DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – The future is a little brighter at Dallas City Hall – and not just because of the Mavs championship.    Council members were told Wednesday the budget outlook is not as bad as it was just a few weeks ago, but there is still a sizeable hole.

It’s hard to imagine that a deficit of ‘only’ $32-Million is good news, but a month ago it was feared to be nearly double that.

Traditionally, things like libraries are low hanging fruit for the budget ax.  “I like children’s books,” says Jennifer Molinaro as she and her brother and mom stocked up on books and DVDs at the Hampton-Illinois branch of the Dallas Public Library…one of the system’s busiest.  “I think it’s good because people who don’t have enough money to buy books or DVDs can just get themselves a library card.”

But library services seem to always be on the budget chopping block.  Currently, sales tax revenues are up slightly; property tax assessments not as low as first projected.

A total budget of more than a billion dollars must be balanced by October 1.   Council members have been struggling with it for months.  “We’re either going to have to make some trimmings or–we’re not going back to raise taxes,” warned Ron Natinksy.

Tennell Atkins agrees, sayiing, “It’s going to be painful.”  Libraries, pools, and rec centers remain most at risk, according to Tennell Atkins, who maintains the long-term solution is to lure more Big Business to Dallas.  “We’ve got to be more friendly to the private corporations,”says Atkins, “In order for them to help us to balance our budget.”

Not having a property tax hike is good news for residents like Joseph Guerra, but he’s also fond of the library.  “I think it’s important for everybody to have it and for Oak Cliff to have somewhere to go.”

Council is traditinally off for the month of July – when they come back they’ll have less than two months to get their financial house in order.

“As I try to better understand the impact of the gas drilling issue, I believe that I’m becoming convinced that it can’t be done in an urban area.”  “It seems to me that the fracking process, the impact on the air quality and on our water sources make gas drilling too dangerous to be done in an urban area,” Kunkle said.  Dallas Observer

This man has been literally on the street’s of Dallas as it’s top cop. He’s worked with everyone from the ‘hood to the halls of  1500 Marilla Street. He knows the players, and he knows their plays. His campaign is low on cash, and yet he still knows how to talk to anybody about their concerns for a better life, how to achieve it. He doesn’t have fancy, million dollar mailers once a week. His yard signs are as plain as you can get. And yet, he makes an impact.

Then he ends up being in this runoff with a candidate rich in campaign cash who’s connections run from tea parties in the north to poker games in the south. People are smart, they sense when they see a guy who can do the job of mayor unencumbered by those he owes. He doesn’t owe anything to the Dallas Citizens Council, and he’s not using former mayor Tom Leppert’s people to run his campaign. He knows that in order to bring more people into our city so the famous ‘donut hole’ gets filled, we must have a city that is cleaner, healthier, and therefore a better place for everyone to live their life, and to do a lot of business. It’s that easy.

Just one of many reasons why we endorse David Kunkle for Mayor of Dallas, and we encourage others to do as well.

It took a long time to get the City of Dallas to ‘wake up and smell the benzene/formaldehyde in the morning’, but in the end, they got it and agreed to the creation of a gas drilling task force. When this agreement was struck, the city was in the middle of city wide elections for mayor and a few city council seats.

City council Dave Neumann even lost his council seat because he miscalculated the odds and his challenger Scott Griggs. Griggs made gas drilling the center piece of his campaign, and won the election by 58%. Mayoral candidate Ron Natinsky whose ownership of Exxon stock kept him out of council discussions, also lost his attempts at the prize. Now both are on the committee that will assist in the selection of gas drilling task force members to study the issue and make recommendations to the city council in rewriting the Dallas gas ordinance. Dave Neumann is currently the co chair of the committee. We immediately saw some issues with regards to both council members being on the committee.

We asked ad hoc co chair Linda Koop, to consider this conundrum and asked for her assistance in ‘cleaning house’ to preserve the integrity of the process even if it meant extending the formation of the task force. The last day for applicants is Monday, May 23rd. The selection committee begins on Tuesday.

