Friday, October 26, 2007

Carla Ranger

My hero and my school board representative. I respect Carla's willingness to be on the outside with fellow school board members to stand up for what she believes is right for the school district.

The fight over the superintendent wanting to get rid of the residency policy so that he can hire people in the top positions that have no vested interest in the city can work for the school district is one that should have never taken place. There is no question that we should have our school district's top level people living in Dallas.

While Carla did not vote for the revised plan because she thought it should b e stronger, I just want to thank her for standing up for us.

DART Board Chairman

I spent 5 long years working to be the Chairman of the DART Board, and it is known that the members of the DART Board were ready to make me the chairman if I returned to the Board. My ouster was lead by Dwaine Caraway, Tennell Adkins,Willis Johnson and Mayor Tom Leppert. They all wanted to take me off so that Lynn Flint Shaw could run for Chairman.

Lynn Flint Shaw won the Chairmanship by a 9 to 6 vote. It is well known that the day of the election Mayor Tom Leppert made calls and lobbied for her( Rufus Shaw's Blog). It has been said that some of the Dallas DART board members did not appreciate the lobbying.

My question is, if she was the best person, then why would anybody have to lobby? If she was the best, her fellow DART Board members should have overwhelmingly voted for her without any intervention. That is the way that it has worked in the past.

Time will tell if she was the best selection.

Wake up Michael Davis

You just have to ask yourself why this young man is so adamant about defending Dwaine/Dwayne/Dewayne Caraway. Does he know anything about Dwaine Caraway's history? Dwaine's reputation is the question.

I would strongly urge Michael Davis to ask people outside of his small circle about Dwaine. The joke that I have heard is,when you shake his hand make sure that you get all five fingers back.

Wake up Michael. Do not spend all of your time on the Blogs defending the actions of someone that you personally have no control over.

It's About Time

Finally the media is getting past all of the hype that is going on in the Black community. I have heard things like, this is a new council and the things that went on before will not happen on our watch or we are going to all be together on issues. Some of the new city council persons (Dwaine Caraway and Tennell Adkins) are acting like they are the Overseers of the Negro people. They are telling their Master (Mayor Tom Leppert) that they will keep all Negroes in line and will not let them come to city hall and voice their opinions.

Did they forget that city hall belongs to the taxpayers, no matter if they live in North,South,East or West Dallas? In some cases, the people who want to speak are those who spoke up to make the system more friendly to people of color. Some Negroes still amaze me. When they think they have arrived, they want to forget everybody else. My beautiful mother use to say "Be careful who you step on going up, because you will have to meet those same people on your way down."

Thank you Marvin Crenshaw and Roy Williams for speaking out on any issue that you believe is important to our community.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Weekly Thought

If you get it, but do not earn it, you will not keep it.

Dallas Blog: Caraway and Williams Go at It

The real Dwaine Caraway. Roy Williams never called his name, but he had an outburst that disrupted the council meeting. My mother use to say " A hit dog will holler."

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Justice in Jena

The Justice Department tells the House panel it may investigate racial bias in Jena, Louisiana. Donald Washington (African American), U.S. attorney for western Lousiana said that the hanging of nooses from a tree at Jena High School last year by three white students constituted a federal hate crime but that authorities opted not to prosecute the case because of the age of those involved.

At a congressional hearing on the situation,he was ripped by Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee. She wanted to know why nothing had been done.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Weekly Thought

They do not have to do it to us, we do it to eachother.

Friday, October 12, 2007

Bogus Pamplets Irk Mayor Leppert

The booklet entitled "The Way to Happiness" features the writings of Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. On the front cover "Presented by the Office of the Mayor" it states, and on the back cover is a smiling portrait of the mayor"I am happy to be able to offer this book as a helpful guide for every member of this community." Written by Rudolph Bush in The Dallas Morning News

"Clearly we were not very comfortable and did not think it was appropriate to use the seal of the city of Dallas, the mayor's logo or my name on something we were not aware of" Mayor Leppert said in a phone interview as reported by The Dallas Morning News.

What happened? Did the mayor know?

DISD Residency Policy

Who is in charge at DISD? I ask that question when I spoke yesterday at DISD. I continue to wonder if the persons that we elected to the school board is in charge or the outside organizations that do not have accountability to anyone. Are they telling the superintendent how to march? I thought that the elected officials were the ones to set policy, but maybe I am just a taxpayer, and I should not have any say through my representative (elected official).

Why would people who work for our district not want to live in Dallas? What message would the school board send if they do not have requirements that our top level officials live in Dallas?

While growing up and attending schools in Dallas, one of the important factors was that the teachers, administrators and employees lived in the neighborhood and we saw them at church, the grocery store, cleaners, and so on. It is very important that these administrators are role models to the students that are in their charge.

Several speakers, including Beatrice Martinez, Diana Flores and myself spoke to either keeping the current residency policy are strengthening it. There is no question that the board did listen and we hope that they will act in the best interest of the students and taxpayers of Dallas.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Michael Davis

As I read the electronic media, I continue to find comments about me from Michael Davis, the newly appointed Planning Commissioner by Dwaine/Dwayne/Dewayne Caraway. I have not been in his presence many times, so I do not know why he has this desire to keep making negative comments about me. I would assume that this is his first appointment and hope that he will learn and help the community as much as possible, but I am not sure the has the right frame of mind. You can not spend your time hating on someone that you do not know just to be in with people who you think that you know.

