Tuesday November 15th

Today the judge made it clear the city has the authority to enforce the agreement in place. No action will be taken this evening at Occupy Dallas.  City Attorneys will discuss the next steps with this group’s legal representation tomorrow.  The city has attempted to balance this groups first amendment rights with the city’s responsibility to protect the activists and general public. Public Safety and the health conditions at the encampment remain a paramount concern.

Mayor Mike Rawlings

Last week Larry Taylor told me he is considering a run Texas House of Representatives District 110.  Most folks in Dallas know Taylor from his bow tie and role as Senior Outreach Director for Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson.  Many didn’t notice that he transitioned to serve as a prosecutor for Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins earlier this year.

District 110 is currently represented by Barbara Mallory Caraway who has announced her plans to challenge Taylor’s old boss (Rep. Johnson) in the 2012 race for U.S. House District 30.

Taylor is a graduate of Texas A&M University as well as the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University.  He says he’ll be making a final decision shortly.

The City of Dallas has submitted its 2011 Adopted City Council Districting Plan Section 5 Submission to the Department of Justice. The Dallas Council adopted the plan on Oct. 5, 2011.

A paper copy of Dallas’ submission is available for review by the public at the City Secretary’s Office, Room 5D South, 1500 Marilla St., Dallas, TX 75201 and at the Government Information Center on the 6^th Floor J. Erik Jonsson Central Library, 1515 Young Street, Dallas, TX 75201. An electronic copy is also available at http://www.dallascityhall.com/Redistricting/DOJ.html.

Comments or concerns can be submitted directly to the Department of Justice. Comments to the Chief, Voting Section, Civil Rights Division, sent by the U.S. Postal Service, including certified mail or express mail, shall be addressed to the Chief, Voting Section, Civil Rights Division, United States Department of Justice, Room 7254–NWB, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20530.

Carriers other than the U.S. Postal Service, including hand delivery, should be addressed and may be delivered to the Chief, Voting Section, Civil Rights Division, United States Department of Justice, Room 7254–NWB, 1800 G Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006.

All comments should be marked: “Comment under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.’’ Comments should include the name of the jurisdiction and the Attorney General’s file number (2011– 4417) in the subject line.

I spoke with Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins yesterday who said a plan has been crafted to save three jobs in the Family Violence Division.  The three positions had been partly funded by a federal grant from the Office on Violence Against Women.

The Office on Violence Against Women is part of the U.S. Department of Justice and used to carry out the Violence Against Women Act of 1994.  Since the grant will not be renewed, an alternative means for funding was needed to maintain staffing levels.

Watkins says he has been working with Dallas County commissioners for over a month to save the three jobs.  Two of the positions (an attorney and investigator) are currently open.

According to Watkins, the individuals who were in those positions were moved to another part of the DA’s office in anticipation of the loss of grant funding. The secretary position is filled.

The total salary for the three positions is just over $218,000.  The federal grant covered roughly 2/3 of that amount while Dallas County paid the rest.  So basically there’s a $140,000 gap that must be covered to keep the to two positions.

Enter the forfeiture funds, this is where it gets a little complicated.  Forfeiture funds are described by the U.S. Marshals Service as “the proceeds from the sale of forfeited assets such as real property, vehicles, businesses, financial instruments, vessels, aircraft and jewelry.”  The Dallas County District Attorney’s office currently has almost $2 million in forfeiture funds on hand.

According to Lincoln Monroe, Administrative Attorney in the DA’s office, forfeiture funds have limitations on how they may be spent.  Monroe said the money cannot be used on salaries, so the office could not make up the $140,000 needed for the Family Violence Division with forfeiture funds.  The Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 59.06(d) puts it like this:

• A commissioners court or governing body of a municipality may not use the existence of an award (i.e. forfeited funds awarded to a municipality) to offset or decrease total salaries, expenses, and allowances that the agency or the attorney receives from the commissioners court or governing body at or after the time the proceeds are awarded.

The Texas District and County Attorneys Association describes a recent innovation if you will, in how county and state officials are handling the funds:

A new way to distribute property, created during the last legislative session, is for law enforcement agencies to loan or transfer forfeited property to another municipal or county agency or to a school district for that agency or district’s use.

