Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Dallas City Hall corruption probe expanding
Courtesy of The Dallas Morning News:
New names have emerged in the federal investigation into corruption at Dallas City Hall, including DISD trustee Ron Price, State Rep. Terri Hodge and State Sen. Royce West.
Those names were included in a federal subpoena served at Dallas City Hall earlier this month. Excerpts of the document were obtained Wednesday by The Dallas Morning News.
The subpoena is part of an ongoing FBI investigation into tax-credit housing projects, contracting and development companies, and potential kickbacks and corruption at City Hall.
The federal probe surfaced in June, when agents searched the homes and offices of Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill and City Plan Commissioner D’Angelo Lee, and the security business of Councilman James Fantroy.
The subpoena demands large amounts of overarching information on Mr. Hill, Mr. Fantroy, Councilman Leo Chaney and plan commissioners Melvin Traylor and Carol Brandon, who were appointed by Mr. Chaney and Mr. Fantroy, respectively.
It seeks specific, pointed documents on Councilwoman Maxine Thornton-Reese, Mr. Price, DART board member Lynn Flint Shaw and Toska Medlock-Lee, Mr. Lee’s wife.
And it requests correspondence from Mr. West and Ms. Hodge, D-Dallas, on tax-credit housing projects.
The subpoena also seeks additional records on two companies specializing in affordable housing: Southwest Housing Development Co., owned by Brian Potashnik, and Odyssey Residential Holdings, headed by James R. “Bill” Fisher. Mr. Potashnik’s company was searched by the FBI in June.
This is really, really bad news for a city that desparately needs a city government with its act together. It provides lots more fodder for the commenters whose vein is that blacks are nothing but corrupt, no good, dirty politicians. It just keeps on getting worse. There have been so many problems in Dallas lately, from the fake drug scandal, to the strong-mayor plan fiasco, to DISD kickbacks and corruption and now this. When are the citizens of Dallas going to demand more accountability of all its elected leaders?
Obviously, the subpoenas are seeking information, and they don't mean that Sen. West and others are the target of the investigation. But the FBI already has some Dallas City Council members and city government officials on their radar, and that's enough for me to say the citizens need to make a stand.
The race card has already been played by the Dallas black community. They've already accused the FBI of a racially motivated investigation. Let me ask you this: what if it's all true? Every last allegation. Is it still racism if the people investigated are guilty as hell? If the trend is anything like what I've seen since moving to the D/FW area in 1987, the answer will be yes.
It's time to put all the dirty politicians in this area "buck naked and out in the cold," and stop playing the race baiting zero-sum games that are getting us nowhere.
New names have emerged in the federal investigation into corruption at Dallas City Hall, including DISD trustee Ron Price, State Rep. Terri Hodge and State Sen. Royce West.
Those names were included in a federal subpoena served at Dallas City Hall earlier this month. Excerpts of the document were obtained Wednesday by The Dallas Morning News.
The subpoena is part of an ongoing FBI investigation into tax-credit housing projects, contracting and development companies, and potential kickbacks and corruption at City Hall.
The federal probe surfaced in June, when agents searched the homes and offices of Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill and City Plan Commissioner D’Angelo Lee, and the security business of Councilman James Fantroy.
The subpoena demands large amounts of overarching information on Mr. Hill, Mr. Fantroy, Councilman Leo Chaney and plan commissioners Melvin Traylor and Carol Brandon, who were appointed by Mr. Chaney and Mr. Fantroy, respectively.
It seeks specific, pointed documents on Councilwoman Maxine Thornton-Reese, Mr. Price, DART board member Lynn Flint Shaw and Toska Medlock-Lee, Mr. Lee’s wife.
And it requests correspondence from Mr. West and Ms. Hodge, D-Dallas, on tax-credit housing projects.
The subpoena also seeks additional records on two companies specializing in affordable housing: Southwest Housing Development Co., owned by Brian Potashnik, and Odyssey Residential Holdings, headed by James R. “Bill” Fisher. Mr. Potashnik’s company was searched by the FBI in June.
This is really, really bad news for a city that desparately needs a city government with its act together. It provides lots more fodder for the commenters whose vein is that blacks are nothing but corrupt, no good, dirty politicians. It just keeps on getting worse. There have been so many problems in Dallas lately, from the fake drug scandal, to the strong-mayor plan fiasco, to DISD kickbacks and corruption and now this. When are the citizens of Dallas going to demand more accountability of all its elected leaders?
Obviously, the subpoenas are seeking information, and they don't mean that Sen. West and others are the target of the investigation. But the FBI already has some Dallas City Council members and city government officials on their radar, and that's enough for me to say the citizens need to make a stand.
The race card has already been played by the Dallas black community. They've already accused the FBI of a racially motivated investigation. Let me ask you this: what if it's all true? Every last allegation. Is it still racism if the people investigated are guilty as hell? If the trend is anything like what I've seen since moving to the D/FW area in 1987, the answer will be yes.
It's time to put all the dirty politicians in this area "buck naked and out in the cold," and stop playing the race baiting zero-sum games that are getting us nowhere.
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