My record of service on the DART Board speaks for itself. It is known that I would have been the Chairman of the Board if I had been reappointed. I have no shame in the way that I represented myself and the community. I spent five years working and learning transportation issues, and I will say that there is not another African American in the southern sector who knows more about the issue than me. The reason that my removal is a topic of concern is the people who voted for me and one's who did not. Dwaine/Dwayne/Dewayne Caraway and Tennell Adkins (African American males) lead the charge for my removal. We all know that it was an 8-7 vote. Many people in the African American community did not like what happened(excluding Michael Davis)and have given me support. I will also say that there are some council members who are regretting their vote against me and they are saying that.

The appointment that Michael Davis received is one of a personal appointment by a council member and those appointments are not challenged by other council members. The appointment to the DART Board is a full council appointment. The appointments are different and I hope that Michael Davis understands the difference.

My suggestion to Michael Davis is to spend the time he is using on trying to defend the actions of Dwaine/Dwayne/Dewayne Caraway and Tennell Adkins on making sure he learns all that he can about the commission that he is on and then delivery for the community.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Willie Mae Coleman

Mrs. Coleman continues to fight the good community fight. She refuses to let her community completely die. Her visit to The Dallas City Council on October 3, 2007 to say that there is not enough being done is what she has been doing for years.

The work in declining neighborhoods is continuous, and it takes strong willed people who will not take no for an answer. The same problems, and new ones are always there for discussion and a resolution.

General Motors appoints first black female plant manager

On October 1st, the General Motors Corporation will get its first black female manager of a vehicle assembly plant. Alicia Boler-Davis, 38, will take over leadership of 2,400 workers at the plant in Arlington, Texas, which assembles the Chevrolet Tahoe and other large SUVs. The 13-year GM veteran says her primary goal is to“lead the plant to become the industry leader in safety.” as reported by The Dallas Weekly.

Monday, October 8, 2007

Newbies to Dallas

I laugh at the new people in Dallas who think they have all of the answers to the problem in the black community. They make themselves look like foolish individuals . No one person can solve all of the problems that are present in the black community. If that were the case, then why haven't some of the smarter and more involved people been able to make the great changes that the "Newbies" are talking about?

One big mistake of "Newbies" is to talk about what others have not done. How would you know? If you have not been involved in the community for a long period of time, you have no frame of reference as to who did what. There are many people working on a daily basis that none of us know what good work they are doing for the community and we just can not say because we do not know what they have done.

Getting appointed to a committee does not mean that you are the best person for the job, it could mean that you have sucked up so much that you have earned the spot. Does that mean the community will benefit? Maybe or Maybe not. If you have the smarts to learn the position they can, if not they won't.

When "Newbies" get more experience under their belt then they should speak out. Sometimes it is good to just shut up and learn.

Tennell Adkins and Southwest Center Mall

Dillard's is closing in Southwest Center Mall. What is councilman Tennell Adkins going to do about the decline of this mall in the southern sector? There are only two anchor stores left. Who is thinking about how this mall should be revitalized? Are we just going to wait on Cedar Hill to get all of the stores and then our tax dollars will be spent in another city (NOT GOOD DALLAS).

I would like to see some creative ideas on luring and keeping businesses in the southern sector like TIF (Tax Increment Finance) Districts as we see all over the city and specifically downtown. There are two(2) TIF Districts in the center of downtown. If you can recall we gave incentives of over 75 million to developers for the Mercantile Building that is located downtown.

Since the new council and the Mayor are doing such a good job of getting along (that's what is in the Dallas Managed News), and the Mayor believes the southern sector should be developed, the citizens of Dallas expect them to get busy on working for the people that elected them and keeping their campaign promise of redevelopment in the southern sector.

ALL DALLAS TAXPAYERS WILL BE WINNERS WITH BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT IN THE SOUTHERN SECTOR.

Weekly Thought

Kind hearts are the gardens. Kind thoughts are the roots. Kind words are the blossoms. Kind deeds are the fruits.
Author Unknown

Saturday, October 6, 2007

FBI Investigation

Some of you I know, and I want you to know that my prayers are with you and your families. Those who I do not know, I am praying for you also. Put your trust in God.

Dwaine Caraway and Saggy-Pants

Dave Levinthal of the Dallas Morning News ask the question "Was Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway caught with his own pants down?" There has been much dialogue about young men wearing saggy-pants both nationally and locally and the universal position is that we do not want to see their underwear. Councilman Caraway went public making statements about how he had the votes for a very stiff ordinance that would be passed by years end, but he retreated and said that he is working on a non-binding council resolution. That is a long ways from an ordinance. To help him save face, some council persons appeared with him at a press conference, but none were willing to support a binding law criminalizing wearing sagging-pants.

School Board member Ron Price is the one who raised this issue last year to the Dallas City Council and they considered an ordinance but nothing happened. I believe that there are two school of thoughts as far as an ordinance is concerned,and they are:
1. The constitutional freedom of speech issue.
2. The use of already stretched police officers for enforcement.

I hate sagging. I think it is all the bad things that others like Ron Price have said, but we have to find more productive ways of getting to our young men about the way that they dress. A good example is the President of Paul Quinn College who took it upon himself to address issues about the dress code at the college and with its implementation it is having a positive affect on all students. He did not take it to the media, he just acted on something he believed.

Dwaine/Dwayne/Dewayne Caraway forget the hype!

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Weekly Thought

There is nothing permanent except change.