FIRST BRIEFING: The results of the 2009 Citizen Survey that analyzes residents’ satisfaction (or lack thereof) with a broad range of city services. High points:

Overall satisfaction with city services has improved greately during the past 2 years.
* Among 109 areas that were assessed on the City’s survey in both 2007 & 2009
- Ratings IMPROVED in 91 areas
- Ratings STAYED THE SAME in 6 areas
- Ratings DECREASED in just 12 areas
* Overall satisfaction with city services in Dallas is significantly higher than the national average

SECOND BRIEFING: An overview of the projects for which the city has requested Federal Economic Stimulus Funds.

Join me at a Dallas City Council meeting five years from now:

It’s 2014. Under Mayor Tom Leppert’s plan, the Trinity toll road should have opened last year, but its construction hasn’t even begun. It remains mired in federal safety analyses due to concerns about its effect on Dallas’ levees. The North Texas Tollway Authority bowed out in early 2011 when it determined it could not fund the now $2.4 billion project.

City staff reluctantly informs the council and mayor that there is no way to bridge the enormous funding gap. The buckets of money once touted to finance the road have been spent on other more critical transportation needs in the region. Less than half of the city’s $84 million in bond funds for the road remains.

Trinity levee improvements have not been completed. Not a shovel of dirt has been turned to bring the Trinity Park to life, and no lakes exist within the floodway. Now that plans for the park have been all but scrapped, the residential and mixed-use developments once planned along Industrial Boulevard have been abandoned.

The city manager chooses her words carefully, but the meaning is clear: The Trinity toll road is dead. With millions of taxpayer dollars and years of staff time wasted, the city must now reconcile itself to nearly two decades without a park, without levee enhancements and without traffic improvements.

That is our future, unless we act now. Before wasting another minute or spending another dime on what has clearly become an unworkable route, we can chart a new course. It’s time to implement a new plan – Plan B – premised on eliminating the toll road from the Trinity River floodway. Rather than continuing on a course that promises more delay and uncertainty, Plan B will allow us to move forward.

Here is my vision for Plan B:

1. Flood control

• Fix our levees without further delay.

2. Transportation

• Move forward immediately with TxDOT’s Project Pegasus, which will help unsnarl traffic in the Mixmaster and Canyon.

• Fix Dead Man’s Curve in South Dallas and transform S.M. Wright into a beautiful boulevard.

• Complete the Interstate 635 loop by connecting Interstate 20 with the western portion of Loop 12. This will give the Inland Port and NAFTA Trade Corridor traffic a simpler, faster route around downtown instead of through it.

• Expedite mass transit alternatives that get cars off our congested downtown freeways. Work with DART to create additional light rail routes.

3. Trinity Park

• Proceed with federal approval for the park lakes and quickly construct the planned trails.

• Open it to residents by creating safe, protected pedestrian and bicycle routes to the park from downtown and Oak Cliff. Construct planned parking facilities in and near the park.

We can no longer allow the toll road’s delay and uncertainty to prevent Dallas from moving forward in addressing our transportation and flood control needs and in fulfilling the promise of a great park. Plan B will allow us to finally realize the dream of the Trinity River project.

Some city leaders refuse to acknowledge the need for Plan B, dismissing concerns about the toll road as defeatist. This approach appears less and less prudent as problems with the toll road compound and its billion-dollar funding gap grows.

I hope our city leadership will recognize the need to chart a new course, one that fulfills promises rather than defers them. We owe it to Dallas residents who have begun to lose faith in this project and our city government. Much has changed since the toll road referendum, and I’m ready to work with the mayor and the rest of the council to begin Plan B today.

Together, we can finally get the dirt flying on the Trinity River project.

I have to turn in the forms next week, so I’ll need to get the forms back by next Monday. Just shoot me an email at angela@angelahunt.com if you can help and I will arrange to have the forms picked up from you. I appreciate your help!

The feed’s back on.

• Coordination of children’s arts programs
City staff, along with Big Thought, a non-profit that provides arts outreach for economically disadvantaged children, gave us an overview of an exciting new collaboration. Late last year, Big Thought won a pretigious grant from the Wallace Foundation. One of only two awarded in the nation, the $1M grant will allow the City of Dallas, DISD, and area arts organizations to develop a comprehensive plan to provide arts programs to Dallas. Study after study shows that hildren who participate in arts programs not only do better in school but are much less likely to drop out.

