Drilling in Dallas
Dallas City Council Elections and Drilling: Mayor’s Plan Fails, What’s Next?
The dust hasn't completely settled, but it's clear that Saturday's municipal election generally strengthened anti-drilling sentiment on the Dallas City Council.
This happened because of two things: 1) Residents elected anti-drilling candidates outright (Griggs and Medrano, with a run-off for Kingston), and 2) a couple of hard core supporters of the Mayor's and Mary Sumh's drilling plans were replaced by candidates who are more conditional in their support for how and where to drill than their predecessors (Kleinman replaces Koop, Griggs replaces Jasso).
Both of those factors can be traced directly back to all the constructive hell-raising citizens have been doing over the past two years or more. Every single candidate questionnaire had a query about gas drilling in Dallas. It came up at debates and forum and interviews. You made it an issue that even business-backed candidates had to address in a citizen-friendly way. You changed to tone, the content of the debate. You did that.
Our citizens' slate won two out of five races outright, with a chance to make it three out of five if Kingston wins the June 15th run-off. Unfortunately, Claudia Meyer lost her race to Vonciel Hill despite a lot of hard work and grassroots effort. And drilling opponent Leland Burk lost to Jennifer Staubach-Gates.
The June 15th run-off is now very important indeed, because it could give us up to 6 votes on the Dallas City Council against irresponsible urban drilling, with a possible 2-3 more swing votes coming over to our side depending on the permit and the site. You need 8 votes out of 15 to win. We're very close.
Besides the Kingston run-off with industry-backed Bobby Abtahi, there's also the District 5 run-off pitting Jesse Diaz against Rick Callahan – both very conditional drilling supporters who appear to be against park drilling.
So here's the Dallas Drilling scorecard as of today:
Opponents of Drilling
Greyson
Griggs
Davis
Alonzo
Medrano
June 15th run-off:
Kingston
Unconditional Supporters of Drilling:
Rawlings
Hill
Atkins
Caraway
Allen
Kadane
June 15th run-off:
Abtahi
Conditional Supporters – based on public statements
Staubach-Gates
Kleinman
June 15th run-off: Diaz or Callahan
Short-term, these election results look like they doom the zombie Trinity East permits. We only need four Council votes or more to uphold the City Plan Commission denial of those permits. We have at least five now, with the chance for 6 or more after June 15th. So the Mayor's plan to hold off on voting on these permits until after the election in hopes of finding more supporters has failed.
This is no small accomplishment. Last November, when the Mayor held a press conference and announced that he was breaking the informal moratorium that was holding back all permit requests until a new ordinance was written and pushing the Trinity East permits through for approval, it indeed looked like a "done deal." And as recently as April, some Dallas City Council members were telling their peers in Irving not to fret, because, despite the Plan Commission vote, the Trinity East permits were still a "done deal."
Well, folks that deal is done now. Well done. As in, put a fork in it. Congratulations. The Mayor tried to pull a fast one and he didn't succeed because of the fierce resistance he got from his own residents. We should know soon when the Trinity East vote will be, and when it's scheduled, we'll need you at City Hall once again to show the new city council that fierce resistance in person. Maybe that will make an impact on their future voting.
Longer term, the new Council will have more members who are opposed to all drilling in Dallas, not just in parks and flood plains, but they don't yet constitute a majority. They're at direct odds with the six Council incumbents who are avid supporters of drilling everywhere and anywhere. Somewhere in the middle – at least until the first vote or so – will be the three freshman members who are possible swing votes.
Their views will be increasingly important if one or both things begin to happen – there is movement to actually write a new gas drilling ordinance after the Trinity East permit denials are upheld, and/or Luminant follows through on its plans to drill and build a compressor station at North Lake and submits permit applications that will be at the center of yet another round of public controversy.
For now, let's concentrate on the June 15th run-off and getting a 6th anti-drilling vote on the Dallas City Council. Its not 8 yet, but it's pretty darn close and construction is still in progress.
Tomorrow is Election Day. People Like Us Need to Make It Earth Day Too.
Some cynics don't think voting matters. They're wrong. It matters a lot. Especially local elections.
Because the pool of votes is smaller, each vote is magnified. Your vote literally counts for more. Because the elected official is a neighbor and governs from City Hall or the Courthouse instead of Austin or Washington, they're more directly accountable for their decisions. In many ways, local elections are the closest we come these days to what our founders believed all elections should be about.
