Halftime Score from City Hall

Source: City of Richardson.

May 11, 2026, marks one year since the current Richardson City Council was sworn in. That's the halfway mark of the 2025-2027 term. It's time to look at how this City Council is working. So, I asked ChatGPT to analyze the votes taken by the council, looking for coalitions and opposing factions. There were only nine contested votes all year. That's a small sample. Any analysis is subject to swings on the very next vote. Nevertheless, I found ChatGPT's interpretation of the voting results to be worthy of consideration. The following was written by ChatGPT.

Traffic Snarl in North Texas (Government)

If you think traffic gets snarled, you should see the snarl developing in the alphabet soup of local government bodies intended to solve those problems. It's hard to say just what caused this current snarl in government, just like it is for many traffic snarls. But here is what I can see from my position way back here on the road.

"Some Concerns" about Drones

"The Richardson delivery system, which began at the end of last year, stirred some concerns about noise by attendees at a City Council meeting last month. At the event, Sam Bailey, senior manager at Amazon, said the company has been making adjustments to address concerns." — Brian Womack, Staff Writer, The Dallas Morning News.

That's what The Dallas Morning News said about the controversy over drones in Richardson as part of a new story about Amazon working to expand drone delivery in DFW.

The Wheel's Voters Guide (May, 2026)

Early voting for the 2026 local elections in Texas begins April 20. Election Day is Saturday, May 2. Richardson voters will find their ballots to be long — 50 City Charter amendments and 5 City bonds. Richardson ISD voters will have a choice of trustees for at-large Richardson ISD Place 6, and for RISD voters in single-member District 3, another choice for trustee. Use Vote411.org to see your personalized ballot and nonpartisan information about each ballot item. Here exclusively, read on to learn how to vote.

Euan, Me & LSD

Euan, Me & ISD

Euan Blackman, candidate for Richardson ISD trustee, opposed the district's $750 million school bond election in 2021. Joining him in opposition was Lynn Strawn Davenport (LSD), herself a candidate for trustee in 2017. She lost. Despite their efforts, the district's voters passed the school bonds. In a 2022 article ("Forever InDEBTed"), LSD wrote, "My friend Euan Blackman and I have made the rounds speaking out against the big business of school bonds." In return, Blackman hosted LSD on his own podcast ("Euan, Me & ISD"), which went pretty much like you'd expect — a mutual admiration society meeting.

Monday Night Follies at City Hall

In Remembrance of Sydney J. Harris

Resemblance to real persons is strictly coincidental.

"I am a man of firm principles; you tend to be stubborn; he is pigheaded."

The lesson behind such I/you/he constructs is that we tend to choose words that flatter our side and diminish the other side. They remind us that our own perspective is not neutral. The same behavior, depending on our point of view, can be called thrift, penny-pinching, or greed. Or confidence, arrogance, or bullying.

All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

Robert Fulghum's 1986 best-seller distills life's biggest truths into simple, everyday behaviors that people are taught in kindergarten. These behaviors create the conditions that lay the groundwork for academic success (and success in life in general).

• Share and be kind
• Play fair
• Clean up your own mess
• Say you’re sorry
• Wash your hands (and take care of yourself)
• Live a balanced life
• Be aware of wonder
• Hold hands and stick together
• Keep learning
• Remember the basics still apply

Monday Night Follies at City Hall

Eric Eager's Cri de Coeur

The meeting of the board of trustees of Richardson ISD on April 2, 2026, focused on the district's upcoming 2026-2027 budget, specifically the plan for almost $26 million in budget cuts. Watch the board meeting video for details. Here I want to highlight one trustee's passionate appeal to Austin for more public school funding. Eric Eager is running for re-election. With this speech from his chair on the dais, he made a powerful argument why he should be re-elected. He may be a David fighting against the Goliaths in Austin, but he left no doubt that he's not yielding. He's rallying support for public education.

Warning to City Council: Keep it Legal

Re: Legal risk of using executive sessions to fill a vacancy on city council

Yesterday, we covered the Richardson City Council's draft process for filling a vacancy on the city council ("Council Recap: Filling Vacancies"). I wrote, "I fear that if they come down on the side of taking their own deliberations behind closed doors, they run the risk of violating the Texas Open Meetings Act (TOMA)." That's so serious that I feel I ought to pull that risk out and give it a blog post of its own, because I believe the council may very well be getting ready to...BREAK THE LAW.

Council Recap: Filling Vacancies

The Richardson City Council met March 23, 2026. The main draw (for me) was the discussion about the process the city council will use to fill mid-term vacancies on the council. But, first, there were a couple of other agenda items that drew my scrutiny as well.

Monday Night Follies at City Hall

Council Recap: Droning on about Drones

The Richardson City Council met March 9, 2026, with a busy agenda. I'll focus on just one topic: drones.

The council reviewed Amazon's drone operations at its STX8 fulfillment center on Research Dr. near Richardson Methodist Hospital (remember that, it'll come up later). Concerns about noise, privacy, and drone safety were addressed, with Amazon committing to ongoing community engagement, but no specific improvements.

Monday Night Follies at City Hall

"I golf every weekend at Canyon Creek. Drones consistently fly over. We can still talk. We can still hold conversations."

Monday Night Follies at City Hall

A sky full of drones...delivery in under seven minutes and clean plates, too.

Council Recap: Short-Term Rentals

The Richardson City Council met March 2, 2026, with two business items on the agenda. First, the council reviewed the city's regulations for short-term rentals (STRs).

Second, the council held the 2025 annual review of the police department. Given that courts have at multiple times ruled that ICE actions have been unlawful or unconstitutional, Richardson should be credited for not participating in those unlawful activities. In any case, there were no public speakers on the topic of the RPD annual review. Not anticipating any news, I didn't even attend that portion of the meeting. Consider that a win for the city. ;-) That leaves STRs for me to cover.

Council Recap: Rezoning for Apollo Middle School

The Richardson City Council met February 23, 2026. Two of the agenda items are worth covering: DART and the Apollo Middle School rezoning. The first was covered in yesterday's blog: "Council Recap: DART". Today we look at Apollo Middle School. In short, the RISD request was approved 7-0.

Council Recap: DART

The Richardson City Council met February 23, 2026. Two of the agenda items are worth covering: DART and the Apollo Middle School rezoning. Both went as expected. The council formally approved the proposed amended governance plan for DART. They also authorized the City Manager to execute an agreement with DART to allow for allocation of DART General Mobility Funds to Richardson. The council also approved the rezoning application by the Richardson ISD to transform Apollo Junior High School into Apollo Middle School.

Town Hall Tag Team: Omar and Corcoran

On February 18, 2026, UT-Dallas Student Government hosted a town hall meeting with Richardson Mayor Amir Omar. At this third town hall, Mayor Omar shared the stage with Council member Joe Corcoran. Anyone who wants to know what's going on in Richardson government really ought to attend these town hall meetings. They are more informative than a year of attending City Council meetings. OK, that might be an exaggeration, but not by much. I thought the questions from UT-Dallas students were as good or better than those asked at many campaign forums.