DFW Review
CURRENT EVENTS: DFW Review is pleased to participate in the national outrage following the Supreme Court's decision in Kelo v. New London, where the high court decided to allow local city councils to take whatever property they please from residents and businesses and give it to developers or bigger businesses for whatever purpose they decide. In the DFW area, we have had a number of these abusive cases occur, including the following:
| Northeast Mall in Hurst |
| Dallas Cowboys in Arlington (in progress now) |
| Texas Motor Speedway |
| LaGrave Field in Fort Worth |
| Ameriquest Field (formerly the Ballpark in Arlington) |
| American Airlines Center in Dallas |
| Trinity River in Fort Worth (coming soon) |
DFW Review is working to support an amendment to the Texas Constitution which will outlaw the use of eminent domain for projects are primarily for economic development. The proposed wording is: "Sec. 17A. A political subdivision of this state may not take private property through the use of the power of eminent domain if a primary purpose of the taking is for economic development."
ACTION ITEM: Governor Rick Perry has said that he's not going to allow anything to pass until school finance is done, but let him know you want this amendment to be added to the agenda. Gov. Perry's phone number is . Then call the state reps in your area and let them all know how you feel. If you don't know who to call, go here and get the right phone number. (Faxes are great, too.)
MISSION: The Mission of DFW Review is to support private enterprise and market-based approaches to civic issues, educating area citizens, elected officials and bureaucrats.
We consider the greater DFW metropolitan area to include those cities north to and around Denton, east to Longview, west to Mineral Wells, southwest to Itasca and southeast to Waxahachie.
DFW Review considers the creation of this organization necessary because there are many other organizations pressing area cities toward policies that will raise taxes and damage our economy to no good purpose. Moreover, though there are many groups in the DFW area that focus on the actions of one city council or subject, until now there has not been any effort to organize these groups and pool their resources to combat the natural tendency of government growth, regulation and ever higher levels of taxation to the detriment of both families and the business community.
Examples of issues that we will address include:
|
Transportation Authorities - Including a critical examination of DART, the T, the Denton County Transportation Authority and the threat of a top-down creation of a regional transportation authority. |
|
Stadium Deals - Do these partnerships pay off for the average citizen? What is the real payoff for the city that makes a deal with the Cowboys, Rangers, Stars or Mavericks? |
|
Economic Development - How do successful chambers of commerce make deals happen? Is it luck, bribery in the form of city gifts/tax abatements, etc.? Does an overall tax rate matter at all? |
|
'Smart Growth' - Is it smart? Are these policies worthwhile, mildly helpful, or actually damaging to suburban life? |
|
Education Issues (future subject for analysis) - Are there any school boards in the DFW area that do anything but follow the direction instructions of their superintendent? Are charter schools making progress? Where are homeschoolers treated well, and where are they harassed? |