Accentuate the positive
Re: “Ready to lean into the positive,” Sunday Business story.
Trevor Bach’s interview with Brad Cheves, the new president and CEO of the Dallas Regional Chamber, did not overstate Brad’s positive approach to life.
I have known Brad for almost 30 years, and we have been close friends for a good part of that time. Brad and I worked together as executive administrators during Gerald Turner’s administration at Southern Methodist University. We worked as a team on obtaining the Bush Presidential Center at SMU. We had hundreds of conversations about scores of issues and problems over our years together, and Brad consistently looked for positive solutions to those issues and problems.
His colleagues and members of the chamber will soon learn that, in addition to his positivity, he is a strategic thinker and has a strong financial background. Without question, he develops great relationships and was one of the best development executives in the higher education environment while at SMU.
Brad does not spend a lot of time worrying about problems; he spends his time finding solutions. He has a great sense of humor. No one laughs at Brad’s jokes longer and harder than Brad does, and that’s funny. SMU’s loss is the Dallas Regional Chamber’s gain.
Opinion
Thomas E. Barry, Dallas
Learning from history
Re: “‘Four dead in Ohio,’” by William Carroll, Tuesday Letters.
Like Carroll, I turn 74 this year. In 1970, Americans were tired of Vietnam. They were appalled by search-and-destroy and My Lai. Polls showed that a majority no longer supported the war and were growing impatient with President Richard Nixon, who had promised to end it. Then, the far-left fringe took over.
They hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails. They bombed buildings and assaulted police. They shouted down speakers with obscenities. They provoked a bloody massacre at Kent State. Nonviolent protests were replaced with campus riots.
The public’s sympathies reversed. Nixon ran a law-and-order campaign and was reelected in a 49-state landslide. The war continued on for five more years. Do today’s protesters know this lesson of history?
Ken Ashby, Dallas
Throwing darts
Re: “Jenkins reportedly delegated storm response,” Thursday Metro & Business story.
I’m puzzled. What motivated this story throwing darts at Clay Lewis Jenkins for leaving for his preplanned vacation when you also reported he had coordinated response and delegated the lead role for county weather response before he left?
This is the guy who literally walked into an apartment in Dallas in 2014 to get a family out and calm Ebola fears. He’s a hero.
Debra McKnight, Dallas/Lakewood Heights
Consequences of unlimited tenure
The reporting on County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins’ absence during the January winter storm raises a larger issue that deserves public attention: accountability in Dallas County government.
Texas law imposes no term limits on county judges or commissioners. After the most recent redistricting, Dallas County Commissioners Court is now 100% Democratic, with districts drawn so safely that general elections offer little real competition. In that environment, the normal checks of voter accountability are weakened, sometimes dramatically. That context matters when records required by state law documenting the delegation of emergency powers cannot be produced, phone calls go unanswered, and a county judge remains out of the country after a gubernatorial disaster declaration.
None of this may violate criminal law, but it highlights how insulated officials can become when electoral consequences are minimal and tenure is effectively unlimited.
This is not about party affiliation. It is about structure. When officials know they are unlikely to face serious challenges and are not constrained by term limits, the incentive to meet basic transparency and responsiveness standards erodes.
If Texans want accountable local leadership, especially in emergencies, we should be willing to examine the legal and political systems that allow public officials to feel untouchable.
Bill Rogge, Dallas
Renovate the building
In all the talk about what to do about Dallas City Hall, some of our leaders seem to be distracted by the temptation of a new downtown arena on the same site. What would the city do if the arena issue did not exist?
They would choose to catch up on deferred maintenance, renovate and keep City Hall functioning for another 50 years. If developers want that land, let them build a brand-new City Hall at a place of the council’s choosing, and when it’s completed and occupied, the developers can do as they please with the current site. If they really want that land, they will pay for it without taxpayer subsidies. And if not, renovate and update what we have, a better use of taxpayer money.
Edward Belanger, Far North Dallas
No difference
I am puzzled by letters saying we need to tear down Dallas City Hall and set up an arena there for the Mavericks so Dallas will be revitalized by an entertainment district. How and why, exactly, would that work out any differently than Reunion Arena and the American Airlines Center have?
Michael A. Koenecke, Richardson
Preserving history
Re: “‘Restoring truth and sanity’ — More history exhibits removed per Trump’s executive order,” Wednesday news story.
This story on the back page of the news section belongs on the front page. The president’s attempts to erase America’s history is deceitful and shameful. It should offend every American.
I doubt many Americans are aware of this so let’s put it in front and center, not hidden in the back.
April Boukadoum, Coppell
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