ECP Column No. 1

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As many of you know, I now pen a local political column for The Ellis County Press.

Here’s what hit last week:

Long time no see

2008: A ‘bloodbath’ election year

Long time, no see, ay? Since readers last saw my name grace this newspaper’s bylines and masthead, I’ve attended a semester or two at Southwestern Assemblies of God University, ran for Waxahachie City Council, launched an Internet real estate and political management business and more recently, was named the new chairman of a renewed Taxpayers Alliance for Good Government. Whew. It’s hard to date with a schedule like that.
Now that I’m permitted to throw my libertarian-soaked opinion on local politics, you’ll be reading only city, school and county political pieces. My colleagues can handle the state and federal stuff, but I’ll be strictly local. And soon, this newspaper will be taking a 90 percent market share in that category. Now for the 2008 elections:
Wayne Turner doesn’t want to win
After snubbing the new Ellis County Press marketing rep for an 11 a.m. appointment last Friday, Republican Party county chair candidate Wayne Turner admitted he won’t be answering this newspaper’s Q&A for the upcoming “county chair” story set to run soon. Turner is one of three candidates – Ferris’ Nelson Baird and Red Oak’s Alan Gell are the other two – vying for the top GOP job (current Chairman Rusty Ballard is not seeking a third two-year term), and already he’s too afraid to talk to the media. That’s not a good way to start your campaign, Wayne.
Altman vs. Knize redux?
Aside from the rumors of District Judge Gene Knize’s 2006 primary win over Midlothian attorney Dan Altman being his last race, the match-up between longtime incumbent County Attorney Joe Grubbs and newly minted lawyer Rodney Pat Ramsey will make the ’06 race for the 40th District Court look like a picnic. Karl Marx once said the capitalists will ultimately give the socialists the rope in which to hang them; that same axiom holds true for this year’s Grubbs vs. Ramsey race. Ramsey will campaign on just the front-page news that will ultimately “hang” Grubbs on March 4 – or at least we hope.
Lack of economic vision
I pulled a list of stores in Cedar Hill’s Uptown development from the Today Newspapers Web site to show Ellis County residents just where all of our sales tax dollars are being spent:

”…Uptown Village will feature 350,000 square feet of upscale specialty stores and restaurants. Along with Dillard’s and Barnes & Noble, Chico’s, Coldwater Creek, New York & Company, Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, Hollister, American Eagle, Buckle, Aeropostale, Finish Line, Champs, Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker, Ulta, Aveda Spa, Icing by Claire’s, Francesca’s Collections, Solstice, Italia Express, Maui Wowi, Great American Cookie and Candy World are scheduled to open with the grand opening of the shopping center.”

Why couldn’t Midlothian, Waxahachie, Ennis or Red Oak pull their collective corporate limits together and create a super-mall? The market is ripe for this sorta thing, especially since our elected leaders have visions for choo-choo commuter trains.
Red Oak is prime retail and commercial property. Waxahachie’s economic base is growing, but how many times have you seen Waxahachie’s citizens in Cedar Hill? A whole lot. And what about Ferris? Lancaster has absolutely no Interstate Highway 45 frontage space, but in their Chamber of Commerce material, they tout the Dallas Logistics Hub. The towns of Wilmer and Hutchins, to put this in perspective, rake in more sales tax dollars than Ferris - at least in the early part of this year, Ferris’ sales tax revenue plummeted 10.51% - this after last year’s sales tax increase for “economic development.”
Demographers like Ellis County. Chambers of Commerce love Ellis County (especially the ones that get subsidized - this case, Waxahachie at the tune of $225,000 annually), but why are we seeing more and more of our citizens shop in Cedar Hill?
The market decides, yes, but a vision is necessary to foster and manage all this “growth” that our public officials talk about continuously. What would it take to get a Free Market Investment Zone in one of the prime highway areas of this county? Just drop the tax rates to 0% and watch our economies burst at the seams.
God help me if I ever get control of a town

Joey Dauben is now a Ferris resident and new political columnist for The Ellis County Press. He also serves as chairman of the Taxpayers Alliance for Good Government. He can be reached at joeydauben@hotmail.com or 972-891-2135.

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