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Wednesday, September 10, 2008 , Updated

Tim O’Hare doesn’t want Farmers Branch to “be like Oak Cliff”

by Michael Davis of Dallas Progress

Thanks to our buddy Tim Rogers at D Magazine's Frontburner blog, we have learned that Farmers Branch Mayor Tim O'Hare doesn't want his town to become another Oak Cliff.

As you know, various groups in Farmers Branch have been fighting each other at the ballot box and in the courthouse over wanting to enforce immigration rules.

I'm not getting into that discussion here, but I will get into what O'Hare wrote in an e-mail that was unearthed when a TRO was filed in this case. Tim Rogers unearthed the following nugget of moronic opining in said e-mail by the Mayor of Farmers Branch:

My family has been here since 1956 and almost everyone that I consider family lives here. I don’t want us to have to move. I don’t want to have to live somewhere else. But, I’m not going to live in Oak Cliff, which is what we are becoming and going to become if we don’t make some serious changes and spend some money.

Aaaaah, the Peter Principle rears it's head one again. Tim O'Hare is one of its most recent examples.

Tim is too much of a moron to turn Farmers Branch into Oak Cliff. I'm curious, doesn't O'Hare want FB to turn into an area, like Oak Cliff, that has the following qualities:

* Diversity

* Cool places to go

* Is on the upswing

* All types of housing stock from affordable to high-end

* The best views in the city

* Quick commutes

* Has a brand new and growing college campus (UNT-Dallas)

First off, I wonder when was the last time that O'Hare has actually been to Oak Cliff. Maybe he can check it out after he leaves his Carrollton law office.

Carrollton? Yes, Carrollton. O'Hare, as a former city councilperson and now mayor of Farmers Branch, operates his law office in Carrollton. It's not a money thing, as he found time to buy a building and relocate this past spring in between e-mails. Before Carrollton, his office (according to the same e-mail mentioned above) was in North Dallas. That shows you he doesn't know what he's doing. How can you possibly attract businesses to your city when you won't even operate your own business within the city limits. That would be like our Mayor having his main office in Grand Prairie.

O'Hare is an embarrassment to the good people that live in Farmers Branch and are working hard to improve it.

Sure, Oak Cliff has its faults but I'm curious what type of town O'Hare does want Farmers Branch to become. Maybe he can explain that, since he has already said what he doesn't want the city to represent.

Pegasus News content partner - Dallas Progress

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Anonymous

heatherinfb, says:

I know Tim and I know why he bought the building in Carrollton as opposed to a building in Farmers Branch. Perhaps if you knew the story behind the purchase you wouldn't be so quick to accuse him of not knowing what he is doing. Furthermore, have you compared the crime rate in Oak Cliff to the crime rate in Oak Cliff? Farmers Branch didn't have any murders last year. How many murders did Oak Cliff have?

Anonymous

1 year, 2 months ago
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Anonymous

1 year, 2 months ago

goudagirl, says:

'Dallas Progress.' That tells me everything I need to know right there. More liberal 'pie in the sky' thinking. First off, Tim O'Hare is obviously not a moron, (you moron), if you've ever heard him actually speak, and his election proves that. People are fed up with the negative aspects that illegals and forced 'diversity' bring to a neighborhood or city. The fact that you only mention the 'cool stuff' about OC shows that you don't live in reality.

Oak Cliff has areas of extremely high crime rates, deaths, shootings, drugs, gangs, and generations of welfare. Check out this website: http://homes.point2.com/Neighborhood/...

The ONLY OC zip code noted that does not have an astronomically high crime rating is 75237, but ALL OC zip codes have a very low Lifestyle rating. You think they just pluck those crime scores out of thin air? Open your eyes and face reality.

Anonymous

1 year, 2 months ago
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Chris Kidd, says:

Wow, another anon drive-by courtesy of a suburb nutjob. Oak Cliff has had its down points, but its an area I would prefer living in, as it has "History" and diversity, something the white-flight suburb of FB cant or refuses to compete with. Oak Cliff has more going for it than our right-tilting, mouthbreating neighbors to the north. It has homes in all ranges(from Stevens Park to Winnetka Heights to Kings Highway), excellent retail(Pinnacle Park) and home of one of the best hospitals in the area (Methodist)

I imagine The FB Tim O'Hare would like is more akin to a 1950's time capsule, where blacks and mexicans were subjugated to a 2nd class steppenfetch existance, not to mention women not being allowed to speak unless spoken to. Seeing that, id rather be in the OC

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1 year, 2 months ago
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Mike Orren, says:

Removed Brittanicus' comment because it was a long cut-paste about the immigration fence that was unrelated to this story.

Was flagged by a couple users as irrelvant. If you really want to read it, go to the first comment here:

http://www.newsvirginian.com/wnv/news...

Staff

1 year, 2 months ago
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Michael Davis, says:

@ Chris. Everybody's welcome down here.

@goudagirl: Anybody that knows me knows that I'm not a "liberal." Moderate maybe, but not liberal.

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1 year, 2 months ago
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Chris Kidd, says:

Gouda, noone is denying that theres pockets of poverty in The Cliff, but by and large Cliffites are making the effort to improve their neighborhoods. While we're at it, lets talk about your heroes in FB. The last time I was there, I saw a crumbling white flight suburb thats experiencing flight issues itsself. When folks want to move in and make the neighborhood a decent place, you scorn them for being another color or (heaven forbid) from another country. Times change sweetheart, either you get on the bus or you stay at the stop and get left behind, looking like a relic.

