Freaky Slow Development on Spring Valley

Source: City of Richardson.

Urban, mixed-use, walkable. Does that sound familiar? Does that picture look familiar? It's West Spring Valley Road. Or at least it was the vision of West Spring Valley Road that was dangled in front of Richardson residents almost five years ago. Since then, State Farm built an eleventy-seven story office tower up north in a whole new neighborhood called CityLine. Raytheon is building a big, new corporate campus next door. Whole Foods is busy stocking up gluten-free pizzas for the insurance agents and engineers who will live and work and shop up there.

Meanwhile, what's happening along Spring Valley Road? You hope I'll say something like what's in that picture, right? But you expect me to say nothin', right? Well, you're wrong... in both cases. After the jump, south Richardson's own development news.

RISD and Open Records Requests

The Dallas Morning News did a year-long study on how responsive local governments were to open records requests. Anecdotally, the RISD didn't come out looking too good:

When asked for a list of employee reimbursements in 2013, some agencies held that the information was only available in hard copy. The News’ most expensive estimate was a $4,050 fee from Richardson ISD for that information. The district maintained that data showing the amount of money paid to reimburse employees wasn’t available electronically.

Source: The Dallas Morning News.

Now, maybe there's nothing nefarious going on here. Maybe the cost estimate is accurate. But if this kind of external request costs $4,000 to meet, then the costs of internal requests are probably also prohibitive. So, if someone in the RISD with a need to know wants to examine employee reimbursement requests to look for abuse or even just for opportunities to reduce costs, it could be cost prohibitive. Wouldn't you think that would be reason enough to change procedures?

The Wizard of Oz at LHHS

The Wizard of Oz at LHHS: Classic movie musical comes to life. Lots of kids, young and old, all having fun. Sound glitches didn't stop fun.

Fiddler on the Roof at RHS

Fiddler on the Roof at RHS: 50 year old musical made fresh by enthusiastic and talented young voices. Dancing, sets, lighting all excellent.

Tax Revenue: Residents vs. Business

Source: Richardson Coalition PAC.

Richardson Tax Revenue: Residents vs. Business

"Our city's success in economic development has resulted in a tax transformation for our city." That's how the Richardson Coalition PAC explained the graph above.

After the jump, unpacking their explanation.