Transcript
Bronin X: All right. Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn, thank you so much for joining me on the Real Texas Radio podcast today. This is very exciting. I'm wearing, just by complete coincidence, my Cara Mendelsohn t -shirt. totally unplanned by the way.
Cara Mendelsohn: It looks great on you.
Bronin X: Thank you so much. And I want to start off by just mentioning, I ran into you over the weekend on, of all places, Deloache Avenue in front of the... the viral mansion that decorates elaborately for Halloween and Christmas.
Bronin X: ah What were you doing over there this weekend in the rain?
Cara Mendelsohn: in the rain yeah we were collecting signatures for the safe city hall petition
Bronin X: Hmm.
Cara Mendelsohn: And I'll tell you, we got a lot of... signatures that day. We also got very very wet. um we did a little bit of curbside for some folks but a lot of people um came out and wanted to look at these uh horror decorations and um Just maybe... 15 20 minutes before we left they turned them on where the animatronics were working and like the skull was popping out that was kind of funny um but there's definitely a reason people want to go see that house it's pretty
Cara Mendelsohn: It was pretty hilarious. I will say that, you know. Not everybody loved the the political signs, and we actually edited them out of the photos. We weren't there for anything political.
Cara Mendelsohn: um partisan political we were there obviously to save city hall Petition Drive.
Bronin X: Understood. And it's my understanding you did not originally plan to be on Deloach Avenue gathering signatures. do you Do you want to talk about why you were at that location?
Cara Mendelsohn: well we're at that location because the starbucks at preston and uh royal uh is where we're supposed to be and they did not want petitions to be filled out and in their building.
Cara Mendelsohn: or even on their patio. so we even though literally there was nobody on the patio so we had to decide where would we go and since everyone knows where that house is and it's got a very very wide street um the owner was gracious enough to say sure come on over you're welcome to use my driveway And.
Cara Mendelsohn: i think a lot of people thought it was funny.
Bronin X: Well, i I certainly thought it was funny. I was entertained. And I i did hear a rumor. I won't mention any names. I i heard... maybe Maybe Starbucks was alerted or or prompted to throwing the signature gathering effort out. i I won't say anything further than that unless you would like to.
Cara Mendelsohn: Well, on Friday, when the petition drive started, and we actually hosted the very first event, and it was at the Starbucks at Frankfurt and Preston. And I'll just tell you that all four.
Cara Mendelsohn: times that I was elected. we in that exact Starbucks had petitions signed. and nobody ever cared and there were a lot of people. and It was never an issue My understanding is that there may have somebody who called over and said, please don't let her do that.
Cara Mendelsohn: And then they even called the police, although we left. um And I think. The funniest thing is when the police showed up, we all just laughed and it was no issue at all. and We walked down to the bakery a couple doors down, who was very, very happy to host us. I think they had... a really good sales day a lot of the people who came to sign bought copious amounts of baked goods and they invited us to come back actually that Sunday.
Cara Mendelsohn: where we also had a really great day. so It all worked out. but not going back to scarles
Bronin X: Awesome. but It's my understanding they're closing another 250 stores this year. You'd think they'd be very excited for the foot traffic.
Cara Mendelsohn: Well, they actually kicked out one guy who had bought $30 of food and coffee just telling people to come to the Deloge house. And they still kick them out, a paying customer.
Bronin X: but
Cara Mendelsohn: So again, I think there may have been some other forces at work, but it was no problem. We got tons of signatures and had a great time. It's actually been a lot of fun.
Bronin X: Awesome. Awesome. Okay, so let's get into this bond. It's going to be Proposition A if you are a Dallas proper. vote or 3rd or... Early voting starts later this month.
Bronin X: What is in the bond and why do you want to bust it?
Cara Mendelsohn: Yeah, you know, I wish there was just some really great slogan that would tell everybody everything they need to know in one little phrase, but it's more complicated than that. um So there is sort of this bust the bond, vote no in November is just sort of a headline.
Cara Mendelsohn: But there's a lot of different reasons why this bond is problematic. First of all, you may recall that just in 2024, the voters approved 1 .25. billion dollars of debt for us to authorize we have still not offered we've not Expended $750.