In part, here is what we asked:

We would request the following:

A. Council members Neumann and Natinsky be removed from the Dallas gas drilling task force selection committee immediately.

B. A new co chair for the ad hoc committee be named by the new mayor on June 29th.

C. That the deadline for task force applicants be extended by one month to June 24th

D. That the task force study time begin on August 2 and last until February 7, 2012

Since the city council has extended the lease agreement with XTO by 30 months, there should not be a rush to gather the information needed to rewrite the current Dallas gas ordinance. As you may remember, Theresa O’Donnell at city council briefing recommended a year long study on this issue which we felt was a fair amount of time.

We received a very kind response from Ms. Koop telling us that she appreciated our interest and that the city currently has 47 applications waiting to be read. But in the end, she would pass our concerns over to Mayor Dwaine Caraway. The last day for applicants is Monday, May 23rd. The selection committee begins on Tuesday, May 24th.

We copied the mayor on our correspondence with Ms.Koop and added a letter asking for his intercession to ‘clean house’.

I am sending you a copy of an email that I wrote to the attention of council member Linda Koop. In this email you will see that I and several other citizen groups listed are concerned about the make up of the Dallas Gas Drilling Task Force Ad Hoc Selection Committee members. We think that it is a priority to preserve the integrity of the task force from the beginning. My understanding that both council members Neumann and Natinsky are currently listed as being on the selection committee. Since both council members will no longer be representing their districts, allowing them to remain on the selection committee sends an inappropriate message to Dallas citizens.

I have listed the reasons for my request in my email to Ms. Koop. The scope of the task force is also addressed and I would hope that such an important issue of this nature is not rushed through the process just to beat a deadline of October 26, 2011 when in fact, the city of Dallas has extended the lease agreement by 30 months. In 5 weeks. we will have a new mayor and a new council. This new team of civic leadership in Dallas should be the driving force behind the task force, and not one with some members who are leaving office with a weak or compromised track record on this subject from the beginning.

It is with hope that you once again as you have done so in the past, take a leadership role in the beginning stages of the task force to insure it’s integrity. Please take a moment to read through my email to Ms. Koop and if you should have any questions, I would be more than happy to have a conversation with you regarding this matter.

We’re still waiting to hear.

Remember Monday, May 23 is the deadline for applying to be on the Dallas gas drilling task force.

CLICK HERE for the link to the application

It is very important that the task force have the right members on it’s panel to help with this study.
If you can devote some time to this, please seriously consider filling out the application.

Because we all drink the same water and we all breathe the same air.

I’ve got some cool themed photos coming up so you will definitely see them soon! Stay tuned!

Who thought that you could find such cool patterns with Dallas City Hall? And believe it or not, the last shot was at night!

Police escort on Interstate 20

Thumper Monitoring Equipment on Interstate 20

Thumper trucks looking for gas

The gas industry is determined to find the gas. No task force plans, no current city regulations can stop them for looking for the gas. These pictures were taken about 12 noon today, May 4 on Interstate 20 just east of Mountain Creek Parkway just before the Spur 408 exit on the outskirts of Dallas going east.  This area encompasses Dallas and Duncanville. The City of Dallas cannot afford to waste any time. With a police escort, these trucks have monitors that sit on the earth and begin the seismic testing called, ‘thumping’.

The plans for a gas drilling task force must be expedited, election or not, and the gas industry will not wait. The gas industry does not play fair.        

Scared yet?

Please read the press release by CLICKING HERE

You can read the latest developments at City Hall by CLICKING HERE

She was involved in the Dallas City Hall corruption case.

Last February Hodge pleaded guilty to making false statements on her income tax return. In exchange for the plea she gave up her District 100 seat and was sentenced to one year in prison.

Hodge’s scheduled release date was in June.

