The Dallas Forum!!!!

[trolleygirl]

Hey everyone! This is important and it’s a big deal. Something big is about to happen in Dallas and it’s all because of our voices. So, you need to read this thread and post comments and ideas and start looking at your calendars for a meeting!!!

Columbiasooner, Mballer, Urbanhope and I met today to discuss a new committee/organization/forum for the city of Dallas. The idea is to create a place where younger people like us can get our ideas, voices and opinions heard by the City’s elected officials in a productive way, while also pushing forward for the kind of change that we all seem to think needs to happen here.

Look guys, we all sit around here and read each others comments on the forum and debate, etc., but what needs to happen is to scoop up all those ideas into a more organized format, so that what we have to say actually gets heard by the people who need to hear it. AND, so that we can actually use our combined super-hero forces to actually be a catalyst to effect change at the municipal level. We all talk about how the younger voices need to be heard- in essence, OURS- and then we all go home...... Well we all know who lurks on this forum and who’s listening to us. So, let’s take the next step and do it ourselves.

I mean, the DMN is always talking about how we need new blood, blah, blah, blah…….and we all see the cronyism that goes with each council election. Who is grooming our generation? Not the 80-year-olds……not the 60-year-olds……….not even the 45-year-olds…….. and look at the smartest one on the council and what do you see???? Someone in our own generation! I’m sick of this and I know you are too!! We need to be an effecter for positive change to bring in new, younger leaders to the municipal governance. And not only on council but especially DISD!!!

Make sense? Are you still with me??

Here’s what we need to do: Identify more of us from different sectors of the City: who lives in each district and what do we all know about our council people, and/or the people running for council next year? Let’s share our knowledge with one another. Who can we all get behind to support? Or not?

We need to then flesh out some goals for us: We think that one of the main issues is in finding candidates, not cronies. The next thing is to look at the commissions and boards- there are so many vacancies, and here we all are debating the fact that there are so many vacancies! So….why aren’t all of us on a board or commission? Are there too many? What’s going on here that makes our muni government so seemingly inefficient? Next, we need to look at doing some sort of community service works projects, you know, so that we’re not just a bunch of young and selfish blowhards. We actually contribute!

But back to candidates…….why can’t we find some people among ourselves, or in the very least, find some folks that we know and trust to get behind and support with campaign donations or more importantly, with volunteer time?

I feel like I’m preaching to the choir so I don’t want to go on and on too much more. I think that you all get the general gist of what we’re trying to accomplish here.

Here’s what we need to do now, and we need to act fast because we are looking at 2007 council races:

First, we need input and commentary from you all..

Second, we need to look at scheduling a meeting where we will have district maps, etc., and we cam all flesh out our goals better and define our mission statement.

Third, we need to brand ourselves, and come up with a name for the group.

Then we need to meet with the DMN Editorial Board so that they can endorse our process and help put the word out.

After that, it would be a good idea for us to start getting some collateral material so that we can rotate “city council” shifts and pass out flyers informing others who we are and we are trying to accomplish.

Eventually, we’d like to see us become a bigger and greater group, maybe form an organization, perhaps a non-partisan political action committee to eventually do more formal candidate forums.

We did come up with a draft mission statement and we'll post it as soon as possible so that we can all throw ideas at it...........

If we did this, it would be so big!

What do you think?????

[Ninjatune™]

outstanding...

[tamtagon]

Columbiasooner, Mballer, Urbanhope and I met today to discuss a new committee/organization/forum for the city of Dallas.

What do you think?????

I think the form of government used by the City of Dallas can do great things when the city council is prompted to action by the strategic foresight of concerned and informed citizens. What you guys propose to do could be the best thing ever to happen to management of the city.

[warlock55]

I'm in as soon as I move over there. I'll have to check with the law department here and see how much local political activity I can be involved in without losing my job, hehheh.

[trolleygirl]

Okay- here's the draft mission statement:

Mission Statement

We are dedicated to being a vehicle for change in the City of Dallas, and to promote the core ideals of this organization, which consist of reducing and managing crime, increasing the profile of the Dallas Independent School District, encouraging smart economic development, and increasing city-wide community service by City of Dallas residents. While working hand in hand with our civil electorate, we seek to engage qualified members of our communities in an effort to develop and elect candidates for local and state-wide office.