Cara Mendelsohn: A million of that. So it's just sitting there for us to use. There's really no reason to add to this debt. Um, You also may remember that in 2017 and in 2024, every council member appointed a bond commissioner.
Cara Mendelsohn: and then from there there are various propositions and we appointed people to be on those task forces. there were was like a year -long process of meetings. both at city hall out in the community, a lot of feedback, a lot of evaluating projects and deciding if this really was worthy of.
Cara Mendelsohn: the voters consideration. This bond Didn't have any of that. Not a single commission, no resident input, unless you took the time to come you know during the day to come speak in front of City Hall.
Cara Mendelsohn: uh the city council You didn't have a voice in this. So first I'm going to say. no community input. The next thing I'm going to say is that. This is sort of a blank check.
Cara Mendelsohn: It's just one proposition. everything's thrown in there and you can't say yes or no to various ideas that are floated on what to use what to spend this money on.
Cara Mendelsohn: And the reason I'm saying it like that is. frizz many times as the city wants to show you okay this is what we're going to spend the money on There is no... legal requirements of that happen.
Cara Mendelsohn: I mean literally All it says is it's a public safety bond. And it has to be for capital. So... You know, it doesn't take a lot of imagination to say, well, the fire chief or the building inspector could come to City Hall and say, well, you know, there's no sprinkler system here. That's a public safety hazard.
Cara Mendelsohn: And now those bond dollars are available for move out and. um set up in a new place so i think that is one of the key issues At the council meeting, I called it the poison pill.
Cara Mendelsohn: Right. That. You've put all these other things around there that, frankly, I support. I support, you know, the police academy. but As soon as you're saying we're going to move 911 out of City Hall.
Cara Mendelsohn: No, that's a terrible, terrible idea. And I'm not going to vote for a bond where all these things are in. one proposition. So it's like me saying, that you've put something rotten inside the soup.
Cara Mendelsohn: you can't just take one thing out you have to have the whole bad soup or throw the whole pot out The next thing I'm going to say is. We're in a very financial.
Cara Mendelsohn: Um, We're in a pickle. And. We're in. 8 .6 billion dollars of debt. in our city. That's a lot of debt.
Cara Mendelsohn: Now, some of that is revenue debt, meaning like when you pay your water bill, it's going to pay off the bonds for the for the water department. but 5 .6 billion is Property tax supported that.
Cara Mendelsohn: And that number might sound familiar to you, Bronin. I know you talk about it sometimes on this on this podcast is that Our revenue, our budget this year is $5 .66 billion.
Cara Mendelsohn: And I just said that you're... property tax Supported debt is $5 .6 billion. Meaning the same amount coming in is actually how much debt we have. So it's just way, way, way too much debt. That debt's grown almost 25 % in the last three years.
Cara Mendelsohn: So... we've added 1 .7 billion it's a lot and all of these numbers the the numbers i'm telling you about um the 8 .6 the six but um The...
Cara Mendelsohn: and and how much it's grown, all of that's from Moody's. You can verify every one of these numbers just by going on Moody's website. So then you kind of get to, well, what's what are the projects that the city's talking about?
Cara Mendelsohn: And the first one is the Police Academy. And I'm, you know, the number one supporter of we've got to have a great. police academy for our officers. They deserve it. They're in a terrible space.
Cara Mendelsohn: And I believe it's the number one. project in our city. It's not the convention center. It is this. It is this police academy. However,
Bronin X: So let me just jump in there just ah really quickly.
Cara Mendelsohn: Sure
Bronin X: So. I believe you advocated to have the new police academy as a standalone item. So in other words, this bond could have been structured so that voters could have decided to just... support the police academy. That was an option, correct?
Cara Mendelsohn: correct I made an amendment to the motion to bring this to the voters and separated out some of the projects. And that would have let people support the police academy, but turned down moving out of City Hall. for the 911 and Emergency Operations Center.
Cara Mendelsohn: and the vote was 8 -7 and it failed. So... That was very unfortunate. I had repeatedly said behind the scenes and on camera.
Cara Mendelsohn: If y 'all don't separate this thing out, I will actively work. to bust this bond. And. Here we are. I mean... It's it's.
Bronin X: Yes.
Cara Mendelsohn: that idea.
