City Council – Page 5 – The Other Side Dallas

July 3, 2021July 4, 2021

Deep Ellum Noise: Turn Down Enforcement?

Code enforcement has been broadly targeting Deep Ellum noise recently and is getting push back from local bar owners.

Groups like 24 Hour Dallas have been trying to reinvigorate the night time economy locally so it was surprising to some to see Code Enforcement out in force recently.

A petition on Change.org states City Council “snuck through a new sound ordinance recently,” but this appears to be new enforcement of current city code, not a new policy.

Deep Ellum Noise Ordinances

Dallas City noise ordinances say “(1) No mechanical loudspeaker or sound amplifier may be operated within 150 feet of the property line of the premises of a residence, except between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and sunset, as designated by publication in a local newspaper of general circulation.”

The next section also says “(2) A mechanical loudspeaker or sound amplifier may not emit loud and disturbing noises so as to interfere with the enjoyment of life or property or to interfere with public peace and comfort.“

Section 51A-6.102 handles noise regulation within the City of Dallas.

July 2, 2021July 4, 2021

Bazaldua Ethics Hearing

The evidence in the Bazaldua ethics hearing is coming next Tuesday, July 6, 2021 at 10:00AM by videoconference.

Adam Bazadula, City Council Member for District 7, is accused by Pamela Grayson that he violated city ethics code by making personal attacks against Grayson on Facebook. He also removed his co-sponsorship of an Earth Day event she was organizing.

Grayson’s complaint says Bazaldua had park rangers and police waiting on vendors who were arriving at the event. The complaint states Bazaldua was overheard saying that he does not come to South Dallas because “the risk outweighs the reward.”

Grayson argued Bazaldua’s actions are in violation of Dallas code of ethics rules stating council members must act with integrity and treat others with respect and must be responsible with taxpayer resources.

Bazaldua Ethics Hearing Comes After Tough Re-election

Bazaldua faced more opponents than any other sitting member of Dallas City Council. Additionally, one of his opponents was endorsed by the sitting US Congresswoman and State Senator for the area.

July 1, 2021July 1, 2021

Dallas Trash Delays

Dallas trash services will be experiencing delays per Tim Oliver, the City of Dallas Interim Director of Sanitation Services.

The City of Dallas is experiencing a laborer shortage within the Department of Sanitation Services, resulting in intermittent service delays for customers.

Sanitation has adjusted operations to prioritize on-time garbage collection for customers. This means all available staff are assigned to garbage collection routes first. Per a city press release, blue roll cart collection of recyclable materials may be delayed by one or two days in various areas of the city, on a rotating basis, over the next several weeks, until staffing levels stabilize. IT has been reported that recycling has been missed by more than a week in some cases.

The City of Dallas says it is not necessary for customers to report missed recycling collection to 311 unless materials have not been collected after more than forty-eight hours. Areas primarily serviced by automated truck routes will be less affected by this disruption.

Residents can find updates on garbage, recycling, and brush and bulky trash collections on Sanitation’s website, on NextDoor, and the Dallas Sanitation app (App Store / Google Play). Sanitation customers enrolled in the City of Dallas ePay system also receive service advisories directly via email.

Dallas Trash Issues Ongoing

At its last meeting, Dallas City Manager TC Broadnax was given another raise along with the City Secretary despite multiple service issues throughout the city.

Last October, Dallas fell one spot in a national survey of cities by Orkin. It fell on spot to sixteen due to a lower rat population per a national survey though those numbers did not account for changes due to COVID19.

That report came roughly a month after Dallas said it would be limiting residential bulk pickup.

June 29, 2021June 29, 2021

Ruel Hamilton Convicted

Ruel Hamilton was convicted Tuesday of three of four counts of conspiracy and bribing two former Dallas City Council members, the late Carolyn Davis and Dwaine Caraway. Caraway is serving a nearly five-year prison sentence for accepting bribes and kickbacks.