Objectives

- Demand D.I.S.D. Aaccountability;
- Decrease/Maintain Crime;
- Elect Candidates Not Cronies;
- Increase City-Wide Community Service;
- Establish Relationship(s) with Dallas Morning News Writers/Editors;


Similar Organizations:

Forward Dallas

We also need to think of a name: what about Concerned Citizens Can Do More? It's a start. Let's get some ideas rolling in here, guys.........

[tamtagon]

DISD and/or DCCC should provide almost-free English learning classes for adults. English and Spanish should be taught in DISD elementary schools.

[St-T]

^I'm in!!! I"m sorry that I was unable to attend the meeting yesterday--I had something pop up at work that I couldn't get out of.

I'm in District 14--which has an outstanding councilwomen--Angela Hunt.

TG: I want to understand what "smart economic development" means and who decides if it is "smart?" That is the only concern I have in the statement.

Guns up!!! :)

[trolleygirl]

^I'm in!!! I"m sorry that I was unable to attend the meeting yesterday--I had something pop up at work that I couldn't get out of.

I'm in District 14--which has an outstanding councilwomen--Angela Hunt.

TG: I want to understand what "smart economic development" means and who decides if it is "smart?" That is the only concern I have in the statement.

Guns up!!! :)

This sort of goes with cronyism.....for example- there's a property that the developers want to build a self stoage and there are 10 otherhalf vacant slf-storage businesses on the one block. And the neighborhood opposes it. Then later they find out that a councilman owns the property. Does this stuff make sense? It happens all the time at council and it's not real smart.

Also, we want to encourage the city to try to do more green development. There's already a green development code that someone's been sitting on. Why haven't we seen it? Forward Dallas has a lot of information about green development.

[JSteffen]

Need any support, time, or money (small amounts please). Let me know. I also know the board members of the young democrats (even though I'm not one). They are more into national agendas, but could be brought into the local sceen if given the oportunity.

[hamiltonpl]

Sounds like a good idea to me.


How about these names:

The Dallas League

Dallas Association for Progress

[St-T]

^I like The Dallas League. Very good, ham.

[UrbanHope]

I am IN. :cheers:

Sorry I can't post much until later... still in the process of moving.

Just moved to District 8 from 14. I would consider Angela a friend and someone who cares about more than rich developers. Consider yourselves fortunate for being in D-14!

[UrbanHope]

How about these names:

The Dallas League

Dallas Association for Progress


My blog is called Dallas Progress.

Does the Dallas League sound too much like the Dallas Homeowners League? Just asking...

[hamiltonpl]

My blog is called Dallas Progress.

Does the Dallas League sound too much like the Dallas Homeowners League? Just asking...

At least I didn't name it after my blog, "Feisty old Coots with Shotguns."

It does have a good ring to it, though.

[columbiasooner]

Slight Changes...

Objectives

- Increase City-Wide Community Service among the Younger Generation;
- Establish a Relationship with DPD to Help Bring our Crime Rate Down;
- Foster a Partnership with D.I.S.D. to Assist in Bringing Accountability To Our School System;
- Elect Qualified Candidates Not Cronies;
- Establish Ourselves as a Resource For the Local Media Outlets;

I know they are a little wordy, but they needed to be "softened" just a tad.

[Mballar]

I am very encouraged by the responses posted in this thread. This is a great opportunity to be a part of something special. I feel that when we persevere, neighborhoods will become closer, DISD will get its act together, and our core will be strengthened by corporate and residential relocations, alike. I don't think this organization is about political agendas, partisan politics, or beauty contests (i.e. "debating society"). I think it's truly about the coming together of everyone in the City, who wishes to contribute, having his/her voice heard, respected, AND then taking swift/decisive action to make something positive happen for Dallas.

No matter how insignificant/silly you think your ideas/concerns are, chances are they are significant/real. Therefore, we welcome your input. In fact, it's needed. So, come one. . .come all. We're going to make a difference for the City of Dallas.