Bronin X: Something else, when we're looking at property taxes in aggregate, obviously the city of Dallas is just one of the taxing entities. but fewer than 9 % of... eligible voters showed up for the Dallas ISD bond, a ah record in Texas state history.
Bronin X: Property taxes are going up there. at the Dallas ISD level. the most egregious and offensive. issue that I have. We're also going to be voting in November on Dallas counties.
Bronin X: $100 million dollars tax hike. in perpetuity that, again, there's absolutely zero... planning or details other than just homelessness. It's going to solve homelessness.
Bronin X: I heard you say at a recent meeting, you estimated Dallas County spends an aggregate $700 million dollars on homelessness a year. That's not doing it, but another 100 million will.
Bronin X: And now...
Cara Mendelsohn: yeah
Bronin X: now Dallas, the city of Dallas, is just dumping on another bond. So if you are a Dallas... homeowner, property owner. That's a triple whammy. Plus... chances are your appraisal on your home went up this year as well.
Cara Mendelsohn: Yeah, and I just want to clarify that $700 million dollars number. First of all, it's not up to date. It's a couple years old. But it's not how much Dallas County is spending on it. What it is is a combination of federal. state um local dollars given to the nonprofits, their fundraising. It's how much money is going into our system.
Cara Mendelsohn: And. I mean, man, if you can't solve it with $700 million dollars a year. and again That's probably on the low side because that doesn't include the recent $10 million that...
Cara Mendelsohn: the city gave and then the county gave another 10 million uh to housing forward so i mean there's a lot of money flowing into that system And. Actually just last Wednesday, I testified in Austin.
Cara Mendelsohn: There's a select committee. on government oversight. And one of the things I was saying is that when government delegates its responsibility to nonprofits.
Cara Mendelsohn: the ability to have the transparency, the open records request. up. the government level in my case of course the city should also follow those dollars so that you don't get a shielded non -profit sorry we don't have to open the answer an open records request when it's doing the same work government would have done.
Cara Mendelsohn: Because I do think that it's possible people could hide things. behind nonprofit work. by just giving that money away so We ought to make sure that we have that kind of transparency.
Bronin X: I can't believe you're so cynical. like like I couldn't imagine that nonprofit grift occurring at at the municipal or county level. That that just sounds...
Cara Mendelsohn: I do have to say one thing.
Bronin X: No, I don't.
Cara Mendelsohn: I've run nonprofits and I'm a nonprofit believer. I mean, nonprofits can. uniquely address needs of the individual in the community and do it without some of this government interference of bureaucracy that we see at the city and county levels.
Cara Mendelsohn: However, It doesn't have that same scrutiny. And so when tax dollars are involved, right it's not people optionally giving you money it's we're we're taking this from them, then we have to have a higher standard to make sure that we're delivering properly.
Bronin X: I couldn't agree more. um I want to talk about the... Uh... I want to talk about the police training facility again, just really quickly.
Bronin X: it it's in It's like third world condition, right? it is in It's deplorable condition.
Cara Mendelsohn: no it's not like in third no it's not third world it's um It's like a really... really old office building that hasn't been well cared for with like really stinky men in it who've been sweating. So like you go into the area where they're practicing kind of hands -on work. And I mean, it is like the worst gym room of...
Cara Mendelsohn: that you can imagine i have three sons and it's like when you pick them up after they've been camping for two weeks and They just stink. So the the workout facility is just too small.
Cara Mendelsohn: Um. But... it's it's not it's not dangerous or it's not anything like that they don't have enough space to lock up all the things they need to um You might sit a little closer shoulder to shoulder with the other recruits.
Cara Mendelsohn: than what might be a little bit more comfortable or you might want to spread out and have more space but it's not third world in there there are some buildings in our city that are third world.
Cara Mendelsohn: That's not one. um But.
Bronin X: Okay.
Cara Mendelsohn: it doesn't have enough space to do what's needed and we do need a new academy. And we've been saying that for only 30 years now. So. this will be the
Bronin X: But it's broken ground, right? So even without this bond, it has broken ground. Is that correct?
Cara Mendelsohn: Well, we had a groundbreaking ceremony, but that was like some dumped dirt that everybody shoveled. I didn't actually see the work of Breaking Ground happening. What happened is in the 24 bond, there was $50 million dollars for the academy.
