Why Pete Sessions Will Win

Pete Sessions is running for re-election in US House District 32. He is the GOP candidate and faces Democrat Grier Raggio and Libertarian John Jay Myers in November's general election.

After the jump, why the candidate no one likes will win anyway.

City Council Retreats From Open Government

I won't be blogging about the Richardson City Council meeting this week. I won't be watching. The meeting won't be shown via cable telecast. That's because the Richardson City Council is meeting not at its usual city hall venue, but at the Richardson Woman's Club instead. The work session is billed as a "retreat." But it's still a council meeting and an important one at that, one in which the council will deliberate the 2010-2011 budget. The meeting is still subject to the Texas Open Meetings Act. It's still open to the public. It's really no different from any other council meeting other than this meeting will be witnessed only by those members of the public who follow the council members in person to the unusual venue for this one meeting. In other words, things are back to the way they were a year ago, before the public demanded and received, in the interest of open government, cable telecasts and Internet streaming of council meetings. These annual "retreats" may be a long-standing tradition, but it's a tradition that needs updating. Until the cameras follow the council, these "retreats" limit public access in a way that is no longer considered acceptable week in and week out at city hall. Calling a regular weekly meeting a "retreat" shouldn't change our expectations about open government. It shouldn't change how open our city government is.

Richardson - Not Enough Ambiance For Some

In its July issue, D[allas] Magazine has published its ranking of Dallas suburbs. I know what you're thinking. What does D Magazine, host to the FrontBurner blog, self-described as a "snarky celebration of ignorance," know about Dallas suburbs?

After the jump, let's hear them out.

OTBR: A Different Kind of Statue

Latitude: 35.617900° N
Longitude: 117.665300° W

A child on a road trip with his family asks, "Where are we?" and the father answers, "Let's check the map. We're off the blue roads [the Interstate Highways marked in blue on the road atlas]. We're off the red roads [the US and state highways]. We're off the black roads [the county highways]. I think we're off the map altogether." It was always my dream to be off the map altogether.

After the jump, a few of the random places (and I mean random literally) that I visited vicariously last month that are "off the blue roads".

Oh, That Law Trumps My Law? Never Mind.

At Monday night's Richardson City Council meeting, attorney Richard Tanner spoke during the open-mic visitors section and accused the city council of illegally violating the city charter by issuing certificates of obligation (bonds) without first submitting the matter to the voters. Serious accusation. This wasn't your stereotypical "old man yells at cloud" rant. He's a lawyer. He must know what he's talking about, right?

After the jump, what the lawyer didn't know. Or at least what he didn't tell us.

Spring Valley Matrix: Be Afraid Of The Future

Movie franchise sequels tend to disappoint, then peter out altogether. Matrix Reloaded, Matrix Revolutions, anyone? That's the same feeling I got watching the third briefing of the Richardson City Council on the West Spring Valley Corridor Reinvestment Study. I'd seen it all before. It wasn't really answering any of the questions I had from the first movie. And it wasn't going anywhere. My take on the first two briefings can be read here and here. After the jump, my take on the third briefing.

Twitter Tracks: Preserve Richardson, Breckenridge, Organ Donation

Twitter tracks from June, 2010:

• 2010 06 01 - There's a new non-profit dedicated to preserving artifacts and photographs from Richardson history: http://preservationrichardson.org/
• 2010 06 02 - Travel old Route 66 today and see all the towns that died when the Interstate bypassed them. Then you'll know why cities don't cut the cord.
• 2010 06 02 - Remember Breckenridge? When the railroad (the freeway of its day) bypassed the town, it died. Richardson replaced it. http://goo.gl/dFuf
• 2010 06 02 - Headline: "THEFT At The 'Tonight Show.'" Surprised? Don't be, the stolen items were from wardrobe, not Jay's jokes. No one wanted those.
• 2010 06 03 - Baseball doesn't need another asterisk. The call was the call. Sure, it sucked. Deal with it. Move on.
• 2010 06 03 - Pitcher Armando Galarraga to umpire Jim Joyce after the ump's bad call at first base: "Nobody's perfect."
• 2010 06 03 - Headline: "Kagan pays 'courtesy call' on Cornyn." Yep, that's all it was 'cause she knows she can't expect any courtesy in reciprocation.
• 2010 06 04 - Headline: "New Study Shows Arctic Ice at Lowest Point in Thousands of Years." Don't worry, don't listen, they're scientists.
• 2010 06 04 - The Big Short: Story of investors who foresaw the housing collapse and knew how to profit. Great explanation for economic meltdown. Read it.
• 2010 06 05 - Excellent case for organ donation by someone whose family faced the agonizing situation. A must read from Richardson. http://goo.gl/bGcr
• 2010 06 05 - An Education: a girl, smart and clever beyond her years, in a hurry to grow up, gains wisdom as she gets ... an education. See it.
• 2010 06 05 - Women's lacrosse Final Four ref's conflict of interest taints Maryland's championship. NCAA screwed up... again. http://goo.gl/SdtQ
• 2010 06 05 - Arizona school mural whitewashed. When you say, "I am not a racist individual, but..." you confirm that yes, you are. http://goo.gl/KFM7

After the jump, more Twitter tracks.

Summer Road Trip (2010)

Chicago

From 2010 0707 Chicago

We're back. Seven states. Ten cities. Thirteen days. 2,932 miles. Countless good times and memories. Click on the links below to see where we went and what we were up to.

• Photos from Hot Springs, Arkansas
  
• Photos from Little Rock, Arkansas
  
• Photos from Memphis, Tennessee
  
• Photos from St. Louis, Missouri
  
• Photos from Springfield, Illinois
  
• Photos from Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  
• Photos from Appleton, Wisconsin
  
• Photos from Suamico, Wisconsin
  
• Photos from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
  

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.