| Federal Courts Left Dallas Vulnerable to Scandal |
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| by Henry Tatum | Wed, Oct 3, 2007, 07:01 PM |
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We were right. The federal courts were wrong. And Dallas is paying a terrible price today for the difference. When U.S. District Judge Jerry Buchmeyer ruled the only way to bring fair minority representation to the Dallas City Council was through our present election system, he left the door open for backroom deals, tradeoffs and scandal. Judge Buchmeyer determined that no plan could offset years of discrimination against minority City Council candidates except one that sliced Dallas up into 14 jigsaw puzzle districts with only the mayor elected citywide. His zeal in correcting past wrongs was sincere. But the judge’s tunnel vision in declining to consider any other alternatives cost Dallas the balance it needed to have an effective system for electing the council. Dallas city officials had a plan that would have brought proper minority representation to the City Council without creating the fiefdoms that make council members so powerful in determining what will or will not be approved in their districts. In 1989, voters approved a Dallas City Council election system that created 10 individual council districts, but added four “regional” quadrants where voters could elect a second representative for their areas. It would have eliminated the ability of one council member to have so much control over any zoning case, business development, funding project or tax credit request in his or her district. Unfortunately, Judge Buchmeyer rejected what Dallas voters wanted and set up the 14-1 City Council election plan in 1991 that exists today. Dallas long enjoyed a reputation as having one of the cleanest and most effectively run municipal governments in the nation. Scandal and graft were two unknown commodities at city hall. But in the 16 years since the federal courts ruled that there was only one way to elect a properly balanced council, one Dallas City Council member has gone to prison for extortion, another received a conviction for bribery that later was overturned and now two former council members have been indicted in the most far reaching City Hall scandal yet. Does anyone see a pattern here? Former Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill is accused of being involved in a complex plan that funneled money to him and associates from a developer looking for tax credits for his low income housing projects. Former City Council member James Fantroy has been indicted on charges of embezzling thousands of dollars from the Paul Quinn College community development fund. Hill’s appointee to the City Plan Commission, D’Angelo Lee, is under indictment and is accused of serving as a kind of “bag man” for the former mayor pro tem. The validity of these charges will be decided in a courtroom. But the jury already is in on the election system that has left City Hall so vulnerable. There’s a popular Mexican restaurant in Dallas with a sign on the wall that says, “If Mama’s not happy, nobody’s happy.” You can apply the same phrase to the 14-1 single member districts plan. If the council member in your district isn’t happy with your request, you aren’t going to get what you want. Council members, trying to figuring out how to get the eight votes they need for their proposals to be approved, have created a kind of tradeoff plan. “I’ll vote for what you want in your district if you’ll vote for what I want in mine.” The system can work if everyone is honest and only doing what they think is best for Dallas. But that is a lot to ask when there is constant lobbying of council members that now may include bribery money as well as favors. I wish Dallas didn’t have to say to the federal courts that we told you so. But there’s too much evidence out there for us to say anything else. Henry Tatum is a former assistant editor of The Dallas Morning News editorial page. His email address is This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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Comments (29)
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written by Sharon Boyd , October 03, 2007 We can say "told you so". Buchmeyer sat in his safe Park Cities home and single-handedly destroyed the Dallas that we knew. To make matters worse, the Plan Commission is even more treacherous than the council. No one is watching them at all. There must be a reorganization, a firewall that prohibits commissioners from negotiating between developers and opposition groups. There are no longer true public hearings on zoning cases. The deal is cut before the meeting. We desperately need long memories like Hank Tatum back in Dallas writing from a true understanding of how we got in this mess.
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written by randye , October 04, 2007 Good to hear from you Mr. Tatum. Buchmeyer's endorsement of populist trendiness was huge setback. "We desperately need long memories like Hank Tatum back in Dallas writing from a true understanding of how we got in this mess." Amen Ms Boyd, one of the greatest weaknesses of our local media is the lack of any institutional memory, they can tell you all about the view from the bar at the Belmont, but have no idea who Juanita Craft was.
