Tnexster wrote:Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings sues pension system to stop DROP withdrawals
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/dallas-c ... ithdrawals
Most recently, he has been the city manager of Tacoma, Washington since 2012 and was previously an assistant city manager for five years in San Antonio.
The mayor announced the news Friday as the city has been looking for a replacement for A.C. Gonzalez, who is set to retire in January. Gonzalez is the highest-paid city manager in North Texas and one of the highest paid in the nation with a salary of $400,000.
After employees withdrew more than $500 million from the city's Deferred Retirement Option Program, which a savings account provided to police officers and firefighters when they reach retirement eligibility, the city's Police and Fire Pension System reportedly asked for a $1.1 billion lifeline to stay afloat. Here's the problem: The city's total pension debt, or the difference between its liabilities and assets, is probably closer to $13 billion.
Way back in 2006 the Dallas City Council said our streets needed to be 87 percent satisfactory. I forget why or how they settled on a B-plus -- maybe it was because they couldn't count any higher.
Ever since then our streets have been on a long, slow slide toward a failing grade, like I have to tell you. But we were warned. Way back in April 2015, when assistant city manager Mark McDaniel told the council that if the city doesn't don't do something pronto, by the time the calendar hits 2017 only 69.8 percent of Dallas' thoroughfares will be considered "satisfactory." By which I think he meant "driveable."
A little before 4 on Wednesday afternoon, I was hanging out behind the City Council's briefing room at City Hall, hoping to catch some council members as they beat a retreat to their offices downstairs. The council had just done the once unimaginable, straw-voting 9-5 to postpone a long-awaited, $800 million May bond package that we were promised would mostly go toward repairing Dallas' rotten streets. So I thought I'd ask them, ya know, What the what?
Most of the council ducked into the stairwell behind the briefing room. That included Mayor Mike Rawlings, who kicked off the bond briefing by giving five reasons why the council should punt the bond program to November. Among his reasons: The "supporters who write big checks" to push bond packages "said they will not be writing those checks" this time, which was a weird thing to say, because, well, so what? We, the little people, know what we, the little people, need. The big people can go stuff their checks in a pothole.
Tucy wrote:Museum Tower sold another three units in December 2016. I think this brings them up to 75 sold, only 40 left. 65% sold 49 months after the building opened. They continue to plug along right at the 1.5 per month pace. IF they can continue this pace of sales, they would be sold out in a little more than 26 additional months.
FWIW, the penthouse is still available.
Tucy wrote:Museum Tower sold another three units in December 2016. I think this brings them up to 75 sold, only 40 left. 65% sold 49 months after the building opened. They continue to plug along right at the 1.5 per month pace. IF they can continue this pace of sales, they would be sold out in a little more than 26 additional months.
FWIW, the penthouse is still available.
tanzoak wrote:They've probably lost more money with the waiting than they would have if they had just cut prices by 15% or whatever.
f4shionablecha0s wrote:I'd bet you a hundred bucks that they have hired consultants to perform that analysis and they disagree with you.
Tnexster wrote:Good info, I believe we have a Museum Tower thread going now. BUT, since you are so good and getting sales info I would love to know what's going on over at Blue Ciel.
City Manager T.C. Broadnax told council members they needed to give a clear direction "other than you don't like what we've presented."
tamtagon wrote:merged
now, how to change the title...?
Hannibal Lecter wrote:^ The "door was unlocked" narrative seems somewhat fishy, as multiple neighbors report hearing banging and someone yelling "open up".
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