That's why folks like us need to be more involved with them. Local elections are more susceptible to the determined energy of insurgents. They take less money to win and shoe leather passion can beat big bank accounts. They're winnable with the resource we have, or can realistically raise. They don't necessarily produce a final victory outright, but they can help you get there sooner than you would otherwise.
As it happens, that's exactly the same pragmatic philosophy behind Downwinders at Risk's emphasis on local organizing in North Texas. The more local it is, the more muscle we have.
But there's a huge disconnect between the feel-good, big-tent well-attended local festivals that surround Earth Day events now and the way those same festival crowds vote on Election Day a few weeks later. We need to change that.
That's why Downwinders at Risk and its 501c3 Education Fund are both spending money and effort on educating voters about the Dallas City Council election this cycle. Although gas drilling isn't officially on the ballot, it's what's at stake. Will Dallas follow the now-familiar path of being ridiculously subservient to the oil and gas industry, or can citizens force it to stake out a different course that's more balanced? Right now Dallas is front and center in the North Texas gas counter revolution. That's why we're there.
So far, citizens have won every round, despite the combined forces of the Dallas Citizens Council, City Hall, and the industry working against them. But those victories could be be temporary depending on tomorrow's electoral outcome. The Mayor has cynically put off the final vote on the Trinity East gas permits until he sees if he has an even more pro-drilling council to override the City Plan Commission denial.
If you live in a Dallas city council district with a competitive race, we strongly urge you to vote. We've publicized a breather's guide to the best candidates on the drilling issue that includes, Claudia Meyer in District 3, Philip Kingston in District 14, Scott Griggs in District 1, Leland Burk in District 13 and Adam Medrano in District 2. If you haven't volunteered your time or given money to any of these candidates it's too late now, but everything will be forgiven if you turnout and vote your passion tomorrow.
D Magazine, published by a principled disciple of William F. Buckley and catering to a demographic several tax brackets above ours, is running an on-line survey of Dallas city politics on the eve of Election Day. One of the questions they're asking is whether drilling should be allowed in urban areas. Last time we looked there was a resounding 75% "No!" in response. And yet, most members of the Dallas City Council actually are OK with not only drilling in Dallas, but drilling in parks, flood plains and putting refineries next to schools and huge recreation centers. There may be no other issue in recent memory where Dallas City Hall was more out of sync with its residents. That has got to change if we're going to win the war and not just the battles.
And the grassroots movement has to embrace and become skilled with the tool of local electoral politics. That's why, in the coming months, Downwinders at Risk will be exploring the creation of a Political Action Committee, or (PAC), focused exclusively on strategic local, North Texas races. It's time we got more involved in helping to decide who the deciders will be.
Meanwhile, do your part tomorrow to make Election Day Earth Day.
Irving City Council Passes Resolutions Opposing Dallas Drilling; Dallas Council Member Reverses Position
Opening up another official front of opposition, the Irving City Council unanimously passed two resolutions at their regular monthly meeting Thursday night that puts the city on the record against Dallas' plans for park and floodplain drilling.
Besides rhetorically taking a side, Irving opposition could be important because Trinity East Big Cheese Tom Blanton told the city's officials last month that, although the controversial wells and refinery the company wants to build on the banks of the Trinity will be within the City of Dallas, the lateral drilling from those wells are actually planned to go under the City of Irving. They'll put the straw down in Dallas but Trinity East wants to really drink Irving's milkshake
One resolution was aimed at opposing the three Trinity East permits themselves and a second one was aimed at opposing drilling in, on or near Irving city parks. Since both were on the Council's "consent agenda," there was no discussion so we don't know if there's a second shoe that's going to drop in terms of denying mineral rights to Trinity East outright. That might be complicated by the fact that there are already at least two wells near the University of Dallas (in Irving) that the company drilled on behalf of itself and others, including the City of Irving.
Irving's opposition comes a week after the revelation that Dallas City Council member Monica Alonzo, in whose district all three Trinity East wells are located, now "opposes drilling anywhere in the city," a U-Turn on the subject, since just last year she was reported as salivating at the prospect of royalty money from the wells. That could also be critical, because council members often defer to their colleagues when it comes to zoning matters within each other's districts. Of course, there's one way to prove her new-found conversion – sign-on to the internal memo that Council members Scott Griggs and Angela Hunt have circulated asking for five signatures to bring the matter up for an immediate vote by the full council.
