Mystery Wife, Scooter Drama and Political Frenemies: What I Saw at the Most Bizarre Dallas City Council Meeting Ever

For the first time ever, the Dallas City Council took its weekly show on the road Wednesday -- and it turned into a three-ring circus. Even long-time City Hall observers couldn’t recall anything like the confluence of mind-bending events that lasted deep into the night.I went to the meeting -- at the Park in the Woods Recreation Center in far southwest Dallas -- to watch the high drama of a vote on the future of some beautiful pecan trees in North Oak Cliff that Methodist Dallas Medical Center wants to cut down to build a shiny new fitness center.But first, I sat through discombobulating discussions over Confederate monuments, a teen curfew case and the distracting daylong buzz around a police investigation into whether City Council member Kevin Felder had been involved that morning in an accident with a motorized scooter. (Felder's attorney on Thursday denied a collision took place).I’m not blaming the far-flung site -- I had to drive through Duncanville to get there -- for the occasional idiocracy that ensued Wednesday. I actually think these satellite meetings are a great idea -- although I reserve the right to change my mind after the cost of the temporary council chambers, including security and IT needs, comes out.But from its 2 p.m. start, the meeting ran dreadfully behind, with needless rounds of the same ol’ talking points on well-worn issues that only delayed the more pressing business. (A good addition to the road show might be some visual-aid cards on council member’s microphones that say “WAIT! Why am I talking?”)  Continue reading...

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