Barely a Ripple in Richardson Elections

Only two places out of seven will be contested in Richardson's May 9 City Council elections and of those, only one won't have an incumbent running (Kendal Hartley declined to run for re-election.)

Place 1: Bob Townsend (incumbent), Rick Wilder
Place 2: Mark Solomon (incumbent)
Place 3: Scott Dunn (incumbent)
Place 4: Claudia Tatum, Mabel Simpson
Place 5: Paul Voelker (incumbent)
Place 6: Steve Mitchell (incumbent)
Mayor: Laura Maczka (incumbent)

The RISD school board ballot will have no contested races. In fact, there won't even be an election. Only one candidate filed for each of the three positions up for election in 2015, so those three will be elected by default.

Place 1: Jean Bono
Place 2: Kim Caston (incumbent)
Place 5: Eron Linn

Congratulations to all the candidates who volunteer to serve.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.

Source: Theodore Roosevelt.

Snowpiercer (2014)

IMDB

Snowpiercer (2014): Think Coors Silver Bullet train meets Hunger Games with Gandalf and zombies. Absurd. Illogical. Cheap. Dreadful. D-

Agenda Watch: Food Trucks

The following item appeared on the agenda for the cancelled February 23, 2015, Richardson City Council worksession:

REVIEW AND DISCUSS FOOD TRUCK REGULATIONS

Source: City of Richardson.

As usual, there is no hint of what prompted this agenda item (I've never understood how agendas are put together, but that's another topic). But my guess is that the reason this was on the agenda wasn't because some council member thought that existing regulations are too restrictive, maybe resulting in Richardson not having as many food trucks as a modern, vibrant urban city ought to have.

You know, like Plano...

Playoffs: Berkner 65, Jesuit 62

The Berkner Rams men's basketball team fought off a challenge from the Dallas Jesuit Rangers in the first round of the UIL state basketball playoffs Tuesday night at the Richardson High School gym. The Rams came back from a nine point deficit in the third quarter to win 65-62.

It's a great time to be a Ram!

Neighbors (2014)

IMDB

Neighbors (2014): Gross, tasteless, raunchy, sophomoric, derivative, unfunny. Boy, I am so the wrong demographic for this movie. D+

CAFR's Upward Trend is Real

For city finance wonks, Christmas comes twice a year: once in August when the city budget is set and again in February when the city financial audit is published. The budget specifies the city's cash flow (its planned revenues and expenses). The financial audit details the city's assets (the value of city property, bank accounts, etc.) and its liabilities (outstanding debt, pension obligations, etc.).

After the jump, a quick look at this year's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR).

RALC Murder Mystery in the Library

RALC "Once Upon a Murder": Who knew an ESL program would lead to MURDER? Who knew sweet fairy tale characters had so many secret issues?

How Unpopular Is Palisades, Really?

At first glance, it looks like Mayor Laura Maczka might be ripe for a challenge in the upcoming Richardson elections. After all, when she ran for mayor in 2013, she left no doubt on where she stood: "When it comes to apartments, you know that Laura has always said we do not need more apartments near our neighborhoods. Period."

When the Palisades development came before the city council, a reported 651 people turned out in opposition; only 1 member of the public registered support. (I can't vouch for the numbers, but it sounds about right.) It was a tailor-made opportunity for Maczka to deliver on a campaign promise by voting "no", right? Well... Maczka led a 5-2 majority of the council voting "yes," handing the Palisades developer the right to build a thousand or so apartments next door to Maczka's own Canyon Creek neighborhood.

Surely, a huge majority of her neighbors would see this flip flop as a betrayal of her own neighborhood and be ready in 2015 to throw Maczka out, right?

War on Education

It's not just in Texas that state government is waging a war on education.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker made national headlines this month when his proposed state budget redefined the mission of the University of Wisconsin System as "to develop human resources to meet the state's workforce needs." His budget removed "to serve and stimulate society,", "to improve the human condition," and "to search for truth." Although the governor quickly retracted them, the proposed changes generated lots of conversation about the public purposes of college.

Source: Phi Beta Kappa.