The Day Delia Got Her Drilling(s) Mixed-Up?
The Dallas Morning News' Jim Mitchell, the lead writer for the paper's editorial board on gas drilling, has all the hilarious the sit-com details.
Don’t Stop Now – Help Us Keep Winning – DMN Urges Gas Vote
Four years ago, when the Dallas Drilling Fight began in earnest, the issue was not familiar to most of the city's residents or its major daily newspaper. Then, it was just a handful of residents like Ed and Claudia Meyer, Raymond Crawford and others who were raising objections to sites being considered so close to their neighborhoods.
In 2013, things have changed a lot, thanks to you.
We've defeated the Trinity East permits twice now – once last December and again in March – despite opposition from the Mayor, most of the Council, and City Hall staff. That was your doing – showing up in unprecedented numbers to City Plan Commission meetings and raising so much constructive hell that they couldn't ignore you or the issue.
We've convinced the Dallas Morning News to editorialize against those permits, and as of today, call for a full council vote on them that would probably result in their definitive denial. That's also thanks to you.
Like a dog tugging a single thread from a blanket, we've held on and unraveled one of the largest City Hall scandals in recent memory – discovering a secret memo signed by the Dallas City Manager pledging her support and the support of her staff to see that Trinity East got permission to drill in parks and flood plains. Your persistence in the fight created the time to unearth this critical document.
Because of that persistence, this Spring there's not a single Dallas city council race questionnaire that doesn't ask the candidates where they stand on the drilling issue. You've helped us put it at the top of everyone's public agenda.
From an afterthought to front page news, you've helped us win this fight so far. So we're asking you to do a little bit more to bring it home.
1) If you haven't aleady, tell the current city council to Vote on the Trinity East permits and vote No. It takes all of 30 seconds to send a quick e-mail to the Mayor and Council.
2) If you're a Dallas resident, please vote for a "no drilling in parks" candidate in the municipal election scheduled for May 11th (early voting begins April 29th). These are the five strongest candidates:
Scott Griggs in District 1
Adam Medrano in District 2
Claudia Meyer in District 3
Leland Burk in District 13
Phillip Kingston in District 14
3) Please consider a donation to Downwinders at Risk. We're launching our mid-year appeal for funding. It's your generosity that's kept us in the game. We depend on grassroots funding from ordinary citizens such as you. We don't have a DC or Austin office. We just do work in DFW. And we only do these fundraising events twice a year – once in December and once in April, so your participation is important.
The one last December was our most successful effort yet – generating enough donations from you to be able to fund four months of continual campaigning. That was your money paying to turn citizens out for the Plan Commission meetings, to host news conferences, to spend on gas for appoitnments all over town, for a briefing book on the environmental health effects of drilling that was handed out to every Plan Commission member. Your contributions went directly to the front lines of the drilling fight.
But your money also went to our work in Frisco, helping residents there campaign for a more protective clean-up after 50 years of fallout and waste from the Exide lead smelter. We’ve been holding the company and regulatory agencies accountable because nobody else is willing or able to do the job.
Your December contributions also paid for the first baby steps to establish a local pool of medical expertise that could provide support to citizens fighting public health threats from pollution. This is a resource that’s much needed, but nobody else was stepping up to provide it until we began our fledgling effort.
You also paid for us to participate in national strategy sessions about how to keep the cement plants in Midlothian from becoming larger and larger waste disposal operations and challenge EPA’s approval of the new weakened emission rules for kilns.
Now it’s April. That means the start of “ozone season” here in DFW. For the last two years, DFW has seen smog get worse. We also saw the failure of yet another state “clean air plan.” With this year’s drought, we could again see lots of bad air days. We’re the only group that’s doing local anti-smog work and that means the next six months will be busy.
And that’s what we're asking you to help us pay for this time – the next four, the next six, the next eight months worth of organizing work in Dallas-Ft. Worth on clean air issues – wherever and whatever the battles are – Dallas, Frisco, Midlothian, down the street from you, wherever.
You know we work hard at putting your money to work for your lungs. We're asking that you grade us on our last four months of that work, and if you agree we've done a pretty good job, then please drop a bill in the jar. We need the money to keep fighting. Thanks.
Give securely online at https://www.downwindersatrisk.org/donate. Thanks.
