Leppert, Caraway get it; Hunt doesn't

I just got to hear the last few minutes of the Dallas City Council discussion surrounding the ultimate destination of Jenny the Elephant, but it was enough to hear council member Mitchell Rasansky do his imitation of another zoo animal and to see that Mayor Tom Leppert and council member Dwaine Carraway understand the responsibilities of a Dallas City Council member, but Angela Hunt doesn't. Although Ms. Hunt certainly does know how to play to the masses -- she grandstands with the best of them and, in doing so, she manages to rally a lot of supporters to her side. It just goes to prove that the right way to conduct city business is not always the most popular way.

Ms. Hunt knows that few Dallas residents have a copy of the Dallas City Charter on their bookshelves; she knows that most Dallas residents have no idea when a city council member violates that charter.

Ms. Hunt has an interesting definition of micro-management. According to her, it's not micro-managing when you interfere in a departmental decision she doesn't agree with. This is like saying she supports freedom of speech as long as the speakers are on the same side of the argument that she's on. Plus, I'm not sure she's even that good of a listener. During today's city council meeting, a representative of the American Zoological Association said the AZA supports the notion that personnel trained in animal management are the proper individuals to make animal management decisions. Right after she spoke, Ms. Hunt said, in effect, "Don't pay any attention to what this woman's telling you; she's biased in favor of this facility in Mexico." The AZA woman didn't even recommend a destination for Jenny the Elephant; Ms. Hunt was criticizing this woman for saying something she didn't even say.

But the AZA woman nailed it. No matter how Ms. Hunt tries to twist it, whether Jenny is sent to Mexico, to Tennessee, down to the 7-Eleven, or anywhere else is a management decision and not a policy issue. And, as Mayor Leppert so perfectly stated it today, "At some point we have to let the people hired to make these decisions actually make these decisions."

Carraway, on the other hand, did move the argument over to a policy discussion. He said it should be the policy of the city council to operate a first-class zoo (something I have gone on record as disagreeing with, and since I have already dealt with that, I see no need to repeat it here) and, the way he sees it, having a first-class zoo means having a first-class top-notch elephant exhibit. He is arguing that, perhaps, the city should not consider getting rid of Jenny at all, that perhaps it should be adding to the number of elephants at the zoo and not subtracting from it.

I know it's not fashionable these days, especially among local bloggers, to disagree with Angela Hunt. But those who agree with her agree on the substance of her argument. I could care less about the substance. The issue here is simply this: She is overstepping the authority given to her by the City Charter by even engaging in the argument. Leppert and Carraway seemed to understand that, at least from the brief moments of the discussion I witnessed today. I fail to see why Ms. Hunt can't grasp that.

It's interesting to note that former Mayor Laura Miller understood it as well, although she didn't like it. She wanted to be free to do what Angela Hunt is doing now. But at least Ms. Miller tried to do it the proper way, by changing the City Charter to give her more authority in daily management decisions. That effort, as we all know, failed at the polls.