City Election: the hotel and so much more

Voters who live in the City of Dallas return to the polls on May 9 to decide the fate of Mayor Tom Leppert's proposed convention center hotel, as well as to set a course for significant development and renewal strategies going forward. Voters must decide between "yes" and "no" on two propositions.

Proposition One will amend the city charter to prohibit the City of Dallas from financing, constructing, acquiring, leasing or operating a hotel or other lodging facility. Here's another slightly confusing choice for voters. If you are against the Mayor's hotel plan, you vote "Yes" on the proposition. If you favor the plan for a new convention center hotel, you vote "No" on the proposition.

Proposition Two also amends the city's charter to prohibit the City of Dallas from "providing more than a total of $1,000,000 in financial assistance. . .to any private development project . . .unless the city gives at least 65 days’ public notice. . .before approving the financial assistance and obtains voter approval" to do so.

This idea is amazing to me. In short, every time the City of Dallas, via the action of its duly elected City Council, determines to invest in any development project valued over $1 million, it must submit such an action to the voters for approval!

Mayor Leppert is correct. Such a proposal would shut down development in the City of Dallas and stifle the city's leadership in promoting much needed development. Again, if you want to put the brakes on aggressive development and urban renewal, vote "Yes." If you want to keep things open and free to our elected officials, vote "No."

A word about Tom Leppert. If you live in Dallas, you've seen the professional media blitz every day on television. The ads are very well done, but carry a negative, divisive message that our city doesn't need. Specifically objectionable to me, and to thousands of others who know this mayor, is the accusation that Mayor Leppert is "arrogant." Nothing could be further from the truth in my experience over the past two years. I and a number of others here at CDM, as well as numerous of our partners, have worked closely with the mayor and his team on many issues, including homelessness, affordable housing, public education, health and human services and emergency preparedness to mention just a few. We have learned that Tom Leppert is a wise, smart dedicated leader who wakes up every day thinking of the interests of all of our citizens in every corner of our city.

On a personal note, I don't think that I've ever met a better listener than Tom Leppert.

To call him arrogant is not only untrue, it is offensive.

What about the hotel our mayor wants to build?

I can't see the downside.

Hundreds of jobs will be created during the construction. Hundreds more permanent jobs will follow in the operations phase. New convention business will be attracted to the city. The proposed development will encourage more activity and renewal Downtown. In short, the plan is a great investment in the future of our city's core and its overall enterprise.

Even Steve Blow thinks the idea has merit! And, he is convinced our mayor is an honest man and a great leader, as he lays out here.

Because I want a big "Yes" for my hometown, I will vote "No" on both propositions come May 9.

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Public Education: Code Blue

Last Friday morning Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert shared a horrifying statistical profile about our public schools and male students.

Consider 100 boys in public schools. . .

• 32 will end up in prison. . .
• 44 will graduate. . .
• Of those who graduate, only 4 will read at grade 12 levels and only 1 will be able to do grade level mathematics.

The Mayor called us to enter the battle, to come alongside our children and their teachers in a community-wide, grassroots effort to help our children perform at higher levels.

Much more about which to talk in days ahead. For now, is is clear that our community building efforts and all of our gains will be lost until we reform our public schools.

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Latest news on the Plaza Inn: CDM steps back. . .homeless likely the losers

Dallas Morning News' reporter, Roy Appleton published an update story on the Plaza Inn in today's edition. Read it here.

As the story reveals, Central Dallas Ministries stepped out of the project in face of neighborhood opposition. Hopefully, Hamilton Properties Corporation will be able to carry forward the tax credit process that we began. The application that the Hamiltons now pick up received the highest preliminary score in the state of Texas for this year's round of credit awards.

If successful, it appears that the project will result in many, much-needed units of affordable housing for working people who desire to live Downtown.

The only downside from my point of view is the fact that it is now doubtful that any of the new units will be set aside for permanent supportive housing, a type of housing Dallas must find a way to develop if we are to realistically address the problem homelessness in our city.

As Appleton's report notes, we wish Larry and Ted Hamilton well, and we'll do whatever we can to assist them. At the same time, we'll roll up our sleeves and continue working to develop needed housing for our community's poorest citizens.