Jim Schermbeck, Director, Downwinders at Risk
A Breather’s Guide to Voting in Dallas City Council Races
In it's recent Dallas City Council questionnaire, The Dallas Monring News asked this question: What is your position, for or against, allowing gas drilling in Dallas and the city's attempts to regulate it?
Here are the answers:
Council District 1:
Delia Jasso (incumbent):
I am most concerned with safety for all the citizens of Dallas as gas drilling relates to clean air and clean water. At this time, I would not like to comment on being for or against allowing gas drilling as there may be future legal issues involved with this issue.
Scott Griggs (incumbent):
I have studied this issue extensively and I oppose gas drilling, fracking, refining, and production within the City of Dallas adjacent to our neighborhoods, schools, and parks. I am opposed to surface gas drilling operations in our parks. Under state law, we must have a gas drilling ordinance and I look to cities such as Flower Mound and South Lake for best practices.
Council District 2:
Adam Medrano:
I do not believe gas drilling has a place in high-density urban areas like Dallas.
Herschel Weisfeld
The Citizens of Dallas deserve the right to have a clean safe environment to live and work with guarantees that our air, water and playgrounds can be protected for generations to come. It is the City Council's responsibility to make informed decisions that are guided by the best information available and by Council Members that are willing to do homework outside of the traditional briefing in order to answer the hard questions that demand alternative evaluation with respect for the best interest of our Citizens and the entire North Texas Region.
Vernon Franco
I am against drilling anywhere in the city that could present a danger to public health and safety. Our civic leaders have an obligation to design, implement and enforce local ordinances that protect the health and welfare of our residents. With our current city efforts to encourage Green building and a transition to cleaner burning CNG-powered vehicles, it is imperative that we make public safety number one as we move forward.
Ricky Gonzales
The City of Dallas has made a spectacle of it's self when it comes to this issue. I have not participated in the gas meetings because Dallas has no right to agree to drilling while they are accepting fees only to deny the actual process. I agree we have to utilize our natural resources in the appropriate manner, but the method should have been scrutinized way before we accepted any funds from the gas industry.
Council District 3
Vonciel Hill (incumbent District 5)
Claudia Meyer
I have spent over three years intensively researching the pros and cons of gas drilling on our air, land, and water. Based on the research, and input of residents, I support passing a more protective gas drilling ordinance which prohibits surface drilling in park land, keeps it out of floodplains, and is kept at a minimum of 1000 feet from homes, schools, parks, dams and hospitals. The decision by the City Plan Commission to deny the pending Trinity East permits should be upheld by the City Council, and any new permits applied for should be processed under the new, more protective ordinance.
Michael Connally
I am for drilling but only if the highest standards for safety and a clean environment will be met. Gas is a resource. It's value can only be realized by tapping the resource. Untapped, the resource remains and will likely appreciate in potential value. We can afford to take the time to get it right.
Kermit Mitchell
Gas drilling should be allowed in the city. Environmental concerns must be respected. The regulatory prohibitions should have been cleared before the RFP was publicized. This is a grievious mistake at the staff level of the City Manager and the Council. The City of Dallas is obligated to regulate such drilling to protect the citizens, the environment, and control the competition for the projected profits. The City of Dallas needs the resultant tax revenues to improve the city quality of life. As Councilor, I would explore the possibility of the drilling site to move to an industrial area, such as the warehouse for the beer distribution in South Dallas, and look to give the residents of South Dallas payment for oil and mineral rights as the oil is drilled in a slant or horizonal pattern underneath their properties. There is acreage in District 3 that might be developed in a similar manner.
Council District 4
Dwaine Caraway running unopposed
Councl Diistrict 5
Jesse Diaz
I am a person that believes in clean energy, protecting the environment and a green economy. Having said that, I consider myself a pro-business individual. As a Council member I will review the proposal of drilling and listen to proponents and those against drilling. I will not be afraid of asking tough questions and making informed decisions in this and other topics.
Bruce Shaw
I am against drilling at this time seeing how North Texas already has a serious air quality problem. Also,the long term effect on environment in this region is not known.
Rick Callahan
I am for it. Dallas needs the revenue. However, the City of Dallas has an obligation to regulate the drilling activity in a safe, efficient, environmentally responsible way. The City leadership, staff, particularly the City Attorney's office has a duty to make sure that all city ordinances are obeyed to the fullest or change them to reflect the will of the people or majority. That includes, but is not limited to prohibiting the surface drilling in parks.