A federal jury convicted Hamilton, the president of AmeriSouth Realty Group, of one count of conspiracy and two counts of bribery of an agent of a local government receiving federal funds.

Ruel Hamilton Case

From 2013 to 2015, Mr. Hamilton paid tens of thousands of dollars in bribes to Carolyn Davis, who was then serving as chair of the city’s Housing Committee.

Ms. Davis supported Hamilton’s Royal Crest housing project, voting to authorize a real estate development loan in a quid pro quo situation, despite the project not meeting the city’s housing priorities for multifamily units.

“The people of Dallas deserve true public servants, not those bought and paid for by the city’s elite. By using money to bend elected officials to his will, Mr. Hamilton betrayed the communities he purports to hold dear,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah.

He continued, “The U.S. Attorney’s Office will not allow a kickback culture to fester at City Hall. To anyone considering this sort of unscrupulous behavior: Think twice. Our prosecutors are tenacious, and we are determined to root out corruption wherever we find it.”

Dwaine Caraway’s conviction was also connected to the Dallas County Schools scandal. Carolyn Davis was killed in a DWI auto accident in 2019.

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 1, 2021May 31, 2021

QAnon Supporter Michael Flynn Calls For Coup in Dallas

QAnon Conference Leads To Call For Coup In Dallas

Michael Flynn Calls For a Myanmar style coup in Dallas at the Omni Hotel this weekend in the latest provocation by far right QAnon supporters.

The Omni Dallas Hotel is hosting guests for the four-day QAnon inspired conference called For God and Country Patriot Roundup. The event featured prominent QAnon supportes including former national security advisor Michael Flynn.

The conference began on Friday with a VIP meet-and-greet reception and lasted through yesterday, Memorial Day.

Flynn responded to a crowd question about why a Myanmar style insurrection could not happen here and he respodned he thought it should.

It is unclear what the cost is to taxpayers for police overtime to provide a space to organizers who openly support insurrection against the United States government.

Dallas County overwhelmingly voted for Joe Biden in November 2020 with 598,576 votes to Donald Trump’s 307,076 votes. This was approximately 65% to 33% with third party candidates taking in the remainder.

Coup In Dallas – Not The First Issue At Omni Hotel

The Omni Dallas has had numerous issues in recent history.

Last year the Omni Hotel refused to put the Black Lives Matter slogan on its hotel wall. The Omni is one of the hotels supported by Visit Dallas which has had numerous audit issues over the years costing taxpayers millions of dollars.

This conference also comes on the heels of Barry Wernick’s campaign for Dallas City Council, District 11, being accused of Trumpian campaign tactics. Wernick’s team admitted in a secret recording to doctoring a Facebook post of his opponent for the Dallas City Council seat earlier in the campaign season.

May 20, 2021May 21, 2021

Diane Ragsdale Endorsement: More Insider Dealing?

Wednesday Diane Ragsdale, a former Dallas City Council member, announced her endorsement of Adam Bazaldua in the District 7 runoff. The question is why is this necessary and is the endorsement of an insider who profited off her career on Dallas City Council a net positive.

Ragsdale’s endorsement mentions Bazaldua shutting down drug and gambling houses, but Bazaldua is neither a police officer, nor friendly with the Dallas Police Department after leading the Defund DPD effort in summer 2020. At one point it was possible that $77M might be pulled from the Dallas Police Department budget.

Diane Ragsdale: Personal Economic Development?

Ragsdale is also known as one of the architects of the South Dallas-Fair Park Opportunity Fund which has had numerous trust issues since its inception decades ago. As a member of city council she helped create the fund itself, but more recently her Innercity Community Development Corporation was the only entity to receive loan dollars from the economic opportunity fund.

In the meantime, crime in D7 continues to be a problem and Baz is now caught between seeking the Dallas Police Association endorsment and openly working to cut their overtime.

