Ed Oakley, Poor People, and the Environment

Ed Oakley Doesn't Care about Poor People

Yesterday, Oakley voted to allow Trammell Crow (big donors to his campaign) to tear down TimberCreek which is at the intersection of Northwest Highway and Skillman (map).

Jim Schutze wrote this article for the Dallas Observer (link), which talks about Oakley's apartment plan.

The EPA's study said such an approval to rip out the trees and fill in the creek would ruin one of the most beautiful riparian areas in Dallas. But I guess that wasn't enough for him to vote against it. Also, there are about 2,000 residents that would be displaced.

While Oakley claims he is pro-environment, yesterday he voted to let Trammell Crow take out more than 1,000 large trees and a creek and fill it with a 25-foot layer of fill sand so they can make more money. This is not surprising, since Oakley gets most of his campaign money from big developers that stand to profit from his teardown plan.

Oakley always talks big about relocation packages for displaced tenants. He let Trammell Crow get away with a measly $150-225 per apartment moving allowance. Anyone who's moved in the past 5 years knows that $200 barely covers the deposit and a two-bedroom move costs $500. These folks now have to move in a couple of months and scramble to find schools for their kids.

As Rasansky spoke to this heinous development, people from Trammell Crow were laughing and he called them out for it. I guess it's funny to kick people out of their homes with no money.

Rasansky said that developers have the right to build, but there is a moral compass that should guide everyone's life.

Ed Oakley sat silent. And voted to kick these people out of their homes with spare change to move and filled in one of the most beautiful areas in Dallas with a 25-feet deep layer of sand. He wouldn't even consider a plan for Crow to build around the trees. I guess he was busy looking at his screensaver, which is a picture of himself (does anybody else do that? It weirded me out).

This is what I've told you about Oakley the whole time. Even if you can stomach the nasty mailers, WATCH THE VOTES! That's when the real Oakley shows.

Jim's article has a couple of interesting quotes, here's one of them.

Then I talked to another lifelong Democrat who is a serious environmentalist. She said, "Oakley is the worst disaster for the environment who has ever served on the city council."

Oakley proved true on this assessment yesterday at Council.

Kudos to Mitch Rasansky and Angela Hunt for doing the right thing and voting no.