Charter Review: Article 3

Artist: John Trumbull.

On May 1, 2025, the Richardson Charter Review Commission continued their review of the Richardson Charter, covering Article 3 (City Council) and returning to Article 4 (Nomination and Election of City Council Members), as these two articles are interdependent. I anticipated big changes to Richardson's way of electing City Council, but in the end, not much was changed. Read on for details.

Still no video by the City to link you to, something that this commission isn't about to change. To paraphrase City policy: "Move along. There's nothing to see here."

The Worst Places to Eat in Richardson Last Month

Graphic by City of Richardson.

The City of Richardson is rightly regarded as having some of the best, most diverse, dining options in north Texas ("Eat & Drink"). But that doesn't mean every restaurant in Richardson exceeds in every measure. Here is a list of the ten worst places to eat in Richardson last month, based on the City of Richardson's Health Department Restaurant Scores for last month. Not all Richardson restaurants are included in this ranking. Each month, different restaurants are visited by the Health Department. Only those visited last month are ranked here. Only the bottom ten are shown.

Random Thoughts: New Bruce Springsteen Boxed Set

2025-04-03: "Bruce Springsteen will release a boxed set of seven albums of songs never before released."
Boxed set. Tell me you are from a bygone era without telling me your name or what years your biggest hits were released.

2025-04-03: In reaction to Trump's announcement of the imposition of broad tariffs on almost all of America's trading partners, the Dollar Tree announced an immediate name change to "$1.10 Tree."

2025-04-03: The Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act was a 1930 law that implemented protectionist trade policies in the United States. The Constitution says, "The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises." What I don't understand is why did Congress cede this power to the President?

People are Asking: "What Else is Dubey Hiding?"

Thomas More: "I have one question to ask the witness. That's a chain of office you are wearing. May I see it? The red dragon. What's this?"

Cromwell: "Sir Richard is appointed Attorney-General for Wales."

Thomas More: (Looking into Rich's face, with pain and amusement) "For Wales? Why, Richard, it profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world . . . But for Wales!"

Source: A Man for All Seasons.

Election Day is near. This campaign season has had more people selling their souls with smears in text messages, robocalls, and mailers than any election since the 2013 election for mayor. I sometimes felt like I needed a shower after rebutting some of the attacks. The largest number and most hurtful of the smears came from the Dubey camp. They are spending thousands of dollars trashing a man's reputation in an effort to prevent him from becoming mayor for Richardson. Not the world, but for Richardson! It reminds me of that fateful scene in "A Man for All Seasons" where Thomas More confronts his false accuser, Richard Rich, in court. "But for Wales!"

As this is (probably) the last blog article I'll write before the election, I feel like I should document some of the questions I've never gotten to the bottom of. It wasn't for lack of trying.

Council Recap: A Crony for NTMWD

Source: h/t DALL-E.

On April 28, 2025, the City Council made appointments to boards and commissions. Maybe the most significant one, given how important water is to everyone in North Texas, is Richardson's representative to the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD).