Well, by now, we Lake Highlanders know that the Jules Muchert Army Reserve Center on Northwest Highway, just east of Flagpole Hill, will be handed over to the Dallas Parks and Recreation folks, rather than become an operation for the homeless. What a strange and bureaucratic path was trod in this deal.

The original Base Closure Act, passed by Congress in 1994, which was intended to achieve greater efficiency in our military-industrial complex by closing down obsolete and superfluous facilities, included a provision that such facilities must be made available for use by the homeless, unless sufficient reason can be shown to use the facility for another purpose.

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In other words, not only would a community typically have to absorb the economic hit of losing a long-standing military installation, but they would also have to contend with that installation now being used to house the homeless.

Hmmm…I can see most communities lining up for that opportunity. In the City’s first submission to HUD, the City apparently failed to address the requirement that Dallas must weigh the needs of the homeless along with other considerations – and the result was that the City’s request to transfer the facility to the Parks Department was initially rejected.

The City’s second (and final) chance to get it right fortunately did the trick, and all is now well in Lake Highlands, Texas. Major kudos go to local Congressmen Jeb Hensarling and Pete Sessions and Dallas City Councilmen Jerry Allen and Sheffie Kadane. Another instance of federal control of local life.

The Thomas Jefferson in me always wants to (not so) politely ask where exactly this kind of power is defined in our Constitution. Answer: what Constitution?