Particle Fever (2013)

IMDB

Particle Fever (2013): People behind Large Hadron Collider, humans' largest experiment into universe's smallest things. Inspiring. B+

Putting the Squeeze on Group Homes

The Richardson Coalition political action committee included this paragraph in its latest "Richardson News in Three Minutes" newsletter:

The City staff is actively working with an independent legal counsel to evaluate the City's current policies and procedures for processing group home applications.

Source: Richardson Coaltion PAC.

The words that jumped out at me were "legal counsel." That can only mean the city is looking for (legal) ways to put the squeeze on group homes that provide support for people recovering from drug and alcohol dependency. That is, keep more from opening, and who knows, maybe even hassle existing ones out of business.

Virunga (2014)

IMDB

Virunga (2014): Congo national park. Mountain gorillas. Poachers. Oil. Corruption. War. More thriller than nature documentary. Intense. A+

Late Winter in the Steger Garden (2015)

From Flowers

Review: The Goldfinch

Amazon

From The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt:

Whenever you see flies or insects in a still life -- a wilted petal, a black spot on the apple -- the painter is giving you a secret message. He's telling you that living things don't last -- it's all temporary. Death in life. That's why they're called natures mortes. Maybe you don't see it at first with all the beauty and bloom, the little speck of rot. But if you look closer -- there it is."

After the jump, my review.

What's Going on in Downtown Richardson?

Source: City of Richardson.

That area in orange is a sub-area of a tax increment financing district, TIF 1A. It's bordered by Main St, Central Expressway, Greer St, and the DART line.

Changes to the TIF were made at the February 9, 2015, Richardson City Council meeting. The previous plan had only retail as part of the TIF. An update to the plan adds what the city calls mixed-use, but you should probably read that as the addition of two large, single-purpose, multi-family buildings to the other nearby retail buildings.

Details after the jump.

Frozen (2013)

IMDB

Frozen (2013): Princess, vaguely Grinch-like, Frosty and a gospel of sacrificing one's life. Nice animation and songs anyway. B-

How Many Starbucks are Enough?

Source: Starbucks.

How many Starbucks are enough? The question arises because of the construction of a Starbucks on the southeast corner of Campbell and Coit. You may be asking, isn't there a Starbucks on that corner already? Well, yes, but the existing Starbucks will close when the new one opens. You may also be asking, isn't there another Starbucks in the Tom Thumb across Campbell? And another in the Target across Coit? Well, yes and yes. And another down Campbell to the east in the UT-Dallas student center? And yet another one on Campbell at Central? Well, yes and yes again. And another one here, there and seemingly everywhere. So, just how many are enough?

Who Owns Your Body?

Who said it?

Who Owns Your Body? If not you, then you are a slave. When your health depends on the sanctions permitted by your society and not your independent action, you have no right to your life and are thus a slave to the whims of others.

Source: Barbara Harless.

Barbara Harless said it. Who is Barbara Harless? If you guessed some left-wing spokeswoman for the pro-choice movement, you'd be wrong. She's a right-wing advocate for the anti-vaccination movement in North Texas. The unintended irony is rich. The unwitting hypocrisy is stunning. But that's what passes for reasoned discourse today.

Boyhood (2014)

IMDB

Boyhood (2014): Clever concept in service of an uncompelling story. Every character is more interesting than the boy. Please, no Oscar. B-

How to Succeed in Business at PHS

How to Succeed in Business at PHS: Great lighting, sound, voices and especially choreography in this old sexist musical. Learn from it kids.

Ill-suited Building

Peter Simek doesn't think much of a building under construction in Dallas. It reminded me of one in Richardson. See if you can identify each.

The very fact that the building sits right next to a DART station demonstrates that:
1) Our light rail system doesn't count as a real public transit, at least not in the eyes of decision makers at companies who want to work in the core. We need to improve public transportation desperately,
2) Market demand is still driving development that is ill-suited to the long range viability and potential of our urban neighborhoods.

Source: FrontBurner.

OTBR: A Multi-armed Saguaro in Arizona

Latitude: N 32° 20.196
Longitude: W 110° 24.588
A child on a road trip with his family asks, "Where are we?" and the father answers, "Let's check the map. We're off the blue roads [the Interstate Highways marked in blue on the road atlas]. We're off the red roads [the US and state highways]. We're off the black roads [the county highways]. I think we're off the map altogether." It was always my dream to be off the map altogether.