Cara Mendelsohn: And that money has gone to planning and design. And. You know, I think there is a PR element of having a groundbreaking as this bond is approaching. and making sure that it's part of the news cycle.
Cara Mendelsohn: And then people like you will say, oh, but it broke ground. But I don't think there's actually anything. That's that's. truly happened. um In addition to the 50 million that the taxpayers voted for in 24.
Cara Mendelsohn: But... The project has garnered other support. And so the state has put in $25 million. The Communities Foundation put in money. wow racetrack i'm sorry QT.
Cara Mendelsohn: put in 10 million. um there There has been some fundraising happening, so there are dollars to continue with the project. even if the bond fails. And I'll just say it like this.
Cara Mendelsohn: This is a 20 -year bond. So waiting six months. to put this back on as a designated project with an actual budget. Waiting six months for that is better than a 20 -year mistake.
Bronin X: I agree. I agree. And it looks like we may be having a May 2027 election anyway with the Save City Hall referendum.
Cara Mendelsohn: Well, you got the safe city hall, then you have these former mayors bringing forward a stronger mayor system. there might be recalls i mean you might end up with a pretty full bow.
Cara Mendelsohn: in May. The other thing is in May, that election will cost the city approximately $800 ,000. Would you believe this little bond election is going to cost us $2 .8?
Cara Mendelsohn: million dollars And I pleaded with the council, don't waste this money. Push it to May. Separated out. And they wouldn't. and Like I said, it was very close, eight to seven. so I don't know what to tell you. um I hope people will finally stand up and say, no, you can't just put anything in front of us and we'll just say yes.
Cara Mendelsohn: Because that is the the mindset at City Hall is that, well, if we put it in front of them, they'll do it.
Bronin X: I will definitely be voting no on Prop A for City of Dallas. I will be busting the bond, just like I recommend to everybody to vote no on the Dallas County tax hike.
Bronin X: So hopefully the the voters will make the wise choice.
Cara Mendelsohn: broan Did you see for the Dallas County one that Elba Garcia and John Wiley pro Price voted no?
Bronin X: Yes, I did. And I think they were being very genuine. And I am i'm very unhappy with what I see going on at Dallas County. And I think there's very little public scrutiny. I see... dozens, scores of citizens showing up to Dallas City Hall.
Bronin X: And some of them, I want to be like, you should be going to Dallas County and speaking there. This is where it seems like a lot of your issue lies. And and people just, they don't know. and the The Harris County Commissioner's Court.
Bronin X: packed with public speakers. Dallas County, it's just like a black hole.
Cara Mendelsohn: Yeah, I don't know why but for some reason and I mean I've lived here a long time. um For some reason, it's always the city that people want to solve every problem, especially when there are things that it's like but that's actually the county that does that so anything health related anything judicial uh sorry about um well there's obviously county courts
Cara Mendelsohn: But anything about the jail, I mean, people will come down about jail cases and it's like, that's not us. Right. And so. It's unfortunate we have the same name as the county, unlike, you know, you're just talking about Harris County in Houston.
Cara Mendelsohn: um and travis county and austin they have different names so that sometimes makes it a little bit easier for them to differentiate and people forget that just because the county is called Dallas and the city is called Dallas. We're not the same.
Bronin X: Right. Right. and Yeah, that that could be the issue as well, for for sure. So ah hopefully we'll be getting a new commissioner in District 2, hopefully, um Barry Warnick, but we'll see.
Bronin X: um Okay, I want to move on to talking about... Dallas City Hall, if if you don't mind.
Cara Mendelsohn: Well, can we go through those projects real quick that they're talking about for the bond?
Bronin X: Yes. Yes.
Cara Mendelsohn: So.
Bronin X: Good idea.
Cara Mendelsohn: I just want to tell you quickly, the police academy, when we were. um presented with that project it was supposed to cost 130 million dollars and be at one location.
Cara Mendelsohn: we're now talking about two locations and we're talking about over 300 million dollars So that project has grown very significantly. We haven't quite had the breakdown that we should.
Cara Mendelsohn: The second thing is they want to move the 911 center out. the they Put it public. peak um RFP out.