[CityLove]

This sounds like a great idea...I'd like to help out/participate.

[trolleygirl]

Okay then, seriously folks......let's look at our calendars and think about a good time for us to have a planning session so that we can collaboratively build on these ideas so that we can get started.

I think a date sometime September, what does everyone else think? And I think a good time might be a weekday evening, after six....unless we think we canall agree to a Saturday sometime.

Also, location. I'd like to bring my big white prentation sheets to "facilitate" our ideas, etc. So, I wan;t think of a restaurant unless it has a meeting room and will allow our use it. I could get us a school or a rec center somewhere in my neighborhood, but I was hoping for something closer to DTD.

Thoughts?????

[St-T]

I would prefer to have M-W during the week after 6... I think that would work the best for most.

[columbiasooner]

Although you may not agree with the group, Stop and Think has a great meeting room upstairs we can use. We have a projector, screen, etc. I can probably also pitch in for food and beverage for the meeting as well. It's open anytime.

SAT bashers this is not the place, go to the Wright Amendment thread for that.

[trolleygirl]

Here's my two cents on a name:

I like to stay away from names with the word "association" in them. I look to "edgey" names with only one or two words. Something that conveys that we are young and we are fresh and we embody the next generation- we ARE the future. This is the fun part about branding.

Think about what this online forum represents. We have great ideas and we all are really great sports, especially the debating (I mean, just look at me and columbiasooner!) But more than that, we know what's going on in this city and we see that there's BS at the horseshoe, and we all have these really awesome ideas that just don't connect with the current leadership. And the thing that really came out of our meeting the other day was that we just don't need any more 81-year-olds running for city council.

Now there's wisdom that's attained with age, we all get that, we know. But let's look at the future again and how many council people have websites???? It's dismal how far away from the 21th century the people that we elect seem to be.

And that's the thing with me. The more advanced our leaders are, the more engaged our generation will be. I think that's the biggest reason why young people dis-engage from civic affairs in this town. It's not like that in other cities, where young people really are fully engaged.

Okay back to names..........hmm, here's what I'll throw out-

Tomorrow Dallas

Dallas Ahead (too Forward Dallas-ish??)

Dallas: the Next Generation (ha!ha!) okay, how about this one....

Dallas Engage (smirk)

The Dallas Forum

Talk Back Dallas

Voices Together Dallas

Stand Up Dallas

Stand Together Dallas

Fresh Start Dallas

New Future Dallas

Future New Dallas

Young Dallas Forum

Or what if we take out Dallas altogether, then we get things like:

Young Citizens Forum (I want to stay away from citizens AND council together in the same name)

The Future Forum

Pegasus Room

The Pegusus Groove

The Pegusus Future

The Pegusus Forum

No More Cronies

Keep in mind that a name is as much a "brand"- something that says something. When I mean "says" something, I mean conveys more than purpose, it also conveys an image and conveys a feeling. Some names convey assertiveness, some convey a sense of charity.........what do we want to tell people via our name?

It also should be easily remembered and easliy written. Keep it simple. And easily searchable. Just think of the young newcomer who wants to learn more about getting involved in the local political scene......will we turn up in a google search???

[St-T]

Club Dallas

j/k

[trolleygirl]

^ Love it!!!

[columbiasooner]

I bet Avi has already squated on every possible url that is related to those suggestions.

My suggestion:

Dallas First

[KBilly]

I think you have a GREAT idea here and I wish you great fortune running with it. From an "over 40" I hope you make some real headroads with it!

:cheers:

[trolleygirl]

I bet Avi has already squated on every possible url that is related to those suggestions.

My suggestion:

Dallas First

Aaaarrgh....we'll come up with something at our meeting and we will NOT be purchasing our web domain from Avi...........

[Insidetheloop]

Why not just join the Dallas Urban League Young Professionals?

http://www.ulgdnctx.com/about_dulyp.html

[CityLove]

Why not just join the Dallas Urban League Young Professionals?

http://www.ulgdnctx.com/about_dulyp.html

From the link you posted, that group appears to be more about bettering the individuals than getting together to better the community.