After the jump, a few of the random places (and I mean random literally) that I visited vicariously last month that are "off the blue roads".

Sweep: Richardson 64, Berkner 56

From 2015 02 03 Berkner vs Richardson

In District 10-6A action Tuesday night at Richardson High School, the Richardson Eagles men's basketball team defeated the Berkner Rams 64-56. Berkner's Torey Everett led all scorers with 23 points.

With the win, the Eagles sweep the Rams in the season series. More importantly, with this win and a loss by Mesquite to Highland Park (27-26!), the Eagles take sole possession of first place in the district with a record of 9-1.

More photos after the jump.

Repeat Tweets: Boxcar Children at Richardson Public Library

Repeat tweets from January, 2015:

• Jan 1 2015: The Richardson Public Library acquired Kindle editions of the Boxcar Children series of mysteries. Great choice for bedtime stories.
  
• Jan 1 2015: Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon is the man. With 2,587 yards this year, Gordon finished just 41 yards shy of Barry Sanders' all-time NCAA record.
  
• Jan 2 2015: "I'm not suggesting that we're on the verge of fully replaying the 1930s." It's that "fully" that's got me worried. nytimes.com
  
• Jan 2 2015: Auburn Tigers are 0-2 against schools that lost 59-0 this year (Texas A&M and Wisconsin).
  
• Jan 2 2015: "They're going to be holding the Rose Bowl at AT&T Stadium on Jan. 12." Champion of Big Ten vs champion of PAC 12. dallasnews.com
  
• Jan 2 2015: MT @ESPN_CoachMack: "Michigan State's only two losses this year came at the hands of the two teams playing for the national championship."
  
• Jan 2 2015: Final: North Mesquite 57, Berkner 80. It's a great time to be a Ram. #txhshoops
  

After the jump, more repeat tweets.

What's to Show for Revitalization Efforts?

Wendy Hundley of The Dallas Morning News has a story questioning whether there's anything to show for Richardson's revitalization efforts. Actually, she doesn't question it; she quotes some Richardson residents who question the efforts. Then she gives the mayor and city manager an opportunity to dismiss the criticism.

After the jump, unpacking the story.

Little Shop of Horrors at BHS

Little Shop of Horrors at BHS: So much to praise, including orchestra, tech, Audrey II, Mr Yartym, Doo Wop Girls and Audrey's awesome voice.

Showdown: Mesquite 79, Berkner 67

From 2015 01 30 Mesquite vs Berkner

In District 10-6A action Friday night, the Mesquite High School men's basketball team defeated the Berkner Rams 79-67, knocking the Rams out of a first place tie with Mesquite and Richardson. Bummer. But the Berkner Bandolera drill team put on a great halftime show. Come out and support your local school kids. The entertainment is the best value in sports.

More photos after the jump.

Richardson, "Wonderfully Diverse Land of Opportunity"

"Don't read the comments". Always good advice. Still...

After an otherwise too-easy takedown of Sarah Palin by Jim Schutze in Unfair Park (in which he pitches the theory that Texas is becoming the Sarah Palin of states, using the example of the newly elected representative from Belton who wants Texas Muslim visitors to her Capitol office to pledge an oath of allegiance), there was one comment that I just can't help passing along to Richardson readers.

I love Texas. Batshit crazy right-wingers are not Texas. Texas is the wonderfully diverse land of opportunity and the American dream that I see in Richardson, for example, where people have gathered from all over the globe to seek opportunity and better themselves and their families. The crazies like that lady in Belton are like mesquite -- an unfortunate legacy of past mistakes.

Source: Unfair Park.

The commenter was "JimSX," who sounds a lot like Jim Schutze himself, making the comment all the more remarkable as perhaps the first kind thing Schutze has had to say about, not only Richardson, but any Dallas suburb.

Belle (2013)

IMDB

Belle (2013): Race and class in 18th c. England. Rich costumes and sets. 2D characters. Think anti-slavery movement meets Downton Abbey. B-

Winter in Breckinridge Park (2015)

From 2015 01 28 Breckinridge

More photos after the jump.

