When it comes to preserving the historical buildings at Fair Park, I could not agree more with our Suzanne Felber.
We have the largest collection of art deco buildings in the world, says our mayor. WFAA’s Brett Shipp reports that, under the Humann public/private partnership proposal, $240 million will be spent on those buildings, some for buildings only used during the State Fair of Texas.
Don Williams, chief critic to the Humann plan, agrees. But he also recalls real estate 101: never fix up an empty building. Translation: he does not mean NEVER fix them up, he means retrofit is costly. Figure out a building’s use before you start ripping out walls and slapping on paint. $240 million is a lot of money in a city starved for basic services that I call the “three p’s” police, potholes, and protection. Great to say “build it and they will come”, but not with taxpayers’ money. (We are sick and tired and have had enough.) Frankly, I also think Walt Humann is the right man for the job, as long as we get the right contract. We need to use our resources wisely. Find the use, sign up the tenants, then repair and maintain the buildings. At least two of our more thoughtful fiscal watchdogs on the Dallas City Council have responded:
Yesterday, City Councilwoman Jennifer Gates sent a memo to her constituents asking them to attend Monday’s city council meeting — we certainly will be there, hope you will, too. She said:
District 13 residents have reached out to our office with questions about the Fair Park proposed management agreement. There will be a public hearing on Monday August 29th on the Fair Park Texas Foundation proposed management agreement at City Hall at 1:00 PM. I encourage all interested to attend this meeting or watch it online at dallascityhall.com.
To see the Agenda for this public hearing click here: Special Called City Council Meeting
To see the briefing that will be presented to council click here: Briefing
For any questions please contact the District 13 office at 214-670-3816 or [email protected].
Here is how City Councilman Philip Kingston responded to his constituents who were using a form letter provided by the Friends of Fair Park:
I’ve been receiving a smattering of e-mails from some of you purporting to support the Humann privatization plan for Fair Park. In responding to those emails, it has become clear that at least some of you are confused about what you signed your name to. The emails were generated from a form published by the Friends of Fair Park. Let’s clarify the Humann plan, and then let’s talk about “Friends” of Fair Park.
Here’s the web form (strongly recommend you not use it):
http://www.fairpark.org/updates/20160826.html
And here’s the email text it generates:
“Dear Council Member Philip Kingston,
I support the Fair Park Texas Foundation and urge you to vote in favor of this public, private partnership. We cannot waste the potential of this 277-acre Dallas treasure. I want to see more green space, year-round use and positive connections to the surrounding neighborhood. We need Foundation management and adequate funding. It is a time for Dallas to come together in support of action for Fair Park after years of disrepair.”
Here’s what I’ve been sending back:
“Thanks for writing, but I will be opposing the proposal unless there are substantial improvements. Like any other contract with the city, we need an RFP to see if we can get a more credible proposal. This proposal is too expensive, has too little oversight, and has very few obligations of the foundation. In fact, the things you list as reasons to support the foundation aren’t required by the proposal.”
I’m not sure if I think that the web form is deceptive, but the email it generates definitely doesn’t describe the contractual obligations the Humann plan proposes. See Ellen Williams’s excellent analysis here:
http://www.dallasnews.com/…/20160825-will-fair-park-leaders…
And below read a little about just one of the many, many times that the “Friends” of Fair Park have failed the park.
In the recommendations of the mayor’s FP task force from 2014 that are the genesis of the Humann plan, there was a virtual certainty that the FoFP would cease to exist. The proposed non-profit from that effort led by Linda Evans was to have beaten the bushes for philanthropic support for the private management of the park. It would have been impossible for a competing organization like the FoFP to have continued to develop any donations in that environment, and its very existence would have been rendered superfluous. In fact, the task force members took pains to contrast their expectations for the efficacy and transparency of the new non-profit manager with the wasteful and failed efforts of decades of FoFP.
So why is FoFP the loudest voice in favor of the Humann plan? Not for any legitimate reason, I’d wager.
http://www.dallasnews.com/…/20110504-editorial-friends-of-f…
Summary of Proposed Changes by Joanna England on Scribd
Management Agreement Proposed Changes – Management Agreement Proposed Changes by Joanna England on Scribd
