Chad West lashes out after he posted on Facebook that he was on the receiving end of “several calls and messages last night from neighbors who experienced 2, 3, 4 and even 6-hour waits at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center yesterday for their COVID19 vaccination appointments.”
Council Member West seemed dismayed at the Mayor, but the entire City Council has been acting as one observer noted “like a bunch of petulant children.”
This local political actist noted “if the Mayor and City Council had to rely on one another for mutual survival, they’d all be done six months ago. Every one of them is more interested in their memo or tweet to score political points than in listening and fixing problems and they are ignoring people with the experience to do help.”
Chad West Lashes Out – In Wrong Direction?
The angry Facebook post came the same day Dallas County reported 1,617 new COVID19 cases and a dozen deaths.
In late January, Dallas County Commissioner’s Court voted 3-0 with two abstentions to prioritize vaccine distribution to certain zip codes leaving black and brown citizens in other areas at the end of the line. An emergency meeting was required after the decision once the Texas Department of State Health Services reminded Dallas County of their obligations under their hub contract to serve everyone.
The Business and Community Lenders nonprofit is accused of threatening a local nonprofit with withdrawing a grant made by the City of Dallas when the grantee asked process questions that were not identified in the initial proposal submission. In the taped conversation the Director of Entrepreneurship, Brian K Marhshall, is heard saying “if you don’t stop asking questions we will just withdraw the grant.” (The conversation provided to Other Side Dallas has gone to a notary for transcription for legal purposes.)
In November, the City of Dallas advertised the B.U.I.L.D Small Business Grant Program. As of late December applicants had not heard from city staff.
As the city advertised, B.U.I.L.D. (Broaden Urban Investments to Leverage Dallas) launched the B.U.I.L.D Small Business Grant Program to assist small businesses impacted by the economic downturn caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic. The program will provide businesses in the city of Dallas that have fewer than nine employees, or a 2019 payroll of less than $250,000, with a one-time grant of up to $3,000.
As we reported in the middle of January, several businesses expressed concern about issues with the grant. Their complaints ranged from the city missing its own deadline of late December notifications and not also changing standards after the application period.
BUILD Grantees Not Only Ones Concerned
In addition to the threats and changing standards, it is not clear who is funding this program. The City of Dallas who advertised the program has denied funding the program and referred the issue to JP Morgan Chase. Their media relations staff say they did not fund this program either.
Further, City of Dallas staff stated they had no responsive documents when asked about how BUILD grantees’ applications were scored and decisions made, that the decisions were for funding, etc.
Dr. Eric Anthony Johnson, Director of Economic Development for the City of Dallas has refused to respond to numerous requests for comment about his BUILD grantees program. Additionally, Tennell Atkins, Chairman of the City Council Economic Development Committee has refused multiple requests also.
It was attacked by County Judge Clay Jenkins as potentially illegal and now Texas has agreed.
In a strongly worded email to Commissioners, Texas health officials said, “While we ask hub providers to ensure the vaccine reaches the hardest-hit areas and populations, solely vaccinating people who live in those areas is not in line with the agreement to be a hub provider,” wrote Imelda Garcia, an associate commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services.
She continues, “If Dallas County is unable to meet these expectations, we will be forced to reduce the weekly vaccine allocation … and no longer consider it a hub provider.”
In addition to the state action at least two attorneys were preparing motions to stop the new vaccine rollout.
COVID19 Politics At 1500 Marilla
Meanwhile, Mayor Eric Johnson sent a terse memo to City Manager TC Broadnax regarding city vaccination rollout and individual council members seeking vaccine registration hubs.
The Mayor’s memo was immediately attacked as another COVID19 politics power grab by Adam Bazaldua in both personal posts and posts to the Other Side DallasFacebook group.
The two City Council colleagues have been described by another City Council member as “the two boys in the sandbox who can’t get along because neither gets enough attention” from their mother.
“They both just complain about the other and neither does his homework,” the source said.
Can the City of Dallas expect more Economic Development bait and switch from the department led by Dr. Eric Anthony Johnson? It appears so when it comes to offering grants and then making the checks impossible to obtain.
