He says things like this:
But if we hope to continue to attract world class businesses and corporations to Dallas and avoid bigger cuts in future budgets, the answer is clear: We must increase taxes in order to preserve and enhance the quality of life for all our residents.
Seriously.
This is the kind of ignorance of basic business 101 that rivals former Dallas City Councilman Leo Chaney, who once told me that investors would build another Mockingbird Station in his district if only he got the area zoned for it. Never mind things like demographics, traffic, demand, or any of the other fundamentals retail developers weigh.
Every time there’s a budget crunch, they cut the kind of services that anger people enough to where they accept a tax increase — cutting library hours, community pools, park maintenance.
What they don’t do is cut, or don’t cut enough, is where it counts — city payroll and civil service pensions.
Oh, and how’s that $500 million city-owned hotel working out? Glad they’re spending half a billion smackers on that?
“What they don’t do is cut, or don’t cut enough, is where it counts — city payroll and civil service pensions.”
Not really. See: http://www.dallasnews.com/database/2010/dallas-budget.html
That does not include debt service. Granted, this next chart is from 2009, but I am sure it still holds true today: http://www.angelahunt.com/2009/09/09/bond-sales-current-budget/
So let’s not get ahead of ourselves and blaming city employees. More often than not people are to blame since bonds are usually approved by….drum roll please….voters.
You’re right about the hotel. But how that $500 million is serviced I do not know, but certainly projects like that do not help with city finances.
But here comes North Texas’ problem: its own economic success. Dallas has paid off the AAC, and Arlington is on track to pay off the Cowboys Stadium. Municipal project success? Probably not. It’s more a side of effect of North Texas’ economic performance. Now even Allen is getting crazy with having an arena, and voters approving a massive new high school football stadium.
I would expect more North Texas communities to rack up their credit cards on these sorts of projects.
I agree Mr. Garrison, let’s cut that city payroll and those pensions. Why should some schmuck of a cop expect a city to live up to it’s condition of employment?
Just because some loser cop outlasted 2/3 of his academy class to reach pension eligibility, just because he survived 20 + years of the bureaucracy, the insanity of society, the physical attacks against him while working the street, screw him! Take his money, reduce his pension!
Redistribute that public servant’s ill gotten wealth and spend it on libraries, pools and parks! After all, that cop statistically won’t live to be 60 anyhow, and he sure ain’t gonna collect social security. He won’t miss it for long!
To quote a great president “I mean, I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money.â€
The answer to the headline riddle: If he moves his lips.
I understand your disdain of the Convention Center Hotel, but I’m curious why you don’t have the same ire for Trinity Park fiasco? How much time and energy have we spent? The payoff has been limited IMO.