Muesers Rants Begs My Question

[PlummMeanGreen]

Laura Does Dallas!

Back in Texas frontier days when frontier justice many times ruled the way and day, someone like Laura Miller would have been tarred, feathered, put on a rail and very quickly run out of town (and probably out of the sovereign state of Texas FWIW).

Anyone from Dallas and beyond who would have read most any of her "what can I do to get D-FW'ers pissed off today" articles with her former employer, ie, the Dallas Observer, may have voted for almost any of her opponents had they read any of those. (Actually, some of her articles were well written with timely subjects, but most seemed to be of an irritating nature as I recall her days with the DO).

Still, what Laura Miller has done to Dallas with her confrontational style of leadership should make (even) any Texan mad. She had a chance of leaving a lasting legacy upon her retirement as mayor; that is, she could have lead the way in getting all of Big D's movers and shakers in the same room and on the same page to help in the refurbishing and expansion of Fair Park (which BTW is not only a Dallas landmark and icon, but also one that has been an important part of many Texan's cultural lives, too. (Heck, how many of us at one time or another in our lives have enjoyed that perennial State Fair of Texas tradition of up-chuckin' a few Fletcher's corny dogs on some passer-byer's below as we rode one of those head-spinning/stomach churning midway rides)?!?!?

Hey, Mayor Laura! Marketing 101 would have taught you that you have to spend money to make money (and even in your adopted city of Dallas).

GO WEST YOUNG MAN (along with some Dallas pro sports teams and now...........population)? Any of you read the same articles I've read recently in some area publications that Fort Worth will be larger in population than its turnpike neighbor to the east? All of you from Denton (County) should know about that eventuality more than anyone since part of Fort Worth has now invaded your own county and with that Fort Worth gang's similar aggressive attitude have even claimed what used to be some of your best taxes-producing real estate near the Denton/Tarrant county lines. While Dallas city officials have spent most of their time feudin' like a bunch of snotty-nosed school kids over at their City Hall, Fort Worth officials inside their own City Hall have quiety been expanding their city limits in almost every direction.

BUT.................Mayor Laura and her "Hatfield and McCoy'ish with their attitude" Dallas city council (who one cannot leave out of this discussion) did what some of you have already posted in this thread inasmuch as that they, too (in total harmonious partnership with their mayor) quite frankly:

...................BLEW IT!...............................

PS: I am not so sure that the Dallas Cowboys should soon consider becoming the Texas Cowboys.

Edited March 2, 2007 by PlummMeanGreen

[good_ken]

Many losers and winners in this new Cowboys Stadium deal.

Losers:

City of Dallas

Dallas City Council

City of Dallas taxpayers

Fair Park

Oak Cliff

Cotton Bowl

Downtown Dallas

NE suburb Cowboys fans

Arlington traffic on gamedays

City of Irving

Los Colinas

Winners:

City of Arlington

Arlington taxpayers

Arlington and GPM airports

Fort Worth and mid-cities fans

Ranger's ballpark businesses

If I remember correclty, one of the reasons that the bond issue wasn't placed on the ballot for a vote was becuase the County Judges (and other local elected officials) didn't want to tempt fate by bringing voters to the polls.

Miller dropped the ball on this one, but so did many, many others within the Dallas city government.

Just proves that Dallas really does have a "Can't Do" attitude.

[Guest GrayEagleOne]

Her only real accomplishment was getting smoking banned in all restaurants. I guess that it made a few people healthier but it cost Dallas millions in lost conventions. She has been a disaster for anything sports-related. Downtown baseball stadium, Cotton Bowl, Dallas Cowboys, etc. She fought the American Airlaines Cent4r when she was still on the city council.

Dallas has a ton of potential. Make that had a ton of potential. I'm not sure how much is salvagable. There is to be a downtown lake, beautiful bridges, townhouses galore, new stores, great improvements to mass transportation, a first-rate arts district, Cotton Bowl

and many more improvements. The only things somewhat on schedule are the arts district and the mass transportation. There are several buildings in the process of being converted to upscale living. The rest of the projects are woefully behind and may never happen.

Laura Miller is a disaster but she has a lot of help. This has been the most corrupt, inept city council in my memory. Hispanics and African-Americans often seem locked in power struggles. People get caught with their hands in the cookie jar and nothing comes of it. The Dallas ISD has had pathetic leadership and rampant stealing.