So last night a light bulb went off in our head. Whenever we go to the Texas Railroad Commission web site, you can only see a small limited view of the Barnett Shale. One frame at a time. So, we thought why not fire up the printer, put in a new cartridge and start scoping and printing? This is a work in progress, but at this point it has to be assembled on the floor one square at a time. So far, we have a 6 foot tall x 2 1/2 foot wide map that shows much more than you would ever want to know about shale gas drilling in the Barnett Shale.

Stay tuned. There’s more to tell.

You’re not going to like what we found.

City Hall is HUGE I mean really Huge it must of cost millions to build and the upkeep has to run extremely high every year too. I am not impressed with this expenditure of money to do what polish someone’s ego?

On the way back home we stopped at Bass Pro Shop to look around nice stuff, expensive stuff. I won’t be buying a lot of it that’s for sure.

Then we went grocery shopping at Kroger’s in Rockwall Texas then drove home made dinner, baked chicken and salad with red wine, yes red wine… it’s for my health you know

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The young politician-want-to-be has a number of things he’d like to accomplish, so he’s decided to try working from within the system. “I thought it would be neat. I thought it was a good idea to run and I’ve always had an interest in politics,” Foster said.

The teenager, who is home-schooled, says he wants to work on city diversity and clean up the city, by clearing up the red tape to enforce city code. “You call code [enforcement] about that, code says it’s a police problem. Police say it’s a code problem,” Foster said frustrated. “So, whose job is it really to enforce it?”

Foster also wants to clean up the area around White Rock Lake… especially one place next to his home. “There’s been a house that’s sitting right next door for over 20 years, that the city cannot touch because of all the red tape,” he explained. “It’s boarded up, there’s been trespassers, there have been people stealing copper out of the house. The house is also dilapidated.”

While Foster says he’s for a number of proposals to make Dallas a better city, there’s one big budget item that he’s against – the convention city hotel. “It’s kinda like playing the lottery. If it works out well it could wind up being a real big jackpot. But if it doesn’t, well, then you’re at a loss,” he said.

Sheffie Kadane, who is 49 years Foster’s senior, currently occupies the District 9 seat.

You may be questioning how Foster could hold office at only 17-years-old. The answer – he can’t. But the optimistic teen will be 18-years-old by the time the election rolls around on May 14.

On Monday, the typically approachable and outspoken Caraway was in no mood to talk.

“That’s in the lawyer’s hands now,” he said of the lawsuit.

Just last week, his wife, state legislator Barabara Mallory-Caraway (D – Dallas), was firmly behind him at his first official City Hall meeting as mayor since Tom Leppert resigned to run for the U.S. Senate.

But police were called to their home in some sort of an apparent domestic incident in January. Caraway went directly to DPD Chief David Brown and asked for him to handle the call.

As such, Caraway avoided the 911 emergency system all together, so no record of what happened is in the public domain. Not even a police report.

CBS 11 and five other area news outlets asked the Texas Attorney General to force the city to release the information under the open records law. Abbott agreed.

On Friday, Caraway sued to block the AG’s opinion, citing “the common law right to privacy.” It further claims the U.S. Constitution “protects individual privacy rights of an individual in avoiding the disclosure of personal matters to the public.”

However, it makes no mention that Caraway is a public figure and an elected official. Councilman Tennell Atkins defended the interim mayor, saying he is just exercising his freedom of speech.

“It’s a personal issues and that’s his right,” Atkins said. “Whatever he wants to do, that’s his right to do it.”

When asked if it was affecting the council’s or the mayor’s performance in any way, Atkins said “I’m not looking at that, I’m just looking at that’s a personal issue.”

Abbott’s office has not been served and has no comment on the suit. If Caraway’s appeal is allowed to stand, it could be tied up in civil court for months, long after a new mayor is elected and installed in June at Dallas City Hall.

While he is not running for mayor in the council elections in May, Caraway has filed for reelection to his current council seat.

