It is unclear why a sitting city council member felt the need to run for Precinct Chair, but the results are disastrous per one local elections watcher.
“Baz just told everyone he can be beat in his own precinct. He just opened the floodgates of new candidates who are going to challenge him.”
One former supporter surmised Tracy Dotie Hill probably did something causing offense to Bazaldua so he decided to take her out of office only to find he couldn’t even win the most local of elections.
Note, final results are not in, but based on Early Voting there is no clear path for Bazaldua to win this seat.
Adam Bazaldua Problems Beginning?
Bazaldua may have a new ethics issue to follow on last year’s regarding his party filing.
The city charter expressly states “A member of the city council shall forfeit his or her place on the council if he or she becomes a candidate for nomination or election to any public office other than a place on the city council or if he or she becomes a candidate for election to any different place on the city council that requires taking office prior to the end of his or her elective term.”
Precinct Chairs are elected positions requiringin a place on a party primary ballot, an affidavit, and are elected by the public. It is unclear how Bazaldua’s filing for Precinct Chair does not violate the city charter.
Dallas Democrats had what they wanted. Beto in Dallas yesterday and the press conference was as expected: free drugs, new casinos, and Medicaid expansion.
The Democratic nominee for Governor came out swinging against Governor Abbott on marijuana legalization, opening casinos in Texas, and expanding Medicaid.
He was joined by State Senator Nathan Johnson and City Council District 7 member Adam Bazaldua. The trio addressed local economics, but not the rising crime rate.
Bazaldua has been part of rising taxes since he joined Dallas city council was also a proponent of defunding the police – which has led to more police leaving the job and higher crime rates.
Governor Abbott’s campaign was quick to respond.
“Serial flip-flopper Beto O’Rourke is once again misleading the public,” said Abbott campaign communications director Mark Miner. “Gov. Abbott has reduced property taxes for Texans by over $18 billion since taking office, while Beto O’Rourke has an established track record of increasing property taxes while serving on the City Council in El Paso.”
Beto In Dallas: Another Change In Direction?
O’Rourke who has not spoken openly about legalizing gambling in Texas plans to introduce the plan to lower property taxes which are quickly rising given the influx of new residents seeking Texas’ positive economic outlook.
O’Rourke is not only fighting the national headwinds which show President Biden polling lower than former President Trump at the same time in his administration, but is also facing a Texas Republican Party which has a strong edge in data analytics, messaging, and voter communication efforts that many Democrats refuse to admit.
The Dallas City Council gives more tax breaks to billionaires in one more corportate giveaway while simultaneously telling the homeless they can not ask for money on street corners.
City Council approved an “incentive” to facilitate a new mixed-use and mixed-income development project proposed by Kroger Co. and its development partner Southeastern called One City View at N. Hall Street and Flora Street.
The project, the second in collaboration with Kroger in recent years, will bring a full-service grocery store and affordable housing to the downtown/uptown area.
“The mixed income component of this project brings 375 new housing units, including a much needed 75 affordable units to Dallas,” District 14 City Council Member Paul Ridley said. “I welcome such opportunities to partner with the private sector to achieve the city’s objective of creating more affordable housing close to jobs, transportation and community resources.”
The new five-story development will include a Kroger grocery store (approximately 80,000 square feet) on the ground level and almost four hundred apartments on the upper four levels. At least seventy-five of these apartments will be rent restricted for households earning a maximum of 60% Area Median Family Income (AMFI). The total project cost is estimated at $108 million.
The incentive approved by the City Council to facilitate the project authorizes a real property tax abatement agreement for a period of ten years in an amount equal to the City’s taxes assessed on 50% of the increased value of the property.
“This partnership is a step towards greater economic and equitable development in communities with untapped potential. We look forward to collaborating with Kroger and Southeastern and hope this project will serve as a beacon to attract similar partnerships,” Chief of Economic Development & Neighborhood Services Dr. Eric Anthony Johnson said.
In 2019, the City Council approved an initial partnership with Kroger for a new $100 million fulfillment center located at 4241 Telephone Road in the Southern Dallas Inland Port. The Dallas-based automated fulfillment center, in partnership with Ocado Solutions USA Inc., will source, package and prepare grocery products for direct delivery to consumers throughout Dallas and neighboring communities.
Tennell Atkins was overjoyed by the news saying in a city issued statement, “this partnership will lift and leverage our efforts to achieve equitable development in Dallas. We are happy to support Kroger in this project, and hope to see more positive and impactful collaborations like this one in our City.”
Atkins is Chair of the Economic Development Committee.
The City of Dallas also provided $3M to a South Dallas grocer with almost no strings attached after city council intercession. It reeked of the economic devlopment problems of the old South Dallas/Fair Park Trust Fund and todate has not provided additional jobs or additional food options.
That move has since been lambasted as another giveaway to developer friends of local city council members.
Construction of the latest taxpayer funded boondoggle is reported to be nearing completion. 350 full-time positions for the new facility will begin to ramp up in the coming months.
In addition to providing the tax break for Kroger and Company, the City of Dallas is also coordinating with the company to use tax dollars to provide employees to Kroger via city run job fairs.
The Bazaldua ethics meeting discussed last week has started to a rocky start with Adam Bazaldua seeking to delay the Ethics Advisory Commission evidentiary hearing. He is not present for a meeting that he was aware of June 10, 2021.
“I deserve equitability,” said Dr. Pamela Grayson during the public comment hearing.
Ultimately the Ethics Advisory Commission chose to delay the meeting per a motion from Grant Schmidt.
Bazaldua Ethics Meeting Background
Adam Bazadula, City Council Member for District 7, was 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
