Election day may have come and gone in Dallas, but some voters are not off the hook yet. Some contests ended inconclusively, requiring a run-off election on June 13. So the conversation about the toll road can still go on. See below for election notes and more news from the city of Dallas this week.
Unfinished races
With a voter turnout of 6.76 percent, Mayor Mike Rawlings won re-election, as did city council members Rick Callahan and Monica Alonzo. Newly elected to the city council: Carolyn King Arnold in District 4 and Mark Clayton in District 9.
These council seats face run-offs: District 3 with Joe Tave versus Casey Thomas, District 7 with Tiffini Young and Kevin Felder, District 8 with Dianne Gibson versus Erik Wilson, and District 10 with Paul Reyes versus Adam McGough.
Plastic bag revisit
Dallas is primed for another pass at the plastic bag ordinance, this time with the possibility of banning them altogether. The topic will be on the agenda at the next city council meeting. One group of council members wants to amend it; the other wants to repeal it.
The repeal group includes council members Vonciel Jones Hill, Jennifer Staubach Gates, Sheffie Kadane, Jerry Allen and Rick Callahan, who scuttled together for a meeting after the plastic bag companies filed a lawsuit in May.
The amend group includes council members Lee Kleinman, Dwaine Caraway, Scott Griggs, Adam Medrano and Philip Kingston, aka the A Team, whose recommendations include eliminating the 5-cent fee, eliminating registration and signs for businesses, and taking paper bags out of the mix.
Trinity toll road black humor
With rain so relentless that two festivals had to be moved this week or get canceled, the timing could not be better to question the merits of the Trinity toll road. It has become an amusing pastime on Facebook to post weather reports and updates and photos of the Trinity in flood stage — three times this week alone — with black-humor captions.
"I mean a toll road would totally be awesome under this much water," reads one comment. Reads another: "Floods are god's way of reminding us not to build in floodplains." ... "But Rodger [Jones] at the DMN knows more than us and said the toll road would be fine." ... "What about the juggler? Someone save the juggler!"
Swaney left the building
Deep Ellum landlord Jeff Swaney (Club Clearview) is just about out of Deep Ellum. His company Delphi Group sold a two-story brick building at 3000 Commerce St. to Madison Realty. The building is on the east side of Deep Ellum and most recently housed Calais Winery, which moved out in May.
"The building I just sold is pretty close to my last property down there," Swaney told the Dallas Morning News.
The plastic bag ordinance will get a second look.
