As I have mentioned before in this column, Ron Kirk was a major lobbyist during the TXU merger buyout saga. Well now it turns out that he was the top money-getter for pushing this deal, earning over $350,000 for his efforts (link).
I'm not naive enough to think that employing lobbyists isn't a part of politics. But it rubs me the wrong way when you see a name like Kirk's at the top of the list, at the same time that he thinks that we will believe him regarding the Trinity Project.
It's never about the people with him...it's about the money. But how much is enough? At what point does greed not take over at the expense of the common good? And if you're in it for the money, admit it and move on. But don't change sides when it's convenient.
What did he do for African-American communities as Mayor of Dallas? I can't tell. Maybe someone can clue me in at a later date. Last week on DallasBlog, Rufus Shaw noted a glaring fact:
Former Mayor Kirk will assuredly find himself defending his own record regarding southern sector economic development.and
However, every mayoral candidate in the recent mayoral election touted southern sector economic development as one of their top priorities. So why didn’t one of the major mayoral candidates ever reference Ron Kirk or his administration as a symbol of southern sector economic success?The cat is out of the bag. That dog will not hunt this time around.
1 comment:
As best as I can recall Ron Kirk didn't do anything for the southern sector or Dallas Minorities during his tenure as mayor. He was pro-big business and very pro-North Dallas and really ingored the other parts of Dallas. I was really convinced he would run as Republican when he ran for Congress and was shocked when he signed on as a Dem.
Anyone looking to Ron Kirk as a symbol of pro-minority is looking in the wrong direction.
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