We support Dallas city council member Angela Hunt’s leadership role in wanting to study the effects of shale gas drilling in Dallas. Please read the letter of support that was sent this morning to all city council members.

The lack of leadership from city council member Dave Neumann has created a situation whereupon Ms. Hunt felt the need to act immediately. His actions can only be interpreted as a disrespect for not only his constituency but for all of Dallas citizens.

We look forward to working with Ms. Hunt in the months ahead to help make Dallas and healthier place to live and to do business.

If you would like to help support Ms. Hunt in her efforts to protect the Dallas environment, click the link below. You will see a form letter that you can print, sign, and mail to city hall. Address it to the mayor or any city council person of your choice. Or you can copy and paste it into an email and send it to the same people.

Pass it around, pass it forward. We need more civic leaders like Angela Hunt. She’s the only one, who exhibits the leadership skills to make this happen.

CLICK HERE

Dave Neumann is superb in slapping your back, remembering your name, asking about your kids, and petting the family dog. And that is about where it ends. When it comes to controversial issues that effect residents in his district, he is always the last to know about the issue and the first to say he has an open mind until he hears all of the facts.

His track record is not good for these issues such as the Wynnewood Apartments disaster, the CHA housing at Cliff Manor on Fort Worth Avenue, his flip flop attitude on restoration of a park pergola and now the gas drilling issue that has it’s origins in District 3 next to Joe Pool Lake and Mountain Creek Lake. On the apartment issues, he did not know until the ‘eleventh hour’ about the issue and assured neighbors he was on their side. It just did not work out the way the neighboring residents had hoped. On the park issue, he had to be monitored, cajoled, and counseled on how important of an issue this was to the overall historical status of the park.

Only after a lot of sweat equity from the people who care about the park,did he finally make the correct decision to allow funding for the park. On the gas drilling issue, a controversial one that took shape back in 2008, he never said a word about it for two years. He knew that it would probably start in his district first since it is the closest to the Barnett Shale area.The application was filed in May. All summer long, he said nothing. He waited until a few days before the application was to be heard at city hall before he notified residents via a town meeting of the impending action. His actions speak louder than words.

Once again, he assured us all that he would keep a “open mind” and not listen to the hysteria. We guess he is referring to the residents in the DFW area with toxins in their blood, 74% drop in their property value, leukemia clusters in an elementary school, extremely high levels of benzene in areas of Fort Worth and flaming faucets. That’s the hysteria. Back in the late Fall of 2010, Mr. Neumann indicated that he was willing to offer up a deferment of the first application and perhaps create a task force with the support of councilmembers Hunt and Koop.It never happened, because it never will under his auspices.

This week when two of his constituents appeared before the microphone to speak about their concerns regarding gas drilling, he and city manager stood up and left the room.  On Wednesday, he has said to some that he never had intended to create a task force, will never create a task force and the applications will proceed at their own pace. His apparent need to ‘carry water’ for departing mayor Tom Leppert and current city manager Mary Suhm is an action of ignorance on his part.     Why should Dave Neumann’s lip service result in potential collateral damage for the rest of us?

Actions speak louder than words.

Why should Dave Neumann’s lip service result in potential collateral damage for the rest of us?

Lip service to us, and a clear signal to XTO that in time, their deal could be sealed with a kiss.

Last year at this time David Kunkle was police chief.   This time next year he hopes to be mayor.  On Monday,  he formally threw his hat into the ring today here at city hall.

Kunkle says he is the right man for the job and that he’s quote, “in it to win it.”  The retired police chief filed Monday in what could be considered an attempt to discourage other lesser known names from running.

While crime may have been his focus in his previous job, Kunkle says he will focus his attention on neighborhood concerns if elected.

Primarily, Kunkle wants residents to get more out of their tax dollars.    Kunkle says he would also make downtown development a priority.   His campaign treasurer is the husband of former Dallas Mayor Laura Miller.

