A publicly owned Dallas Convention Center hotel is primed for construction as city voters narrowly rejected a ballot initiative designed to block the $500 million facility.

“It’s a giant victory for the Dallas taxpayers,” declared Mayor Tom Leppert, the hotel’s pre-eminent supporter, as a crowd of several hundred supporters gathered Saturday night at Gilley’s Dallas cheered wildly. “We’re going to move this forward. We’re going to make good on our promises. We’re going to make a good deal for the taxpayers of Dallas.”

In victory, the “vote no” side overcame an aggressive campaign against the hotel buoyed by the ostensibly unlimited funds of Dallas real estate mogul Harlan Crow.

Had Proposition 1 passed, it would have amended Dallas’ city charter to prevent public ownership of convention hotels. The only major hurdle now left for the hotel is the sale of revenue bonds designed to fund its construction.

Anne Raymond, leader of Citizens Against the Taxpayer-Owned Hotel, told supporters that her group’s goal was to give residents a chance to decide the hotel issue at the polls.

“While our group is disappointed with the outcome, the real sense of reward is that the democratic process was followed,” she said. “Now we hope that the supporters of the hotel, as well as opponents of the hotel, will come together as unified citizens of Dallas and work together to achieve the real economic growth, create jobs and provide high-quality city services.”

Neck and neck

The Proposition 1 vote proved incredibly close from the moment early voting returns went public at 7 p.m. Saturday.

At that juncture, Proposition 1 supporters enjoyed an early, if narrow, lead, with 1 percentage point separating them from their pro-hotel foils.

As the night wore on, however, fortunes flipped.

The “no” side seized its first lead when the first round of election-day voting totals were released. Several subsequent rounds only added to their totals, although the election remained tight, with a single percentage point often separating the “no” side from the “yes” side.

“We thought about the future; we thought about the decisions of today and how they’ll matter in the future,” Leppert said, before Etta James’ “At Last” blared over the speakers at Gilley’s.

In contrast, the outcome of Dallas’ Proposition 2 never appeared in question Saturday.

In this referendum, the “no” faction jumped to a sizable lead through early voting, which it more or less sustained well into Saturday evening.

Even Proposition 1 supporters, most notably Dallas City Council member Angela Hunt, decried Proposition 2 as little more than bullying by New York City-based labor union Unite Here, which generated the proposition after City Hall wouldn’t guarantee its members certain rights at the Dallas convention hotel.

Had it been approved, Proposition 2 would have generally prevented City Hall from granting most public subsidies of $1 million or more to private developers without first conducting a citywide referendum. Proposition 2 supporters, which included many Dallas Libertarians, failed to wage much of a ground-level campaign, relying on a smattering of advertisements to push their position.

In the Proposition 1 fight, Leppert and Raymond campaigned relentlessly, making hundreds of public appearances in recent months. The two often appeared jointly, conducting public debates and forums.

For months, Citizens Against the Taxpayer-Owned Hotel, bankrolled almost exclusively by Crow, has battered hotel supporters during a long and often nasty campaign.

The opposition’s message proved profound in its simplicity: A publicly owned hotel will cost taxpayers money.

And it pushed this mantra without pause, airing three stinging TV commercials for weeks before hotel supporters responded in kind.

When they finally did, hotel supporters struggled in crafting a coherent case onto which voters could latch.

They often mired themselves in the minutiae of economic forecasts and revenue income, or attempted to make overly subtle points. They at once acknowledged taxpayers would ultimately subsidize the hotel’s failures, but promised such failures probably would never occur because of the facility’s financing structure.

Support, goodwill

But in the end, the strength of Leppert’s political support and goodwill, which spans from Dallas’ richest businesspeople to its poorest pensioners, helped him prevail at the ballot box.

The more wealthy end of that spectrum offered late but critical help, forming a pair of pro-hotel political action committees that alternately pumped new advertising dollars into the campaign and mobilized younger would-be voters against Proposition 1.

“We were way behind. Probably 30 points behind,” said John Scovell, president and chief executive of Woodbine Development Corp., which owns the Hyatt Regency Dallas at Reunion. “Then, everybody got off the bench, put on their jersey and got involved. That made the difference.”

Crow, who owns the Hilton Anatole hotel, has opposed the idea of a city-owned convention hotel from the beginning.

In September, he tapped Raymond to lead an effort to gather at least 20,000 valid Dallas voter signatures and force a public vote on the hotel.

She responded swiftly, creating Citizens Against the Taxpayer-Owned Hotel, and collecting the needed signatures.

Crow then began pumping millions of dollars into one of the most aggressive political efforts in city history.

The money – about $4.7 million through April 29 and perhaps hundreds of thousands more to date – is an unprecedented sum for a single family to spend on a Dallas political campaign.

The Vote No Dallas! campaign and a pair of similar organizations, meanwhile, together raised but a fraction of what Crow committed to his cause.

