This "Bidness" With Lee And The FBI

Most who know me know that 99 times out of 100, I tend to agree with Sharon Boyd (www.dallasarena.com) and her take on things--and I tend to be supportive of Laura Miller's position for the most part (with a few notable exceptions).

Sometimes, though I feel like starting an article: "It was then, your honor, that Sharon and Laura hit me over the head with the refrigerator!"

So here goes: the council did the right thing by not voting to remove City Plan Commissioner D'Angelo Lee.

There, I said it.

And, no, it's not because of threats of race riots or calls of racism. It's because of this little thing called "innocent until proven guilty."

Bill Blaydes had the right idea. If you want D'Angelo Lee removed from the commission, then whip up an ethics complaint and send it to the city's dysfunctional ethics commission. Investigate the matter, render a decision and then take action.

But follow the process because it is fair and right to do so.

That being said, it would also be right for D'Angelo Lee to step down or recuse himself from city involvement as this thing plays out. But when has anyone affiliated with this little gang of political "thuggies," we seem to have picked up in Dallas, done the right thing as opposed to the thing "they can get away with."

If I (or most people) were being investigated by the FBI for corruption, and the FBI had a mound of evidence, I'd step down. Not out of fear that it would look bad, but I'd do it out of shame. I'd do it for the good of the city.

But D'Angelo Lee has no shame.

If I were a city council member who appointed someone who ended up in a controversial position, I would ask my appointee to excuse himself until the matter was resolved. I wouldn't judge the person guilty or innocent, I'd do it to minimize distraction. I'd do it for the good of the city.

Laura did.

But Don Hill is not Laura.

So let's set this aside for a moment and look at the FBI and their involvement in this whole embarrassing affair. Let's get back to some basic questions.

What, exactly, does the FBI do?

The FBI has one purpose: to investigate and prosecute people who break federal law.

Period.

They don't investigate people because of the ethnic class to which they belong. They don't investigate people because of the way their boss voted on Blackwood. 

They investigate and prosecute hate crimes. They investigate and prosecute people who kidnap our children or rob our banks. They investigate people who bomb our buildings and hijack our airplanes.

They also investigate super-absorbent thuggies. you know, the kind of thuggies that absorb 9 times their weight in our tax dollars (which can be a boatload because we have some pretty obese thuggies)!

They investigate thuggies who divert federal grant dollars into their personal campaign accounts.

They investigate thuggies who steal (our) money by pocketing personal payoffs for their vote or (ahem) assistance in helping others steal tax money that should rightfully benefit all the citizens of South Dallas--as opposed to a white Highland Park developer.

And they investigate groups of thuggies who conspire to help others steal our tax dollars.

So you see, the FBI's interest in D'Angelo Lee and the rest of our thuggies has nothing to do with politics. It has everything to do with breaking the law, who did it and how they did it.

But there is a "silver lining" in all of this.

Sharon is right. Laura is right. Jesse Diaz is right. A whole cast of others are right.

This whole mess stinks and those involved in it, especially Lee, should step down.

But Lee won't step down, and that's where this silver lining thing comes in.

First, let me point out the obvious and ask some more questions.

D'Angelo Lee is a smart guy (at least to a certain extent). Someone doing what it appears he's done would have to be smart. I mean, look at the relationship management, the details and planning required.A dumb guy like me couldn't do D'Angelo Lee's job.

So here's the first question: is there anyone reading this article who believes D'Angelo Lee doesn't think there's a chance (some chance) he will be going off to prison for a very long time?

I'm not asking whether he thinks he can "beat the rap" (of course he does) but whether or not he's a realist. Does he think there's any possibility he might end up doing time?

Lee's not stupid. Of course he does. 

Let's look at how D'Angelo Lee does business. Lee's a deal-cutter. He puts people with a common interest together and manges the common interest. He directs complicated processes and follows them through.

So this adds up with Lee being one smart guy who knows "the players" and knows "the system." He's also a smart guy who knows (not thinks) he's in serious trouble.

Here's another question.

If Lee continues to serve on the plan commission, how many people will be watching his every move? Will any potential "new clients" want to be associated with him? Better yet, how many "new clients" will actually be agencies looking to make a big case bigger or a new case big?

How many people will be analyzing Lee's every vote? How many people will be analyzing who Lee takes to lunch and why? 

Then there's Lee. We've already figured out he's a smart guy. Will he be thinking about how his future activities might affect current events (translation: make matters worse)?

Let me sum up the answers: D'Angelo Lee is probably the safest plan commissioner we have right now.

Lee is a man without privacy.

He's being watched by everybody, and every decision he makes, everyone he meets, everyone he associates with and everywhere he goes will be under a cloud of a federal corruption investigation.

How's that for pressure?

Now for the silver lining.

Remember the thuggies? There are more people involved in this than D'Angelo Lee. They know it, but more importantly, Lee knows it.

To date we've seen the "unity" factor. We've seen threats of riots if this "FBI bidness don't quit." We've seen solidarity of the thuggies behind D'Angelo Lee. I think that will shortly come to an end.

I may not be as smart as D'Angelo Lee, but I can add.

I see one smart guy with extraordinary access to city plan commission records, staff, customers and others "on the inside." I also see a guy who knows how to cut deals that are in his best interest. And from Lee's perspective I can see one more deal that needs to be cut.

So while many of my friends see an ever embarrassing situation involving the city's plan commission, I see something different. I see an opportunity for D'Angelo Lee to make the city a better place, and I know he's doing it.

And I think things are going to work out fine.

Just fine.