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written by Bob Reagan , October 04, 2007 Sharon, for what it’s worth, I believe Judge Buchmeyer lives in East Dallas, and did during the lawsuit that resulted in imposition of the present system on Dallas city government. Ironically, this case was initially assigned to him, but he recused himself. It is now assigned to Judge Barbara Lynn. I vividly recall the December 1990 referendum, and worked with Tom Pauken and many others to defeat the 14-1 in favor of the 10-4-1. We made the argument that 14-1 would result in the political fiefdoms that indeed it did, as Henry so cogently points out. A majority of the voters agreed, but it was to no avail. The present systems was imposed by ukase, and we have reaped the whirlwind. Though there were a number of facts he could have found differently had he been so disposed, I do not fault Judge Buchmeyer entirely, or even mostly. The Voting Rights Act he was called upon to enforce gave, and still gives, draconian power to Justice Department bureaucrats to approve or disapprove certain state and local methods of electing officials. I remember the judge made a statement in open court that he didn’t think the Justice Department would ever approve 10-4-1, and he apparently believed, with some case law support, that Justice approval was necessary. But the real culprits were the then mayor and many city council members who were more interested in jockeying for political position than in the future of Dallas. They fostered an inept and ineffective defense of the City’s position, and refused to challenge Judge Buchmeyer’s ultimate ruling on appeal, even though there were indications the Fifth Circuit would have allowed 10-4-1. One must suppose that the ultimate culprit in this case, however, is the sorry legacy of racial segregation that existed for so long, the effects of which our political and societal institutions continue to exacerbate, rather than try to eradicate. We continue to officially classify individual persons by race, and thereby perpetuate discrimination. Many of, to use Sharon’s acronym, ODB insist that racial classification must be maintained for benign and remedial purposes. That is nonsense and ignores history. Painful though it may be for those who benefit from slopping at the public trough – most of whom are people that look more like the Potashniks than like the Hills – the way to end racial discrimination is to stop discriminating on the basis of race, as Chief Justice Roberts has rightly observed. Based upon the current state of scientific knowledge concerning the origins of humankind, if we must continue to describe ourselves by reference to our ancestry, we are all African-Americans.
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written by Farinata X , October 04, 2007 By all means, let's go back to those good old days of yore, when white folks ruled (only the Best People, you know) and Republican businessmen decided among themselves who among them would run in and who would win city elections (no one outside the ruling class allowed). Onward!
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written by Sharon Boyd , October 04, 2007 Farinata, In the "good old days of yore", it was Democrat businessmen who ruled the town. In those days, Republicans could hold a meeting in a phone booth. But then, you probably don't remember those either. The problem was that the few minority office holders like Elsie Faye Higgins and Al Lipscomb were selling out their constituents for pennies on the dollar. When we had some at large council members, there was at least a little safety net. It was Annette Strauss (a Democrat) who subsidized Al Lipscomb (a Democrat) while they both served on the council. They both acknowledged the $$ exchange. So, keep the partisan stuff out of this corruption discussion. The city was a better place to live before 14-1. I was on the Plan Commission under 8-2-1, and there was very little of ward politics involved because of the 3 at large members. No one could decide singularly whether a case got approved or disapproved in a particular district. Of course, if you think ward politics and the certain corruption it brings is a good thing, then you must see the current indictments as just a part of day to day operations. Jerry Buchmeyer may live in Dallas now, but he lived in the Park Cities when he was shafting Dallas.
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written by Farinata X , October 04, 2007 Why does well-known Republican activist Sharon Boyd always want to "keep the partisan stuff out" of any and all discussions of city politics issues on Dallas Blog? Because the long-standing charade of "non-partisan" city politics benefits only the Republicans she serves, that's why.
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written by bk , October 04, 2007 Bob, It's hard to tell your point, but is your point, that we are only getting what we deserve because of discrimination in the past that brought it all on? I guess I just don't get it. My point is this: Illegal activities by public officials must be stopped and kept stopped, no matter what color the perpetrators are. That is the modern definition, to me in the current context, of non-discrimination.
