4 February 1 - 7, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents ‘Calendar Warfare’ Dallas mayor’s Switzerland trip has some folks pissed. BY SIMONE CARTER M ayor Eric Johnson’s recent international expedition has constituents split. While supporters insist that it shows his devotion to pro- moting Dallas abroad, naysayers assert that it proves he’s a detached leader looking out only for himself. Johnson, of course, would likely agree with the former take. In the mayor’s newsletter sent last week, he recapped his recent trip to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, an annual meeting of Very Important People that has spawned a conspiracy theory or two. Johnson also previously posted about November’s “official visit to France,” where he chatted with an art museum president, reps from a tech company and the founder of a French political affairs magazines. The mayor’s latest newsletter touched on discussions held during the Swiss sympo- sium. It echoed his oft-touted mission to make Dallas the safest major city in the U.S. It quoted a supporter’s letter to The Dallas Morning News’ editor that argued “repre- senting Dallas on the world’s biggest stages is exactly how the mayor of our city should be spending his time.” But Johnson is still getting flak from de- tractors. Attending the World Economic Fo- rum also meant that he missed out on the Jan. 19 special City Council meeting, during which members made moves on a signifi- cant issue: the 2024 bond package. Johnson dismissed this scheduling con- flict as “silly calendar warfare.” Some may disagree with that characterization. “It didn’t take long for Mayor Eric John- son to reveal his true colors,” one critic wrote in a different letter to the editor pub- lished in The Dallas Morning News. “He’s using his ‘Ted Cruz get out of town’ card to avoid participating in a much-needed bud- get hearing here in Dallas.” In January 2020, Johnson created the Mayor’s International Advisory Council, con- sisting of five residents who formerly served as U.S. ambassadors. A news release announcing its formation noted his intent to improve Dal- las’ standing among foreign governments, global investors and international tourists. Speaking with The Urbanist podcast last week, Johnson explained that Dallas’ reputa- tion has, for many outsiders, seemed stuck in the 1980s thanks largely to the eponymous soap opera. Since then, much has changed, such as the diversification of its economy. “What I wanted to do was to make sure that we thought of ourselves first — not as some regional player or a leader in the South- west, which we’ve been for a long time, but a global force to be reckoned with,” he said. Mounting Criticism of the Mayor Johnson has been buried beneath criticism since announcing last September that he’d traded the “D” next to his name for an “R.” Many residents believed that Johnson had cynically timed the reveal until after his May reelection so as not to jeopardize his chances. Some critics have wondered whether he has designs on higher office. Demands for a recall have begun to cre- scendo. KERA reported in September that since 2019, when Johnson became mayor, he had skipped out on more than 130 hours of meet- ings. KERA posed a question in the headline: “Absent mayor?” Davante Peters, a former City Council candidate, started a recall petition, citing Johnson’s purported truancy as a motivating factor. In his newsletter, Johnson defended his absence from the bond talks of Jan. 19. He wrote that although he’d rescheduled the bond discussion from Jan. 17 (when he was in Switzerland) to Jan. 31, three council members intervened. They called another meeting forJan. 19, when he’d still be out of town. The mayor alleges the move was polit- ically motivated. “In this case, it was clear that this was sim- ply an attempt to capitalize on a nonsensical narrative, pushed by people with ulterior po- litical motives, about my attendance record as the presiding officer of Dallas City Council meetings — which, to be completely clear, has been over 90% every year in office,” he wrote. “(By the way, unlike councilmembers, state law says the presiding officer cannot attend the meeting virtually).” Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University, called the scenario surrounding the mayor’s trip a “pe- culiar situation.” Dallas is home to a weak-mayor’s office, he said. Johnson doesn’t have the authority to control events the way that, say, the mayor of Houston can because of that city’s strong-mayor system. When council mem- bers eventually met, they made important bond decisions without Johnson. It’s not uncommon for mayors of big American cities to embark on conscious- ness-raising outings, like Johnson’s stay in Switzerland, Jillson said. “But the mayor of Dallas seems really to be out there, roaming around on his own, with the city running in his absence,” he continued. “And that’s a curious look, a bad look. Going abroad is not unusual, but a strong mayor would postpone events until he was present.” When U.S. presidents face hiccups in do- mestic politics, they’ll often venture to other countries where they’ll be received more fa- vorably. Mayors might do that from time to time, too, especially when tension is already percolating in City Hall. “When things are rough at home, and you go to Davos and you share the stage with the presidents of major corporations and the di- rectors of major banks and other leading po- litical figures, it’s easier to feel good about yourself than when you’re getting pummeled at the Dallas City Council meeting,” Jillson said. ▼ GAMBLING DOWNTOWN CRAPS DALLAS MAY PUSH FOR CASINO GAMBLING WITH THE STATE LEGISLATURE. BY JACOB VAUGHN C asino moguls have been throwing money at Texas as if gambling were already legal in the state. It’s not, but Las Vegas Sands Corp., one of the biggest ca- sino operators in the world, bought a 200- acre site in Irving last summer. The corporation also recently purchased a piece of property in Dallas off Stemmons Freeway, according to The Dallas Morning News. Also last year, Canyon Ranch, the Fort Worth-based resort and spa operator, part- nered with the entertainment company that owns Las Vegas’ Caesars Palace, VICI Prop- erties. VICI paid $200 million for a new Canyon Ranch development in Texas, ac- cording to the News. So, it’s only right that Dallas is considering if and how it will get a cut of the casino gam- bling pie. Recently, City Council members on the Government Performance and Financial Management Committee discussed the pos- sibility of advocating for legalized casino gambling at the state Legislature. Carrie Rogers, director of the Office of Government Affairs, said at the meeting that the city has begun compiling a list of legisla- tive priorities for 2025, and some council members said they’d like casino gambling to be considered. This was also brought up during an Economic Development Commit- tee meeting in January, but council mem- bers had more questions. Some of those questions revolved around public safety, as well as casino gambling’s effect on the local community, economy and arts. Craig Davis, CEO of VisitDallas, said he was at the meeting to discuss his experience with casino gambling in Pittsburgh, Pennsyl- vania. He was involved in the early discus- sions about bringing casino gambling to the state. “It was a very positive experience for us from a tourism perspective,” Davis said. Rich Fitzgerald, former county executive for Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, was also at the meeting. In Allegheny County, his posi- tion was similar to that of Dallas County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins. Fitzgerald said the idea for casino gambling in the state came with the election of Gov. Mark Schweiker in 2002. “He campaigned on this and pushed it once he got elected,” Fitzgerald said. Casino gambling was enacted in the state two years later. Casinos were originally opened only for slot machines, but they’d eventually expand to allow table games like blackjack. He said casino gambling was sold in the state in a couple of ways. One was the possi- bility of economic development — the jobs the casinos and associated hotels would bring to the state. The other was property tax relief for seniors. The casinos would also help fund big projects across the state, like a hockey arena, for example. “Quite frankly, it’s been positive on the economic side,” Fitzgerald said. The decision has provided a lot of jobs, and he hasn’t seen much of an in- crease in crime as a result of the legalized gambling. “I’m not going to say everything’s been perfect with it, but it’s been a pretty positive experience for us,” he said. Since the casinos opened, their revenue has only grown, Fitzgerald said. One of the arguments the governor made at the time was that people were already gam- bling at casinos outside the state, so why not keep them in Pennsylvania? A similar argument could be made in Texas. Nearly 80% of the customers at Choctaw Casinos and Resorts in Oklahoma come from Texas, according to the News. At the meeting, Dallas City Council mem- ber Cara Mendelsohn asked if the revenue from the casinos ended up meeting the ex- pectations. She also asked what ex- | UNFAIR PARK | Brian Maschino Mayor Eric Johnson is getting more flack. >> p6