May 2, 2021May 2, 2021

Keep Dallas Safe Unable To Protect Eric Johnson

Keep Dallas Safe (KDS) failed in spectacular fashion at protecting the political strength of Eric Johnson as polls closed on the Dallas City Council election.

While not directly linked, observers noted that KDS was pushing candidates supportive of Eric Johnson’s agenda including pushing out current city council incumbents Jaime Resensez (D5), Adam Bazaldua (D7), and Paula Blackmon (D9).

They sent multiple mailers which some described as “klanlike” and direct from “MAGA World” – a reference to previous support for Donald Trump.

In District 5, Mayor Johnson supported Yolanda Williams who came in third missing the run off, and in District 7 he supported Donald Parish Jr., who also had the endorsements of Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson and State Senator Royce West.

(West has ties to a prominent Trump financial backer and was pushed by potential opponent John Cornyn in his runoff with MJ Hegar.)

Keep Dallas Safe – Another North Dallas Astroturf Operation?

Earlier this year, Dallas Observer noted Daniel Taylor was linked to a similar astroturf operation in New Orleans where actors were paid to attend public meetings.

In the Dallas City Council elections, Keep Dallas Safe also opposed Paula Blackmon who easily cruised to re-election against two opponents avoiding a run off in Elections 2021. They also chose to attack Jaynie Schultz in D11.

It is unclear how active KDS will be involved with run offs in District 7 and District 11. The other major winner was Chad West who also won his re-election easily.

One campaign staff member stated they were already gearing up for his mayoral run in two years. West has been increasingly outspoken including taking exception with staff over COVID19 vaccine rollouts. Given Johnson’s recent record, there are rumors he may not run for re-election.

April 21, 2021April 21, 2021

Richardson Police Admit Illegal Quotas

A Richardson Police Department officer admitted the department was engaging in an illegal quotas practice under the guide of productivity. The practice of quotas is illegal under Texas Transportation Code Sec. 720.002.

The full video can be viewed here:

The officer’s allegations have significant importance to both the department’s own compliance with federal and state law and an ongoing lawsuit against the City of Richardson.

Richardson Police and Texas Transportation Code 720.002

Richardson Police Also Face Federal Police Brutality Lawsuit

In 2018, Neco Bonham, who is Black, was pulled over for a broken tail light which was later proveb false. In that case, the Richardson officer’s body cam video showed Officer Parker Winn escalating the situation fifteen seconds into the incident.

Bonham is now suing the two white police officers as well as the city of Richardson in a federal civil rights lawsuit, alleging racial profiling and excessive force. He claims Winn contrived a bogus reason to stop him in order to search the pickup for drugs simply because he was a “young Black man with a hoodie.”

Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot has complained that some police continue to improperly use “pretext stops” against minority motorists searching for marijuana.

This testimony in open city council working session indicates police issues exist outside just the City of Dallas and Reneé Hall.

February 3, 2021February 3, 2021

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, State Senator Royce West Endorsements

United States Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson and State Senator Royce West endorsements came down yesterday in the City Council race for D7 and they didn’t go as expected. Rev. Donald Parish Jr. – the Sports Preacher – received their support for his D7 campaign leaving incumbent Adam Bazaldua wondering what happened.

In addition, Mel Renfro and his wife Liz, have agreed to be co-chairs of Parish’s campaign for City Council.

Royce West Endorsements For Parish Jr.

Parish Jr. is also known as the sports preacher is a regular contributor to Dallas ISD programming for African American youth across the city, but particularly in South Dallas and has worked alongside other notable Dallas Cowboys including Greg Ellis.

It is suspected Bazaldua will also lose the support of local police unions after being out front on defunding police programs this summer and standing by Chief Reneé Hall during the Margaret Hunt Hill bridge debacle.

Bazaldua has often been an aggressive voice at city council meetings speaking over colleagues and in open warfare with Mayor Johnson over a host of issues.