Prohibiting Public Input

Ken Hutchenrider, chairman of the Richardson Vote YES Campaign Committee, explains why he thinks it's necessary to amend the city charter to prohibit public input at emergency city council meetings.

Another change grants the City Council the right to prohibit public input when it calls an emergency meeting. An emergency Council meeting has been called only once in recent history, and that was when the City agreed to house and offer services to refugees from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It seems appropriate for the Council to keep its focus on the issue at hand when it is an emergency.

Source: Ken Hutchenrider.

He chose the wrong example. I can't think of an emergency more in need of public input than an offer by the city to house refugees in our community. Where? How many? How long? All questions for which public input could be critical in getting the answers right. Surely, Richardson's reaction to this emergency wouldn't have been negatively impacted due to a short delay to let Richardson residents speak to the council before the council acted.

CitizenTownHall.org

There's a new blog about Richardson politics: CitizenTownHall.org. (Kudos on the domain name. I'm surprised it was still available.) The blog claims to be "created by and for the fine people of Richardson, Texas." (OK, fine. Don't name names.)

What will the blog be about? It says, "Here we discuss issues that affect our quality of life, our pocketbooks, and our rights as citizens. What we have discovered has taken years of research, dogged determination in digging up the facts behind the stories, and collecting documented evidence that can help protect our lifestyle and the city we have come to love." (If that reads a little like someone who writes prolifically on Facebook, well, maybe yes, maybe no. She doesn't say.)

Will the new blog have something to say? Certainly. Will it add anything of value? That remains to be seen.

Aurora: Light, Video & Sound

From 2015 10 16 Dallas Aurora

Aurora, a one-night-every-two-years event in the Dallas Arts District, bills itself as "An Immersive Free Public Art Event of Light, Video & Sound." That really doesn't tell you what Aurora is all about but it's about as accurate a description as any I could give. It was certainly popular. Some people say it was too popular for its own good, which reminds me of the quote from the late, great Yogi Berra: "No one goes there anymore. It's too crowded."

The city had traffic barricades aplenty. Perhaps a big map/sign in each block would have helped orient those who just stumbled upon this without knowing what was what. We had done some homework before going so we sort of knew what to expect and just kind of wandered the Arts District. Serendipity worked well for us.

We had a great time. We ate before we went. We rode DART. We strolled the whole Arts District without worrying too much about trying to see things with long lines. Instead, we found things like the young singers in the Booker T. Washington courtyard theater. Uncrowded, relaxing, beautiful.

Two thumbs up from us.

More photos after the jump.

State Fair of Texas (2015)

From 2015 10 15 State Fair of Texas

More photos after the jump.

City Charter Amendments: Upon Further Review

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.

Source: Ralph Waldo Emerson.

The League of Women Voters of Richardson hosted a panel discussion on October 14 about the upcoming Richardson city charter amendments election. Dr. Robert Lowry of UT-Dallas and Dr Matthew Wilson of SMU discussed the pros and cons of many of the 83 propositions on November's ballot.

And, just to show I was listening, and just to show that old dogs are capable of learning new tricks, I actually changed my mind on a few of the propositions.