Yolanda Williams
I can not offer my position at this time. In the future , I recommend the city to be more transparent and educate the citizens. Seek their input.
District 6
Monica Alonzo (incumbent)
I cannot support an application until after the council has had the opportunity to debate and vote on the task force recommendations.
Raymond Salinas
The Dallas Morning News did not receive a response from the candidate prior to our deadline.
District 7
Carolyn Davis (incumbent):
Until we have much better information about potential public health and safety impacts, I am opposed to gas drilling in Dallas. Our city is a densely populated area and this is an environmentally sensitive issue that we need to move slowly on. I want to see adequate protections for neighborhoods. We need to do some more work, and clearly define how and where gas drilling can safely occur with minimal risk to public safety.
Ona Marie Hendricks:
I digress.
Council District 8
Tennell Atkins (Incumbent):
I voted to allow drilling on sites voted upon by the city council, which excluded park land.
Subrina Brenham:
The plan commission is a quasi-judicial board established to provide an indebt view of city's land view policies. Therefore, I have some concerns that Atkins demanded his appointee to the CPC to change her vote to support the Trinity East fracking on parkland. Sure we need money. I have not been convinced of the negative impact on our natural resources.
Council District 9
Sheffie Kadane running unopposed
Council District 10
Jerry Allen running unopposed
Council District 11
Lee Kleinman
I will not take a postion at this time because the issue is far to complex to evaluate in the midst of a campaign. The Task force spent 9 months on this issue and I personally know and respect a number of its members. The Council has yet to adopt its recommendations and it will take a much deeper study of the facts before I can take a formal position.
Ori Raphael
I am currently for allowing gas drilling in Dallas as long as it is deemed safe and not in a public park, case in point next to a soccer field. A major concern is the fact that the city has already spent the money that the gas companies have paid for their leases. What is to come if and when they request their money back? In the end the tax payers have to fit the bill in legal and other unforeseen costs. The situation was not handled well and the City Council should have made a clear decision on this issue from the very beginning.
Council District 12
Sandy Greyson – running unopposed
Council District 13
Leland Burk
As an oil and gas investor, I know both the risks and rewards of drilling. I am against gas drilling on park land, or any land in the City of Dallas.
Jennifer Staubach-Gates
I do not support gas drilling / fracking in or near neighborhoods. I think there are very few areas in our City where drilling could potentially be allowed. These opportunities should be considered on a case-by-case basis with careful consideration to protecting our air quality, water usage and other environmental concerns.
Jacob King
A lease does not always guarantee that drilling will occur, and the city must consider all possible means to generate revenue without levying taxes on the residents of Dallas. I beleive leases should be limited to park land that is not open for recreation purposes as it is, and I do not believe any recreational parks should ever be closed for drilling.
Richard Sheridan
The Dallas Morning News did not receive a response from the candidate prior to our deadline.
Council District 14
Bobby Abtahi
We need to tighten our regulations and recognize an evolving technology. Locating intense uses on city parks is not appropriate and we need to be consistent. I was one of three City Plan Commissioners to vote against allowing a concrete crushing operation to locate near a park. The City Council later reversed the majority of the Commission and denied the request. We also need to keep a critical eye on the Legislature to ensure that our oversight capability is not diminished.
Phillip Kingston
I oppose gas drilling, fracking, and refining within the city limits of Dallas. These activities are inconsistent with my focus on improving residential quality of life, but they will also do long-term damage to Dallas’s ability to attract economic development. I believe our air quality, specifically our EPA non-attainment status, is already limiting Dallas’s growth. As businesses and high-skill workers have more and more choices in where to locate in the future, air quality will factor into their decision making.
David Blewett
I support the City's ability to allow gas drilling in Dallas. However, the city's attempt to regulate it has been inadequate. I do not believe we have done enough to educate our citizens about the potential risks involved (particularly in the flood plain and parkland) and that until we do, we should not be drilling. We must have community input and involvement from the start, no matter the issue, without any back room deals.