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written by 2cents , October 04, 2007 Once again, yada, yada, yada. Woulda, coulda, shoulda. His fault, their fault. Truth is, if there is a way for cheaters to cheat, they . . .you guessed it: they cheat. The system is not the problem. It's people without values. No matter how many checks and balance you can think of to impose, graft and bribery will alway be with us. Ester 3.
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written by Sharon Boyd , October 04, 2007 Just keep it focused on which party was in power in the good ole days. It was White Democrats who ruled the city b/4 14-1, not Republicans. I am a Republican, but hardly a party activist - they think I'm too liberal. My focus has been on local politics, and I've supported as many Democrats as Republicans. I was the first to call out GOP Maurine Dickey over the senior tax-exemption. I sided with Democrat Rafael Anchia against Republican Jim Jackson in a legislative fight in Austin to tighten rules on massage parlors. I worked as hard as anyone to get Democrat Laura Miller elected. Get your facts straight before you play party-politics. Your party has given us a bail bondsman for a DA, who thinks he works for the perpetrators -- not the victims. Con Jerk ran as a Democrat, not a Republican. What have you done?
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written by Farinata X , October 04, 2007 OK, SB. I'll grant your point. It is more nearly accurate to say that you serve the white ruling class regardless of party label. You're right. That's better. And who is" Con Jerk"?
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written by John Williams , October 04, 2007 The Federal Courts, Judge Buckmeyer in particular, destroyed Dallas. The first step was busing. Based on the results busing did zip for black kids but drove white families to the suburbs. Next came rulings on public housing. Finally there were the redistricting rulings. Clearly the at large system, even with only three at large councilmembers was insufficient. But in his zeal to right historical wrongs Buckmeyer set the stage for the corruption just as Mr. Tatum suggests. But Federal Judges really aren't that interested in outcomes just in change. The result has been as bad for blacks as for whites and all bad for what was once a great city.
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written by Farinata X , October 04, 2007 I always love hearing that busing "drove white families to the suburbs." What actually happened was that white families didn't want their precious children going to the same schools as black kids. So they loaded up their moving vans and drove themselves to the suburbs.
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written by East Dallas Eccentric , October 04, 2007 Judge William Taylor was the Highland Park born and raised judge who excused HPISD and the suburbs from the Dallas desegregation suit - therefore dooming any plan,initiating white flight and inflating HP property values. I went from Lakewood to Woodrow with the Buchmeyer kids so I don't know when he lived in Park Cities. Anyhow, knowing the man, he had good intentions. But we cannot accept corruption. A swift punishment is necessary now, not the kid-glove treatment Mr. Lipscomb got.
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written by randye , October 04, 2007 X, What does all this ad hominem crapola have to do with Mr. Tatum's post?
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written by Farinata X , October 04, 2007 To the average rightwinger, "ad hominem" means "what I don't like." It isn't ad hominem to say that Tatum's article is grounded in the erroneous assumption that federal court rulings, and not the racist reaction to those rulings, is the source of all the problems.
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written by Bob Reagan , October 04, 2007 bk, thanks for your question. My point is not we are getting what “we” deserved, but that a major factor for corruption is so many in leadership positions are continuing to use race as a classifying criteria. To explain further: Many politicians mostly those with “D” behind their names (although there are plenty of “Rs” who are fellow travelers) have concluded that, although we eliminated legal racial segregation 40 years ago, we must use the government to eliminate lingering vestiges of economic inequality allegedly fostered by that practice. In order to do so, they insist on continuing to classify persons by “race” (in the same manner that segregationists used to) in order to implement the affirmative action fiasco as well as all kinds of “minority” development programs, and the like, for supposed “low income” people. Government appropriations for those programs result in big piles of money to be distributed mainly by bureaucrats who have no profit motive to carefully husband those resources. Combine this with a system like 14-1 which creates districts whose representatives are not answerable to anyone, except an electorate that consists of unsophisticated and uneducated voters who have been gerrymandered into a district based only on the fact of their ancestry, which is determined by which box they check on a census form designed by another bureaucrat. (You might recall the last two decennial censuses, when so-called public service ads were run with programs catering to certain demographics urging them to fill out census forms to insure they would get their “fair share of [government] benefits.”). This state of affairs attracts the bottom feeders like the Postashniks who enlist the politicians like Hill and Hodge to be their stooges. Potashnik, I suppose, might have the audacity to claim credit for sharing our wealth with underprivileged “minorities” like Hill, Lee, Hodge, et al. Henry Tatum, Tom Pauken, and many others saw this 17 years ago, and were called racist and worse. Of course, that is to be expected. We all know that prophets are not without honor save in their own city.