I am pleased to learn that DISD will be adding 140 arts teachers (music, performing and graphic art), and have already hired 60. This commitment is particularly impressive and far-sighted when other school districts across the country are cutting or eliminating arts programs.

The City must also be prepared to increase our budget next year for after-school and extra-curricular arts programs for children as Big Thought works with us and DISD to develop a master plan.

• Partnering with DISD on new buildings and infrastructure
It makes sense to combine efforts and reduce costs wherever possible as well as coordinate to improve city infrastructure near our schools.

One such collaberation is the City’s partnership with DISD on after-school recreation programs. We have agreements with 29 elementary schools and 6 middle schools for after-school programs from 3-6 pm. The City Parks Department provides staff and supplies, and DISD provides program space, six hours of tutoring, and snacks. DISD and the City also coordinate on an after-school special education program, as well as a seven week summer program.

There are also joint efforts for new City/DISD facilities, including five joint efforts for park/athletic facilities with schools (Randall Park and Woodrow Wilson High School in District 14). The City’s portion is paid for with 2003 City Bond funds. Similarly, there are two joint library/elementary school facilities recently built (Arcadia Elementary/Library and Hampton-Illinois/Brashear Elementary), and a new library planned to accommodate three new schools in Vickery Meadows.

The City is also investing $70M of the proposed 2006 bond program to improve sidewalks, streets, parks, and storm drainage near schools in coordination with DISD.

• 2002 DISD Bond Program
DISD Superintendent Hinojosa gave the City Council an overview of projects funded through DISD’s $1.37B bond program from 2002:
-15 of 22 new schools complete, 5 under construction
-33 of 33 major additions complete
-94 of 155 renovations complete, 59 under under construction

• DISD’s “Dallas Achieves!” Program
Dr. Hinojosa also explained that he and the Trustees have set a goal for DISD to become the best urban school system in the country by 2010. That effort is called “Dallas Achieves!” and includes aggressive student performance goals:
By 2010, DISD students will be:
90%+ passing TAKS
50%+ highest level of TAKS
90%+ graduating in 4 years with more rigorous school work

The new collaboration between DISD and the City is extremely important, and it’s much greater than just these quarterly meetings. City staff is regularly meeting with DISD staff to work through the projects outlined above, and much of this success belongs to the good working relationship that our City Manager Mary Suhm and DISD Superintendent Hinojosa enjoy.

I also like the new quarterly meetings between the Council and Trustees. It’s clear they have a strong sense of where they want to take the school district, and we all know that the quality of our schools has a dramatic effect on our quality of life, employment rates, economic development, and crime.

I can’t end my blog without mentioning two things that I learned about DISD that are very impressive. First, 38% of DISD schools are either recognized or exemplary status. Second, two of our high schools were ranked in the top ten NATIONALLY (first and eighth).

We discussed the need for improved code enforcement, a crackdown on nearby hotels rented by the day (a haven for prostitution), and the need for better policing.

UPDATE: I am proud to announce that the Dallas Fire Fighters Association has endorsed me in the district 14 council race. Fire fighters risk their lives on a daily basis for the citizens of Dallas, and I am honored that they have recognize my commitment to public safety by endorsing me in this race.

The Rachofsky House is the former residence of Howard Rachofsky, and was designed by award-winning architect Richard Meier. The house now serves as a museum housing many of the artworks in Mr. Rachofsky’s impressive personal collection.

The event coincided with the announcement that Mr. Rachofsky and his wife Cindy, along with Deedie and Rusty Rose (who also hosted the fundraiser), Robert and Marguerite Hoffman, and Margaret McDermott (whose daughter Mary McDermott Cook was also an event host) have announced that they are donating their art collections – collectively valued at $400 million dollars – to the Dallas Museum of Art.

The support of the arts community is very important to my candidacy, as the council is losing Veletta Lill, the most active and dedicated arts patron serving on the council.

It is vital to the future of the arts in Dallas – which brings in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue to the city annually – that we maintain a strong voice for the arts on city council. I will be that voice.

The large group of Uptown residents who attended talked about how much they enjoy the vibrancy of the area, the nightlife, and the great restaurants. It was a great opportunity for me to share my thoughts on the issues facing those who live in urban areas of our district.