By Neil Foote – Dallas South News Board of Directors
I really have to take issue with the recent editorial in the Dallas Morning News – “It’s cold and annoying, but we’ll chop our way through it”.
All this week North Texas has been virtually shutdown by layers of ice on our roadways, blackouts, and school closings. There are streets in North and South Dallas, including major thoroughfares – that have gotten very little attention at all.
Businesses have lost millions of dollars in revenue due to loss productivity and no sales. Families have suffered as they tend to their children and elderly as they try to work around Oncor’s “rolling black outs”. And you’re telling us basically to take a “chill pill” – we’ll get through this?
Sure, bad weather happens; conditions are always unpredictable, but what’s really troubling about this is when Super Bowl spokesmen tell us that the hotels where the Packers and Steelers are staying and Cowboys Stadium received exemptions from this week’s unannounced blackouts. I’m really worried that the safety concerns of a few seem to outweigh the safety of millions of North Texas residents.
Don’t get me wrong. The Super Bowl in North Texas is a wonderful opportunity for us all. But through this weather emergency, where have our leaders been? Mayor Leppert? Gov. Perry? Councilmembers? State Reps? Mayor hopfuls? Senate hopefuls? We finally heard from them after they responded to ERCOT’s policies, but to date, it has been silent. Of course, our school officials have taken the the proper route to close schools to avoid teachers,administration, parents and their kids on these treacherous roads. That was a necessity.
Thanks to State Senator Royce West for investigating and responding to so many of our concerns via emails about the terrible road conditions. Can you believe at one point the other day at the same time the ramps there was a DART bus full of seniors stuck on the ramp from I-20 West leading to to U.S. Route 67 and a truck was jack knifed on the other ramp from I-20 east on to U.S. Route 67? Is this really acceptable? I don’t think so.
I’ve been in Texas since 1994, and want to apologize to my friends visiting from around the country who have really seen this city not live up to its best.
I know we can do better.
Neil Foote is President/CEO of Foote Communications LLC, a media relations and marketing company and a senior lecturer at the Mayborn School of Journalism at the University of North Texas.
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