Where has the old Plano leadership gone? Could we ship them to Dallas?

[Smitty]

I do not pretend to know if a new stadium in Dallas would have been a good thing or not, but I have heard quite a lot of discussion about the benefits of a new stadium.

There are economic studies that show that, once you get beyond the emotional reaction - gee, isn't great to have the team here, doesn't the stadium look cool - that there is no economic benefit, and therefore tax dollars spent on a new stadium are wasted.

I don't know if that is true or not. I'm no economist. I do well just to balance my checkbook. But here's a story that discusses this subject, in regards to building a baseball stadium in Washington DC. It is certainly food for thought:

WOULD A PUBLICLY FINANCED BASEBALL STADIUM PAY OFF FOR DC?

[bigrobdsp]

baskettball and hockey are the only two major sporting events that will continue to be in dallas for the next 30 years at least. The Arlington Rangers and The Arlington Cowboys dont even play near dallas

[Cooley]

While I would have liked for the new stadium to have been built in Downtown Dallas, it is not a great loss for the city of Dallas, nor the Cotton Bowl game. North Texans must look beyond what's good for individual cities but what's best for the region. Folks outside of the metroplex will still travel to Dallas and stay in the hotels and eat within the Dallas city limits. They will come for the Super Bowl, Final Four and other big time attractions but stay, dine and party in Big D. Yes, Arlington benefits somewhat but they will pick up the entire tab (while Dallas reaps benefits as well)

Another thing, Jerry Jones didn't care where this stadium was built. He was looking for the city that would bend over first. If he was serious about negotiations with Dallas, he would not have approached Laura Miller and Margaret Kelleher first. Dallas is a city counsel run government. Laura Miller has only 1 of 15 votes. Jerry Jones and consultant Rob Allyn knew this. Jerry Jones flirted with the city of Dallas just long enough to entice Arlington to step up to the plate. The stadium will still be in the metroplex. Everyone wins!

Lastly, Downtown Dallas, though historically dead at night, has major plans in the works. Thousands of residents are moving down there as older building are being renovated into housing. There is growth south of I30 into the Cedars Area. Dart has plans to add more lines. Though a recent break down took place for a minor league park, Dallas has plans to add a stadium there. With the Victory project, it will rejuvenate the near by West End area. One shouldn't just judge the core of Downtown Dallas but the areas around it. Uptown continues to grow in leaps and bounds along with Victory Park. Expansion is starting to spread across I-35 into the Design District. Work on the bridges extending Woodall Rogers Freeway to I-30 will begin this summer. The Trinity River project will be a great addition to the area which again will attract most tourist to the area while they drive over to Arlington on game day.

The city, though delayed, will add a 1,000 + hotel to the Dallas Convention Center. It may not open earlier enough for major conventions before 2012 but it is on the way. Ask any major developer around the country where the hotest area is? Downtown will open a House of Blues sometime this summer bringing major entertainment to the Downtown core. Plans are also underway to put a top over Woodall Rogers Frwy to connect Uptown to Downtown Dallas. Crains are dotting the entire area with future development in and around the area.

These are great times for Downtown Dallas. These thinks are happening despite Laura Miller

[Green Mean]

Another thing, Jerry Jones didn't care where this stadium was built. He was looking for the city that would bend over first.

Are you kidding me? Jerry Jones from day 1 publicly made it known that he wants and prefers for this stadium to be in the city of dallas. He said all the city has to give is 350 million dollars and the rest will be by the jones family. Dallas is what it is....a cant do city. Once he saw that miller and the city wouldnt do anything about he said screw you guys I am going elsewhere....and look what happend. Tho i dont live in arlington....but the great city of arlington said come over jerry jones cuz we will make your jerry world happen. Laura Miller is probably the worst thing thats happened to Dallas since the JFK assasination. This whole saga was all politics and politics is the reason why the AAC is in dallas and the new cowboys stadium wont be. As far as the city itself is concerned....because its a cant do city that is why Dallas is not a tourist friendly place. Everything here is so spread out because many developments and things have gone to the suburbs. Dallas has screwed itself in this whole deal and to be frank with you the city deserves it. I feel bad for the citizens that live in the city but what can you do....dallas is a cant do city.

[UNTflyer]

Well, I for one think that team owners need to secure their own financing for new stadiums.

