Let’s get something straight — the almost overnight attack on the City Council’s 20-year-old 14-1 system by the powers that be because it’s unfair to minorities and good government has nothing to do with either of those things. It’s an attack on those council members, like Angela Hunt and Mitch Rasansky, who aren’t playing ball with Mayor Park Cities, another in a series of assaults on their independence.
The latest broadside appeared in Dallas’ Only Daily Newspaper on Sunday, headlined "20 years after lawsuit, debate over Dallas City Council’s 14-1 system persists." What debate? This wasn’t even an issue until The News editorialized about it on April 1, using the word "fiefdom" to describe 14-1 council districts. The paper was ripping Hunt for using what’s called "senatorial courtesy" to send a zoning request back to the plan commission.
In most legislative bodies in the United States, from the U.S. Senate on down, members are allowed first say about items in their states and districts. It’s the tradition that allows John Cornyn to sign off on a variety of federal appointments concerning Texas. Somehow, though, I doubt The News would consider Texas to be Cornyn’s fiefdom and that we will soon see an editorial calling for an end to the process in the U.S. Senate.
Senatorial courtesy has long been controversial. U.S. Grant and James Garfield had a dustup about in 1881, and little has changed since. Periodically, good government types will try to reform it, to little avail. But at least they do it because it’s good government, not because they want to stifle dissent.
And The News’ editorial and Sunday’s story are nothing more than attempts to limit opposition to the Mayor and his policies. It’s bizarre enough that the story claims 14-1 leads to corruption. (As opposed, of course, to the Soviet system, which was not 14-1 and therefore refreshingly honest). It’s even more bizarre that the story quoted former Texas Republican Party chairman Tom Pauken, criticizing 14-1 as racial gerrymandering. Apparently, Pauken missed the Supreme Court decision that said Texas House Republicans could gerrymander congressional districts. (And someone needs to let Pauken know that Dallas is nearly a majority minority city — which means us Anglos are the ones who will benefit from the gerrymandering next time around.)
If Hunt and Rasansky supported the mayor, would we see these attacks on 14-1? If the paper’s darlings on the council, like Ron Natinsky and Dave Neumann, use their senatorial courtesy to oppose a project The News wants, will we see another scathing attack ripping them and their fiefdoms?
Of course not. And anyone who thinks differently isn’t paying attention.