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written by Farinata X , October 05, 2007 Thanks for clearing this up, Bob. The real problem is all those gosh-darn "unsophisticated and educated voters." If they'd just make it so that only guys like you could vote, everything would be ok!
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written by Bob Reagan , October 05, 2007 I agree wholeheartedly. I know that there are many of both sexes and all hues of skin color and ancestry who share my views. We're the only ones that vote consistently, anyway.
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written by Mary Hasan , October 05, 2007 I may not always agree with Sharon but I have respect for her because she has the guts to use her real name. I hear people talk about the good old days but as an African American, born and raised in this city, I just don't remember these good old days. They were good old days for whites, not for us. What we got from the good old days was segration, very little city services, dumps, wastewater treatment plants, scrap metal places, bars, alcohol establishments across the street from our schools and churches. I grew up going to a Lutheran Church with a club across the street and some Sunday's we heard the music. We had old book which use to belong to whites and no representation. The at-large council representatives did not represent the southern sector. They were elected by the north and that's who they represented. So when you talk about the good old days, we simply do not understand when that was.
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written by Don Marquis , October 05, 2007 Regardless of the situation, if a dopey judge can cancel an election. something is drastically wrong.
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written by Sharon Boyd , October 05, 2007 Mary has a point. Dallas minority neighborhoods have never been treated fairly. Look what was done to Little Mexico. My point - in the 40's, 50's, 60's and most of the 70's, Dallas leadership was not GOP. The old White guys running things were all Democrats, as was most everybody in Texas. So, the wrong that was done in those days was not by Republicans. When we switched from 8-2-1 to 14-1, we had a Democrat as Mayor, plus council members Lordi Palmer, Al Lipscomb, Diane Ragsdale, Craig Holcomb, et al were Democrats. It's the ward politics that has naturally evolved from 14-1 that is the current problem. Ruining the entire city in 1991 does not balance out past wrong doings. This is not about GOP vs Democrats. It's about
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written by cjbarta , October 05, 2007 Hank: Great to see your work on dallasblog.com And you are absolutely right. Part of the problem now is the sheer size of the council. We need to redistrict to a more manageable size, even 12-1, but nobody is willing to give up a piece of the pie.
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written by Hank Tatum , October 06, 2007 Hey Everybody. Thanks for the input. I But I want to make it clear that my battle is about the system the federal court settled on rather than the people who have been elected. This really isn't about race. Don't forget that the only council member who pleaded guilty and went to prison was white. My point is this: If you want to peddle influence at City Hall, wouldn't you rather do it in a city where you only have to buy the support of one council member rather than two or three? The council members will say it isn't so. But I have seen too many cases where an individual member of the council can squelch a deal in his district. And that kind of power isn't healthy for Dallas or the decision making process.
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written by Dallas Perfect Voter , October 07, 2007 How it is that elected officials abuse the trust of the people for their own personal gain - no matter what the form of our City government? Bribe or unduly influence one and that's one too many - and that's also a pattern of behavior that is WRONG. Full stop. Elected officials are supposed to act in good faith and to unequivocally know right from wrong. They are supposed to uphold the law - not peddle it. Race and political partisanship are not the main issue here - Ethical leadership IS the issue. When are the voters in the the ninth largest city in America going to demand and make sure they elect only effective and ethical leadership? In this case the Feds did their job well - with two years of solid evidence building and an 166 page indictment disclosing it all(everybody should read this). We pay for that, too (Federal investigations of this magnitude do not come cheap). Over the years we have not cared that we've had elected officials who have had big Federal tax liens and others who use City Hall as their own personal piggy bank. When is this behavior going to be no longer tolerated?