Thanks to Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert for stepping in to get the proposal at least another month for consideration before the final City Council vote on March 25.

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Spreading health and hope, one block at a time

What if we took a city block right in the middle of Downtown and created a plan for sustainable development that served the needs of those who lived there, but also modeled how communities ought to be developed going forward?

What if we made decisions that ensured that the block would be environmentally sustainable, safe, "green" and renewable from a holistic perspective?

What if the 500 units of housing we built included 40% affordable so that persons from every socio-economic status could live and work together?

What if the block included innovative work-live space and attractive, inviting retail options?

What if the block connected creatively and powerfully to high-quality public education for its children?

What if the block was safe and vibrant and extremely pedestrian?

What if the block included gardening opportunities that produced fresh produce? What if the block motivated a new pathway to the Dallas Farmers Market?

What if this block connected an important part of our Downtown sector to the wonderful Cedars neighborhood just across I-30?

What if from this block new ideas, new opportunities, new friendships and new strategies emerged that might contribute to the development of a new urban life in Dallas for all of its people?

What if the designed needs of the block required and provided "green jobs"? What if the very development of the block advanced the cause of re-tooling or enhancing employment skills for the poor and the under-employed in the field of green technologies?

All day last Friday, I was privileged to participate in an amazing design charrette organized by Brent Brown, bcWorkshop, and our own John Greenan, Central Dallas Community Development Corporation, and facilitated by Urban Re:Vision, our new partners who specialize in rethinking sustainable urban development. Included in the crowd were city planners, architects, community folks, real estate developers, environmental leaders, new urban community designers, public policy people, politicians and educators.

Our focus for the day: a city block just behind City Hall here in Dallas.

Mayor Tom Leppert got our day started. Watch his welcome here.

Next steps include an exciting international architectural competition to see what design firm can come up with the best approach to actually redeveloping the ground! There is growing interest in the project and its prospects for urban redesign in our city.

I'll keep you posted on our progress.

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Real progress. . . at last!

At some point soon I'll probably post in detail about the unbelievably complex and difficult process that we've been through to finally close the construction loan on our 15-story building in Downtown Dallas.

To learn more about our project you can use the "Search" tool here: just type in "citywalk@akard" and you'll be able to get the background.

The closing process with all of our partners (and we have a number due to the complexity of the project) took about three weeks from start to finish.

What an education!

Thanks to amazing support from the Rees-Jones Foundation, we were able to complete the demolition and asbestos remediation while working on the closing and tax credits syndication. This allowed us to save 6-8 months on our project timeline.

Now the reconstruction phase is getting underway!

Tomorrow, Tuesday, August 26 at 11:00 a.m., the Central Dallas Community Development Corporation and Central Dallas Ministries will host a "Media Advisory" that will include Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, City Council Member Angela Hunt, our partners in the project and potential residents of the building once it is completed.

It will be a celebration for sure.

The location? At the building--511 N. Akard!

Read more here.

Join us if you can.

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Mayor Tom Leppert Challenges Us

Last Thursday morning, Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert provided the keynote address during Central Dallas Ministries' 13th Annual Urban Ministries Prayer Breakfast. Over 1,100 guests filled the hall at the Hilton Anatole Hotel to hear the Mayor and to pray for our city.

The Mayor challenged us all to engage more actively in the battle to overcome poverty and to craft a high quality of life for every resident of Dallas.

I expect that his speech will be streaming on our website soon. For now, your can read about the event in The Dallas Morning News' report from last Friday morning (March 14, 2008) right here: Dallas mayor urges businesses to fight homelessness .


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Will you pray for Dallas?

Please join us for Central Dallas Ministries'
13th Annual Urban Ministries Prayer Breakfast

TOGETHER FOR THE CITY

Keynote Speaker,
Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert,
will present his vision for the inner city.

Thursday, March 13, 2008
7:15 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
(check-in begins at 6:30 a.m.)

Hilton Anatole Hotel - Khmer Ballroom
2201 Stemmons Freeway
Dallas, Texas

Tickets ($50) and Tables ($500) are available at:
http://www.dallasprayerbreakfast.org/

For more information, call Lisa Goolsby at

214-823-8710 x 138.


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