CITYSCOPE

The local political community is already buzzing about the 1987 mayor’s race. The word now is that Mayor Starke Taylor, who sometime back suddenly opened the door to speculation that he might seek another term, is merely keeping the chair warm until after the November general elections for Dallas County Republican Party chairman Fred Meyer. “Fred seems to be willingly doing more of those sort of things that a mayoral hopeful should be doing-involving himself in things that a partisan political leader would avoid,” says a close friend and political supporter of the chairman. “I think the only reason he hasn’t announced his interest in the race is that he wants to stay on board for the November election. He couldn’t see silting around doing nothing for more than a year while waiting for that election, because he’d resign as party chairman as soon as he announced.” Whether that’s indeed the scenario, neither party is saying. There’s still time for a “non-political.” business-type candidate to come forward, and Meyer continues to hear discouraging words about the mayor’s race from a variety of people-including, yes, loyal Republicans-who are concerned about the appearance of partisanship that his candidacy would inject into the traditionally nonpartisan city elections. Even more to the point, some Republicans think Meyer is far more important to the party than he would be to the city as mayor. . .



Speaking of the mayor’s race, supporters of Mayor Pro Tem Annette Strauss continue to agonize over what they feel is her failure to receive due credit for her successes. Her problem, and she acknowledges it, tends to be her image, which is that of a warm, let’s-say-nothing-un-kind Pollyanna in her public pronouncements. Some City Hall reporters admit they’re reluctant to approach her for an interview or quote because she’s not good, exciting copy. “It’s just not my style to be controversial or colorful, and I can’t and won’t change it to suit their needs,” says Strauss. The Strauss style is that of a behind-the-scenes negotiator, and those who’ve dealt with her on a wide variety of issues-Love Field, the relocation of the Washington Place residents, the Planning Policies Issue Paper, the development of a Code of Ethics for city employees and officials, and numerous other matters-say she is indeed reasonable and effective. “If she were a male, she’d be described in the news media as a ’strong, silent type,’ and I’d like to know why that shouldn’t be considered a positive attribute in a woman,” says Gray McBride, a communication consultant who supports Strauss. “I’d like to see her become more aggressive in her communications with the media. She’s aggressive as mayor pro tem, but she’s not with the press. They believe she’s as simple as she appears. I can assure you she’s much more complex than that.”



Dallas city officials can’t say much publicly about it, but privately they’re worried about a lawsuit that should soon be making its way to trial. It was filed late last year by the Del E. Webb Corporation of Phoenix, the general contractor for the $31 million expansion of the Dallas Convention Center. The suit seeks at least $10 million for extra work the company claims it performed on that project but was never paid for by the city. Named in the suit are both the City of Dallas and Omniplan, Inc., architect for the convention center expansion. To simplify, the contractor claims that the expansion-which was completed in time for the Republican National Convention in August 1984-was made difficult because of such things as “inadequacy and inconsistency” in the architectural drawings and constant design changes while work was in progress, plus “grossly inadequate coordination” on the project. The city has denied the allegations outlined in the civil lawsuit and has filed a counterclaim seeking damages. It should be set for trial any time now.



The North Dallas Chamber of Commerce is involved in “a power struggle within the organization over the future direction of that body,” says one member. The struggle pits those who prefer that the chamber keep a hard-nosed, pro-business profile against some who would like to see the organization take a lower profile on political matters. “It’s not exactly like liberals versus conservatives,” says the board member, who doesn’t want to be identified. “It’s more like a debate over whether we ought to continue to be aggressive in promoting our points of view, or whether we ought to follow the lead of the downtown chamber and work quietly behind the scenes. It’s a real split, though.” The early betting line is that the old regime will win . . . .