Urban Planning in Lake Highlands

If you are like me, you think the IH635/Skillman/Audelia intersection is a mess. It's not Richardson's mess. It's Dallas's mess. It's Lake Highlands's mess. But it's a mess. People have been thinking about what do with it for years. Maybe something will finally get done.

The revitalization of our neighborhood begins with fixing the 635-Skillman intersection...

The crossroads cause confusion and congestion, resulting in snarls, accidents and dangerous pedestrian scenarios that worsen with each passing year...

The thoroughfare situation, according to experts who have studied the zone for years, makes inefficient use of our land, repels quality retailers and developers, and ultimately perpetuates proliferation of undesirable businesses, problematic apartment and condominium properties, and high-crime zones.

Source: Lake Highlands Advocate.

After the jump, what's wrong with this thinking.

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.

Rivalry Game: Lake Highlands 46, Berkner 73

From 2015 01 20 Lake Highlands vs Berkner

In District 10-6A action Tuesday night, the Berkner Rams men's basketball team defeated the Lake Highlands Wildcats 73-46 at the Berkner gym. Berkner's Justin Price led all scorers with 20 points.

More after the jump.

Review: Tenth of December

Amazon

From Tenth of December, by George Saunders:

So goodnight to all future generations. Please know I was a person like you, I too breathed air and tensed legs while trying to sleep and, when writing with pencil, sometimes brought pencil to nose to smell. Although who knows, maybe you future people write with laser pens? But probably even those have a certain smell?"

After the jump, my review.

Punching Through PGBT

An interesting experiment is being run by Trinsic Residential Group. Steve Brown has the story in The Dallas Morning News:

Construction has started on a large new rental community just across the street from State Farm Insurance's huge campus in Richardson.

Trinsic Residential Group is building the 11.7-acre apartment project on the north side of Bush Turnpike at the DART commuter rail line in Plano

The 386-unit Aura One90 project is just a short walk under the turnpike to DART's rail station and State Farm's office buildings in the $1.5 billion CityLine project.

Source: The Dallas Morning News.

Note how Steve Brown calls it "just across the street" from State Farm. That "street" happens to be the President George Bush Turnpike (PGBT). The "short walk" involves going "under the turnpike."

Tied for First: Berkner 64, Pearce 46

From 2015 01 16 Pearce vs Berkner

In District 10-6A basketball action Friday night, the Berkner Rams men's basketball team defeated the Pearce Mustangs 64-46 at the Berkner gym. Berkner's Torey Everett led all scorers with 27 points.

More after the jump.

We Are the Best! (2013)

IMDB

We Are the Best! (2013): 13-yr-old Swedish girls form a punk band, despite not knowing music. Alienation, friendship, adolescent energy. B-

CityLine, Palisades and Strip Shopping Centers

I pledged to myself that I wasn't going to respond to the straw man argument by Rodger Jones of The Dallas Morning News dismissing criticism of the proposed Trinity tollroad. If I weren't already familiar with Jones's work, I would have guessed that he was merely trolling. "Don't feed the trolls" is advice I usually try to live by. To my benefit, D Magazine's Peter Simek rebuts Jones so I don't have to.

Jones' point, in short, is that the anti-highway and anti-Trinity Toll Road folks argue that highways don't lead to development. Then he points to a handful of developments to show that, yes, highways spur development.

I know, I know. I heard you groan. See, I've been trying to ignore it. But stay with me.

First, let's dismiss the straw men. No one claims that highways don't spur development. Rather, the argument is that highways spur the wrong kind of development in urban settings, development that generally promotes inefficient land use and contribute to broader urban decay. Yes, highways create development. They also incentivize development around cheap, undeveloped land.

Source: Frontburner.

So, enough with Jones and his straw men. That's the easy, obvious part of Simek's article. It's the rest of what Simek says that requires more thought.

First Place: Pearce 49, Mesquite Horn 46

From 2015 01 13 Mesquite Horn vs Pearce

In District 10-6A basketball action, the JJ Pearce Mustangs men's basketball team beat the Mesquite Horn Jaguars 49-46 at the Pearce gym.

More after the jump.