Kevin Curley
In Dallas, the potential for natural gas development is only a viable option for a small part of the western perimeter. In 2008, recognizing the economic benefit to other cities, Dallas sought out and entered into lease contracts for drilling and accepted $34 million in lease payments from companies wanting to drill. There are still issues that need to be addressed before drilling in Dallas should move forward. I would support increasing the setbacks for specific uses. I would not arbitrarily support drilling in parkland, but I would support discussions about drilling in remote and undeveloped parkland that included a master plan for development. A good example of how drilling and land use development could work is a former drilling site in Burleson that has been converted to baseball fields and a green for a golf course. Drilling can and has been done prudently in many other areas and with tremendous economic benefits and hopefully Dallas can realize some of its reserve potential. But my first priority would be to assure we have established guidelines that protect the environment, the safety of our residents, our property values and the future development of our park areas.
Chuck Kobdish
Fracking has created a great deal of wealth for municipalities, businesses, and property owners alike. It is highly regulated and so I am for fracking when conducted responsibly. It is safer than burning fossil fuels and that is often overlooked. I am opposed to drilling on land designated as public parks. The equipment creates an eye sore and noise and therefore affects our quality of life.
Judy Limatainnen
Gas drilling is a very difficult subject. If you are talking about the drilling that is one subject. If you are talking about the compressor station being built also ajacent to the part that puts a whole new spin on it. I think that the city of Dallas needs to look very hard at any contract going forward on public land to make sure the public is protected, the environment is not damaged and if drilling occurs that the city benefits financially at the best rate possible. I don't think a compressor station should ever be put that close to public/park land.
Jim Rogers
I am opposed to “fracking” within the City of Dallas. The primary obligation of the City of Dallas is to protect Dallas’ citizens and Dallas’ assets (water). Without question the city must regulate drilling in the city limits including on city parkland. I am absolutely against drilling in Dallas parks or near homes or businesses We know that drilling operations are disruptive to surrounding property owners and have the potential to damage property values. In addition, it is essential to protect our water supply.
Dallas Drilling Scandal: Act 3
See what happens when you show up?
Last Thursday's razor thin vote by the City Plan Commission to deny the Trinity East gas permits – for a second time – was proof that Dallas environmentalists can marshal the political muscle it takes to beat City Hall on a critical issue of public policy, even when the system is scandalously rigged against us. Can anyone else remember the last time that happened? This is one of those turning points in the maturity of the city's green movement and the city itself.
By showing up in record numbers for the third meeting in as many months, you won the latest round in "one of the biggest zoning fights Dallas has ever seen" according to the Dallas Morning News. Plan Commission members remarked they had never seen the kind of crowds that turned out for the gas permit fight. Congratulations and thank you very much.
We know it's hard for you to take off work or home responsibilities and come down to City Hall for the day. But this was time well spent. By recommending to deny the permits, the Plan Commission forwards them to the entire City Council for a final vote that by rule will require a "super majority" of 12 council members to overturn. By our math, there is currently no such super majority in favor of the permits, although the margin is whisker close again. So where does that leave us? How do we finally kill the Dallas zombie gas permits?
A FINAL COUNCIL VOTE – BUT WHICH COUNCIL?
The very first motion made at last Thursday's City Plan Commission meeting was by permit supporters and it called for postponing a vote until June – after a new city council is seated. That should be your first clue. Trinity East supporters must believe they stand a chance of electing a more pro-drilling city council than the one now seated.
Angela Hunt, Sandy Greyson, and Scott Griggs are steadfast opponents of the permits. Carolyn Davis is believed to be against them. Those are the four votes that can uphold the CPC denial of the permits and deny the supporters their 12- member super majority to overturn.
But it takes five council members to bring an item to the agenda for a vote. And there is no deadline for action by the Council – the CPC decision could lay out there for an indefinite amount of time with no follow-up by Council necessary. If supporters don't think they have at least 12 votes now, they can wait until they think they do…in June.
Rumor has it that Hunt, Greyson and Griggs are trying to find a fourth and fifth council member to help bring the Trinity East permits up for a vote now – in April or May – and uphold the CPC denial. We support this strategy, and have an easy way for you to help make it happen. Our "Featured Citizen Action" has a new and direct message to all 15 members of the Dallas City Council: VOTE NOW AND VOTE NO. As always, you can add your own message as well. Be the first one on your block to send yours.
THE FIGHT HAS ALREADY MOVED INTO THE VOTING BOOTH
Look again at that list of the four council members who most observers believe make up the current firewall of opposition to the Trinity East permits.