Bronin X: Out of City Hall. It's currently in City Hall, just for the listeners.
Cara Mendelsohn: It's currently in City Hall. just one one level below, which is the safest place in this entire city. They want to move it based on the public RFP because, of course, I can't say anything that I've learned in executive session.
Cara Mendelsohn: but this is publicly known And that building is on Bellevue. We bought it for a dollar from IBM. right next to a dark train station. and The other side of it is Jack Evans Police Headquarters.
Cara Mendelsohn: It's a small street. It's full of windows. It is not a great location um for a lot of different reasons and very problematic to move it.
Cara Mendelsohn: Everything would have to be brand new because you can't. possibly have a hiccup. And I'll just say that. you know, do you think? Your Dallas City. Council and staff have delivered project on time and on budget because.
Cara Mendelsohn: I haven't seen them. That is not happening. The convention center is delayed over budget. the police academy although for some reason the manager stood up at that groundbreaking and said we will deliver this on time and on budget.
Cara Mendelsohn: What was supposed to open in... 2027 now we're talking about 2028. let's see
Bronin X: What about the WINGS practice facility? That was finished in the spring, right?
Cara Mendelsohn: You're fine. Really? Wish he didn't bring that project up. That is the most outrageous thing.
Bronin X: second
Cara Mendelsohn: We were told it would be a basic practice facility. basic. And then suddenly, now we're up to over $80 million. dollars They're paying for part of it, but we're paying over 50 million.
Cara Mendelsohn: For a practice facility, The arena is being redone for $250 million. dollars So if that's for the wings. What are we going to end up doing for the maps?
Bronin X: A great question. That's a great question. um and Anything else on the bond, though?
Cara Mendelsohn: So there's also a problem. Yeah, there's a property room for $150 million. dollars When I went to go visit it, um earlier this year i was told i'm the first council member who's ever been there like ever ever Never before.
Bronin X: to the current property room.
Cara Mendelsohn: i Yeah. And they're saying $150 million dollars for that thing. It's essentially a glorified warehouse. And then they tell us, I want to move it to.
Cara Mendelsohn: um what we would call the pound. It's it's ah it's a location, we call it Vilbig. Bill Bigg is 71 acres. Robert Woloski recently wrote about it. It's been on our list to sell. for years now.
Cara Mendelsohn: in our top 10 list. it's crime real estate. And so the the hilarity of trying to get rid of city hall for redevelopment when here's a property literally meant to be redeveloped And now you're going to move a property room there.
Cara Mendelsohn: So that doesn't make any sense whatsoever. And then the city manager said, well, it doesn't have to go there. We can look at a lot of other things. So again, there's not really a plan for this thing.
Cara Mendelsohn: And then they also want to build a fire station, which is Fire Station 4, just south of downtown. All around it. is vacant. parking lots. We have an incentive deal for someone to develop it.
Cara Mendelsohn: Will they develop it into five story? Townhomes? Will they develop it into 100 -story hotels and towers? We have no idea. But this fire station wasn't even considered in the 2024 bond because we are we don't know what's going to go there.
Cara Mendelsohn: It's not ready to be redone. It's also the bridges right next to it on I -30. are totally taken down. So you can't even get to Deep Ellum, which is half of its service area. so This thing is crazy the other downtown fire station, which is fire station 18 one of the busiest in the city We did fund and that station will be bigger beautiful
Cara Mendelsohn: And. I don't know, maybe we find out we don't need a second station downtown, or maybe we need a different kind of station. But this isn't ready to go. And they also had no idea. when any of these projects would go forward.
Cara Mendelsohn: Because again, I think they're going to redirect the funds. Yeah.
Bronin X: Well, you know, I heard a ah council member, I won't say the name, but he he did say it right in the public meeting on the record.
Cara Mendelsohn: Yeah.
Bronin X: He said... well, you know, if we're going to do a bond, well, we may as well just... you know, get what we can There's no point in just asking for this one item. like Let's get as much as we can.
Bronin X: rather than what we actually need.
Cara Mendelsohn: Yeah, I heard that. and It's a new council member. I'm not sure they get how this thing works yet. and i'll just say there's a steep learning curve for everybody when you come on council everybody runs thinks they know everything me included and then you get there and it's just interesting to watch as they realize, okay, wait, I didn't know that. I didn't know that.