Dallas, TX- Today, the Enough is Enough campaign released statements from several prominent Dallas business leaders questioning the validity of recent assertions by the “Vote Yes” campaign relating to the construction and operation of the Convention Center Hotel.

“The ads I have seen against the hotel are distorted and misleading,” said Ray Hunt, Chairman and CEO of Hunt Oil and longtime community volunteer. “To say that if this project is viable, the private sector would do it is just flat wrong,” continued Hunt. “The private sector would only receive revenue from the hotel itself, while the City and the Dallas taxpayers would receive additional rental income from the entire convention center complex. Further, the city of Dallas will benefit by having hundreds of thousands of new visitors to Dallas who will spend their convention dollars in our restaurants, our arts district, our shopsand all of our hotels.”

“These incremental dollars will improve our general revenues and most likely end up lowering taxes for homeowners over the next several years. The City will gain in ways a private developer cannot,” Hunt concluded.

The Enough is Enough Campaign Chairman Ron Steinhart agrees, saying, “Without a Convention Center Hotel, the future growth of Downtown Dallas will be hamstrung and the volume of conventions will diminish, denying Dallas
one of the best sources of revenue a city can have…tourism and conventions. Misleading and false information is being presented as fact—to say taxpayers will pay for this hotel and that services will suffer is wrong. It is extremely frustrating and disappointing for many of us in the community that the ‘Yes Political advertisement paid for by Enough is Enough campaign’ is misleading voters with millions of dollars of ad money spent to do so. Dallas is use to having civilized, honest discussions—not attack politics from people who live outside our city.”

“The Convention Center hotel is an expansion of a convention center that will allow us to compete with other top convention cities, all of which have hotels connected to their convention centers,” said John Sughrue, CEO of Brook
Partners, a full-service real estate development and investment company headquartered in Dallas. “Without this expansion, we could be dooming the current convention center to a status of ‘obsolete’ in the years to come.”

According to Sughrue, meeting planners today for the largest conventions in America want a convention center which has a convention center hotel attached to it. This is one of the main requirements for large groups such as the American Heart Association.

“No matter how much is spent trying to mislead Dallas voters, they need to know that an expanded convention center is a great deal for all of Dallas. Further, Dallas voters know when the information they are being fed is
distorted. The truth is that visitors will pay for the expanded convention center—it is that simple,” said Jack Matthews, President of MatthewsSouthwest, a full service development company headquartered in Dallas.

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To follow all of Enough is Enough’s latest activities, log onto
EnoughDallas.com.

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Before casting your vote on Dallas Proposition 1, the convention center hotel question, it is important to think beyond the city we inhabit today.

Imagine a Dallas of the not-too-distant future, with a bustling new Arts District full of museums, a world-class opera house, symphony hall and theater. Not far away will be a 5.2-acre park covering the Woodall Rodgers Freeway. Imagine a magnificent Trinity Park with lakes and trails, easily accessed from downtown. And don’t forget the restaurants and shops in the West End.

In other words, downtown Dallas will be radically more user-friendly and attractive than it is now. That means more reasons than ever for convention planners to choose us over competing cities.

But a large hole mars that vision of Dallas: the lack of a convention center hotel.

If Proposition 1 passes Saturday, banning the city from financing the hotel, Dallas will be positioning itself to remain perpetually a second-class convention venue. Because of lack of adequate hotel space within easy walking distance of the convention center, we will drive business and visitors away. That’s why Proposition 1 deserves your “no” vote.

For residents who don’t keep track of downtown’s steady transformation, it might be easy to be swayed by the arguments of the anti-hotel crowd. They’ll tell you downtown has enough hotels, and we don’t need a 1,000-room hotel next to the convention center. “Let ‘em take a bus” – like they do now, the anti-hotel crowd says.

Chief among those naysayers is billionaire Harlan Crow, owner of the Hilton Anatole on the outskirts of downtown. He has a big stake in maintaining the status quo – buses and all – because he stands to lose customers. That’s why he’s putting so much of his own money into the anti-hotel campaign and why voters should be skeptical of his motives.

Opponents of a city-owned hotel say this effort should be guided by private enterprise to reduce the risk for taxpayers. Fair point, but no private developer has stepped forward. And the city’s formula ensures that hotel users will foot the construction bill, posing even less risk to taxpayers than a direct-subsidy hotel finance plan.

It’s important to note that other major downtown hotel owners – from the Adolphus to the Hyatt Regency – oppose Proposition 1. Everybody benefits, they argue, no small consideration for landowners around the planned site – including A.H. Belo, owners of this newspaper.

Supporters in the business community know that Dallas needs a convention center hotel, and it won’t get built unless the city finances it. They know that “let ‘em take a bus” is the last thing convention planners want to hear.

