Democracy in Grand Prairie Part II : Term Limit Defeat Proposal Defeated

Democracy arrived in Grand Prairie. It wasn't like the recent protests in Egypt, nor the protests in China years ago.

It was more like a quiet revolt against the status quo.The status quo of complacency , a revolt against the privileged of incumbency, a protest that united various factions in this suburban city against the established oligarchy.

Simply put enough is enough. The mayor of Grand Prairie succumbed to the political pressure of community leaders who argued against non expiring term limits. Each board and commission has term limits ,the term limits indicate each member can serve 2 full ,three year terms. The mayor when questioned by City Councilman Mark Hepworth regarding the Sports Corporation. The Sports Corporation governs the Lome Star Park racing facility.


There they were assembled,NAACP President Angela Luckey ,Westchester Homeowners Association ,Rotarian Mike Hasty , former Mayor Pro Tem Tommy Smelser,former City Councilman Rick Sala ,and community activists Gloria Carillo,and myself City Commissioner Ed Gray. Many more came in and silently voiced their protest.One after another the speakers read their impassioned speeches.

My speech was in broadbased terms about bringing democracy to our city ,pointing to the assembled masses in Grand Prairie .I implored the city council to hear the will of the people. Hearing that enough is enough ,all commissions are the same ,no special privileges for the select few. Change was made.The Sports Corporation appointees for example, Mayor Charles England who has been there since 1992 will be termed off. 1992 two decades ago,Democracy comes slow in Grand Prairie. To show how long we have had some mebers on this commission - lets take a look at who was ruling pop music -1992 .


Ron Jensen and Mark Hepworth crafted a compromise that addressed the inadequacies of long term appointments on our city commissions. These two men did an honorable job in making Grand Prairie great.If Grand Prairie thought that it was sleeping , maybe the sleeping suburb woke up for a moment.Now that is awaken,what next ? Stay tuned for Part 3 in this continuing series.