Texas District & County Attorneys Association Website

So the District Attorney’s office gifted $140,000 to the Sheriff’s Department.  Watkins said the county commissioners will in turn reduce the Sheriff’s Department budget by $140,000 and those funds will be transferred to the DA’s office and put towards the Family Violence Division.  He said the commissioners agreed to fund the $78,000 needed for the three positions.

Watkins said that even though the grant funding was going away, he always wanted to maintain the employees.  ”If you are doing a great job for the citizens of Dallas County,” Watkins said, “I’m going to do everything I can to make sure you keep your job.”

A similar transaction was made to create two contract positions in Watkins’ office.  The District Attorney’s Office transferred $48,000 to the Sheriff’s Department to buy video visitation equipment.  Their budget was reduced by $48,000 and the funds were transferred to that DA to pay for two separate one-year contract positions that will pay a maximum of $24,000 each.

The two positions will assist the DA’s Public Information Officer Jamille Bradfield.  One position will focus on community relations while the other position maintains the office’s website and social media initiatives.

Watkins says that 38 employees in the District Attorney’s office are funded by more than $3 million in grants.  State and federal funding is beginning to dry up and municipalities will have to find alternative funding sources if they want to maintain staffing levels.

Crowley Building photo by Dallas Civic Architecture via Picasa. Watkins photo by Jacob Villanueva via Pegasus News.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Yesterday Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings sent a memo to the city council announcing committee assignments.  Former Mayor Dwaine Caraway was not asked to chair a committee, but in the memo Rawlings asked Caraway to “assist me in addressing our efforts to improve the education product for our Dallas youth.”

Members also have a little homework to do.  “…each committee should establish the top 5 priorities that the committee will work on for the next two years and present to the city council during our fall planning retreat.”  Committee assignments are listed below.

Public Safety

Chair – Pauline Medrano
Vice Chair – Sheffie Kadane

Members – Delia Jasso, Carolyn Davis, Sandy Greyson

Mayor’s Initiative: The City of Dallas must be in the top 5 large cities for fewest crimes. Currently, we are ranked 7th and working with Chief Brown and DPD create a plan to accomplish this.

Quality of Life

Chair – Angela Hunt
Vice Chair – Sandy Greyson
Members – Dwaine Caraway, Monica Alonzo, Carolyn Davis

Mayor’s Initiative: How do we have more fun and enjoy our city?

Economic Development

Chair- Tennell Atkins
Vice Chair – Ann Margolin
Members – Monica Alonzo, Sheffie Kadane, Jerry Allen

Mayor’s Initiative: Southern Dallas needs to be turned into a growth engine for Dallas and the region. Let’s push the right initiatives to accomplish this goal.

Budget, Finance & Audit
Chair – Jerry Allen
Vice Chair – Tennell Atkins
Members – Scott Griggs, Monica Alonzo, Ann Margolin

Mayor’s Initiative: One of the most important things the city does is purchase millions of dollars of goods and services. We need to be assured that we do it in a fair and transparent manner that provides our taxpayers the best value possible while ensuring 1) we never compromise our minority purchasing program, 2) we can easily and fairly get goods and services donated to the city by companies wanting to help, and 3) that no lobbyist has an advantage at City Hall.

Housing

Chair – Carolyn Davis
Vice Chair – Scott Griggs
Members – Pauline Medrano, Dwaine Caraway, Linda Koop

Mayor’s Initiative: We must have safe, quality, multi-unit dwellings that help build our economy, not hinder it.

Transportation & Environment

Chair – Linda Koop
Vice Chair – Sheffie Kadane
Members – Pauline Medrano, Vonciel Jones Hill, Sandy Greyson

Mayor’s Initiative: How can our vision of complete streets becomes a reality?

Arts, Culture & Libraries

Chair – Ann Margolin
Vice Chair – Delia Jasso
Members – Tennell Atkins, Vonciel Jones Hill, Jerry Allen

Mayor’s Initiative: Develop a plan for alternative funding sources for arts, culture and libraries.

Trinity River Corridor Project

Chair – Vonciel Jones Hill

Vice Chair – Linda Koop

Members – Delia Jasso, Scott Griggs, Monica Alonzo, Angela Hunt

Mayor’s Initiative: While safety must be our top priority and transportation and economic development must be addressed, the short term question is how do we get some recreational projects moving as soon as possible?