Angela Hunt is term-limited. She won't be there in June. Her hand-picked successor is Phillip Kingston, a solidly anti-Trinity East permit candidate who faces a very well-funded pro-permit candidate. Environmentalists are backing Kingston, but he's not a shoo-in.
Scott Griggs is being forced to run against fellow incumbent Delia Jasso for a new North Oak Cliff district, which is also shaping up to be a tight race. If their attitudes regarding the revelation of City Manager Mary Suhm's secret agreement with Trinity East are any indication, Jasso is a permit supporter.
If both anti-permit candidates lose, and the rest of the current council remains the same, chances are very good the permits would have their super majority and breeze through in June. If you want these gas permits denied, you need to work and vote for Kingston and Griggs.
That's also why the Claudia Meyer vs Vonciel Hill race in District 3 in Southwest Dallas is also so important. It's the only city council race that features an over-the-top supporter of the Trinity East permits running against a longtime grassroots opponent. For environmentalists, it's the same kind of proxy war over drilling in Oak Cliff that took place two years ago when pro-drilling Dave Neumann lost – only now its even more important that the good guys win. This race could provide the margin of victory needed to make sure the CPC denial is upheld.
THE NEW FRONT IN IRVING
One of the largest contingents to show up last week in Dallas were the Irving residents who are just now waking up to the fact that they live only a short distance downwind of all of the Trinity East sites. This is the residential piece of the opposition puzzle that was missing until recently – a built in constituency.
Want to see the kind of cross-examination that Trinity East should receive in Dallas, but never has? You have to tune into Irving City Hall TV, where the day before the CPC vote, Councilwoman Rose Cannaday got to ask company president Tom Blaton lots of interesting questions about its intent with regard to those Dallas wells it wants to drill so close to the Irving city limits. One thing we learned was that although the company is drilling straight down in Dallas, it's making a lateral turn to the Northwest that takes all the wells under Irving. Funny thing about that – Trinity East doesn't have a contract with Irving to take its gas yet. So the company appears to be gambling everything on pursuing three Dallas permits before it even secures the gas rights it needs to exploit them.
It's unclear if Irving alone could or will stop Trinity from being able to do what it wants in Dallas. But what's apparent is that this is now as big a political issue in Irving as it is in Big D, or bigger.
By successfully pushing back last week, Dallas environmentalists have upped the ante. Now you have to follow through. If you're not already volunteering in one of the local council races that could make a huge difference in a June Trinity East permit vote – please do so this week. The election is May 11th and early voting begins April 29th. This is where the front lines of the fight are right now.
And don't forget to send your new message to the current city council: VOTE NOW AND VOTE NO.
We're in Act 3. We can write the happy ending. We can paint the picture. But we have to show up.
Easter’s Here, Do You Know Where Your City Manager Is?
"Miss Suhm, this is a Good Friday moment, but I guarantee you from the faith well into which I reach, your Easter is coming and you will sail forth.”
– Dallas City Council member and District 3 candidate Vonciel Jones Hill, offering Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm moral support after questioning by Angela Hunt over the Trinity East gas permits, Wednesday, February 27th, 2013
Want to Send Dallas City Hall a Message? Claudia Meyer For Dallas City Council
As hard as it is to believe, despite everything that's happened, Dallas could wind up with a more pro-drilling City Council in May than it has right now. Angela Hunt is term-limited. Scott Griggs is being paired with another incumbent, Della Jasso, and one of them won't be back. That's two out of the three major drilling opponents. Only Sandy Greyson is safe.
That's why it's important to look at the only Dallas City Council race that pits a grassroots environmental leader of the drilling fight against an over-the-top supporter of more drilling – Claudia Meyer vs. Vonciel Hill in District 3, a new district that includes much of Griggs' Oak Cliff and Southwest Dallas turf along with precincts from Hill's old District 5.
You know Claudia, even if you haven't met her personally – because she's one of you. She's a 20-year Dallas resident, who along with her husband Ed, was there at the very beginning of the Dallas fight four years ago. Like so many others, curiosity about a proposed well near her neighborhood initialed research and activism that continues today. She attended every single Dallas Gas Drilling Task Force Meeting. She's a co-founder of Dallas Residents at Risk. And if that's isn't enough bone fides for you, she's also an original Downwinder, a veteran of the TXI hazardous waste fight of the 1990's.
Vonciel Hill is a two-term incumbent who enthusiastically supports gas drilling and has shown a propensity for cronyism in office.