[trolleygirl]

Why not just join the Dallas Urban League Young Professionals?

http://www.ulgdnctx.com/about_dulyp.html

Looks interesting, but are they really doing anything?

[columbiasooner]

I think the idea from the group is to have it evolve from this board. I also am not sure if I would personally fit the demographic based on the National Urban League's mission statement.

Our Mission (http://www.nul.org/mission.html)

The mission of the Urban League movement is to enable African Americans to secure economic self-reliance, parity, power and civil rights.

[freewaytincan]

I get to be the non-Dallas member.

[Insidetheloop]

From the link you posted, that group appears to be more about bettering the individuals than getting together to better the community.

They do all sorts of things. Many of their bullet points are identical in nature to those listed in the posts above.

In Dallas it's not what you know, it's who you know. You could have all the greatest ideas in the world but unless you know the right folks it will fall on deaf ears.

In Dallas, the right folks are not connected with the public sector. The right folks, the doers, the movers, the shakers, the ones that make things happen are in the private sector.

The City of Dallas employees, council people and their insulated cadre keep the pot holes filled, keep the sewers working and prevent the city from burning down. Anything outside of that, the private sector takes care of here.

Pressing flesh at a few business luncheons downtown gets more results than sitting in the gallery of a years worth of city council meetings ever would.

[SDORN]

Count me in

[JSteffen]

They do all sorts of things. Many of their bullet points are identical in nature to those listed in the posts above.

In Dallas it's not what you know, it's who you know. You could have all the greatest ideas in the world but unless you know the right folks it will fall on deaf ears.

In Dallas, the right folks are not connected with the public sector. The right folks, the doers, the movers, the shakers, the ones that make things happen are in the private sector.

The City of Dallas employees, council people and their insulated cadre keep the pot holes filled, keep the sewers working and prevent the city from burning down. Anything outside of that, the private sector takes care of here.

Pressing flesh at a few business luncheons downtown gets more results than sitting in the gallery of a years worth of city council meetings ever would.

To put in your own words. Thats STUPID. That is primarily an equal rights organization to promote and support the African American Community.

[Insidetheloop]

To put in your own words. Thats STUPID. That is primarily an equal rights organization to promote and support the African American Community.

Stop it with the racist undertones.

As a rich, white, young, heterosexual, alpha male, I'm offended. I have helped with voting drives with the Urban League and done some roofing work in Joppa-South Dallas for "no-income" elderly people. Since you are concerned with other people's skin color, yes they were black. Really black.

You want a progressive urban young professional organization and I gave you one. All you have to do is show up. They follow the same ideals as outlined earlier in the thread.

[trolleygirl]

Stop it with the racist undertones.

As a rich, white, young, heterosexual, alpha male, I'm offended. I have helped with voting drives with the Urban League and done some roofing work in Joppa-South Dallas for "no-income" elderly people. Since you are concerned with other people's skin color, yes they were black. Really black.

You want a progressive urban young professional organization and I gave you one. All you have to do is show up. They follow the same ideals as outlined earlier in the thread.

Looks like a good organization to talk with anyway. I'm not discounting their work, but I was wondering what they did? I have only a vague idea of who they are/what their goals are, etc., and maybe there's an opportunity for a partnership here. I'll look into it.

[JSteffen]

Stop it with the racist undertones.

As a rich, white, young, heterosexual, alpha male, I'm offended. I have helped with voting drives with the Urban League and done some roofing work in Joppa-South Dallas for "no-income" elderly people. Since you are concerned with other people's skin color, yes they were black. Really black.

You want a progressive urban young professional organization and I gave you one. All you have to do is show up. They follow the same ideals as outlined earlier in the thread.

Give me a friggin break. Good for you, I am glad you are giving back to the community. I think you are STUPID. This organization has a mission

"The mission of the Urban League movement is to enable African Americans to secure economic self-reliance, parity, power and civil rights."

I belive the organization we are wanting to start includes everyone. The NUL has a purpose in its community, it is very focused. I think we want to serve all of Dallas and all races. So dont give me your BS, you just wanted to make a comment, and I called you on it like you do everyone els.

