| Black Folks and the Trinity Vote |
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| by Rufus Shaw | Sun, Jul 8, 2007, 11:54 PM |
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When City Councilwoman Angela Hunt turned in 80,000 signatures to possibly force a vote on the Trinity River toll road, she created the first major test for Mayor Tom Leppert’s administration. Mayor Leppert will not only have to be in the forefront of the political fight to defeat Ms. Hunt’s group if the item comes before the electorate, but he will also be faced with holding together the fragile alliance between the white business community and the Black electorate. It was this alliance that former Mayor Ron Kirk used to pass the original Trinity River Project. As of this writing, just about every major Black political player supports Mayor Leppert in opposing voting to change the Trinity River Project but that could change depending on a number of factors. The Trinity River Project, toll road in or out, was sold to the Black community way back when we voted for it as an economic development engine. Sure the fact that erosion and flood control would protect some Black neighborhoods was part of the sales pitch. But the primary pitch was that construction on the Trinity River Project would generate millions of dollars in contracts for Black businesses as well as hundreds of jobs for the Black community. At that time, Mayor Ron Kirk assured the Black community that voting for the Trinity River Project was in our best economic interest. That may eventually turn out to be true. I don’t believe many of us gave much thought to the parks and wetlands. Because of the way the project was sold to us, to have a toll road or not to have a toll road was never a big issue with Black voters. The problem Councilwoman Hunt and her many dedicated supporters will have is convincing the Black electorate to vote against a project that we have been led to believe will jump start southern sector economic development. No matter that changing the toll road to something less intrusive will probably not change the economic impact the Trinity River Project will have on the southern sector. The perception is that this referendum on the toll road will jeopardize the entire project. Given that perception, convincing the Black electorate to vote to change the Trinity River Project appears to be an almost impossible political task. But all is not well between the white business community and the Black electorate. Even though it is still early, the Trinity River Project has failed to deliver on its promise to be an economic engine for Black businesses. Black voters remember the promises of prosperity; not the time frame to get there. Furthermore, this white business community has a history of promising Black economic development to the Black electorate and not delivering anything. Those broken promises have created the tremendous economic divide that exists between north Dallas and the southern sector. Mayor Leppert successfully campaigned on fixing this problem. Granted, the newly elected mayor has not had a chance to adequately address this issue. If this issue does not get addressed very quickly, you may find Black voters abandoning this very fragile alliance between the white business community and the Black electorate. This development could help Hunt’s forces win at the polls because Black voters, in protest, may decide not to vote on the issue at all. The only major Black political player, at this time, who is supporting Ms. Hunt in her effort to bring the toll road issue before the voters is former Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill. One has to wonder how this move will impact Don Hill’s political future. He will need to raise money to mount a serious campaign for political office in the future. But the very deep pocketed campaign donors he will need to support him are not supporting him on this issue. He just recently courageously endured serious criticism when he endorsed then candidate, Tom Leppert for mayor. Now, he is choosing to go against Mayor Leppert who is also opposing Ms. Hunt. Add the fact that Mr. Hill will find himself having to go against just about every major Black political player in the city, and one could deduce that Don Hill is in a difficult political position here. Councilwoman Angela Hunt and her supporters certainly have the right to gather signatures and force a vote on this issue especially if they feel that voters were misled when they first voted on the issue. For the record, I don’t believe Ms. Hunt is using this issue to promote herself for mayor. The next mayoral election is 4 years away. That is a lifetime in major urban politics. Having said that, I believe Angela Hunt and all of her hard working supporters will have an up hill struggle trying to get Black voter support for removing the toll road in the Trinity River Project. And without Black voter support or Black voters staying at home, I don’t believe she can win at the polls. At least that is how I see it from South of the Trinity.
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Comments (20)
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written by Darrell Jordan , July 09, 2007 Rufus: I disagree Angela Hunt faces such an uphill struggle to win at the polls in November. If the 80,000 signatures are legitimate, it will be the proponents of the tollroad who have their work cut out for them. Mayor Leppert would be smart to advocate and bring about a solution that placed the road outside the levees before millions of dollars are wasted on a referendum that could derail the entire project. That would be leadership! I agree the potential benefits of the Trinity project for the entire city are huge. I hope we don't squander this "once in a lifetime" opportunity. Darrell Jordan
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written by Dallas Perfect Voter , July 09, 2007 Doesn't the community at large deserve to know the facts about the project and who will benefit, etc.? The Black community would be well served to work with Ms. Hunt to use the referendum to force City Hall to provide the specific details of the current plans for flood protection and also to quantify and define how the proposed "economic engine" will benefit those south of the Trinity.