“People are fed up,” said Wael Nawar, who attended the rally. “It’s time for democracy and time for change.”

More than 200 people rallied at Dallas City Hall and marched downtown to the JFK Memorial. Sarah Elsamra said she attended the rally because many of her relatives still live in Egypt.

“We always go back home, visit our family, so a part of us is there, our roots are there,” she said.

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Elsamra said being an American citizen makes her realize what’s missing in Egypt, and she understands why the people are protesting.

“As an American, I have more chances for education, a chance of a job, independence. That’s what Egyptian people should have over there as well,” she said. “Poverty is rising, education is getting bad. There needs to be a lot of improvement back home.”

For days, Egyptians have protested, calling for the end of President Hosni Mubarak’s rule. Many believe his government is destroying the country.

Nawar, who grew up in Egypt and moved to America for his education, believes a rally in Dallas can make a difference. He hopes the American government will take notice and help the people of Egypt.

“It sends a message to everybody that everybody needs to take action,” he said. “We just need simple democracy. We need an elected president. That’s all we’re asking for.”

A December visitor to city hall said the photo, in honor of former Mayor Woodall Rodgers, wasn’t him.

Rodgers served as mayor from 1939 to 1947. He died 1961.

Relatives of construction company magnate Henry C. Beck Jr. on Wednesday confirmed he was the person in the mislabeled photo.

The Dallas Morning News reported, for its Friday editions, that Gittings photography provided the picture in about 1992 with a label indicating the person was Rodgers.

Gittings manager Barry Benton says the company, which does corporate photos as part of its business, is working to replace the incorrect image.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The Dallas Morning News first reported on the portrait thought to be former Dallas Mayor Woodall Rodgers. Rodgers was mayor from 1939 to 1947. He died in 1961.

A recent visitor to city hall said the photo wasn’t Rodgers.

Relatives on Wednesday confirmed the photo is of Henry C. Beck Jr. His family’s construction company helped build landmarks including the Adolphus Tower and Medical City Dallas. Beck died in 2007.

His son, Peter Beck, says he thinks his father would have gotten a kick out of the mixup.

City hall officials are investigating the photo flub.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The bribery-extortion case involved developers Brian and Cheryl Potashnik, former Dallas mayor pro-tem Don Hill, his former girlfriend-turned-wife Sheila Farrington-Hill, Hill’s former appointed plan commissioner D’Angelo Lee and State Representative Terri Hodge of Dallas, among others.

On Friday a judge sentenced Brian Potashnik to 14 months in federal prison, but recommended he serve the time at a facility in North Texas.

When handing down the fine amount, the judge said because of the amount of money he profited from, on two specific projects, Brian Potashnik must pay the City of Dallas $1.25 million and the U.S. District Court $50,000.

Earlier Friday, the judge ordered Brian Potashnik’s wife, Cheryl, probation for her role in the case. The judge said the sentence came because of the good work she had done in the community in the past.

Cheryl and Brian Potashnik admitted paying money in exchange for winning required approval for their real estate projects. The developers received lucrative tax credits to build the developments.

While Cheryl Potashnik will remain on probation for two years and has to pay a $50,000 fine to the U.S. District Court Clerk, she received no community service. The judge said that decision was made in the hope that she would continue to do good work as she had in the past.

The Potashniks admitted to, among other things, providing free rent for former State Rep. Terri Hodge at an apartment complex they developed. Hodge agreed to take a plea in the corruption case and in April of 2010 was sentenced to 12 months in prison for making false statements by failing to report taxes on her personal income tax return.

If the council approves, all businesses must apply for an SUP within eight months of passage of the ordinance.

During Thursday’s meeting at Dallas City Hall, supporters argued that the permits would help clean up the neighborhood, give the city more control of “bad businesses,” make the area family friendly, decrease public drunkenness and fights, and reduce overall crime.