Ad Hoc Legislative Committee

Chair – Vonciel Jones Hill

Members – Pauline Medrano, Angela Hunt, Tennell Atkins, Jerry Allen, Carolyn Davis, Linda Koop, Ann Margolin

Ad Hoc Committee for Judicial Appointments

Chair – Angela Hunt

Members –Jerry Allen, Vonciel Jones Hill, Delia Jasso, Linda Koop, Sheffie Kadane

District 5 2011-12 Budget Town Hall Meetings

Monday, 8 August 2011 – 6:30 p.m.
Thurgood Marshall Recreation Center
5150 Mark Trail Way, Dallas, 75232

Tuesday, 9 August 2011 – 6:30 p.m. (Spanish)
Pleasant Oaks Recreation Center
8701 Greenmound Avenue, Dallas, 75227

Thursday, 11 August 2011 – 6:00 p.m.
Pleasant Grove Branch Library, Black Box Theater
7310 Lake June Road, Dallas, 75217

Tuesday, 16 August 2011 – 12:00 noon
Sarah Zumwalt Middle School
2445 E. Ledbetter Drive, Dallas, 75216

Tuesday, 16 August 2011 – 6:30 p.m.
Singing Hills Recreation Center
1909 Crouch Road, Dallas, 75241
(Joint meeting with District 8 Councilman Tennell Atkins)

Sylvia Rhodes Bradley

As I mentioned on the Suite 609 blog a couple of weeks ago, Sylvia Rhodes-Bradley stopped by the newsroom to talk about Dallas County politics and her bid to represent a younger generation of leaders.  In May, Bradley filed paperwork seeking to run for for a seat on the Dallas County Commissioners Court in District 3.  That seat is currently held by Commissioner John Wiley Price.

Ms. Bradley is running as an independent. In order to get on the November 2012 ballot, she will need 500 verified signatures from registered voters who do not vote in the 2012 Republican or Democratic primaries.

She made an unsuccessful bid last year in the Democratic Primary for Justice of the Peace, Place 1, District 1.  She eventually filed suit, contending that Democratic party chair Darlene Ewing allowed Justice of the Peace Thomas Jones to amend his petitions after the filing deadline.

I asked Bradley what she learned from the Justice of the Peace ordeal and she let out a huge sigh before answering.  “The central core of the (Democratic) party is protected like a fort,” Bradley said.   “There’s no limit to what they would do to protect the inner circle,” she added.

This time around, Bradley says her number one issue will be fiscal responsibility and pointed to the $35 million in forfeited bond money that has gone uncollected by the county as a priority.  Bradley also talked about the county redistricting map that was recently released by commissioners.  She said the map that was presented last month wasn’t a fair map.  “The process wasn’t fair,” Bradley said, “the community should have had a chance to have input.”

Although she wouldn’t comment on Commissioner Price’s FBI investigation, she did say that Dallas County is in need of a different approach.  “I think we need to move in another direction,” said Bradley.  Bradley said she hasn’t seen the transparency and visibility County Judge Clay Jenkins promised during his campaign.  “I’m speaking as a citizen in District 3,” said Bradley. “I don’t see [Jenkins'] views, I see, maybe, the views of someone else,” she said adding, “It seems like he’s not the leader of the commissioner’s court.”

Bradley said she’s part of a new generation in Dallas County that’s coming of age.  Originally, her expectations were that if she went to college and earned her degree, the leaders in place would train her to step in when the time was right.  Sadly there was no training and no passing the torch.

“We can’t just sit on the sideline and wait,” she said.  Bradley’s campaign manager Nancy Lloyd agreed with her assessment.  “You don’t see a Wade Emmert in the Democratic Party,” said Lloyd, referencing the chairman of the Dallas County Republican Party.

Bradley and her husband Terry live in Dallas with their two young children (ages 4 and 1). Her parents live in Dallas as well.

Bradley is a Dallas native, and graduated from Temple Academy in Pleasant Grove.  She is a mediator by trade and graduated from Clark Atlanta University with Bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Criminal Justice and a Master’s degree in Liberal Arts from Southern Methodist University.

In the end, Bradley said she’s running for a seat on the Dallas County Commissioners Court in order to advance the county where she grew up.  “We have to move in a new direction because Dallas County has missed out on development opportunities,” said Bradley. She’s got a little over a year to find out whether Dallas County voters agree

Today Dallas County District Attorney (DA) Craig Watkins announced that he will appoint a local law firm to collect an estimated $35 million in outstanding bond forfeitures owed to the county.  The District Attorney’s Office, which is understaffed and underfunded for a jurisdiction of its size, does not have the resources to designate assistant district attorneys to focus on the collection of bond forfeitures.

