The Carriedaway Tapes

By now, everyone who is interested has learned interim Mayor D-Wayne Carriedaway lost his battle to suppress the police tape recordings of the encounter with Archie and Andrew or Mrs. Mayor or whoever it was that caused such a ruckus at his domicile that Carriedaway was forced to call the personal number of the Dallas Chief of Police to stop the brouhaha. They also know there was no Archie or Andrew, but a knife-wielding Mrs. Mayor who wanted to discard some of Carriedaway’s aprons.

So what’s the big deal? It’s certainly nothing about aprons or the fact that Mrs. Mayor goes after hubby with a knife. The big deal is the fact that the tapes prove Carriedaway is a liar and that it is probably wise not to believe another word that comes out of the man’s mouth. I know I won’t.

Same song, new verse

A Dallas Police Department investigation has revealed that City Council member Carolyn Davis did nothing illegal when she interfered with police for stopping the driver of a pickup who had run a couple of stop signs; she was just being stupid. Heard that one before?

Brown by Schutze

Jim Schutze has a fine column in this week's Dallas Observer in which he portrays Dallas Police Chief David Brown as a department head with almost the identical demeanor of his boss, City Manager Mary Suhm. It becomes even clearer now why she named him - she saw a lot of her own leadership qualities in Brown. I worked for and admired Suhm when she was the first assistant city manager and, after I left the city and former City Manager Ted Benavides announced his retirement, I used my position as head of a neighborhood chamber of commerce to lobby extensively among council members I knew well to name Suhm as Benavides' successor.

Suhm was (and I imagine she still is) a tough boss, but she led by example. She had her detractors on the staff, many of them in high places. But she got the job done and she continues to get the job done.

Schutze says much the same about Chief Brown in his column; i.e., being an effective leader and winning a most popular contest among those you lead do not have to go hand-in-hand.

Schutze also articulates perfectly what I felt about the entire funeral procession/police escort flap: When the decision is between standing on formality or getting the job done, you go for that second option every time. And, frankly, it scares the hell out of me that some members of our police force take the opposite position.

Suhm names Brown police chief

I welcomed the news that Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm has named Dallas Assistant Chief David Brown to succeed retiring Chief David Kunkle as the head of the Dallas Police Department.

While I was the executive director of what used to be called the Dallas Northeast Chamber of Commerce I had the opportunity to work with Chief Brown on several crime reduction initiatives while he was head of the Northeast substation and then again when he became first assistant chief. He both commands and earns respect. Not only that, he is a 26-year veteran of the department and can really hit the ground running. This is a superb appointment.

Here is Suhm's memo to the mayor and city council announcing the appointment.