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1 year, 2 months ago
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Jason Rice, says:

Chris - I invite you up to the frozen north sometime. You wanna see "diversity"? I'll show you my kids' swimming class last night. It looks like the UN... but without the callgirls.

Man, FB is in a bad spot. They are stuck as a bedroom community and can't grow and can't rezone much... so they are just flat out screwed with aging residential as far as the eye can see. That has its problems independent of melanin - and rightly said, a time capsule won't fix it.

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1 year, 2 months ago
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Chris Kidd, says:

Im not denying northern suburbs are not diverse, in fact, richardson/plano excels in this area. But, im saying towns like FB are in a bad spot when it comes to real growth as they're landlocked and falling apart, then when someone moves in that isnt part of what they want as neighbors, they try to exclude them by changing the law.

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1 year, 2 months ago
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Dallas Spohn, says:

I think it took a lot of bravery for Tim to stand up to illegal immigration. It was not about being Mexican, it was about being here legally. The Mexicans took it as racism towards Tim and the city counsel they tried to fight back. But there is nothing to fight back with.. it’s just all facts. Tim swept illegal’s out of Farmers Branch. Bush needs to sweep them out of the country.

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1 year, 2 months ago
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xdavidwattsx, says:

Oak Cliff definitely isn't paradise but I'll tell that area is very much on the upswing. They are getting a lot of business and boutiques moving into the area and improving things. Home values are climbing in many areas far faster than Farmers Branch.

FB and Tim only WISHES they could become Oak Cliff. FB is just another bland suburb wasting away to irrelevance.

Anonymous

1 year, 2 months ago
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jeffcoker, says:

chrisdanger - If anyone used an adjective such as "black shack" to describe a suburb there'd be a whole lot of folks up in arms. Why do you feel your "white flight" crap is justified? If you hadn't gotten racial, it wouldn't have been. Who is the racist?

Anonymous

1 year, 2 months ago
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xdavidwattsx, says:

White flight is a commonly used term to describe changes in demographics within city and suburban populations over the past 50 years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_fl...

Nothing new here and hardly a racist connotation.

Anonymous

1 year, 2 months ago
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Chris Kidd, says:

JeffCoker, you just showed yourself to be one with that comment. The term "(enter color)Flight" has been used by socialologist for years . Lets face facts, Carrollton/FB, as well as other suburbs around this country were destinations for folks of all stripes(mostly whites) escaping the evils of the so-called "Inner City" from the 1950's on. In its wake were left great neighborhoods that crumbled due to sheer negelect. Luckly there has been people and groups who realized these neighborhoods deserve to be saved and have properly stepped to make them great places to live again.

What I was saying about FB in particular is that you have a group of folks who are willing to be good neighbors, yet are chased out due to their residential status. Guess what, if those folks left, I dont see many other people willing to move into the ruins due to the reputation the area has...

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1 year, 2 months ago
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jeffcoker, says:

I actually thought about removing that comment because the tone it conveyed turned out to be much worse than intended. I understand the origin of the phrase, but in these days of people being offended by EVERY use of color in any form, it should be re-thought. I went and read some of your other remarks and apologize for the insinuation that you are a racist. It was uncalled for.

Anonymous

1 year, 2 months ago
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Chris Kidd, says:

Jeff, its all good..im a white guy but im passionate about how people like Tim O'Hare are using their bully pulpit to push instutional racism all in the name of a "pure america". Its no better than the Jim Crow laws that allowed places like his former segregated little town to grow so many years ago.

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1 year, 2 months ago
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Pavel Lishin, says:

<i>in these days of people being offended by EVERY use of color in any form, it should be re-thought</i>.

Uh, no. While one should certainly be aware that a term might offend someone, it's by no means a reason to not use <a href="http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2008/jul/10/dallas-county-commissioner-john-wiley-prices-lack-/">accepted and scientific terminology</a>.

But kudos, I guess, on being sensitive to whatever goes on inside other people's brains.

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1 year, 2 months ago
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Jason Rice, says:

Whew! Thanks Pavel - with CERN coming online, I've been leary of all the doom and gloom specifically for fear of offending someone. I mean if a Higgs Boson doesn't show up but a black hole does, it's too late to complain, but worrying without the right terminology is just pointless.

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1 year, 2 months ago
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jeffcoker, says:

That was the exact instance I was referring to! [laugh] My whole point was that I am SICK of it being completely one-sided; whether it is ridiculous or not.

Anonymous

1 year, 2 months ago
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jeffcoker, says:

There is, at this moment, no proof of the existence of the Higgs boson. If it showed up it would be unannounced and, I feel, very rude.

Anonymous

1 year, 2 months ago
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Jason Rice, says:

Chris, as a fellow recovering WP - I gotta share with you:
SWPL #101

Yep, we fuel the stereotype, but it is "our way".

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1 year, 2 months ago
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Anonymous

1 year, 2 months ago

Mike Orren, says:

jpdeucci's comment was removed because it veered over the free speech line into racism, disrespectful of many of our users. It was flagged by a longtime regular user with a removal request.

jpdepucci, if you'd like to make your point about the relative safety of Oak Cliff without that element, you're welcome to do so.