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For immediate release: February 6th, 2013

For more information:

Zac Trahan, Texas Campaign for the Environment, 214-599-7840,

zac@texasenvironment.org

Molly Rooke, Dallas Sierra Club, 214-762-3163, mollyrooke@sbcglobal.net

Jim Schermbeck, Downwinders at Risk, 806-787-6567, schermbeck@aol.com

Dallas City Plan Commission Chair Suspected

of Open Meetings Violation in Pursuit of Gas

Permits

Citizens allege phone lobbying preceded

controversial January reconsideration vote;

Want Mayor to join in seeking DA investigation

(Dallas)---In the latest twist over the ordeal of what to do with old gas leases

in Dallas, citizens have accused the Mayors appointee to the City Plan

Commission of taking actions that may have resulted in a violation of the

Texas Open Meetings Act while trying to reverse a denial of gas drilling

permits for the last of those leases.

A group of four individuals representing themselves and various citizen andenvironmental organizations filed an official complaint with the District

Attorneys office alleging that CPC Chair Joe Alcantar individually lobbied Plan

Commissioners over the phone prior to the CPCs January 10th meeting in

order to win a rare reconsideration vote to grant permits for Trinity Easts

three controversial gas drilling and production sites in Northwest Dallas.

Lawyers familiar with the statute say if thats what happened, it could be a

violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act known as daisy-chaining. Not

only would the January 10th reconsideration vote itself be illegal, but any

action resulting from that vote like Thursdays scheduled public hearing on

the reconsideration could also be illegal.

In a letter to Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, City Manager Mary Suhm and City

Attorney Tom Perkins, the group referred to the complaint, noting that at

least three different Commissioners had independently confirmed that Mr.

Alcantar, appointed by the Mayor, systematically called each of them to

lobby for the favorable reconsideration vote.

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In this instance, we believe theres a prima facie case that Mr. Alcantar met

(via telephone) with members of the Plan Commission in number more than

a quorum to discuss public business in private, the letter reads. We believe

this may constitute a criminal violation of the Open Meetings Act.

The letter asks Mayor Rawlings to join the group in requesting a full

investigation by the District Attorneys office of the circumstances

surrounding the January 10th vote.

As a result of our concerns, an official complaint, enclosed, has been filed

with the Dallas County District Attorneys Office. We want this matter fully

investigated by an objective and independent third party. We ask that you

join us in that call for a full investigation by the District Attorney.

Members of the groups said that while they dont know for certain if illegal

activity took place, the allegations fit the profile of a City Hall thats twisting

the machinery of municipal government in order to get the result it wants.

Theres no question that someone at City Hall has been tightening the

screws on the City Plan Commission,said Jim Schermbeck of the local clean

air group Downwinders at Risk. Whether that degenerated into the criminal

behavior outlined in our complaint is for the District Attorney to discover.

Besides Schermbeck, Zac Trahan of the Texas Campaign for theEnvironment, Raymond Crawford of Dallas Residents for Responsible Drilling,

and Marc McCord of FracDallas all signed the complaint and the letter. They

also all criticized the lack of transparency that has marked Dallas City Halls

push for gas permits.

Ever since the original gas leases were signed in Dallas, City officials

have retreated behind closed doors,said Molly Rooke of the Dallas Sierra

Club. This is just another example of a back-room deal that affects

every Dallas resident, but that no one sees until after the fact.

Others in the group cited recent legal backflips by the City in what to call

a proposed gas processing and compressor station facility just a few

hundred feet from the new Elm Fork Soccer Complex. Last year it was a

processing plant that would have required a special zoning district. This

year, city attorneys say its only routine drilling equipment.

The City is desperately pulling out all the stops in trying to get Trinity

Easts gas permits approved,said Zac Trahan of Texas Campaign for the

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Environment. Theyve taken ridiculous positions and attempted

parliamentary trickery, but this time their tactics may have gone too far.

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