A vision of dollar signs
Re: “When will Dallas stop chasing flashy new things and be comfortable with our identity?” by David Marquis, and “Let’s stop declaring it dead and draw up a bold vision of where we’re going next,” by Mike Hoque, Feb. 15 Opinion.
Bravo to Marquis for expressing the values Dallas residents have for Dallas City Hall, “If it’s worth having, it’s worth taking care of.” So, let’s start taking better care of what makes us proud to live in Dallas. Otherwise, Dallas residents need to vote on whether to sell Dallas City Hall.
Hoque’s writeup about making downtown Dallas great was perplexing. Midway through he notes that AT&T desired a horizontal campus vs. a vertical high-rise headquarters to function. Dallas City Hall is horizontal, so why move City Hall into aging, faceless, multistory office towers?
Hoque notes several innovative urban cities and follows with his four-step plan for making downtown Dallas great. Of course, one is Dallas City Hall, adjacent to some properties he owns, needs to go for some vague, developer catchall retail/entertainment corridor.
Opinion
The last paragraph of Hoque’s piece states, “Great downtowns are built by visionary leaders who keep showing up, cycle after cycle.”
The late J. Erik Jonsson was a visionary leader who gave back to Dallas and made us proud to be from Dallas. It seems the only vision of most who seemed determined to tear down Jonsson’s Dallas City Hall are dollar signs.
Robert Prejean, Dallas/Oak Lawn
Building a vibrant core
Re: “Keeping Mavs downtown more than smart business — It’s the one place thatbelongs to all Dallas residents,” by Maxie Johnson, Feb. 13 Opinion.
Dallas council member Maxie Johnson lays out a compelling case for keeping the Mavs downtown, and it isn’t “about nostalgia or resisting change.” It’s about the tangible upside: “good business, smart economics, and the right moral choice.”
The very good news is that Dallas doesn’t have to treat this like an either/or decision by foolishly demolishing civic assets in a rushed attempt to secure an outcome. Respected architects have already shown a smarter path forward, starting with a state-of-the-art arena on the current Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center site.
Now picture what that unlocks: the Mavs in a new arena, the Wings in a restored Memorial Auditorium, a re-envisioned City Hall Park, a renewed City Hall — all connected by dozens of acres of walkable mixed-use neighborhoods, bringing thousands of city and private employees, new downtown residents, sports fans, tourists and convention-goers to the south side of downtown (and beyond) every single day.
This isn’t a “nostalgic” compromise. It’s a once-in-a-generation chance to celebrate our teams and our civic heritage, while continuing to build a stronger, more vibrant urban core.
Robert L. Meckfessel, Dallas/East Kessler Park
Commenting on goats
Re: “Goats bring graze craze,” Feb. 6 Metro & Business story.
We have hired a herd of goats to clear out invasive species near White Rock Lake.
The fruits of their labor will soon pass through and fall on newly cultivated and fertilized ground. Regular employment of the goat union is sure to follow.
I hope the same people who thought of this are not the same as those deciding how, or if, City Hall will be repaired or relocated.
Ron Duncan, Dallas/Chapel Valley
Take the vaccine
Top health official, Dr. Mehmet Oz, a heart surgeon, just defended federal vaccine recommendations, emphasizing the importance of vaccines amid the threat of measles, particularly for children. An outbreak in South Carolina has surpassed the recorded case count of Texas’ 2025 outbreak, with additional cases at the Utah-Arizona border and confirmed cases in multiple states this year.
Oz said to CNN, “Not all illnesses are equally dangerous and not all people are equally susceptible to those illnesses…But measles is one you should get your vaccine.”
During a Senate hearing, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, affirmed that the scientific consensus is that vaccines do not cause autism. Unfortunately, in contrast, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. argued that vaccines and autism have not been disproven.
Public health officials stress the importance of restoring trust in health systems since the coronavirus pandemic. Anti-vaccine sentiments have drawn widespread criticism. Public health experts have also condemned President Donald Trump for his unfounded claims linking Tylenol and vaccines to autism.
Local communities, take the vaccine.
Susan Fairbairn Lamb, Austin
Profit above all else
Approximately seven years ago, my husband was prescribed two high profile diabetic medications that would cease the terrible side effects that he was experiencing from the most inexpensive and common medication often prescribed due to efficacy and low cost.
When we picked up these scripts, the pharmacy employee said that “that will be $1,000 for two 90-day scripts.”
I replied at the top of my voice, “We cannot afford that!”
A friend referred us to a Canadian pharmacy that he was purchasing his medication from. The price was one-third of the American cost.
Our physician wrote scripts that we submitted. Now with tariffs, the price has doubled. However, what we pay is still substantially less than that of our local pharmacy.
Neither TrumpRX nor Mark Cuban’s CostPlusPharmacy offer these medications. It has been my long-term opinion that American pricing, however lowered, will never match what we receive from Canada. Why is this?
I believe you can thank negotiations with pharmaceutical companies and pharmacy managers whose primary goal is profit above all else.
Anne Davidoff, Plano
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