the Controversial Committee Report
“We don’t raise sacred cows...we just butcher them.”
If you haven’t bought your tickets for “The Great Finger Pointing and 2nd Posturing” tour, you had best hurry. The headliner for this musical extravaganza is, of course, mayor BVD performing her classic renditions as Lady GaGa Irrational. Opening acts will include the Re-Treads (ex-mayor Gears on vocals with former council member Stopfer on bass), the Forgetaboutits (with Tommy Gonzalez and the Lubbock Mafia), and the Invisibles.(1)
For those who haven’t been paying attention, the Dallas Cowboys will be moving their training facility to Frisco from Valley Ranch. And when the formal announcement was made, the tsunami of spin and blowback by Irving politicos increased the earth’s rotation by 1,300 mph. All this was due to one political faction blaming the current city hall regime for the city’s PR loss of this business. Sadly, neither side could be shamed into truthfulness on this issue.
Actually, Tylock Lasik couldn’t handle all the eye poking this outburst of backpedalling by present and former city officials caused. The only problem is...both sides doing the eye poking, for political points, were wrong!
Can we get realistic here? Those who really thought that Jones would keep the training facility and stay in Irving should raise their hands? Really? Would someone tell mayor BVD and ex-mayor Gears to lower their hands? See, no hands are raised. Why? With ownership of humongous tracts of undeveloped land and other business interest in the Frisco area, why would Jones really want his ‘boys’ in Irving? Think about it...the guy wants to be where the bucks are being made. After all, this move will allow him to step out of his office directly onto the Cowboys practice field where he can continue to play head coach in his spare time!
So, it is really disingenuous for all the Irving politicos (past and present) to lament, point fingers and make sad, very untruthful comments as to why, or even attempt to analyze Jerry’s rationale, frame of mind and his motive in moving the facility. It was a business deal folks! Pure and simple. And Frisco did exactly what Jones wanted...opened the city’s treasury so he wouldn’t have to open his wallet. Simply put, Jones “played” Irving and quiet possibly Arlington while he was leeching significant concessions from Frisco. It doesn’t take an astute head coach to realize the beauty of the X’s and O’s Jones drew on the chalkboard for his Frisco end run play. (Frisco got the X’s and O’s, and Jones got the dough.)
And with a business “play” this finely tuned, maybe Jones should be coaching the Cowboys. It probably wouldn’t be an improvement over the dismal performances the Cowboys have experienced the past few seasons, but he wouldn’t care as his established forte is making bucks on business deals not being a wannabe coach.(2)
What makes all this political posturing-saga truly scary for Irving tax payers is that there was a meeting between mayor BVD, Jones and other participants.(3) And the primary reason for this meeting was to see if Jones would ‘bite‘ on building his training facility and a hodgepodge of amenities reminiscent of “JerryWorld” on the old Texas Stadium site. What?! Which feeble minded city official would want to ‘give‘ the Texas Stadium site to Jones? (And ‘give’ could probably be accomplished with Jones at the negotiating table.) If one doesn’t consider the exorbitant prices the city paid for all the Heritage District property to end the McDougalville fiasco, the Texas Stadium site has to be the most expensive piece of real estate the city owns.
As far as city council negotiations -- past and present -- involving business entities, most council members have demonstrated their acute ability to bend over backwards, smile and say ‘thank you’ for such a lovely affair business meeting with tax payers ended up getting the shaft...and not the well. Consider the Heritage District properties, Entertainment Center agreement with LCG and Billy Bob, the dole to the chamber of commerce for a suite at Cowboys Stadium, the questionable consultant contract results with Dean International, etc. The list is long and the benefits to tax payers are short.
Hopefully, the final performance of “The Great Finger Pointing and 2nd Posturing” tour will be May, 2014. Staff of the CCR is growing weary of hearing all the bleating and self-righteous chest beating from the Apologist (mayor BVD) and the Has Beens (spurred on by ex-mayor Gears).
In May, tax payers will be ready to vote and elect representatives who could recognize that city assets are for the citizens...not to be given away to businesses who know how to negotiate better than any elected politico or perceived self-important city manager. Frankly, retread politicos need not apply to run as they, too, have been responsible for most of the current financial mismanagement and fiscal trauma as noted above.
Fresh blood and thinking with a responsible council and new city manager could be the way that tax payers might escape this near decade of bad deals, squandered bucks and political vendettas that seem to play out in every proposal coming before the council.
And if all this doesn’t happen at election time, then the CCR will draft 91-year old Monty Hall, a Canadian, out of “Let’s Make A Deal” retirement to run for city council. At least citizens would have three doors to choose from without having to open their wallets to fund any additional financial malfeasance!
……………….Mark Holbrook
NOTES:
- At this time, the CCR cannot identify all the Invisibles who participated in this confab. As soon as the information requested from the city under the FOI Act arrives, then readers could be alerted to other critical factors concerning the pow-wow conducted with Jerry Jones by mayor BVD, et al.
- Having attended high school with former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson, staff of the CCR knows a good coach from a wannabe coach when they see one!
- DMN, Avi Selk, 08-16-13: “...Jones, Mayor Beth Van Duyne and other key players met in Valley Ranch earlier this year to discuss building the project on the Texas Stadium site in east Irving, which the Cowboys vacated in 2008…”