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written by Right Wing Republican Volunteer , October 09, 2007 A couple of reminders: Ray Hutchison was the architect of the 10-4-1 plan adopted by the voters in 1989 and rejected by Buchmeyer and should be given credit for wisdom and foresight. Tom Pauken led the successful "Say No to 14-1" election effort in 1990 and later to the Grassroots Citizens of Dallas intervention which would have been successful but for being mooted out by the third election and an exhausted electorate which finally threw up its hands and said OK. Tom should be given credit for wisdom and foresight. In fact, one of the most disgusting scenes in a Dallas courtroom involved Buchmeyer personally slamming Tom, who was a witness in the case, and falsely blaming Tom for some trashy mail Buchmeyer had received. Jerry Bartos was another true hero in the struggle and should be given credit for wisdom and foresight. Ah, yes, a time for reflection.....
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written by john k. , October 09, 2007 If a blog can be so eliquent as to bring together Don Marquis,Sharon Boyd, and a Dopey Judge into the same conversation, I'll just say,"It's time for a Leash Law for Cats in Dallas".
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written by Right Wing Republican Volunteer , October 09, 2007 BTW, it is fascinating to hear it said that the folks opposing 14-1 were the white, fat cats. Is there a whiter, fatter cat than Roger Staubach? Yes, Roger was the Treasurer of the "14-1 for Dallas Committee". And the contributor list to the pro 14-1 committee reads like a Who's Who of white, fat cat Dallas companies, law firms and individuals. The true irony is that the folks opposed to 14-1 were mostly ordinary man on the street Dallasites. Yep, the plain ol' ordinary folks were right and the rich, fat cats were wrong. Hmmm....so, what's new?
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written by Mary Hasan , October 10, 2007 The truth of the matter was that if the people in this had been fair, it would have never went to the courts. Whites enjoyed the benefits of the at-large system. We basically had taxation without representation and when a black was elected it was at the pleasure of whites. We don't have a lot of people who can afford to run or serve as an elected official. No one can say that our communities have not benefited a lot more under 14-1, especially District 8. They have a university, new housing developments,gated communities, 2 new fire stations, a police station opening this month, water parks, state of the art soccer field. Thing have changed just not at the pace that we would like to see.
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written by James , August 15, 2008 It’s a shame. 47 years in Dallas and now that the dust is settling, all the corruption is becoming painfully obvious. And now I read in here that political corruption is based on race. Admittedly, it looks pretty bad if you are black. And I totally understand the black community getting their feelings hurt based on the latest indictments, but on the bright side, Ron Kirk was a good mayor. The root cause of all the problems however is race. And I don’t mean it’s “Because they were black”. It’s more reflective of the way the people of Dallas vote, and why they vote on a candidate. With all the media limelight on representation, we are suffering the effects surrounding the ignorance of voters. If I ran for City Council in Oak Cliff, the very first thing the residents would notice in that district is the fact that I am white. So based on that, I would have no chance of getting elected. To the same degree, a Black person would have a slim chance of winning the North West Dallas district. Bottom line, in the past 15 years, the voters seem to take two things into consideration. What race are they, and what is there party affiliation. And to further fuel the trend, the elected official will start appointing people of his own race, regardless of background. It’s all about those racial numbers. I actually feel sorry for the Black community. They tend to follow radicals like Al Lipscomb, John Price, Don Hill, Diane Ragsdale, and a host of other so called “ Black Leaders” who continue to exploit there own people based on personal gain. Then, people like the Shaw’s are appointed to positions at DART, later to commit suicide because they couldn’t hide from the truth that was about to expose them. Dallas is 25.9% Black according to the 2007 Census. Yet they account for 91% of the latest indictments handed down by the Feds in the past 3 years. But people don’t like to hear that and prefer to sweep the facts under the rug. Personally, I have been watching this from 60 miles north of Dallas. I got out years ago Write comment
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