Dallas City Hall Stinks of Broken Government
Don’t get distracted by the mayor and council’s ongoing squabbles. What’s really wrong with Dallas is its system of government.
By Peter Simek
Published in
FrontBurner
February 2, 2021
3:33 pm
Last week, the Dallas City Council held a five-hour special meeting that was one long embarrassment. On the surface, the meeting was called to take stock of the city’s vaccination registration and deployment efforts, which are still a mess. But the meeting was really a desperate attempt for the Council to confront the city’s elusive and divisive mayor.
Council members have complained for months that they can’t so much as get Mayor Eric Johnson on the phone to discuss city business. They find out about important issues via memo, press releases, and TV and radio interviews. Oak Cliff Councilwoman Carolyn King Arnold said she hasn’t spoken directly to Johnson in 13 months. It’s absurd. The once rising star of the Texas Democra