Back Talk Far North Dallas

Council subcommittee considers a smoking ban in bars, billiard halls

A city council subcommittee is considering expanding the city's current smoking ban from restaurants and workplaces to bars, billiard halls and within 15 feet of entrances to publicly accessible villages, according to the DMN. A majority of the six councilmen on the subcommittee seem to be leaning in favor of the proposal, according to the News story and more comments on its blog.

I have to admit that when the city council first decided to restrict smoking in restaurants and other public places a few years ago, I had my doubts: It seemed like a draconian measure, and it seemed likely to drive business out of Dallas. Today, though, I haven't seen a single study indicating that significant business was lost to the more smoking-friendly suburbs, and the air in most places I go these days is cleaner and clearer.

Easing credit crunch puts the convention center hotel back on track

Good news for fans of the taxpayer-owned downtown convention center hotel, as well as for the pending DISD bond issue: The credit market, at least for public works projects, appears to be easing enough to allow AA-rated and above public entities to obtain financing. A DMN story indicates the city of Dallas intends to close on $253.3 million in water improvement project bonds this week; a few weeks ago, this and just about every other bond project in the country were frozen due to lack of capital or political will or lenders — take your pick. The $550 million convention center hotel, which Mayor Tom Leppert and many city councilmen have vowed to fund in January, requires issuance of municipal revenue bonds to generate the cash, so now that the market is coming back, lack of available funding shouldn't hold back Leppert or the council. I guess we'll see if the May referendum on the project causes the council members any heartburn when it comes time to approve the bonds in January.

RISD board without Carol Kent

Now that Lake Highlands resident and Richardson ISD trustee Carol Kent has been elected as the District 102 state representative, it made me wonder what will happen to her seat on the board since the Texas Legislature's session starts in January, and RISD board elections don't take place until May.

I posed this question to Luke Davis, one of our Lake Highlands columnists and Kent's colleague on the board. Apparently, the board has some options. "Factors include the amount of time left in Carol's term whenever she resigns, and the amount of time before the next trustee election," Davis says. "Options include appointing a new trustee to serve in that seat, or leaving that place vacant until the May election."

This issue is on the board's Nov. 17 agenda; initial conversations may be in closed session, Davis says.

Election results, part II

• Yes, that was an impressive performance by Lupe Valdez in winning the sheriff’s race. She only ran about 35,000 votes behind Barack Obama in Dallas County, and she apparently got a lot of Republican and independent votes in the process. There were 289,000 straight party Democratic ballots, and Valdez got 388,000 votes. What does this mean? A lot of people think she has the jail problems under control.

• I noted last week how much fun the Democratic primary for county judge will be in two years given the results on Nov. 4. I’m not sure the Republicans will have quite so much fun. If Valdez can get one-quarter of her votes from non-Democratic voters, imagine how many votes a more respected Democratic candidate can get. By the way, one of the names being floated around as a possible GOP judge candidate is former Lakewood city councilman and erstwhile mayoral candidate Gary Griffith.

• My favorite number from the election, from precinct 1207 in Highland Park (voting was at Robert Hyer elementary on Caruth). George Bush got 82 percent of the vote there in 2004, with 952 votes cast. In this election, John McCain ran behind Bush by .7 of a point, with 2,604 votes cast. I don’t know that the .7 of a point is significant, but that 530 people voted for Obama in one of the most GOP precincts in the country is.

Technorati Tags: Dallas County elections,sheriff's race,Dallas County judge

Election results, part I

A few quick thoughts until I get chance to examine the numbers:

• U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, who ran 30 points ahead of John McCain in Dallas County, becomes a leading contender for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate when incumbent Kay Bailey Hutchison resigns next year to run for governor.

• Will the Democratic landslide in Dallas County give Mayor Park Cities and his allies on the city council second thoughts about rushing the convention center hotel package through before next spring’s referendum? And don’t you think the anti-hotel people wish they had put the issue on the ballot yesterday?

• Turnout was almost 62 percent –- good, but not staggering. Statewide, it was about 59 percent. This means that early voting doesn’t necessarily translate into more voters, but the same number of voters voting early. This should change the way candidates campaign, putting more of a focus on early voters.

• The race for Dallas County judge in 2010 gets much, much more interesting, since the Democratic nominee would seem to have a leg up on winning. The Democratic incumbent, Jim Foster, may have as many as four opponents in the primary, all well known and respected -– former city councilmen Larry Duncan, John Loza and Chris Luna and ex-mayoral candidate Sam Coats.

• Democratic incumbent Allen Vaught beat Republican Bill Keffer by 1,800 votes for the state District 107 House seat. That’s 700 votes more than he beat Keffer by two years ago, and probably means the end of Keffer’s political career.

• The same is probably true for Republican incumbent Tony Goolsby in the District 102 House race. He lost by 2,500 votes to Democrat Carol Kent after holding the seat in 2006 by 1,500 votes.

Technorati Tags: Dallas County elections,Pete Sessions,Allen Vaught,Bill Keffer,Tony Goolsby,turnout

Barack Obama says "no" to a saggy pants ordinance

President-elect Barack Obama may well have an impact on one of the least-pressing but most-discussed issues facing the Dallas city council: whether to pass an ordinance outlawing "saggy pants". The DMN city hall blog reports that during an interview with MTV News, Obama dissed the very idea of outlawing saggy pants, saying: "I think people passing a law against people wearing sagging pants is a waste of time," among other comments you can read by clicking here. Anyway, deputy mayor pro tem Dwaine Caraway, an Obama supporter, has been the city's leading proponent of the saggy pants ordinance.

Election results: Where to get what you need

Know what really makes me feel old? Remembering when the only way to find out who was winning the presidential election was to watch one of the three major networks, something that was true as recently as 1992.

Nowadays, of course, there are an infinite number of ways. Here’s a quick look at where you can keep track of what’s going on locally, plus some interesting national sites. Plus, for those too young to remember, how TV used to cover politics –- in glorious black and white:

Democracy is so very sweet

Here's another election-day freebie. Ben & Jerry's is giving out free scoops of ice cream from 5-8 p.m. Lucky for us, the nearest participating Ben & Jerry's is located in Plano at 1501 Preston Road. 

Election Day

Lunchtime update: So far, turnout seems to be much lighter than expected. Many media outlets are reporting that this morning's long lines are gone. "It was almost like it wasn't a presidential election year," county elections boss Bruce Sherbet told Dallas' Only Daily Newspaper. Will it pick up this afternoon and evening?

If you vote today, comment here, and we’ll update this post throughout the day. If you aren’t sure where to go to vote today, check here.

Later this afternoon, we’ll post some web sites and other places to get results tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll have our usual spot on commentary about what happened locally and why.

Technorati Tags: election,voting

Pop culture: SNL on the presidential campaign

If you've been hiding under a rock for the last few weeks, it's possible that you may still have caught wind of Saturday Night Live's special segments on the presidential campaign, along with all of its politician guest stars.

The last show airs tonight at 8 p.m., but if you miss it, you can always watch it (along with the other past episodes) on NBC's website. Tomorrow, when tensions are running high around the water cooler, it will be a good stress reliever.