Schmoozing, Walking Forums And Open Meetings

Yesterday we had a pop quiz on civics. The two questions dealt with compensation for public employees. Today's question deals with government transparency. It is prompted by Jim Schutze's report of a Dallas City Council meeting.

"Before the council bit into [a contentious issue], [Mayor Tom] Leppert called a 10-minute recess. This is where the real stuff happens. The microphones are off; they've stepped away from the dais; and all we can see out here in the peanut gallery is who's shmoozing whom."

The Texas Open Meetings Act forbids government bodies from deliberating public business in private serial meetings of less than a quorum (so-called "walking quorums") then ratifying their actions as a quorum in a subsequent public meeting. The question is, why is the schmoozing described by Schutze not an illegal "walking quorum?"

Nice Work If You Can Get It

Pop quiz time. Topic? Compensation of public officials. Get your blue books out. Use as many as you need. Take all the time you want. Open book. Consult with classmates. Whatever it takes to get the right answers.

After the jump, ... begin.

Good Luck, Amie Parsons

You'll need it.

Four months ago, GOP party primary voters denied nominations to two members of the State Board of Education (SBOE) representing north Texas. Don McLeroy in District 9 (northern Collin County and much of east Texas) and Tincy Miller in District 12 (much of north Dallas and Richardson) were rejected by Republican Party voters. McLeroy and Miller continue to hold their seats until the November general election. A month ago, the SBOE approved changes to the social studies standards used in Texas public schools. The lame duck far-right majority on the board dictated far-right changes, seemingly against the primary voters' wishes.

With the damage done, the SBOE has been out of the news lately and is likely to remain that way through the November elections. After the jump, why we should still care.

New Candidate, Same Old Spin

Recently, first-time candidate for Texas House District 102 Stefani Carter was caught plagiarizing lines from Barack Obama for her own stump speech. The wording of Carter's speech was thoroughly covered by many, but today I want to look at her side's defense against the charges of plagiarism and resume padding. It exhibits just as much political spin as her stump speech that got her in trouble.

After the jump, a case of political spin deconstructed.

Early Summer In The Steger Garden (2010)

From Flowers

152nd Northwestern Commencement

There has been no news from Richardson since last week because Ellen and I were in Evanston, Illinois, to attend Northwestern University's 152th commencement ceremony. John received his Bachelor of Science degrees in Industrial Engineering and in Manufacturing and Design Engineering.

The weekend's activities began with sightseeing around the Evanston area. First stop was the Baha'i House of Worship for North America, one of only seven Baha'i temples around the world. Next stop was the Evanston Art Center, the Grosse Point Light House, and the nearby beach. We then strolled Northwestern's beautiful campus, stretched out along the Lake Michigan lakeshore, a gem of a setting.

Commencement day began with a President's reception on the lawn of the Norris Center. The weather, like the day before, was sunny, hot and humid, at least until mid-afternoon when a line of fast-moving thunderstorms moved into the Chicago area. Commencement, an outdoor event scheduled for 6:00 pm at Ryan Field, was threatened when the skies opened up at 4:30 pm with torrential rain and hurricane-force winds. Trees were uprooted in nearby neighborhoods and some windows popped out of the downtown Chicago skyscrapers. But by 6:00 pm, the storm had passed and commencement went on as scheduled.

Convocation of the McCormick School of Engineering was held Saturday morning, at which diplomas were awarded. The weekend's festivities were capped off with John's friend Armand's graduation celebration hosted by his parents, in the Skyline Room of the Trump Tower in downtown Chicago. The spectacular view was outdone only by the hospitality of Armand's family. A fun time was had by all.

For more photos, look here.

Garland's Answer To "Tree The Town"

Richardson might have its "Tree the Town" initiative to plant 50,000 trees in Richardson over the next ten years. Now, Garland ISD is thinking of going one step farther -- growing its own trees. School board member Larry Glick's idea is to to give students training in horticulture and, as a byproduct, provide shade on school playgrounds as well. Garland ISD would start a tree farm, run by students who would both grow the trees and transplant them to playgrounds. Win-win.

After the jump, a look back at an Richardson effort to shade those playgrounds.

Museum Tower vs Richardson's PGBT Station

Museum Tower site

Museum Tower, the long-envisioned condo tower in the Arts District in downtown Dallas, is on again. You might think that adding living spaces to downtown Dallas would be welcomed by all. Not so. WalkableDFW's Patrick Kennedy pans the planned tower, calling it a "cul-de-sac in the sky" due to the lack of walkability in the neighborhood. He has a point. Once you get past the glossy marketing brochures that show the downtown skyline and the nearby art museum, symphony hall and deck park, what will residents who actually move in be faced with on the ground? Look at the aerial view of the planned location -- it's the parking lot inside that strangling cloverleaf exit to Woodall Rodgers freeway. Just try to walk anywhere from your new condo and see how far you get. Big mistake?

After the jump, why I like it anyway and why I'm glad it's in Dallas, not Richardson.

Barack Obama Wannabe Stefani Carter

Barack Obama / Stefani Carter

Young, bright, Harvard-educated, African-American candidate for the state legislature. What once described Barack Obama in Illinois is now being appropriated by none other than a north Texas Republican candidate for the Texas legislature. And if the biography isn't enough to get voters to see a little Barack Obama in you, how about lifting lines and ideas right from Barack Obama's keynote address to the 2004 Democratic Convention, the speech that launched his national career?

After the jump, look who's riding Obama's coattails?

116th Caltech Commencement

There has been no news from Richardson since last week because Ellen and I were in Pasadena, California, to attend Caltech's 116th commencement ceremony. Scott received his Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering. The weather was ideal (the 75 degree days and cool nights were a welcome break from the Texas heat). The commencement ceremony struck just the right balance between seriousness and levity (and sometimes both rolled up together. For example, read Caltech professor Sean Carroll's take on the lyrics to the song Gaudeamus Igitur sung by the Caltech Glee Club). And the post-commencement luncheon in the Athenaeum was awe-inspiring (this private club on the Caltech campus hosted Nobel Prize winners Albert Einstein, Robert Millikan and A. A. Milchelson at its first formal dinner in 1931).

Besides glowing with pride during commencement, we also visited the outstanding Norton Simon art museum in Pasadena. Saturday turned out to be a full day at Universal Studios Hollywood after we discovered that you can't take just the studio tour without buying a ticket for the whole theme park experience, too. (For a more authentic studio tour, check out Warner Brothers instead.) Each evening was spent dining and strolling in Old Pasadena, the kind of livable city that Dallas and Richardson ought to study.

For more photos, look here:

• Caltech
  
• Norton Simon Museum and Pasadena
  
• Universal Studios Hollywood