A tragic mistake
I am in total shock that a person who has many unprofessional strike marks against her beat one of the most qualified individuals for the job of Dallas County district attorney.
I had the pleasure of working with the Honorable John Creuzot when he served on the oversight committee on the state’s adult probation system. He was then, as he is now, an exceptional professional who strived to make the statewide criminal justice system one that all Texans could be proud of.
I was particularly impressed by his efforts to establish diversion courts for individuals with mental illnesses. He worked tirelessly to develop a system that would divert such individuals to appropriate mental health services rather than jail.
Not sure why the voters of Dallas County would make such a tragic mistake. Unfortunately, you will now have to live with the consequences. Good luck.
Opinion
Dee Wilson, Plano
Texans can decide
I was surprised to hear that President Donald Trump announced that he will endorse a candidate in the Texas Senate race. I was then astonished to find that he also asked the non-endorsed candidate to drop out of the race. This effectively means that Trump thinks that only he, rather than Texans, should choose our next senator.
That is not how Texas has ever worked. Texans are capable of choosing our own senator without help from outside the state. Regardless of the president’s endorsement, both John Cornyn and Ken Paxton should stay in the race.
Wayne Zakrzewski, Aubrey
DOGE cuts at State
Re: “’Americans are stuck’ — Lawmakers slam feds’ lack of help amid flight disruptions,” Wednesday news story.
This story fails to address the reckless, haphazard cuts to our State Department by DOGE which may explain why American citizens have not been safely evacuated from the Middle East.
It seems I am reminded daily of a word I was introduced to by a letter writer in this column: kakistocracy — government by the least qualified or most unscrupulous people. The resemblance is difficult to ignore.
Amy P. Jones, Dallas/Preston Hollow
Follow the money
Re: “City Hall debate is a rerun of AAC debacle — We need to slow down, insist on transparency and get this right,” by Laura Miller, Wednesday Opinion.
Thanks to Laura Miller for speaking out about the City Hall issue and reminding us of the last time civic interests yielded to those of professional sports team owners.
As always, follow the money.
Curtis Carpenter, Dallas/Munger Place
No rushed decision
Re: “Residents take the mic, share opinions — Locals address committee for both sides of the issue, to refurbish or to relocate,” Tuesday news story.
I am sorely disappointed in The Dallas Morning News coverage of the public hearing at City Hall on Monday. If you look at the sea of blue in the audience, indicating the many supporters of saving City Hall, it is sad to see coverage mostly devoted to developers and individuals with personal agendas.
The story did not address the concern of the vast majority there, the taxpayers, who insist the city provide accurate numbers for repairs and costs of relocating. After all, they are the ones who have to pay the bill.
They showed up to ask for a thorough, unbiased assessment. They do not want a rushed decision that could lead to another fiasco like the loss of more than $14 million the taxpayers suffered on the Stemmons tower, a building that could not even meet the city’s own code.
Cookie Peadon, Dallas
Fix Dallas government
The debate should not be about whether Dallas City Hall needs to be repaired, demolished or moved. It should be about whether a complete overhaul of city government needs to take place.
It is either absolutely criminal or complete incompetence that the seat of Dallas government would be allowed to creep into such a state of disrepair. Perhaps we should be taking care of the things Dallas has before starting any new initiatives.
Perhaps there needs to be a long, hard look at how departments within the city are run. An entity with more than $5 billion budget needs to be run better.
Eliminate waste, fraud and abuse. Create a budget that addresses taking care of assets before funding projects for city council members and their districts.
The city needs to engage in a bottom up and top down review of everything they do. Nothing should be sacred until they can eliminate boondoggles like purchasing the building on Stemmons Freeway for city permits or the mess that is Fair Park.
Hire qualified individuals to review each department and create a city government that is not in the newspaper seemingly every week for the problems they have created instead of for victories for the citizens.
Tim Muench, Bryan
A slap to their faces
Re: “Indoctrination isn’t happening at UT,” by Charlotte M. Canning and “How to root out college indoctrination,” by Adam Kolasinski, Sunday Opinion.
I read with amusement these columns by Canning (no indoctrination is happening) and Kolasinski (it very likely is, and courses should be monitored to see if so).
Methinks the truth is closer to this: Those who are effectively in favor of racial discrimination (calling it an agenda-less outcome of competition) are unhappy that more students do not embrace this view.
In the end, students’ views are theirs, arrived at by their choice as to what they believe to be true. It is a slap in their faces to suggest they cannot think for themselves. I promise you that is exactly what they will do.
Mike Holloway, Dallas
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