Cara Mendelsohn: and so
Bronin X: This person wasn't new, who I'm thinking of, if I recall correctly.
Cara Mendelsohn: Oh really?
Bronin X: But anyway, I wouldn't be surprised if that... sentiment was echoed.
Cara Mendelsohn: Well... Look. What did happen at that meeting that you're talking about, which was just ah last Wednesday, our last agenda meeting in September. um Is that.
Cara Mendelsohn: the assistant city attorney said on record as we were talking about two agenda items number 26 and 27. where we were redirecting funds. from the 2006 bond and we were redirecting funds from the 2017 bond.
Cara Mendelsohn: I was on that bond committee for 2017. And what we just redirected for it, we never talked about. It was never part of the public conversation. And here we are doing it as I'm saying. Look, I'm worried this is what's going to happen. And the city says, oh, no, that's not going to happen. We're going to use it for public safety.
Cara Mendelsohn: But here are two exact examples of what I'm talking about. Um, The facility condition assessment. that has been talked about with the whole safe city hall thing Well, that was done in 20.
Cara Mendelsohn: 17. And it was done to prepare for that 2017 bond so they could understand what are the facility needs. but they took money from the 2006 bond to do it.
Cara Mendelsohn: And everything on a bond is supposed to last at least 20 years. So I asked staff, well, the bond the the facility condition assessment you got in 2017 are you still using it right you should be They say, no, it's too old.
Bronin X: This was to evaluate the condition of City Hall. That's what you're referring to.
Cara Mendelsohn: of. A lot of buildings actually were included in it and they weren't able to use it because it was too old. but we're still paying debt on it. It's not even paid off and we can't even use it anymore.
Cara Mendelsohn: But what did we just do? we we allocate money for another facility condition assessment. with death. We should not be spending... debt. We shouldn't be using debt as a way to get a report. That's ridiculous.
Bronin X: I agree. I agree. And anything else on the bond before I segue to City Hall? we're kind We're kind of on the topic anyway. Okay. Um, All right, so obviously I'm going to premise my comments with you. You are the...
Bronin X: one of the staunchest advocates for remaining in Dallas City Hall. And it it it seems like the debate, it's been in a holding pattern now for months.
Bronin X: And the city manager hasn't revealed publicly. about potential sites for relocation. We've we've seen speculation in the media. how much it would cost to relocate and lease.
Bronin X: how much it would cost to demolish the current city hall building. Um, I'm reading that any potential relocation, it may even require... construction or remodeling for. council chambers. So moving into a new space and then immediately having to get into new construction.
Bronin X: Any thoughts on that?
Cara Mendelsohn: Well. again i can't really say anything i've learned in executive session but i think anybody could kind of look around and say There's not a city council chamber. location anywhere, right?
Cara Mendelsohn: So we would have to have something to utilize for that. What? A number of people have noted or some of the amendments I made to the motion that was directing the manager to continue looking at options.
Cara Mendelsohn: And I made some motions of things like... Well... It needs to be a building that would be younger. than City Hall. So as we've heard council members say things which I think are crazy, like...
Cara Mendelsohn: Well, it's almost 50. We got to get rid of it. It's too old. I'm like, what does that mean? 50 years old isn't that old for a building. So. If you think City Hall is too old, then we have to look at a building that's younger than City Hall.
Cara Mendelsohn: And. I made that motion for a reason. All of the motions were made for a very specific reason. It didn't pass. I made a motion that said.
Cara Mendelsohn: People have talked about how this building does our current city hall doesn't have enough parking dedicated parking. Secure parking. So I made a motion that said any building to be considered must have more secure parking than what we have today.
Cara Mendelsohn: again. made that motion for a reason. It did not pass again. Now, the other council members also know what was said in executive session. And so they know why I'm making this.
Cara Mendelsohn: I said it had to have more security. than our current city hall. That didn't pass. I said it had to have a space for people to gather and protest or have events.
Cara Mendelsohn: you know we do a lot of um marathons and things like that, as well as protests that happen at City Hall. It's a place where people should be able to come and express their concerns and advocacy for government with their government.
