What Have We Learned?

What have we learned recently about the burgeoning scandal in Richardson city government?

Monday night, we learned (h/t David Chenoweth) that WFAA's investigative reporter (*cough* yellow journalist) Brett Shipp was at the Richardson City Council meeting and allegedly asked ("confronted," intercepted, ambushed, choose your own verb) council members going in and out about alleged emails from Mayor Laura Maczka to JP Realty's Mark Jordan from before December, 2013, that suggest something more than a strictly business relationship between the two while the Palisades rezoning case was still a pending matter before the city government.

After the jump, what have we not learned?

POTD: Worst Traffic in the World

From 2015 03 11 Jakarta

Today's photo-of-the-day comes from Jakarta, Indonesia. Cities take perverse pride in being known for having the worst traffic jams. After only a few minutes observing the traffic in Jakarta (the photo above was taken the first morning of our visit), I was impressed. I Googled "worst traffic in the world" and came up with a Time.com study that ranked Jakarta as the worst city in the world for traffic jams. Time gets no argument from me.

When Members of Congress Sleep With Lobbyists

"When Members of Congress Sleep With Lobbyists." I don't know why I'm even blogging about this. It's a headline in New York magazine, not The Dallas Morning News. The story says "member of Congress," not member of the city council. It says "lobbyists," not real estate developers. It says "sleep with." Well, ... there's no proof of that going on in Richardson either, although scandalmongers are sure that it not only does, but that it influences government decisions, too.

Still, while I read the story, my mind kept drifting back to goings on in our little town. Funny how the mind works sometimes.

Theory of Everything (2014)

IMDB

Theory of Everything (2014): A soaring mind trapped in a wasting body. Heart-warming and heart-breaking. And real. A-

Claudia Tatum, Now It's Personal

Richardson Idol has already voted Claudia Tatum (candidate for Richardson City Council Place 4) off the island. Normally, that would be the end of it. But I'm driven to add a postscript by one particular answer she gave in the candidate survey conducted by the League of Women Voters of Richardson.

The new technological era has allowed our city to provide better services through the online and smart phone systems. For example, we have the Richardson Application which allows citizens and stakeholders to access information from the palms of their hands. I believe in a more efficient way of conducting business: less paper and moving to a more digital era without forgetting our baby boomers.

Source: Claudia Tatum.

Say what??? That's me she's talking about. I'm a Baby Boomer. Now it's personal!

Richardson Idol - LWV Edition

Tuesday night the League of Women Voters of Richardson held a city council candidate forum. Normally, regular viewers expect this to be the big finale of Richardson Idol, the night when the last loser is voted off the island (or stage or whatever metaphor Richardson Idol uses -- I forget). But this season, we have yet to vote off our first candidate, not because the ballot is so strong, but because it is...let's face it, a tad on the weak side. That changes this episode.

Anyway, on to the questions. Let's go out of order so we can get first to the questions on most voters' minds.

POTD: Diplomatic Break

From 2015 03 11 Jakarta

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Jakarta, Indonesia, the nation's capital and home to foreign embassies. In this photo we see evidence that processing visa applications is not all that goes on behind an embassy's walls.

The embassy row across the street from our hotel included embassies for Poland, Singapore, India, Netherlands and Switzerland. All had guards and stout walls, often topped with razor wire (the walls, not the guards). Pro-tip: don't stand outside the Singapore embassy too long taking photos of the traffic. The guards will tolerate that for a while, but then politely ask you to move along.

Lack of Legal Basis for a Special Election

David Chenoweth, on his blog, does what Amir Omar failed to do: make a legal argument for calling a special election to fill the vacancy in the mayor's seat. It's not a very good argument, but it's something.

Richardson Citizens Deserve Better

"Richardson Citizens Deserve Better." So says Amir Omar in a letter to the editor of The Dallas Morning News. "A full two-year term served by a non-democratically elected leader is a gigantic leap backward that undermines the will of Richardson voters."

It's hard to argue otherwise. In fact, I haven't heard anyone say that Richardson residents have been well served by the mayor's decision not to serve another term, including any of the six remaining council members or three candidates seeking their first term on the city council.

I understand Omar's frustration. I sympathize with his desire for another outcome. But I can't sign on to Omar's proposed remedy. That would be another affront to democracy and constitutional government. Two wrongs don't make a right.

Richardson Republican Women's Candidate Forum

Catching up... There was a Richardson City Council candidate forum on March 31, 2015, at the Canyon Creek Baptist Church hosted by the Richardson Republican Women and the North Texas Republicans. The video of that forum is now available on YouTube (h/t to the unidentified party who recorded it). I wasn't in attendance, but I did watch the video. Two questions caught my attention.

Actually three questions. The first is my own question, not one asked at the forum. Where was Claudia Tatum? She told the Highland/Terrace Neighborhood Association Forum, "I go where they tell me to go. I have a consultant." Why isn't she her own candidate? Why did that consultant not tell her to face the voters in this forum? OK, I know that's two more questions...for a total of four if I add them to the two asked at the forum that originally caught my attention... Moving on...