Don’t let Dallas down
Re: “City Hall has lost its ability to self-govern — Inaction is spoiling our best opportunities with the Mavericks and other businesses,” by Tom Leppert, Sunday Opinion.
I’ve written several letters to The Dallas Morning News about the looming question of what to do with Dallas’ City Hall.
Perhaps no one has captured the issue better than Leppert in his column in Sunday’s paper. This should be required reading by the mayor, City Council and all leading officials at City Hall.
This is not about a building. This is about halting the dramatic decline of downtown Dallas. This is about saving downtown Dallas.
Opinion
So, to the mayor, city manager and City Council, take heed. Former Mayor Leppert is talking to you!
With great power comes great responsibility. Don’t let Dallas down!
Guy Mercurio, Dallas
An impactful column
This opinion piece by Leppert was stunningly impactful. It is too bad that we don’t have a time machine, which could take this column back to the Dallas City Council 10, or even five years ago.
We have all watched the Dallas City Council become like much of today’s United States — hopelessly divided and unable to reach mutually agreeable success. We can only hope that it’s not too late to change.
Dan Siculan, Royse City
It’s market distortion
Re: “Free, Universal Pre-K Could be Game Changer — Dallas ISD proposal drops tuition for 3- and 4-year-olds, promotes school readiness,” Sunday editorial.
The editorial board is right: high-quality pre-K matters. But Dallas ISD’s proposal raises a harder question: should school districts compete with private child care providers — using taxpayer-funded facilities and teachers — to serve children the state doesn’t fund?
Texas ISDs do not receive state dollars for children who do not meet pre-K eligibility criteria. Offering free pre-K to ineligible children pulls teachers and resources from the K–12 infrastructure districts were built to serve. Meanwhile, private providers — who pay taxes, meet licensing standards and serve the full continuum from infant through pre-K — compete against a government-subsidized product they helped fund.
That’s not education policy. That’s market distortion.
Districts across Texas exploit the dual regulatory structure of the Texas Education Agency and Texas Health and Human Services to expand pre-K offerings while private providers absorb the competitive damage and communities lose infant and toddler capacity.
The governor’s Quad Agency Commission is a meaningful first step. The most durable solution: raise the income eligibility threshold so more children qualify for free pre-K — and direct public dollars where they belong.
Robbin Wells, Lucas
Avoid partisan tropes
Re: “Trump’s gas price Teflon — Americans don’t approve of the war in Iran or its economic cost. But will they hold the administration accountable?” by Abby McCloskey, Sunday Opinion.
I applaud The Dallas Morning News for enlisting Republican-leaning columnists like Abby McCloskey, Glenn Rogers, William McKenzie and Robert Jordan. They remind us of our bipartisan, respectful debate over issues rather than MAGA denunciation of opponents as evil and protestors as terrorists.
However, I was disappointed to see McCloskey justify the effects of the Iran/Contra war on gas prices by citing record inflation under President Joe Biden. From the botching of early testing by fake military to the undermining of his own warp speed vaccine success by anti-science populism, President Donald Trump placed the U.S. first in per population deaths and economic disruption that bequeathed record inflation.
We desperately need rational, balanced and fact-based journalism that offsets the jingoism of internet silos and prevents illegal attacks on other governments and our own capital.
I enjoy reading columnists with differing opinions and hope they will fulfill our last hope for democracy — the fading voices of independent newspapers — by avoiding partisan tropes like the Obama recession, 2020 election fraud, Biden inflation or Nobel Peace Prize candidacy.
Golder Wilson, Dallas
Facts are stubborn things
After 35 years as a loyal Republican, I watched my party become unrecognizable — and now Sen. John Cornyn’s transformation from principled conservative to full-throated Trump sycophant is complete.
In the span of a week, Cornyn reversed his longstanding defense of the Senate filibuster, bowing down to appease President Donald Trump and secure his coveted endorsement.
He also co-sponsored the SAVE America Act, which would eliminate the Texas driver’s license as a valid voter registration document. You’ll need a passport or birth certificate that matches your current surname.
And he blamed Democrats for the TSA meltdown at our airports, conveniently omitting that it is Republicans who are holding TSA funding hostage unless they get an additional $28 billion for ICE with no strings attached.
Facts are stubborn things, senator. Texas voters deserve better than scorched-earth partisan politics that divide our country and paralyze effective governance.
Malcolm Jacobson, The Woodlands
Let’s help TSA agents
My heart goes out to the TSA workers who, through no fault of their own, are facing a staggering and ever-increasing workload of tired and grouchy travelers for no pay.
These agents are working to keep you safe — the least we can do is to help them out.
What if every traveler passing through a TSA station gave each agent there a couple of dollars a piece? Imagine the cumulative result at the end of the day.
Until our government steps up, let’s do the right thing for our fellow man!
Mike Luckey, Fairview
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