Over eight months ago, the Dallas City Council approved moving forward with the Park Board’s plan to award their second RFP to the Reverchon Park Sports and Entertainment LLC led by Donnie Nelson. On Jan. 22, I filed an open records request with the city seeking documents surrounding the run-up to the deal’s passage. On Feb. 6, the Dallas City Secretary’s Office sent a note saying they’d sent my request to the Attorney General for a decision regarding the release of information they consider exempt. Their reply was due Feb. 13. Instead, I got a copy of a letter from Dallas to the state Open Records Division detailing why certain information shouldn’t be provided — not an answer. The few innocuous records I did receive were detailed here.
As you can see from the list above, the last information or communication surrounding this request was on Feb. 28. As you can see below, the case is still listed by the city as “In Progress.” We seem to have vastly different understandings of what constituted “progress.”
I believe and have been told that sending open records requests to the state Attorney General is what happens to requests the city wants to remain unanswered and out of the public eye. It’s political chicanery to avoid the public knowing what’s really going on.
And no, I wouldn’t buy a “COVID-19” delay either.
As I write this, I sent a note to the City Secretary’s Office asking what’s up. Their response four days ago was that they’d respond the “next business day.” If there’s ever a reply of substance, I’ll post it here.
Eight Months and Nothing
My open records request isn’t the only thing that’s ghosted the past eight months. Within the RFP there were performance dates for proof of funds, community meetings, design, and build deadlines. None have been met and as far as I’ve monitored, there has been no public request to change these dates — something the city can do with ease.
You’d think that COVID-19 had impacted the baseball and concerts that were supposed to fuel the huge new field. But since their goal was the 2021 season anyway, COVID-19 should have no impact on construction schedules.
No Money, Honey
Let’s remember that the first RFP died when that group couldn’t scrape the monies they’d promised to get going. And it looks like we’re in the same boat a second time.
You’ll recall that since February, there’s been is a lawsuit winding its way through the courts, filed by residents of Park Towers, to reverse the city’s decision on Reverchon Park. As I’ve noted before, lawsuits tend to wither on your ability to raise funds — who wants their donation to pay for legal bills?
I’m going to guess that Donnie Nelson and his LLC haven’t cobbled together enough money to even get started.
This all leaves me asking how many at-bats does the city have for Reverchon Park?
I’m also left asking as COVID-19 has highlighted the need for outdoor spaces for residents. Certainly, the baseball fan who told city council in January that no one used Reverchon couldn’t make that claim today. In fact, in light of COVID-19’s impact on park use, I wonder if city council needs to re-read my April 2020 column on how below-average our park count is, and how underfunded they are — Dallas parks average one public restroom for every 84,806 residents.
On the upside, it looks like DART will have to wait a little longer to install their tram along Turtle Creek.
