Mayor Tom Leppert and Dwaine Caraway Want To Limit Speaking at Dallas City Hall

I listen to council meetings as often as I can and know the names of some of the people that come down to speak often. They speak at the meetings about situations that they believe are not being addressed. In many cases the council members allow them their 3 minutes without comment.

The speakers at times find themselves in bitter discard with Dwaine (Dwayne,Dewayne) Caraway who often try to play the GATEKEEPER role and shut them down. Most of the speakers that are regular speakers at the council meetings are African American. Hence the term GATEKEEPER for Caraway is appropriate. Caraway in some instances have instructed the officers to remove the speakers from the council chambers, yelled at the speakers in a disrespectful tone, talked down to the speakers, and vowed to limit their opportunity to speak. Now the close alliance of Caraway and the mayor starts to take president over the will of the entire council. The mayor wants to limit public input. This is not the way the democratic process works. Maybe the mayor should return to Corporate America where the CEO speaks and everyone jumps or just shut their mouth.

Thank you councilwomen Voncil Jones Hill, Carolyn Davis and Angela Hunt. Please DO NOT DRINK THE WATER AT CITY HALL. There is a reason why the speakers take issue with Dwaine (Dewayne,Dwayne) Caraway and now Mayor Tom Leppert wants to limit speakers.

When You Give Your Word It Should Mean Something

As a child growing up my wonderful mother would tell me that your word is everything and if you give your word you should keep it. It is about character, self esteem, truthfulness and honesty. Once a person does not keep his/her word you can never trust them again because they have shown what kind of character they have. It is so often that we would like to think the best of people, but they just have something shoddy about them and their character.

In some recent conversations I have been told that one thing people can count on from me is that I will keep my word. Thank God !!!!!!!

New To Dallas

It is amazing to me how new people in Dallas bring up the neighborhoods that we were relegated to live in during the years of segregation. The housing projects "Projects" in Dallas was simply housing for black families during those time. We could not live all over Dallas as we do now, but if you are new to the city, you possibly would not know the history of this town. We have people who lived in the "Projects" for some period of time (one years to many years) that are now elected officials, lawyers, entrepreneurs, accountants, teachers and so on. They were not able to make these accomplishments if their parents and neighbors did not play a significant role in their neighborhood and development.

There was and still is a great deal of pride in many black people who find themselves now and then living in the "Projects". Many are hardworking and good people who will continue to work to see that their neighborhood is a better place to live for everyone that is living there.

People who have worked in the community for years ( just to name a few) like Rev. Zan Holmes, Councilwoman Voncil Jones Hill, former Councilwoman Diane Ragsdale, former Councilman Al Lipscomb, Rev. Holsey Hickman, Rev. Charles Stovall, School Board member Kathleen Gilliam, School Board member Robert Price, former Councilwoman Junaita Craft, Peter Johnson, Rev. Marshall Hodge, Betty Lockhart, Dr. Mamie McKnight, former councilwoman Mattie Nash and Brenda Fields are well aware of where we came from.

Councilwoman Vonciel Jones Hill

I attended the Budget Town hall meeting at Thurgood Marshall Rec. Center on Thursday Aug. 30, 2007 and was pleased with the number of staff persons that attended. The community also showed up to hear what was being proposed for this year's budget. Councilwoman Hill's introduction to the budget process was good and her closing with asking questions about what the community wanted in the district was refreshing.

I left with three things on my mind about the budget:
1. $43 million for Dallas Public Schools (NO)
2. How much was in the budget for employee raises?
3. A comparative of what the fees and taxes would be on a $100,000.00 house.