The people of Arlington are going to pay a heavy price for the stadium in terms of traffic, crime, higher taxes... and for what? Eight home games a year and maybe a Super Bowl or two down the road? With all the NFL teams moving towards fancy new domed stadiums, the field of potential Super Bowl cities is growing. If they are lucky, Arlington is going to get a Super Bowl once every 10 years.

Tax revenues? That's another promise that will fail to come to fruition. How much in city sales taxes does one Cowboys game generate?

The argument of "jobs, jobs, jobs" is also bogus. What jobs are being created? Concessions, janitorial, parking attendants... The only person making money off this is Jerry Jones, and he's laughing all the way to the bank. The average family of four can't afford to go to a football game anymore, and it's partly due to bloated egos like Jones. I'm all for profit and capitalism, but this isn't capitalism. The people of Arlington had this rammed down their throats with a multi-million dollar pie-in-the-sky ad campaign.

So, in a way I applaud Laura Miller for standing her ground. The taxpayers should not be subsidizing stadiums unless the city is getting some type of revenue from the deal.

[UNTflyer]

and you can bet the Red River Shootout will eventually move to the Cowboy's new stadium as well.

Maybe that's not so bad... no longer will we have to spend a weekend at the Fair maneuvering around Okies getting drunk on 6% beer and throwing up on Big Tex's boots.

[Guest GrayEagleOne]

The Cowboys may attract some overnight guests. Some may even stay in Dallas hotels. But, they better bring their own cars because there sure as hell isn't any public transportation within a country mile.

He will have a great stadium, without a doubt, but why there? If he was determined to build it in Arlington he should have put it at the north city limits, on or near 157. That way he would've at least had the TRE to help alleviate some of the traffic. It was terrible getting to Texas Stadium unless you left several hours early and I don't see this as being any better.

The population center of the Metroplex I'd think is about where Texas Stadium is now. He just added nearly an hour additional commute time to eastern Dallas County and southern Collin County. From what I've heard, I believe that he has alienated a number of fans out in this direction who won't be attending Cowboys' games again.

I still don't understand why Dallas/Dallas County with 1.3 million and 2.5 million respectively can't afford to fund the stadium and Arlington/Tarrant County with .350 and 1.5 million respectively can. Yes, I realize that Dallas is also funding AAC but so is Arlington funding the Ranger ballpark in Arlington. Dallas has far more hotels, Arlington does have Six Flags. It still seems like a mismatch to me in terms of total revenue. Obviously, Arlington has the better managemant and drive that Dallas can't, or won't, exhibit.

[Cooley]

If Jerry Jones really wanted this stadium in Dallas it would be going up in Dallas. The Cowboys came to Dallas with an ultimatum up front. Jones was talking to every town that would listen. I grew up not far from the Cotton Bowl and went to most home games free with an adult. I would have loved for them to have done the deal in Fair Park. Jones insisted on the 350 million from Dallas with no questioned asked of him. He cut off negotiations before the city counsel could even be briefed on the issue. Jones should have known that Laura Miller was anti-sports

financed stadiums (with tax payer money) by her stance on the AAC. The counsel would have easily voted to take this to the voters.

Arlington didn't have to concern itself with the sales tax cap that Dallas had on because of DART. Additionally, Dallas could afford the strap the hotel and rental car industry with another tax. These thing could have been worked out but not prior to the drop dead date of that Jones imposed.

It's ironic now that Jones is asking the City of Dallas to be the lead dog in helping recruit the Super Bowl to North Texas. Roger Staubach is his hand picked negotiator for the Cowboys with the city of Dallas. Dallas is insisting on hosting the official Super Bowl parties and being reimbursed for its share of expenses.

Thank you Mayor Cluck of Arlington for helping fund the stadium in your town. Most of your area residents will never step foot in the stadium but will help the folks in Dallas play host to the out of towners as they stay in finer hotels and spend big money in Big D.

Now if you can now help Jerry put a winning product on the field!

[PlummMeanGreen]

The Cowboys may attract some overnight guests. Some may even stay in Dallas hotels. But, they better bring their own cars because there sure as hell isn't any public transportation within a country mile.

He will have a great stadium, without a doubt, but why there? If he was determined to build it in Arlington he should have put it at the north city limits, on or near 157. That way he would've at least had the TRE to help alleviate some of the traffic. It was terrible getting to Texas Stadium unless you left several hours early and I don't see this as being any better.

