While Price does have enemies–white and black–who would not hesitate to smear his name, a careful examination of his record reveals evidence of behavior that runs the gamut from mere bad judgment to outright unethical and even illegal acts, including blatant conflicts of interest, influence peddling, kickback demands, sexual harassment of subordinates, even sexual assault. When the facts are sifted from the rumors, the picture that emerges is that of a gifted, charismatic leader whose desire for wealth and personal power led him to squander his potential and betray those who trusted him.
That’s what someone named Laura Miller wrote in the March 1991 issue of D Magazine about one Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price. None of what she reports is necessarily related to his current troubles. But it is astonishing.
You’ll want to read the whole thing.
We’re posting the story to our site today for the first time, because of popular demand (some of you wonderful FrontBurnervians asked for it). The issue in which it appeared was one of a few that was never uploaded to our online archive. The reason? Well, it seems that we just couldn’t find a copy of it anywhere in our office. Thankfully the text was available through another source, as Miller’s article was featured in our 30 Greatest Stories book, published in 2004.
