I believe AC Gonzalez afterwards also had quite a few scandals.
My favorite part? All of them stay just long enough to stick a straw in the pension at the top salary bracket and drain us for decades afterwards.
Refresher on what business as usual used to look like in Dallas
It really does hearken back to the olden days
I'm not surprised, just disappointed.
Mr. Eliason, who advocates allowing single-stair construction for small multifamily buildings as a solution to the housing crisis, said he learned how common the design was outside the United States while working in Germany in 2019. After seeing an 11-story tower his firm at the time had designed, Mr. Eliason recalled, he turned to his boss and said: "Something is wrong here. Where's your other stair?" "He's looking at me, and said: 'What are you talking about? If there was another stair, there wouldn't be any room for the homes'"
Single-stair gets the New York Times treatment. @holz-bau.bsky.social reminds us why they call the last line the kicker: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/04/b... (gift link)
If you're bored, or you give a damn, this is JUST starting: Council will vote to explore relocating City Hall staff out of the building, including 311 AND 911, and "explore options for the disposition of the City Hall site." What else ya got to do tonight?
Tune in: dallastx.new.swagit.com/views/113
Not that I deal with judges or DAs but this kind of surprising. I saw this as a competent professional who has served with distinction for two terms facing off with a very "where there's smoke there's fire" person. 🤷♂️
"No reporters have pierced the secrecy veil...Steven Monacelli told me he filed an open records request on Jan. 20 seeking all emails from the past year between key city staff, area landowners, developers and both sports teams...None have been released."
www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...
There's always a lot of hand waving about insurance, so it's really refreshing to hear from an actual industry expert. Turns out the insurance industry will just tell you the big challenges and how they think about risk if you ask them!
Because the median municipal voter in Dallas is the right age for RoboCop to be relevant.
Destroying a paid for, functional, and even possibly beautiful City Hall for vague hopes of better urbanism is folly. Especially at the behest of real estate extractors of downtown.
I usually vote on election day but when I saw I could vote anywhere if I voted early that sealed the deal.
Just learned that James Talarico is a single-stair guy.
Yes, that is the smart move on their part. Maintain deniability throughout and then lock in the gains after the decision has been made.
Rather than getting cash the City will likely end up paying for:
-Demolition
-Construction of a basketball arena
-Several city streets and other public improvements
It's not verboten, except maybe at most media outlets, I just don't think it'd be effective compared to pressuring council members.
They are proposing to lease a privately owned building, which is baffling since City Hall is paid for, not in bad shape, and we will have to pay property taxes on a privately owned building.
More effective to protest in front of Mayor's and CMs houses. They're actually voting.
Sham process for a garbage outcome.
Truly. I went to 6 years of meetings to get Parking reform done but it takes 2 weeks and a plan written on a napkin to sell an IM Pei building housing 400,000sqft of office space.
Definitely juice. The more the general sentiment they hear in opposition, the more they're persuaded this is a bad idea. Even Ridley needs a note to encourage to not give up the fight.
Council may vote as soon as tomorrow to abandon City Hall. Astounding they could make this decision in just a few weeks. Write them now to let them know it's a terrible idea (or write me and i'll give you a rant about why it's a terrible idea)
actnow.savedallascityhall.com
I look forward to the Center for Building's reports every time! It scratches a very particular "things CAN BE BETTER" itch. Very gratifying.
I like "Trash Juice"...very evocative.
Also, isn't half the point of containers that they can be machine emptied? I guess you'd need access to the curb.
Yimby Ur-Text
Yesterday/Just now
I work from home on Fridays. My daughter drew me an inspirational poster to motivate me.
This morning, Dallas City Council member Adam Bazaldua posted to FB this memo from Sports Mayor, which calls for a vote on City Hall's fate next week. The CM adds: "This process is a joke and an insult to our taxpayers. I hope the voters are paying attention to this Mavericks/City Hall boondoggle!!"
“Monte Anderson divides large houses into multiple homes. He turned an old Ace Hardware into a market. He builds housing in what used to be grocery store parking lots. These are not miracles so much as they are replicable moves.”
open.substack.com/pub/thehappy...
Strong contender for extractor of the decade.
The recent ~10yrs of somewhat good governance has actually been an anomaly for Dallas: this is just returning to the norm.
Further reading:
-Trinity gas drilling
-Trinity toll road
-Whitewater rapids
-Calatrava bridges
-Patriot Crossing
-Dos equis pavilion
-Fair park eminent domain
