The City of Dallas Just Renamed its Convention Center After Kay Bailey Hutchison
A couple of speakers showed up at the 1500 Marilla this morning to ask that the City Council to hold off on a fast-moving proposal to rename the Dallas Convention Center after recently retired U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. Former councilwoman Sandra Crenshaw called for a public hearing before any action is taken, and council candidate Kermit Mitchell worried that attaching the name of a Republican might scare off some convention traffic. Another speaker cited a bill pending in the Texas legislature that would keep cities and the state from naming things for living politicians.
Council members themselves harbored no such reservations. They voted unanimously (four members were absent) to make the change, but not before heaping massive amounts of praise -- and a couple of bizarre extended metaphors -- on the former Senator.
Mayor Mike Rawlings kicked things off by lauding Hutchison's two decades in Washington, which he said "will positively affect our economy and quality of life in Dallas for many, many, many years.
"Let me be the first to say that much of Dallas' success ... is due in no small part to Senator Hutchison's leadership," he said.
More at http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2013/04/meet_the_kay_bailey_hutchinson.php .