In November, the city launched the BUILD grants program offering $3000 microgrants to small businesses and nonprofits hit hard by COVID19. The notice said checks would be out by December 28, 2020. Until we inquired last week through a Public Information Request no one had received notice.
One education based nonprofit noted they received notification Friday and were then given one businesses day to agree to additional terms and conditions not originally outlined in the program. Their reaction to this bait and switch was outrage.
In an email to Carolyn King Arnold the group noted they are already doing the city and county’s job by providing for homeless students who are not receiving services through City of Dallas.
Bait and Switch – Again
The bait and switch grant issue is particularly hard because the City of Dallas provided $3M to a South Dallas grocer with almost no strings attached. It reeked of the economic devlopment problems of the old South Dallas/Fair Park Trust Fund.
The issue is particularly relevant as six different entities contacted Other Side Dallas to complain about process and response.
One person noted this is another example of the City of Dallas giving away dollars to politically connected friends of city council members. In October, city staff tried to sneak through a proposal to give the Lorenzo Hotel nearly $2M. It was only stopped when Council Member Cara Mendolsohn (D12) asked questions.
To date there has been no response to emails from several city council members including Tennell Atkins who spearheaded the $3M to the now closed Save U More grocer, and has been a major recipient of campaign cash from Save U More’s representatives.
Ditty Mayor Eric Johnson who also received sizeable contributions on the repeated failings of Economic Development.
Ditto Casey Thomas (D3) who also has been silent on the matter.
Ditto Adam Bazaldua (D7) who has ignored several requests to discuss this issue and the South Dallas/Fair Park Opportunity Fund Board from current and former board members.
The issue has not escaped notice though.
Calvin Johnson, a candidate for the D7 city council seat in May said,”When it comes to city programs that help small business we have to be better organized on announcing all the requirements upfront.”
“We must set achievable timetables and follow through effectively on the back end when the assistance is approved and granted,” he continued.
It is unclear why his opponent Bazaldua has not taken this opportunity given his progressive public profile for slashing the police budget in favor of social programs.
Ditto North Dallas. Council Member Lee Kleinman (D11) who has been arguing against the Dallas Police Department’s mounted unit for years – which costs the city roughly $125000 annually – had no comment about either the Save U More issue or bait and switch grant programs. Kleinman is term limited and
Two people were shot Monday afternoon in a Pleasant Grove convenience store incident.
Dallas Police Department officials said it happened Monday afternoon at the Mini Mart on Scyene Road near North St. Augustine Drive.
The two victims are in stable condition at a local hospital and police are not commenting further on motive.
Pleasant Grove Convenience Store Incident – Just One More?
While the shooting was happening, D7 Council Member Adam Bazaldua was tweeting about race issues with COVID19 vaccination sites.
He was a leading voice on defunding Dallas Police Department in summer of 2020, but a campaign insider said he is terrified of Kevin Felder or Tiffinni Young jumping into the D7 council race.
“Adam is dismissing Not My Son’s Tramonica Brown,” said another source.
The final budget partially defunded police overtime, but removed some of the pork projects that had been substituted originally.
Who made the call to rescind yesterday’s memo about Dallas Police dispatch and who made the call to issue it unsigned? Those are the questions Dallas is asking this morning.
The second day of the New Year was a communications debacle as an unsigned memo came to light stating several calls with potential for violence would not be dispatched. Among them were burglary of a motor vehicle, runaways, and incidents involving child custody.
Rescind Statement And Investigation
Council Member Jennifer Staubach Gates issued her own statement against the dispatch orders stating the matter was internal and draft in nature. She said it was “premature for DPD to initiate these changes before briefing the Public Safety Committee and before the new Chief begins.”
Chief Garcia is scheduled to start work sometime in February and the next Public Safety Committee meeting is scheduled for January 11, 2021 at 1:00pm.
Dallas City Council Member Tennell Atkins reports the Shingle Mountain fix is starting. Per a statement by Atkins issued regarding removal of shingles at 9505 S. Central Expressway: “The removal of shingle material at 9505 S. Central Expressway today marks a new era in Southern Dallas.”