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written by Sharon Boyd , July 09, 2007 Rufus: I also disagree that Councilwoman Hunt faces an uphill battle to win the vote in November. When I walked one street in my neighborhood for signatures, I only had 2 voters (same household) turn me down. Most were eager to sign. If I had not hurt my ankle at the gym, I could have got lots more than I turned in. I can't remember any election in the past 15 years where one side got 80,000 votes on any matter or any candidate. The people who signed the TrinityVote petitions are activists and voters. There were many African-Americans at the press conference. There will be many African-Americans voting with Angela Hunt in November. Don Hill was not just being a contrarian by joining up with Angela. He was being smart. If anyone does remember any election since Steve Bartlett was elected back in ancient history where there were 80,000 voters on one side, please let me know. sb
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written by Rick , July 09, 2007 I think it is a mistake to equate the business interests of the black leadership with the will of the black electorate. Consider the black leadership's most recent mobilization on the Wright Amendment. The Dallas minority business leaders lined up behind DFW Airport rather than Love Field, where they had personal business interests. At the risk of stating the obvious, DFW Airport is simply too far away to be a meaningful employer of South Dallas residents, whereas Love Field could be a viable source of jobs. At its cynical extreme, we got to witness the spectacle of Rep. E.B. Johnson (who also has personal financial ties to DFW), actually threatening to close down Love Field, which would have thrown thousands of her constituents out of work. More recently, we see another example of black leadership placing self interest ahead of the electorate in the Opportunity Park Walk. The primary purpose of this endeavor appeared to be to stroke the egos of a handful of politicos connected to Leo Chaney. It's hard to believe that incidents like these don't foster an attitude of cynicism and distrust among the black electorate.
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written by Linus Spiller , July 09, 2007 If a solution cannot be reached on the tollroad OUTSIDE of the Trinity River in ample time, this referendum will pass if placed on the November ballot. The proof is in the 80,000 signature gathered. It isn't logical to think all of those voters will cast a ballot, but a significant portion of them will. And because this isn't a party driven primary and there aren't other referendums to date that may also appear on the ballot to drive voters to the polls (i.e., the racially-charged strong mayor initiatives that literally DROVE minority voters to the polls because of their hatred for Laura Miller), minority voter turnout will not be as significant.
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written by Lorlee Bartos , July 09, 2007 When I was working on the original $246M boondoggle, the black voters I talked to understood they weren't going to get much from this deal but said they were voting for it so as not to "embarrass their first black Mayor". I doubt they have the same feelings for a white guy.
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written by Nathan , July 09, 2007 Rufus, This referendum is about our tax dollars going toward something that will benefit Dallas tax payers. Economic development?!? Do you think that Harlan Crow and Perot Jr. are going to share in the spoils of the TRP any more than they have to? Regardless of skin color? Their 'economic development' will bring more people into the metroplex, from mexico, the midwest, california, ect. These transplants will bring more competition for jobs, houses and water resources. This project needs to be about the people who live and pay taxes in dallas today. That means flood control and park space. As far as transportation goes, until the city or dart can reduce the amount of time spent waiting on a bus transfer, they have no right to build a damn 1.2 billion dollar toll road in a flood plain. At least that's how I see things from Oak Cliff!
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written by Dale Edison , July 09, 2007 I don't enjoy being thought of a black folk. Isn't that from the early 1800's? Dale Edison
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written by HSH , July 09, 2007 Go to frames 14-20 of the following lovely PowerPoint presentation --- http://www.trinityrivercorridor.org/ Presentations/landuse_trinity_062507.pdf and you can visualize the property owners who stand to benefit from this project (with the Tollroad within the levies as proposed). I'm willing to wager a hefty sum that list doesn't include any residents of the Southern Sector Rufus is talking about.