Thus, the DA will select and hire a law firm (as allowed by the statute) to handle the outstanding funds from default judgments that had gone uncollected for years prior to Mr. Watkins taking office in 2007.  The firm hired to spearhead this effort will retain 25 percent of the total amount collected and the remaining balance will go into the county’s general fund.

“A recent report stating that there are no policies and procedures in place at the DA’s office is absolutely incorrect,” said Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins.  “We have been looking into this issue for the past two years.  In 2010, we hired a bond forfeiture subject matter expert to work full-time in our Civil Division to seek forfeiture judgments in current civil cases.

However, it is going to take more than one individual to proactively go after default judgments that were never collected.  Therefore, we will have to bring in someone from the outside to manage the collection of these funds as our civil attorneys are already busy representing the county on a host of other civil matters.

During my first term, we focused on cleaning up the failures of the past and improving policies and procedures to operate more efficiently.  This is among many issues that still need to be corrected and hiring a law firm to dedicate their time and attention to resolving this issue is the first step.”

The Dallas County District Attorney’s (DA) Office is located at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas, Texas, and is led by District Attorney Craig Watkins, who began his second term on January 1, 2011.  The DA’s Office represents the State of Texas in the prosecution of all Dallas County criminal cases.  For more information about the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office, visit www.dallasda.com.

Mayor-elect Mike Rawlings was the guest of honor at a “Meet and Greet” hosted by The Trinity Trust at the Trinity Center near downtown Dallas.  This invitation only gathering attracted an influential group of Dallas’ business and political leaders.

The backdrop for the event was the ongoing Trinity River Corridor Project and the potential impact the project will have on the future of Dallas.  The project may not be top of mind these days with most Dallas residents, but those in attendance, were well aware that the most ambitious public works project in the nation could transform the city of Dallas forever.

“Think about how the Trinity Project is going to redefine Dallas in the 21st century,” said Rawlings.   “The Trinity River project will have more impact on commercial real estate and development than any other project in the history of Dallas,” he said.

During his address to the intimate crowd of less than 100 people the mayor-elect stated that economic development (especially in Southern Dallas) and improving education will be two of his top priorities as Mayor.   “I think amazingly, the Trinity Project accomplishes these objectives. The Trinity Corridor offers unimaginable development opportunities now and for years to come ,“ said Rawlings.

Rawlings also believes the Trinity Project presents endless educational opportunities. “This is a laboratory, this is an economics class, this is a science class, this is a social service class right here in our backyard,”  he said.

Dallas has struggled to develop the Trinity River Corridor and the 20 mile stretch of land that runs down the middle of the city for years.  But Rawlings is confident that the project can be completed during his term, if  city leadership can work together.  “This project is not too big for all of us, but if all of us pull in opposite directions it will be,”  he explained.

The mayor-elect is convinced that three factors will determine whether the Trinity Project will finally become a reality. “We must believe it’s doable, we must break the project down into small pieces with manageable objectives and we must have a sense of urgency to get it done,” Rawlings told the group.

For sure, the Trinity Project is long overdue, but Rawlings made it clear that helping bring it to fruition will be a priority for him.  “This is one of my first jobs as mayor.  This project touches all communities,” he said.  “This is something we will be giving to future generations for years to come. One of my main goals as mayor is to ensure that people know that the Trinity Project will be done.”

Michael Hubbard is a freelance writer and blogger.  A native of Dallas, TX., he is a proud graduate of James Madison High School.  Michael brings a unique, hometown perspective to his political and social commentary.  You can follow his opinions at blog.mikeondallas.com  Mike can be reached at Mhubbard23@aol.com.

Funeral Directors:
Evergreen Funeral Home
6449 S. Houston School Road
Dallas, Texas 75241
Phone: 214-376-1523

Body of Hon. Al Lipscomb will lay in state at:
The Hall of State
3800 Grand Avenue
Dallas, TX 75215
Thursday and Friday, June 23-24
Noon-6 PM

Wake
Friday June 24, 6-8 PM
The Hall of State
3800 Grand Avenue
Dallas TX 75215

Homegoing Service
Saturday June 25, 11:00 AM
Friendship-West Baptist Church
2020 Wheatland Road
Dallas TX 75232
Phone: 972-228-5200