Dallas Landmark Commission Decision Appealed

According to a posting on the Dallas Chapter No. 6, United Daughters of the Confederacy, Facebook page, a member,  as an individual has filed an official appeal to the Dallas City Planning Commission regarding the Landmarks Commission vote that the the Confederate War Memorial in Pioneer Park wasn't a part of the historical overlay.

https://www.facebook.com/dallas6udc/posts/10157052922156310

They had 30 days to make the appeal of the March 4th decision and the dead line would be April 4th.

There wasn't a need to go through the Landmark Commission as I explain in this posting.

https://dallaslandscape.blogspot.com/2019/02/dallas-city-council-doesnt-have-to-have.html

I don't know how long the appeal process will take. After the appeal with the Dallas City Planning Commission is exhausted, I wonder if a lawsuit could then be filed. Or could their be an appeal to the Dallas City Council?

You might say that the Dallas City Council voted for this to go before the Landmark Commission and they did. That doesn't mean there isn't some municipal code for an appeal of the Dallas City Planning Commission decisions. It could be another delay of another month maybe. The Dallas City Council could change their mind again on this monument. They have once in the last year.

While all these delays are in progress will the state of Texas make a law preventing the removal of Confederate monuments.

I have privately stated that I didn't think it was a done deal on the removal of the Confederate monument and that there were some potential things that could derail the removal of the monument as the Dallas City Council has chosen to do it. I don't know if the process has been derailed yet, but I will be watching closely. Maybe the process of removal just need to be delayed long enough for the Texas state legislature to pass a law blocking the removal of the monuments.

However, what ever the series of events might be, if the monument isn't gone at some point, the boycott of Dallas begins.

Dallas City Council doesn't have to have the Confederate War Memorial removal go through the Landmark Commission

This is my letter to Carolyn King Arnold and the supporting document.

LETTER

                                                                                     Edward H. Sebesta

                                                                                    

                                                                                    edwardsebesta@gmail.com

Carolyn King Arnold

City Council Board Member – District 4

1500 Marilla

Dallas, TX 75216

Dear Hon. Arnold:

Please find enclose a write up on Dallas City Council renaming Floyd Road to Texas Instruments Blvd. It includes all the information about the ordinance. Also, enclosed is a Jan. 14, 1998 Dallas Morning News article, “Council may let street be named for TI, Members considering plan to allow honor for businesses.”

The key thing to notice that the Dallas city council just changed the code to provide a loop hole to allow the renaming.  The lesson to be learned that if there is a will there is a way.

Also, there is no reason to have a three-quarters requirement as in the enclosed code. The street renaming code in Dallas is written with the rather obvious purpose to prevent streets being renamed after civil rights leaders. Else Faye Heggins pointed this out when they were first proposed. They were sort of snuck in some years later. They wanted to have a means to give the rich and powerful the street names they wanted but to keep Marvin Crenshaw shut down.

There is precedent for including some part in the ordinance allowing a bypass of the Landmark Commission.

Having the Landmark Commission involved I think is a very bad idea. I haven’t researched the members’ backgrounds, but I strongly suspect that you have a Commission composed of members who can’t give up the white landscape. The local Dallas scene of preservationists and Dallas historians seems to be made of those who have fine sounding phrases but can’t give up a racialized landscape.

           

                                                                                    Sincerely Yours,

                                                                                    Edward H. Sebesta 

SUPPORTING DOCUMENT

Texas Instruments – Edward H. Sebesta 2/6/2019

This is excerpted from a larger paper about the struggles over renaming streets in Dallas for civil rights leaders. Basically the Dallas City Code is designed to prevent the renaming of streets after civil rights leaders as Elsie Faye Heggins pointed out when it was first proposed in the 1980s, but snuck in some years later. 

What it shows is that there is precedent for changing code when it suits the city’s purposes.

EXCERPT:

In contrast to the struggle for a Malcolm X Blvd. was the catering to the interests of giant semiconductor firm Texas Instruments then finishing a $2 Billion dollar expansion in Far Northeast Dallas. Texas Instruments requested Floyd Road be renamed Texas Instruments Boulevard. As reported in a Jan. 14, 1998, DMN article, “Council may let street be named for TI, Members considering plan to allow honor for businesses.”

The article mentions that elected officials “readily expressed support.” However there is a problem per city code. As stated in the article, “The proposed name change would violate a city policy prohibiting renaming streets for commercial enterprises.” The city planners recommended that Texas Instruments’ request be denied based on city policy. This didn’t prove to be an obstacle. The article reports:

But the City Council may have found a way to accommodate the global high-tech company: Change the rules.

On Wednesday, council members will considering adopting a policy that would allow a three-quarters council majority to waive street name restrictions on a case-by-case basis.

The proposed name change is for only a part of Floyd Road violating another city code policy that streets have one name along their entire length.

The article talks about the economic importance of Texas Instruments locally which given as a justification for the renaming without misgivings or questions. 

The Floyd pioneer family is considered, and they are happy to get a “plaque or kiosk on TI property.” Preservation Dallas is not mentioned in the article. The reduction of the extent of Floyd Road perhaps didn’t worry Preservation Dallas or other historians and a “plaque or kiosk” on private property seemed to be an adequate substitute. It would be interesting to see if a “plaque or kiosk” will satisfy those in the future who argue against street renaming on the basis that history will be lost.

There isn’t concern that people would get lost or confused. Problems that are given for not renaming other streets are not mentioned.

Marvin Crenshaw took note of this catering to Texas Instruments. As the article reports:

If the council agrees to give itself the power to waive street-name restrictions, the city should expect a host of requests to rename roads – not all of them from wealthy corporations, said city activist Marvin Crenshaw.

Mr. Crenshaw, who led a 17-year effort to rename a street for slain black nationalist leader Malcolm X, said leaders were unwilling to bend rules during that campaign.

We’ll have to wait and see if the council is willing to follow its new rules.” Mr. Crenshaw said.[1]

This is the code that would have prohibited naming the street after Texas Instruments.

SEC. 51A-9.304 Standards for Street Names and Street Name Changes.

(a)  In general

(4) A street name that uniquely identifies a particular tract, tenant, or product name is prohibited.

This is the information of the ordinance to just allow the usual provisions to be waived. SEC. 51A-9.304 Standards for Street Names and Street Name Changes.

(g) Waiver. The city council, by a three-quarters vote of its members, may waive any of the standards contained in this section when waiver would be in the public interest and would not impair the public health, safety, or welfare.

The reason for three-quarters was to prevent the changing of street names for civil rights leaders but be able to accommodate the rich and powerful.

WHERE THERE IS A WILL THERE IS A WAY.

NEXT DOCUMENTATION ON THE PASSAGE OF THE ORDINANCE

This is the code that was adopted.

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[1] Ingrassia, Robert, “Council may let street be named for TI Members, considering plan to allow honor for businesses,” DMN, 1/14/1998, pp. 25A.