Barton Fink (1991)

IMDB

Barton Fink (1991): Early Coen Bros. NY playwright over his head in Hollywood. Surreal but I already said Coen Bros. Too many loose ends. B-

Still More Thoughts on the Center of Dallas

Last week, I was really provoked by urban designer Patrick Kennedy's assertion that the center of Dallas had moved north to or near Richardson.

The center of town has shifted to swaths of 635 and 75 up through Plano. The center of town is no longer Dallas, but the North Dallas border.

Source: StreetSmart.

My takeaway? That Richardson needed to adopt Kennedy's strategy for Dallas: Densification. Transit. Walkability. I stand by that.

But today, I want to back up a little. Is Kennedy on to something when he says the "center of town" is up near Richardson? Kinda. There's no doubt that significant development in last half century has happened north of Dallas and continues to this day. But, let's face it. Richardson is located somewhere near the geographic center of the area from downtown Dallas to McKinney and Frisco, but it lacks the urban core that most people think of when they think of the "center of town." Dallas is going to remain the "center of town" no matter how much decay it suffers from.

After the jump, what Richardson is instead.

A Most Wanted Man (2014)

IMDB

A Most Wanted Man (2014): Germans, jihad and CIA in a cerebral le Carré spy thriller w/ Philip Seymour Hoffman. What more could you want? B+

Showdown: Richardson 80, Berkner 74

From 2015 01 09 Richardson vs Berkner

In an early season battle of District 10-6A unbeatens, the Richardson Eagles men's basketball team outlasted the Berkner Rams 80-74 at the Rams gym. Richardson jumped to an early 7-0, but Berkner battled back to take a 33-31 halftime lead. Richardson came out strong again after the break, outscoring Berkner by 12 in the third quarter. Berkner rallied back in the fourth quarter but could never quite close the gap.

More after the jump.

Further Thoughts on the Center of Dallas

Yesterday, I mused on the implications of an assertion by urban designer Patrick Kennedy:

The center of town has shifted to swaths of 635 and 75 up through Plano. The center of town is no longer Dallas, but the North Dallas border.

Source: StreetSmart.

Kennedy had a prescription for how Dallas could wrestle the center of town back south to Dallas: Densification. Transit. Walkability. The implications to me were that Richardson needed to steal a page from Kennedy's playbook in order to hold the center of town in Richardson.

Being the center means that there is something in all directions. Today let's complete a tour d'horizon.

Center of Dallas is Now in Richardson

Professional urban designer (and unprofessional gadfly) Patrick Kennedy makes an audacious claim about Dallas in the D Magazine blog StreetSmart:

My fundamental point of this work and one I make over and over again in my various presentations is that we’ve been applying suburban thinking to the downtown area, which has in effect, forced it to compete with the suburbs. That’s a fight it cannot win. And has effectively suburbanized it (while ruralizing South Dallas as Peter Simek has correctly pointed out) as the center of town has shifted to swaths of 635 and 75 up through Plano. The center of town is no longer Dallas, but the North Dallas border.

Source: StreetSmart.

Kennedy doesn't say by what measure the center of town has moved north (population? economic activity? traffic? world classiness?), so it's impossible to confirm or falsify the audacious claim. But Kennedy is the unofficial leader of the "tear down IH345" movement in Dallas as well as a member in good standing of the "Kill The Trinity Tollroad Project." He makes a living from this stuff (or, if not from his gadfly work for D Magazine, at least from other stuff related to urban design). So, when he says, "I do know cities," we probably ought to listen. So, let's make him king for a day and just assume he does know what he's talking about. Let's just assume he's right -- the center of Dallas is now somewhere in or near Richardson -- and consider the implications.

Overtime: Richardson 71, Mesquite Horn 65

From 2015 01 06 Mesquite Horn vs Richardson

What a game! The Richardson Eagles men's basketball team defeated Mesquite Horn 71-65 in overtime Tuesday night in the Eagles gym. There was never more than a one point difference in the score at the end of each quarter. But someone had to win and eventually the Eagles prevailed in overtime. With the win, the Eagles move to 2-0 in District 10-6A while the Jaguars drop to 0-2. Don't expect the Jaguars to stay down long.

More after the jump.