Cara Mendelsohn: um And that didn't pass. Again. There's a reason I made that motion. So you can see that there are some issues with properties. that um might be considered.
Bronin X: Well, I know that you're... colleagues, they appreciate your Diligence. And I know that.
Cara Mendelsohn: Some of them. Some not so much. Ha ha!
Bronin X: yeah I certainly appreciate it. and um
Cara Mendelsohn: thank you
Bronin X: so So keep it up. and So something else, obviously we know the Mavs, they have a non -binding agreement at the Valley View site. I watched, I don't know if you saw this podcast. interview There was a joint interview with the city manager, Kim Tolbert, and developer. Ray Washburn. That was last month. and Ray Washburn, very... confidently, convincingly, authoritatively stated.
Bronin X: oh, we we are going to have... ah The Mavs downtown, the Stars are going to be at American Airlines. And I keep hearing two buzz terms. I don't know if you keep hearing them. Entertainment district.
Bronin X: And Anchor. And then the the Anchor is the Mavs downtown. so it It does seem like it's still in the cards for the Mavs downtown and nobody is, nobody elected.
Bronin X: Or the city manager wants to say. Mavs equals City Hall site. but it We keep dancing around this.
Cara Mendelsohn: Well... First I'll start with the stars. I mean, it'd be real news to Plano, who's got five different items on their November ballot about the Stars going to Willow Bend.
Cara Mendelsohn: Um, I think the stars have very... very clearly says they're not coming to Dallas. and shockingly spoke about the process and how They didn't even get the engagement they were expecting from Dallas.
Cara Mendelsohn: so I... I... found that all very disappointing i thought we were working hard to keep the stars i wasn't on the sports i'm still not on the sports retention and recruitment committee i would be the wrong person to be on it honestly i'm a sports car
Bronin X: As would I.
Cara Mendelsohn: Yeah.
Bronin X: You probably know more about sports than I do.
Cara Mendelsohn: ah Well only because I have three sons but um You know, I... I... i'm I'm a fan in terms of I'll sit there and watch the game, but I don't know the names of all the players or things like that.
Cara Mendelsohn: What I do know is it's good for Dallas, for the teams to be here, and I do not. i do not and i don't want to lose the teams period Um, But what's really funny is how many times I've heard, oh, we don't want the Stars and the Mavericks to leave downtown. Well, they're not downtown.
Cara Mendelsohn: I mean... they've never been well they were downtown when they were at reunion arena They have not been downtown for quite some time, 25 years, I think. So. American Airlines Center is in Uptown.
Cara Mendelsohn: So number one. They're not leaving downtown. they're leaving uptown. And the Valley View location is fabulous. I mean, it is just so great for the whole Metroplex to be able to come in.
Cara Mendelsohn: And that thing is a hundred acres of ready to go. I mean, things have been knocked down they know where the utilities are they're ready to build It will drive so much investment in North Dallas and far North Dallas.
Cara Mendelsohn: that. revenue will be so meaningful for the city budget. and for projects that need to get done everywhere. And of course, it's part of a TIFF.
Cara Mendelsohn: with Southern Dallas, with the Redbird Mall. It's called the Mall Tiff. And so there's revenue that will actually help Southern Dallas. with it going to Valley View. that wouldn't happen.
Cara Mendelsohn: if it was even at the city hall location. And we know that because if it was so great. It would have happened when it was at reunion. Or it would have happened when it was American Airlines Center.
Cara Mendelsohn: So... there's just some fantasy that having an arena instead of City Hall. would be beneficial economically. I don't think that's true. There's nobody. denying that it that we need development in that part of downtown. And I think everybody's pro development.
Cara Mendelsohn: but build it around city hall which is only 14 acres and i'll just say ray washburn who is part of the hunt family They own 15 acres. wherever you need us to be.
Cara Mendelsohn: And it's been fallow for... 25 years. So maybe... They need to get going on their development first. The other thing is every argument I've heard for why City Hall should leave.
Cara Mendelsohn: these were the arguments for why we need a new convention center. a convention center that still has $200 million dollars of debt in on it. And also was under 50 years old for most parts of it.
