EDITOR’S NOTE We Can’t Take It Anymore

One gentleman wearing work gloves regularly patrols the sidewalks of my East Dallas neighborhood, yelling loudly at no one in particular when something is out of sync. His mental state is such that a piece of litter is enough to get him going.

While most of us have a firmer grip on sanity, the current environment within city government is driving us toward irrational thought and behavior. To varying degrees we are frustrated, disgusted or disillusioned with the way the city is working-or not working. On any given day, pushed to the limit by personal experiences, unbelievable headlines and shortsighted individuals, we may respond in anger to whatever comes next, insignificant or not.

We all have different flash points. For D columnist Jim Schutze, it was a mugging on a downtown street in broad daylight that forced him to ask hard questions and give answers we won’t all like (see page 36).

For me, a boiling point came with one paragraph in a troubling analysis in The Dallas Morning News of the Cowboys parade melee: “The problem was, City Manager Jan Hart says, she didn’t review parade arrangements with her designated deputy, Assistant City Manager A.C. Gonzalez. She wasn’t on speaking terms with Chief [Bill] Rathburn. And she and the mayor have been squabbling for months.”

What? The biggest public event in the city’s history and the city manager doesn’t review the plans? And the police chiefs out of town? At that moment, 1 didn’t want any more explanations, I wanted leadership and honesty. I wanted the people who screwed up to say they screwed up, and then to say here’s what I’m going to do so it won’t happen again.

Unfortunately, some Dallasites have already moved beyond anger. They’ve checked out because they’re sick of the bickering, the finger pointing and the naysaying on every issue… racism, crime, troubled youth, homosexuals, abortion-take your pick. They wish they had never heard the expression “personal agenda” and can’t help but wonder about hidden agendas. They don’t want a part of any of it.

Some days I find this a very tempting attitude to embrace. I don’t want to worry about the burned-out and graffiti-etched buildings I see on my way to work. I don’t want to worry about all the young girls pushing baby strollers when they should be in school. 1 don’t want to be like the man in my neighborhood, forever yelling about the same things.

But I know that I-that we-have little choice. Yes, we can move to a “safe” community (until we realize there is no such thing), we can stop reading the news, we can stop going downtown, we can stop talking. But we know what that will bring us: Nothing, except complete isolation.

Or we can be more demanding than ever. In the next month, before we vote on May 1, we can familiarize ourselves with the candidates, pick those who are thinking about the city as a whole, and then do everything we can to make sure they are elected.

And for those candidates who seem to be in the dark, make sure they get a copy of this month’s magazine. Dallasites who know the city answer the question: What should the new Dallas City Council make its highest priority?

“Do It Now” (beginning on page 42) is short and to the point. Yes, there’s rhetoric in some of the answers, but the vast majority of the people we polled expressed concerns and ideas that go beyond their own back yards.

If we don’t listen and act, the ranks of city fighters will eventually thin and all that will remain are people screaming mindlessly at no one in particular.