The population center of the Metroplex I'd think is about where Texas Stadium is now. He just added nearly an hour additional commute time to eastern Dallas County and southern Collin County. From what I've heard, I believe that he has alienated a number of fans out in this direction who won't be attending Cowboys' games again.

I still don't understand why Dallas/Dallas County with 1.3 million and 2.5 million respectively can't afford to fund the stadium and Arlington/Tarrant County with .350 and 1.5 million respectively can. Yes, I realize that Dallas is also funding AAC but so is Arlington funding the Ranger ballpark in Arlington. Dallas has far more hotels, Arlington does have Six Flags. It still seems like a mismatch to me in terms of total revenue. Obviously, Arlington has the better managemant and drive that Dallas can't, or won't, exhibit.

Good post, Jack...

Inasmuch that I live closer to Arlington than Irving, Fair Park or any part of Dallas County and with Cowboy games being more accessible to all of us in the West o' Plex, I still would have preferred that Dallas' movers & shakers would have set the very stubborn and tunnel-visioned Laura Miller down to give her a very strong and intense "come to Jesus" talk about the way things are going to be or (in other words) to tell her how Texas cows eats their Texas cabbage.

Ms. Miller would have not liked such a meeting had it occurred because she would have not been able to dominate such a meeting, but she also doesn't know what can happen when folks similar to Texas' pasts with families such as the Murchisons, the Wynns, the Bass's, the Richardsons, etc, etc, etc, getting together to make something happen that they want to happen and that they would in$ure would most definitely happen. The DFW area has really missed the influence of some of these aforementioined families who have since passed on. Lucky for Fort Worth that the Bass family is still very involved with many of Cowtown's major progressive decisions.

BUT BACK TO BIG D: As we all know, this didn't happen in Dallas with Arkansas Jones and the Cowboys becoming a partner with the city that bears his teams name because Dallas is a divided city not only by geography, but (even worse) by racial bias (no matter the color) with all the various races within the city limits of Dallas never budging for anything that would be good for the entire city of Dallas unless each of these groups get their neighborhoods' pet projects done first and then................they might look at what may be good for the rest of their city. This is the "it's all about me" attitude that has prevailed in Dallas for way too many years now and is a prime reason Fair Park (save a miracle) will continue to detoriate to the point that even the State Fair of Texas may soon be in jeopardy and for certain will never be what it used to be during most senior Texan's lives.

The election of Dallas Mayor Laura Miller (which I thought was an unfortunate miracle itself) was like bringing in a large can of gasoline to throw on each and every faction of their city that is known as "Big D" alright, but the "Big D" moniker which now mostly means the "Big Divided" As some of you have posted, look for the Texas/OU game to finish their contract with the Cotton Bowl as soon as they can and then move their annual Red River shootout westward. That would almost be one of the easiest things to predict that could be easily be forecasted by any 8'th grader.

If Dallas city officials wants to see what can happen when everyone is on the same page, let each and every one of them take a short trip down the turnpike to downtown Fort Worth and see all the tourist activity off of Cowtown's Main Street which extends all the way down to Exchange Street (close to the Billy Bobs Texas area). Most of the Main Street festivities that the Bass family has (coupled with their undeniable major influence) insured FW touriest would stay safe with non-stop police and security officers protection. You won't find in Fort Worth anything close to the problems as Dallas' Deep Ellum has had in recent years with all its gun-toting hooligans who have literally chased away many of its former tourists.

I was never as disappointed when Jerry Jones ending up making his decision to bring the Cowboys westward when Dallas could have really had something that could have unified the spirit of their city as well as resurrected Fair Park as to how it was (almost) from its beginnings which would have been during the Texas Centennial, circa 1936.

.............................................................

UNT should be able to relate to as much as anyone as to what a dilapidated old football stadium can do for you and your future. Fact is, we needed a new football stadium a long time ago, but the good news now is that there is one on the way!

Edited March 4, 2007 by PlummMeanGreen

[good_ken]

Well, I for one think that team owners need to secure their own financing for new stadiums.

The people of Arlington are going to pay a heavy price for the stadium in terms of traffic, crime, higher taxes... and for what? Eight home games a year and maybe a Super Bowl or two down the road? With all the NFL teams moving towards fancy new domed stadiums, the field of potential Super Bowl cities is growing. If they are lucky, Arlington is going to get a Super Bowl once every 10 years.

Tax revenues? That's another promise that will fail to come to fruition. How much in city sales taxes does one Cowboys game generate?