The City’s contractor, Roberts Trucking, will move the shingle material to McCommas Bluff Landfill. The landfill is prepared to receive this type of material, and plans to recycle it. The contractor anticipates the removal process will be complete by the end of March 2021.
The removal process is being supervised by Modern Geosciences to address environmental concerns associated with the removal. Air monitoring will occur on and off site to ensure air quality meets appropriate standards to protect human health.
Shingle Mountain Fix Is Still A Legal Issue
The city statement goes on saying,“While the City has settled with one of the property owners, the City remains in litigation with the remaining defendants.
“We are nearly at the end of a two year journey, involving the tireless work of the City’s legal team and various City departments. We are hopeful this process will alleviate concerns from surrounding community members and emphasizes the City’s commitment to a clean environment.”
Dallas appears to be repeating the Reneé Hall errors by naming RaShall M. Brackney a finalist for Dallas Police Chief. Hall has officially left her duties as police chief under a cloud of questions from her own officers. She accelerated her departure timeline after we reported on inappropriate behavior between she and convicted felon Dominique Alexander.
In October, the Interim Minister and Board for the Unitarian Universalists of Charlottesville wrote a letter to Brackney – a reported “expert on harm reduction, procedural and restorative justice practices, and community-police relations” about what appears on its face to be a case of racial profiling by her officers. Her response was a press conference where she called for the termination of both the church pastor and the entire board.
Brackney’s full press conference can be seen here.
Brackney comes to Dallas as local neo nazis act with impunity vandalizing city property and Dallas City Council can not decide if they will hold police accountable or just defund them in line with social-justice activists’ wishes.
Meanwhile Brackney is considered a finalist for our top cop role – coming from a department that has a bad history of dealing with protests and counter protests.
Dallas has a long history of protests and Dallas Police in responding, but the thinking of TC Broadnax on this one is confusing – especially given the recent problems with Reneé Hall.
As a person on social media noted “of all the people in the world to go to war with, I feel like “the reverend at the unitarian church” was a bad choice for the Charlottesville Police Department.”
Brackney History
Brackney’s Charlottesville biography states prior to her appointment as the Chief of Police she retired as a 30-year veteran from the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and served as the former Chief of Police of the George Washington University.
Comment was sough from Charlottesville Police public information unit, but there has been no response as of time of publish.
Despite pledging to serve the remainder of 2020, her resignation was announced earlier today with Lonzo Anderson, appointed Interim Chief of Police starting December 15, 2020.
City officials from the Mayor’s Office and City Manager’s Office continue to avoid questions about her tenure or the most recent allegations.
Reneé Hall Runs Away Again
Hall has been under heavy criticism since it was learned she was not providing proper supervision to officers during the June Gorge Floyd protests and lied about the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge events both at the time and later in official After Action Reports.
Hall’s resignation has led to thirty-six applicants for the Chief of Police position.
City Manager T.C. Broadnax invited the group of seven candidates chosen from a pool of thirty-six applicants from across the U.S. The candidates named finalists are:
Albert Martinez – Director of Security for Dallas Catholic Dioceses/Former DPD Deputy Chief
Avery Moore – Assistant Police Chief, Dallas Police Department
Eddie Garcia – Chief of Police, San Jose, California
Jeff Spivey – Chief of Police, City of Irving, Texas
Malik Aziz – Major, Dallas Police Department
Reuben Ramirez – Deputy Chief, Dallas Police Department
RaShall Brackney – Chief of Police, Charlottesville, Virginia
Interviews between candidates and council members will be pre-recorded and published on the city’s social media and cable TV next week.
An additional fifty-five organizations ranging from police unions to neighborhood nonprofits will participate in stakeholder panel interviews with the candidates beginning December 15, 2020.
Broadnax says he expects to select and appoint the next chief before the end of the year.
Mayor Johnson has recently emphasized public safety including his state of the city address: “We need more robust law enforcement strategies,” Johnson said in his speech at Fair Park, in South Dallas. “The violent crime reduction plan that I asked for last year simply has not worked. … It is my expectation that whoever becomes the next police chief will be accountable to you and will work with you to make our city safer.”
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