Cara Mendelsohn: And so. That thing, we're tearing it down. Something that... also was not taken care of. It wasn't taken care of because it didn't make enough money. Didn't make enough money for...
Cara Mendelsohn: for the debt repayments for operations, and then that maintenance piece. Never happened. And so water did intrude and it was very detrimental to the building.
Cara Mendelsohn: But no, there's a concession that was made. the building was rotated. So now there's 30 additional acres of developable land. So... When you think about a brand new convention center, those 30 acres there's the new park which i don't know how many acres that is i think it's like 40.
Cara Mendelsohn: And then Hunt's got 15. Like, go do that. That's going to take 25 years to build out. So... if you build all that out and you say man i still need city hall i think there should be a conversation but I think City Hall is pretty cool.
Cara Mendelsohn: and it's paid off And I can make the financial argument. I can make the, it's an I am pay amazing building argument. But. The number one thing. anybody can do is go downtown and look around and go, yeah.
Cara Mendelsohn: City Hall is not what the problem is. there's a lot of other problems.
Bronin X: i I have gone down there and and taken a look. i I spy many different problems around the building. And yeah, I i agree. i'm not I'm not totally sold. I'm still open to hearing ideas. And it sounds like I've got some time now, potentially, before May 2027. But I spy and and pointed out many problems and in that area that are not the book. the building and i think the building is like turned into this boogeyman
Cara Mendelsohn: Well, it was funny, you know, he brought up. Ray Washburn. the city already had to buy a building from him. And everything he wants for us to relocate is. into his building he has publicly talked about how we should move into i think his building is almost 100 years old that we should.
Cara Mendelsohn: Take his building. I mean are you kidding? I mean, there's there's just some really outrageous things that he has said. that I mean.
Cara Mendelsohn: I don't know. I... I think that. as a taxpayer i'm a little bit of gas that he would even offer up and say publicly that yeah you should You should leave this paid off city hall that. does need a little bit of maintenance but I mean, we're talking about 150 million.
Cara Mendelsohn: As opposed to, yeah, come to my hundred -year -old building so that I can, what? get wealthier i mean i don't understand what the interest is so Again, they have a lot of land. Please. Go develop it.
Bronin X: Yeah, it was it was a very interesting joint interview. and It... It struck me that Ray Washburn had a ah lot of support from the powers that be.
Bronin X: So maybe that's what's empowering him to make these statements.
Cara Mendelsohn: Well, he told me he wants us to also help support him building a hotel. to compete with the omni Which? By the way, you the taxpayers own.
Cara Mendelsohn: um And you owe $400 million dollars still on that. Why would we support? another hotel that might Well, it would for sure be newer. might be more desirable then.
Cara Mendelsohn: How are we going to pay back that $400 million? dollars So.
Bronin X: Well, it's going to be all part of this entertainment district anchored by the Mavs.
Cara Mendelsohn: Yeah, I don't know. I don't know if that's happening. Sorry, pro it um that's not what I'm hearing. I'm hearing if they don't go to Valley View, they're looking at Irving and Arlington. And. that would be actually losing the mouse. And then we would have lost the Mavs and the Stars.
Cara Mendelsohn: And so poor Laura Miller is walking around carrying the, you lost the Cowboys. So what's that mean? Is Eric Johnson going to walk around, you lost the Stars and you lost the Mavs?
Cara Mendelsohn: So I would hope that he and Kim Tolbert are sitting in a room with the Mavs and coming up with whatever deal needs to happen to make sure that they go to Valley View.
Bronin X: I agree. i I hope so too. i I hope they stay in Dallas. I'll put it to you that way. Um,
Cara Mendelsohn: Me too.
Bronin X: Council Member Mendelson. Thank you so much for joining me on the Real Texas Radio podcast. Any final comments before we wrap up?
Cara Mendelsohn: No, I think you are um a wonderful host. I've listened to a number of your podcasts and I love your perspective. it's It's fresh. It's a little different than... some of the regular stuff we hear all the time and so i just say keep going Enjoy talking to you, Bron.
Bronin X: Thank you so much. I appreciate that. And maybe we'll have you on again in the future.
Cara Mendelsohn: We'll see.
Bronin X: All right, now have a good one.
Cara Mendelsohn: Thank you. Bye.
