Source: Adobe Firefly.
You know how, when you turn the light on in the kitchen, cockroaches scatter? Well, maybe not in my kitchen or yours, but let's say in the break room at City Hall. And let's say it's not cockroaches feeding in the public pantry, it's developers...and the Mayor is opening the food packages for the roaches, er, developers. Enough with the strained metaphor, let's get to the story.
In yesterday's blog post, "Bob Dubey Faces Ethics and Transparency Questions", I singled out how Manasseh Durkin, a big developer in Richardson, who gave money to Bob Dubey's campaign for mayor, sent out a mailer to voters smearing Dubey's opponent for having some lawsuits in his past, relatively minor compared to Manasseh Durkin's own history of being sued. And the lack of transparency shown by Bob Dubey in hiding his own relationship with Durkin. I explained how Dubey's connection to Manasseh Durkin is an ethical problem all by itself.
That prompted me to take a deeper dive into Manasseh Durkin's legal problems, and I stumbled across a Dubey, er, doozy. But I'm going to have to put a pin in that (I probably will save that story for another post) because I first want to report back what I found when I took a deeper dive into Dubey's campaign finance report to see just how far-reaching the web of developers' connections to Richardson's mayor might be. After a night of digging, I'm still not at the bottom. I'm beginning to wonder, is there a bottom?
Here's the campaign contribution that started it all: $465.20 from Manasseh Durkin, the largest property developer in Richardson's CORE district, including the 279-unit apartment building on a newly created 580-ft superblock in downtown Richardson.
For all of these donations, I connect donors with companies doing development or with developer-adjacent businesses. Because people in this world move around a lot, some of these connections may be old. Or maybe even wrong. If so, please let me know and I'll correct the record. And if you know of others, I want to know that, too.
The next campaign contribution I found was a $3,000.00 donation from Tod Fobare, President of Fobare Commercial, L.P. That salvage car lot on Arapaho Rd that Dubey voted for is one of their projects.
There's Walt Mountford, KDC, who made a $522.23 contribution. Those 1,175 more apartments that Dubey voted for in CityLine were by KDC.
There's Mike Bristol, Henry S. Miller, Trammell Crow, and CBRE, who made a $260.59 contribution. The City of Richardson is partnering with CBRE in finding a master developer for the Arapaho Center Station.
Then there's Phil Hoppman, Associated Builders and Contractors, who made a $225.00 contribution.
There's Jason Simon, Apartment Association of Greater Dallas, who made a $3,000.00 contribution.
Are these contributions illegal? No. That's the problem. Richardson's weak Code of Ethics doesn't prohibit cozy relationships between developers and the Mayor, where developers give money to the mayor's campaign and the mayor votes for the developers' projects. If that doesn't reek of the appearance of impropriety, what would it take?
Are these contributions transparent? You have to dive through dozens of pages of campaign finance reports to find them. Those reports don't make it easy to find them as they don't include donors' occupations and job titles and employers and business that they have with the City. You have to research the names to find the questionable donations yourself. And they certainly aren't highlighted in Dubey's campaign material.
Is any of that transparent? Of course not. But it's the Dubey Way while trumpeting "Ethical" and "Transparent" in campaign ads. All while arguing against a requirement to report meetings with developers, explaining, "I trust the Council." But what if the citizens don't trust the Mayor? And all while arguing that making a charter change to prohibit accepting money from developers isn't needed. The Mayor's own campaign finance reports show that it is dearly needed.
In short, developer money is flooding into the mayor's coffers. Mayor Dubey is using it to paint Amir Omar as the one who is unethical. Does Richardson want two more years of this lack of ethics? Can Richardson afford it?
"Pages upon pages
of cozy relationships.
Ethics lost in fog."
—h/t ChatGPT
🛑 ATTENTION ‼️
ReplyDeleteCommissioner Lisa Dunn must be removed by the city council immediately. 🚨
Richardson voters deserve honesty and transparency from those entrusted with shaping our city’s future. Lisa Dunn, a member of the Charter Review Commission, has been caught using a fake social media account under the name of Richardson’s first mayor, Tom McKamy, to smear candidates and manipulate voters. This deception is a serious breach of public trust and a clear assault on the integrity of our elections. Dunn must be removed from the Charter Review Commission immediately.
The facts are clear. Dunn first operated under the pseudonym “Momally” to spread baseless doubts about my residency, which is fully compliant with the City Charter and Texas law, as confirmed by City Secretary Aimee Nemer. When confronted, she admitted to the “Momally” account but dismissed it as a mistake. Now, we know she escalated her tactics by creating a second fake identity, “Tom McKamy,” to attack Amir Omar, dismiss legitimate reporting by Mark Steger, and cause voter confusion. Using the name of a respected historical figure to deceive the public is not an accident; it is a deliberate and calculated act of election interference.
As a sitting commissioner, Dunn is expected to uphold fairness, transparency, and integrity. Instead, she has chosen to act in secrecy, promoting an agenda that benefits insider politics while undermining open elections. Her actions not only violate the trust placed in her, but also compromise the very principles the Charter Review Commission is supposed to protect.
This behavior cannot be tolerated. Richardson’s voters must be able to trust that those shaping our city’s charter are acting in good faith. Dunn’s deceptive actions make clear she is unfit to serve. The City Council must act swiftly to remove her and restore integrity to the Charter Review Commission.
Let the voters of Richardson decide their future without manipulation, deceit, or interference.
Alan C. North
Candidate for Richardson Mayor