Most recently, you might remember her from her February 27th rant comparing City Manager Mary Suhm to Christ for having to suffer through Angela Hunt's cross-examination of Suhm about the circumstances of the secret agreement between Suhm and Trinity East over their pursuit of gas drilling permits in Dallas. The Dallas Observer's Jim Schutze wrote a column about it the next day headlined: "Vonciel Hill: City Council Member, Prophet, Theologian and Sell-Out:"
Yesterday in a Dallas City Council debate over gas drilling on city parkland, Hill compared council member Angela Hunt to Haman, the killer of Jews and symbol of all evil in the Book of Esther.
Not done yet. Next, Hill compared Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm to Jesus Christ. She predicted that Suhm would one day rise from the dead and enjoy her own personal version of Easter.
Council member Hunt had questioned City Manager Suhm sharply over a deception Suhm pulled on the council in 2008, promising to fight against gas drilling on parkland, then secretly signing a deal with a gas company saying she would win them permission to drill on parkland, then taking a $19 million check from them, on behalf of the city, in return for the deal that she hid for years from the council and from the public until Hunt and council member Scott Griggs got onto it recently.
"Recall in the story of Esther how Haman built the gallows for Mordecai, but it was Haman who hanged on the gallows. Those who affix the gallows for you may themselves hang on those gallows.
"And then reach forward from the Hebrew scriptures to the New Testament scriptures, where those who said of Jesus Christ on Good Friday, 'Well, he's done, he's dead, we've got him now,' wait three days, because Easter will come and there will be the resurrection. And those who pierced him on Good Friday are no longer known, and their names are not around, but two thousand and some years later, the name of the Christ is still ringing forth.
"Miss Suhm, this is a Good Friday moment, but I guarantee you from the faith well into which I reach, your Easter is coming, and you will sail forth."
One last thing about this. Since Hill is the one who chose to put the gas drilling debate on these terms, I think it's fair for me to turn it around and ask her a question on the same terms. And this is not a joke.
If Jesus Christ had signed a secret covenant with the Romans agreeing to look the other way while they screwed over the Jews, would we remember his name today? Really? Or wouldn't he have been just one more forgotten cheap politician who took on all sorts of cheap gaudy religious airs in order to pump up his profile? Like you, Ms. Hill. Exactly like you.
So many people were disgusted by her performance that day that Claudia was overwhelmed by requests to run against Hill. At the last minute, Claudia said yes.
This race is now the necessary next step in the Dallas Drilling Fight. The stakes are very high. If Claudia runs and doesn't win, it not only sets the cause back, but residents could very well have a Dallas city council that will be more pro-drilling than now.
Claudia starts out in a familiar place: underfunded and overworked. That's why she's asking for your help. She's requesting that you please go to her website contribution page right now and send her some needed cash. She needs to raise $9,000 by the end of the first week in April to be able to run the campaign she needs to run to win. Do this today if you want to send City Hall a message that you will continue to fight its drilling plans.
Claudia also needs volunteers to help block walk and make telephone calls, and deliver yard signs. She needs the same army that shows up at City Hall to show up in District 3 to carry the day. Send an e-mail to elect.claudiameyer@gmail.com and let them know you want to volunteer for the campaign. Do it today please.
Remember how you're always saying you'd really like to work for a candidate you believe in? Remember saying how you wish you could send those so-and-so's down at City Hall a real sign of how you feel? The time is now. The opportunity is an e-mail away. In these campaigns, every day is like a week. Don't waste any time. Don't put it off. Or come May, you may find yourself with a City Council that wants to Drill, Baby Drill.
Be There When The Picture Is Painted Today
"Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."
– Frederick Douglass
"They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself"
– Andy Warhol
"You have to make more noise than anybody else, you have to make yourself more obtrusive than anybody else, you have to fill all the papers more than anybody else, in fact you have to be there all the time and see that they do not snow you under, if you are really going to get your reform realized."
– Emmeline Pankhurst
"The only place you can truly be universal is in your own back yard."
– Dietrich Bonhoffer
'Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals."
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
"The important thing is to be there when the picture is painted."
– John Minton
Today, Thursday, March 21st
Dallas City Plan Commission
Vote on Trinity East Drilling Permits
1:00 pm Press Conference
1:30 pm Meeting Begins
Dallas City Hall
6th Floor