“Help us save our neighborhood,’ said Stephen Melendi, a Greenville Ave. Neighbor. “The presence of these bars has drastically reduced the quality of life in the neighborhood. Every weekend, they’ve brought crime to our neighborhood.”

Dallas police officials told the commission that the specific use permits would have a positive impact on decreasing crime after midnight along Greenville Ave. Police officials have said that more than 20 additional officers are needed to adequately patrol the area during weekends.

“Violent crime has actually increased in Lowest Greenville over the late-night period. I do believe this would help,” said DPD Deputy Chief Mike Genovesi.

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However, those opposed to the permits said the plan will chase away existing and future businesses from the area and turn Lowest Greenville’s entertainment district into a ghost town. They also expressed concern about the cost to renew the SUP process, which bar owners and restaurateurs suspect will be every two years.

The opposition said the permits would eventually lead to a loss of jobs in the area when businesses shut down.

“There are businesses down there that don’t even have alcohol sales,” said Simon McDonald, owner of the Libertine Bar on Greenville Ave. “Say an art gallery wants to stay open past midnight; they still have to get a permit as well. That doesn’t seem very fair to me.”

On Nov. 9, District 14 councilwoman Angela Hunt and other city officials unveiled a plan to change the district from one known for its nightlife to one that welcomes families and daytime foot traffic.

She said then that $1.3 million from a 2006 bond package will widen sidewalks and reduce the number of driving lanes from four to two. The proposal will tackle the street in separate segments: Hunt said she plans to modify the entire nine-block stretch of Greenville Ave. between Belton Ave. and Bryan Pkwy. over the next five years.

“We are spending tremendous taxpayer dollars and police resources babysitting the drunks at some of these bad bars,” Hunt said during the unveiling. “What we want to do is create a great family-friendly area that’ll have a balance of taverns and bars and late night operations that are not causing problems.”

There is no firm date for the council’s vote, but city officials expect it to come in mid-January or early February.

The first application filed by XTO to install as many as 14 drill at Hensley Field on the shores of Mountain Creek Lake WILL NOT be heard by the Dallas City Council next week on December 8th.

A letter of delay was written by two residents of the Bella Lagos neighborhood and we were very happy to deliver the letter the Monday before Thanksgiving to Dallas City Hall and pay the $150.00 filing fee to make it happen. The cost of filing has really risen.

This application is now scheduled for January 12, 2011. In the meantime, if city councilman Dave Neumann does what he says he is proposing, he will initiate a moratorium on all drilling in Dallas and begin the process of creating a task force to study gas drilling in our city. We would hope that he makes this motion of delay at city council next week on December 8th.

This is two years late in coming. Dave Neumann should have done this in 2008 when city councilperson Angela Hunt was the one who sounded the alarm. But he didn’t. Only after we and many residents created a ‘problem’ for the city, did he and the city react. It’s a shame that we had to spend our time to do the city’s job of educating those who did not know more about gas drilling.

We have a lot more to tell you  going forward. We will continue the job of educating the public about the deals, the lies, and the costs of living amongst the wells.

We’re just getting started.

Slovacek is a former business partner of ex-Dallas Plan Commissioner D’Angelo Lee. In all, 14 people — including Lee, former Mayor Pro-Tem Don Hill and former State Representative Terri Hodge — were convicted or pleaded guilty in the affordable housing scandal.

Slovacek will be sentenced this winter.

Meantime, a developer and his wife, who pleaded guilty right before their trial began, will be setenced next month. Brian and Cheryl Potashnik will find out their legal states during separate hearings held one week before Christmas. Under their deal with prosecutors, the Potashniks face reduced jail time.

One of Potashnik’s competing devleopers, Bill Fisher, claims that the Potashniks owe him $9 million. Fisher wore a wire for the FBI during their undercover investigation. Fisher claims that Potashnik’s bribes to Hill and Lee cost him business. Potashnik and federal prosecutors have said in court filings that Fisher is not entitled to that money.