I'm going to use your words from
http://forum.dallasmetropolis.com/showthread.php?p=190545#post190545
Dumbest. Post. Ever.

[Mballar]

Let's think about dates for the meeting. . .shall we? I'll throw out the following:
Tuesday, September 12th at 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday, September 13th at 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, September 16th at 11:00 a.m.
Saturday, September 16th at 5:00 p.m.

What do you think?

[Mballar]

You want a progressive urban young professional organization and I gave you one. All you have to do is show up. They follow the same ideals as outlined earlier in the thread.
I think this organization will differentiate itself from other similarly-situated organizations in a number of ways. . .Chief among them will be the organization's roots in this forum. I certainly applaud the Urban League for its efforts. However, this organization will feel, look, and operate differently.

You make a good point about seeking help from the private sector, but I ask you, aren't many of this forum's members from the private sector? What I have observed on this forum, pretenders aside, is that the members, and "lurkers" of this forum are definitely wired into that private sector/business community that you speak of so highly as an effective way of getting things done.

Anyway, bring your criticisms AND positive suggestions to the next meeting. . I think the organization will be better for it. That goes for all who read this post. . .even the "lurkers!"

[columbiasooner]

Tuesday or Wednesday is great with me.

College Football takes up my Saturdays.

[trolleygirl]

I like either the 12th or 13th. With my organizations, I tend to favor Tues or Thurs evenings (Wed evenings puts some people at church), so I would lean more toward the 12th.

Also, cs offered meeting space at his office and I think that's a fune idea.

Thoughts??

[JSteffen]

I can make it the 12th.

[TexasStar]

I would love to participate, but I get the distinct impression from comments above that this is intended for the "younger" crowd. Good luck, though. This could make a big difference in our city.

[CityLove]

I would love to participate, but I get the distinct impression from comments above that this is intended for the "younger" crowd. Good luck, though. This could make a big difference in our city.

Well I don't like the thought of anyone who wants to participate being turned away. I'm not involved in the shaping of this thing, but that seems to go against the ideals...

TG? Am I wrong?

[Ninjatune™]

^ totally

[freewaytincan]

I could come via teleconference.

[trolleygirl]

Well I don't like the thought of anyone who wants to participate being turned away. I'm not involved in the shaping of this thing, but that seems to go against the ideals...

TG? Am I wrong?

There's no age limit. When we orginally got together, the idea that was fostered was that our current council members don't seem to be grooming anyone from the "next generation" to take up leadership positions here. Instead it's cronyism, meaning that they reward political allies rather than act like true leaders. I don't know how Angela Hunt did it, but she really did break through all that. She was also fortunate to have the endorsement of her predecessor and that helps alot. Very forward-thinking of Lill to recognize young talent.

The point is to bring in people who are not "wired into" City Hall like, well like me and like Urbanhope are. We have both been appointed to commissions and it's because of our nature to insert ourselves into the political landscape. It takes a lot of work to be recognized by your council person when you are literally one of among tens if thousands of constituents. We have also made lots of enemies in a short period of time, which oly pushes us further away from the inner sanctum. Some have argued that if young people want to get involved, then they very well should push their ways in. But let's face it- Dallas City Hall is hard as heck to navigate through! My councilman told me a year ago that it took him five years to "learn the ropes" and now (last year) he's only got three years left to actually make a difference. So, our current city council can;t even figure out how to work City Hall. That has got to stop if we ever want to see any real change in this City.

So, no it's not necessarily the young'uns forum, but more importantly, the next generation of leadership that we want to identify and groom. But be forewarned.......we will not be endorsing ANYONE over the age of 70!!!

[FoUTASportscaster]

TG? Am I wrong?


^ totally

Hmm.

[trolleygirl]

Okay then it's set for Tuesday, August 12 at 6PM at the Stop and Think Hdqrs.........that's in Snider Plaza.

I wish more people were reading this thread, we haven't herad from a lot of you.

How about some hard RSVP's???

[Ninjatune™]

Hmm.
totally- as in, I agree