Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Dallas Logistics Hub (Inland Port)

The development of the Dallas Logistics Hub (Inland Port) is very important to the citizens of Dallas, but the most affected are the citizens that live in the southern sector of Dallas. We have been waiting for years for the job creation that has been promised by our elected officials. We were told that the Logistics Hub could create at least 30,000 jobs and the development around the area could add an additional 30,000 jobs. It does not matter how you analyze the job creation numbers this would be a win for the cities of Dallas, Wilmer, Lancaster, Hutchins, Duncanville, DeSoto and Cedar Hill.

The creation of jobs and business opportunities in the southern sector will help create a greater tax base, and our elected officials have talked about making sure that the Dallas Logistics Hub is the catalyst for growth in the southern sector. At one point this project was pushed so hard by the previous council that the DART Board made it the number one priority of the Long Range Plan (2030 Plan) for light rail. The council wanted to make sure that there was mass transportation servicing this project.

Mayor Leppert, Dwaine (Dewayne,Dwayne) Caraway, Tennell Adkins and Ron Natinsky seem to be stalling. You have to ask yourself, why? Mayor Leppert has constantly expressed to the community that he wanted to create jobs in the southern sector, but now all the community sees is the mayor and his group of seven on the council holding up progress. Could it have anything to do with the competition that the Dallas Logistics Hub will have with Alliance in Fort Worth? It has been said that Alliance is only 25% built out and the development of the Dallas Logistics Hub (Inland Port) would be serious competition for Alliance. As we all know, Alliance is owned by Ross Perot, Jr. and he has significant ties in the Dallas community. In fact, at one time Mayor Leppert, Dwaine (Dewayne,Dwayne) Caraway and Tennell Adkins supported a person for the DART Board that was an employee of Perot Systems, and that had serious implications because of the need for the Dallas Logistics Hub (Inland Port) to use DART tracks (TRE) to transport goods. That appointment did not happen.

The project still has great value and merit, but the question is who will be in control? The citizens are tired of the political jocking. We want the development to take place now.

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