althought they claim it was always there, now it is specifically stated in the oath, and encouraged, to intervene if another officer abuses their power. Its not the solution to the Blue Wall of Silence, but its a start.