The argument of "jobs, jobs, jobs" is also bogus. What jobs are being created? Concessions, janitorial, parking attendants... The only person making money off this is Jerry Jones, and he's laughing all the way to the bank. The average family of four can't afford to go to a football game anymore, and it's partly due to bloated egos like Jones. I'm all for profit and capitalism, but this isn't capitalism. The people of Arlington had this rammed down their throats with a multi-million dollar pie-in-the-sky ad campaign.

So, in a way I applaud Laura Miller for standing her ground. The taxpayers should not be subsidizing stadiums unless the city is getting some type of revenue from the deal.

Jerry thinks bigger than 8 home games and a Superbowl. I fully believe that Jerry World would have brought the Olympics to Dallas proper. As it stands now, an Olympic bid will be a DFW bid, spread out all over the place.

If the Olympics didn't cross Laura Miller's mind, then she wasn't thinking big picture enough.

Besides banning smoking, can anyone name something possible that she has accomplished since being in office?

[Got5onIt]

Jerry thinks bigger than 8 home games and a Superbowl. I fully believe that Jerry World would have brought the Olympics to Dallas proper. As it stands now, an Olympic bid will be a DFW bid, spread out all over the place.

If the Olympics didn't cross Laura Miller's mind, then she wasn't thinking big picture enough.

Besides banning smoking, can anyone name something possible that she has accomplished since being in office?

Additional bowl games as well. The Cotton Bowl may finally get it's elite status back, not to mention the ability of Jerry World to host additional bowl. The Superdome hosts something like 3 bowls a year. Jerry World can do that in a heartbeat.

[UNTflyer]

I don't think the Olympics will ever come to Dallas. Who wants to deal with 100+ degree heat in the summer? I recall the complaints about the heat in Atlanta.

Not to mention, the Olympics have had a spotty record of profitability for the host city. I think Toronto is still paying off the debt they incurred in 1976. Athens lost billions.

[good_ken]

I don't think the Olympics will ever come to Dallas. Who wants to deal with 100+ degree heat in the summer? I recall the complaints about the heat in Atlanta.

Not to mention, the Olympics have had a spotty record of profitability for the host city. I think Toronto is still paying off the debt they incurred in 1976. Athens lost billions.

A lot of that debt could be attributed to the building of a 100,000 seat stadium...which in this case would already be paid for as part of Jerry World.

[Green Mean]

I don't think the Olympics will ever come to Dallas. Who wants to deal with 100+ degree heat in the summer? I recall the complaints about the heat in Atlanta.

Not to mention, the Olympics have had a spotty record of profitability for the host city. I think Toronto is still paying off the debt they incurred in 1976. Athens lost billions.

I believe they had more debt because they probably had to start from scratch and build facilities....here in the metroplex we have 2-3 football stadiums and 2-3 major arenas. Sure we would have to build more stuff but the build out is not as bad as it was in athens and toronto. The only MAJOR thing we would need to build is the Olympic Stadium for opening and closing ceremonies as well as the track and field events and etc. The only problem would be means of transportation. They would have to spend a lot in transportation and develop some kind of infrastructure in which the metroplex would be tourist friendly for anyone coming here.

[Greenblood94]

Not to mention, the Olympics have had a spotty record of profitability for the host city. I think Toronto is still paying off the debt they incurred in 1976. Athens lost billions.

It's true, Montreal (not Toronto) incurred a huge debt for the '76 Olympics. The '84 Olympics in Los Angeles changed the way cities approached paying for the Olympics. The head of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, Peter Ueberroth (who later became commissioner of baseball), was able to get corporate sponsorship money to offset the debt incurred in hosting the Olympics, and now hosting the Olympics is considered to be a highly sought-after event.

The Greeks' problems stem from gross mismanagement and disorganization, beginning way back when the location for '96 Olympics were being determined. Athens, banking on the false belief that they would get the Centennial Olympics for sentimental reasons, got outhustled by the City of Atlanta. When they finally did land the '04 Games, there were infrastructure problems, strikes and construction delays that caused people to doubt if the Greeks would be able to put on the Games as late as six months before the event.

As I found out when assisting Dallas with their failed bid for the 2012 Games, there are enough venues already in place across the Metroplex that would make hosting the Games easier than you would think. The heat, lack of a cohesive transportation plan and a lukewarm response from Madame No were just some of the things that contributed to the city's bid falling short early in the selection process.