Irving Trivia Contest and DART Orange Line: Symbols of Irving's past and future

Two Irving events that bookend the week of April 9 serve as metaphors representing both the past and future of Irving; the beginning of the week previewed the future, the end of the week was spent looking back in time.

On Monday, April 9, the DART Light Rail crept along the distance of the Orange Line route on its first test ride. The dream held for more than two decades that envisioned tying Irving to the rest of the Metroplex through the DART Light Rail system, and the Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) that accompanies rail transportation, is within sight.

Conversely, on Saturday, April 14, the annual Irving Trivia Contest was held. Prior to the contest, members of several Irving organizations brushed up on their Irving history with hopes of taking home the first place prize. When was Irving founded? (1903)  Who was the first mayor? (Otis Brown) In what century was Washington Irving born? (18th)

In between these two extremes exists Irving today facing a May 12 election with the Entertainment Center (EC) its core issue. The very direction of the city is at stake: do we make a reasonable leap of faith into the future or continue to look backward and wish Irving was the same city it was in 1980?

In reality, there is no choice. Irving is no longer the city it was in 1980. Demographics have changed; the population has almost doubled in 30 years from about 110,000 to 216,000 in 2010.  The population center has shifted north with the build-out of Las Colinas, the Urban Center and Valley Ranch. South Irving is no longer demarcated at SH 183, but at Northgate. The primary tax base is business, not residential.

Given these realities, there is still a small group that wails against all things new despite the inevitability of change and documented proof of potential benefits that change will bring. Driven by a foggy nostalgia that “things were better back then,” they oppose everything that is forward-looking such as the Entertainment Center.

Until an infallible crystal ball is developed, issues facing City Council and staff such as building the EC or increasing density in the Urban Center to bring retail into the city will always require a necessary leap of faith. The sky won’t fall, Irving won’t face any plagues and residents won’t be taxed into poverty. It will simply be a 21^st Century City.

What do Super PACs and Irving Voices have in common?

“When once the forms of civility are violated, there remains little hope of return to kindness.”   ~ Samuel Johnson

For the past several months, a late night comedian has been doing  an ongoing send up of Super PACs—the campaign funding mechanism that allows contributors to donate millions of dollars anonymously to a candidate or issue. Federal contribution limits to candidates are $2,500 per person per election, but the sky is the limit with Super PACs. Millionaires and corporations can affect the outcome of an election without concern about having their identities traced.

Irving Voices (IV) was formed in 2011 to unseat the incumbent mayor and specific candidates for City Council.

IV has been running crudely-designed political “ads” on the back page of every issue of a local paper. These so-called “ads” are actually rants against anyone or any issue they disagree with. Allegations have included the competence/incompetence of city staff, the integrity of City Council members and candidates, the Entertainment Center, the Proposition Irving voters passed in 2007. Many charges are made with little or no factual support or reasoning. Beliefs are often asserted as facts.

So, what do Super PACs and Irving Voices PAC have in common? Transparency—or lack thereof.

Ironic, isn’t it?  One of IV’s ongoing complaints is the alleged lack of transparency in city government. This charge comes from a small group that hides behind a catchy name and tosses boulders across the wall without identifying themselves. Their names are nowhere to be seen on the Web site or in their “ads.” The fact that information about City business is readily available in many ways makes this allegation not only ironic, but also demonstrates the lack of foundation for many of positions that IV takes.  

They call themselves “the voice of the people,” [sic] but what people? Very few in Irving would say IV speaks for them. Who would want to be associated with a group that has such obvious disrespect for the democratic process that they can mock and threaten duly elected Council members as they do?

Although we don’t know whose “voices” they are, at least we can see who is funding them.  Their Web site includes a link to their TEC (Texas Elections Commission) public filings. Unlike Super PACS, Texas general purpose PACs do require identification of donors and expenditures on a periodic basis. To see who is funding these ads, go to

http://www.ethics.state.tx.us/php/filer.php?acct=00065035gpac. The next filing is due April 12 so check back again for updates.