Total Support of Dallas' Park System Has Now Been Downgraged.

Dallas wrangled the voters a couple of times to get their way-- their way being $31.8 M in cash and an agreement  to get $2M more annually in perpetuity-- in a deal with Rowlett and City Council over tax revenues from the sale of Elgin B. Robertson Park. Two trips to the ballot box got harder to figure out what was really going down with each trip, even after doing the research. At some point it really is easier to believe in the old adage: Don't fight city hall, but my total support of Dallas will be downgraded after this slight of hand. When I saw the first Rowlett rezoning signs I knew the city had done their magic trick.There's another phrase  that could be used, but I was raised with more tact than that.

Accepting the fact that there will be no more photos of a migrating snowy owl; no more watching the guy exercise his 12 foot Python in the open field; no more fantastic shots of sailboarders laying out their chute lines in those grassy fields, is a big disappointment for sure. The increase usage of White Rock Lake has increased lately, but White Rock does not have the open expanse of water that Lake Ray Hubbard has and was accessible as a city park for boaters and fishermen or just a fantastic view of the lake by visitors that pulled off I-30 for a break.

Last week,while making  a trip out to see what was happening a line of cars  and mine were meet with fences. Earlier trips just yielded the re-zoning changes which announced the official sale of discovery. But the latest trip was meet with fences steering you only to the existing marina and boat dock after you figured out what the signs were telling motorist. The rest of the park was totally fenced off now that the sale has gone through.The developer has staked his claim quickly.  At least my vote to keep the park makes me  proud of that fact. It wasn't a jewel so-to-speak. It was a diamond in the rough and Rowlett gets to keep the diamond!

Here are two links to published articles about the pre-sale and the post sale of  Elgin B. Robertson Park.

1.http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2013/04/dallas-voters-would-be-wise-to-authorize-parkland-sale.html/

2.http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2015/02/26/dallas-sells-lake-rayhubbard-park-for-31-8m-paves.html

Both articles are a bit murky and one needs to have followed city council broadcast on Wednesdays to see how murky things got.  

Boaters were saying that Dallas simply never took care of the park.

There were people who were stunned the city sold the park. They pointed out situations like this since the sale.

People said they didn't understand the wording on the ballots when they voted to keep the park.One man said he felt that because of the wording on the ballot that he wasn't voting the way that he wanted to vote. I felt the same way, myself.  Fishermen were not happy, either.