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written by Henry , July 09, 2007 As a black male in Oak Cliff, I support Angela Hunt's effort regarding the Trinity project. A toll road defeats the purpose of having nice parks in Dallas. Only in this city would the thought of having a road in a parks project proposal happen! There are other ways to improve mobility and the Trinity Project is not it.
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written by Elvira McQuinnis , July 10, 2007 Yes. This bothers me. Why are African-Americans considered "folks." Is this now the new, more acceptable "n" word? Or is it the way "social" conservative Blacks have decided to appeal to the "conservative" White Dallas elite by being just plain, ordinary "folks." It concerns me that this is coming from a young man who also happens to be a person of color. What happened to "Black Power"? Cordially, Elvira M
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written by John Cappello , July 10, 2007 I think everyone should go to the following website and see all of the proposed tollway routes. You will see there are plenty of choices for the parkway and the one chosen was a compromise to make the project smaller and more complimentary to the park. Here is the site: http://www.ntta.org/AboutUs/Projects/TrinityParkwayAlt.htm
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written by Wylie H. , July 11, 2007 Ok, John, I went to the NTTA website as you asked and looked at the alternatives. The Industrial Blvd. alignment stays completely outside the park-- so I'm not sure why you claim that the selected alignment inside the levees makes the project "smaller and more complimentary to the park," when the opposite, in fact, appears to be true.
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written by Nathan , July 11, 2007 John, Note the cost difference between option 2A, 2B, and the currently proposed alignment. Also, is it too late for option 6, the no build option? How is this road going to relieve the canyon and the mixmaster? How are all of the motorist who go to or around downtown from the DNT, Central, East RLT or South RLT going to benefit from a road that has an alignment that goes to/from the south east, the least dense area in the city/county? Look to the south east at the Intermodal Inland Port along I45. This port will interface with the future TransTexas Corridor via Loop 9 (most likely a privitized toll road). In order to get freight through the metroplex, there needs to be more pavement and the river bottom gives right of way to DT Fort Worth, Denton County and Collin County if you use the East Fork. This road has nothing to do with Dallas tax payers who are funding the lion's share of it's cost in bond money, federal taxes and FREE city land. The park promised to voters was just a way to make the road project palatable. Vote yes this November and pass this ordinance! We decide where our tax money goes, not out of town special interest!
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written by Peace Advocate 1 , July 11, 2007 Elvira McQuinnis please take this childish mess somewhere else. Your focus is unworthy for debate.
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written by HSH , July 11, 2007 Nathan is correct. This high speed tollroad has absolutely nothing to do with or for Dallas. It is a freebie land giveaway to residents of Collin, Denton, Ellis, Kaufman and points beyond. Also, TXDot has said publicly and in writing (check out its website) that they don't need a reliever route to rebuild the mixmaster. That's a lie --just one among many used to justify Dallas having to give away its land and ruin its Trinity River corridor forever for a road its residents clearly don't want. Not on our watch.
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written by Joe Burkleo , July 18, 2007 I have to agree that there is no way that this can fail in November. One of the reasons that I feel that it will pass is because the voters are sick and tired of voting on bond programs or for candidates and being ignored. It is not just a Republican or Democratic issue it is the voters not trusted the people they elect to do what they say they will do. Ms. Hunt has shown that she can go against the big business and big money and win. And 80,000 signatures is huge. I have never seen so many people eager to send a message about change and honest government. I think that is the reason that Tom Leppert won the mayors race is because people wanted change.
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written by bettyculbreath , July 28, 2007 I have a copy of the Trinity Plan having served on the Plan Commission and voted on the Plan. There is no economic wind fall for the Southern sector. The land has been purchased City has a full staff working on development and not one meeting with any Black Leadership or business people to my knowledge. The White Business Community will benefit from the Trinity Plan that is the reason Ron Kirk and Laura Miller sign that letter against Hunt's petition's .Toll road will take people from around 183 over to 35 no exit in Dallas. This will benefit people who do not live or work in Dallas. A majority of the Black electorate vote on emotion not issues just as Lorlee's example said. It is so sad in 2007 professional political workers know this and continue to use it when they know it is not in the best interest of their people, but I guess it's how they make their living . I hope before I go to Glory my people will learn and vote the issue and not just because King Kirk or Our God (Price)Downtown said so. Write comment
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