Planners’ primary concerns are cost and convenience. Bus rentals add significantly to the expenses and hassles of a convention. Confronted with the bus option, lots of planners are bypassing Dallas and choosing more convenient, walkable venues. That decision costs Dallas an estimated $2.6 billion a year in lost revenues, the city says.

Convention business matters to every taxpayer because it provides the first introduction many visitors will have to our city. It puts thousands of people into shops and restaurants, boosting commerce and creating jobs. When those visitors go home, their positive feedback creates a buzz. Impressed executives take a closer look and realize that this could be a viable new home for their companies.

Chances are, the voters who decide the hotel’s fate will never actually stay in it or view downtown from a tourist’s perspective. It’s important they remember: This isn’t just a vote about a city-financed hotel. It’s about the welcome message we send visitors.

Proposition 1 is a bus ride to nowhere. Vote no.

A political rally backing a proposed Dallas Convention Center hotel drew more than 300 people Thursday, including a cross-section of hotel managers, chamber of commerce presidents, union officials and business owners.

The rally at Gilley’s in the Cedars was the latest, and to date biggest, event in a back-and-forth campaign that centers on a referendum that would effectively kill City Hall’s hotel plans if voters approve it May 9.

Led by Mayor Tom Leppert, the crowd at Gilley’s cheered when hotel directors, managers and owners urged people to vote no to Proposition 1, saying they welcome the planned convention hotel as a boon to Dallas’ convention business and a boost to their businesses.

“We need this hotel really badly. In 2005, 28,000 doctors came into the city. They stayed in our hotels, they ate in our restaurants, bringing us hundreds of thousands of tax dollars. Without this hotel, they aren’t coming back,” said Adrian Norbury of the Rosewood Crescent Hotel.

Larry Hamilton, owner of the planned Loft Hotel on Young Street, said he can’t wait for the convention hotel to open, even though his hotel will be right across the street.

“We are all for it,” he said, noting that he comes from Denver, where the city’s convention business has thrived since that city funded a successful convention center hotel.

No one at the rally mentioned the name of the hotel’s primary opponent, Hilton Anatole owner Harlan Crow.

But it was clear who Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau President Phillip Jones was referring to when he told the crowd that the pro-hotel campaign – which enjoys the backing of Dallas’ political elite – is an underdog.

“We’re being outspent 5-to-1, predominantly funded by one entity that is afraid of the competition,” Jones said.

Anne Raymond, managing director of Crow Holdings and spokeswoman for Citizens Against a Taxpayer Owned Hotel, said that city leaders should focus on the finances of the $500 million hotel project, not on staging rallies.

“I would say it would be more appropriate if the city tried to make the case to the taxpayers as to why they should accept this enormous burden vs. continuing to hold pep rallies that (political consultant) Carol Reed and Phillip Jones put together,” she said.

Hotel backers argue that the hotel’s costs will be paid for by hotel guests, not taxpayers.

However, if the hotel cannot generate enough revenue to pay its debt, taxpayers likely would be required to meet the city’s obligations.

Leppert, who has been a focus of the anti-hotel campaign, wrapped up Thursday’s rally with a shot of his own, saying that only the “vote no” side is talking positively about Dallas’ future.

“The other side doesn’t have solutions. They don’t want to talk about how to be competitive,” he said.

Click here to view the video from WFAA!

Having released a radio advertisement Tuesday, pro-Dallas Convention Center hotel group Enough is Enough will begin broadcasting a rather humorous television ad today, which involves a number of people being hit with mud.

“And despite what some want you to believe, the hotel will not be paid for with our tax dollars,” the ad’s narrator states. “May 9, say no to mud slinging, no to personal attacks. Enough is enough. Tell them Dallas isn’t for sale.”

Judge for yourself if the ad is a hit — or just dirty itself.

We’ll do a full AD WATCH feature on it in the coming day.

First TV ad – titled “Mud” – puts humorous spin on negative attacks
Contact: Michael Walz - 214.957.7151 Jay Pritchard - 214.558.6656

Dallas, TX – Enough is Enough, a group of active business and community leaders, continued its ad campaign rollout, unveiling their new TV spot, titled “Mud”. The ad puts a humorous spin on the barrage of negative personal attack ads while also setting the record straight over the proposed convention center hotel.

“We know that people are tired of the Washington-style attacks the other side has been running so we felt it was appropriate to call them out on all the mudslinging. Our ad takes a humorous approach to the convention center hotel debate,” said Ron Steinhart, Chairman of Enough is Enough and an area business leader. “But make no mistake we are also focusing on the facts which have been twisted and distorted throughout this election.”

The spot will go up today and will run at least a week leading up to the May 9th election.

“Dallas has had enough, let’s stop the mudslinging and have a civil, respectful debate. People need to know the truth – like local taxpayers are not going to foot the bill for the convention center hotel. In fact, it will be the visitors coming here to stay in any of our hotels that will end up paying for it,” added Ed Oakley, steering committee member and former city council member and mayoral candidate.

All the media for Enough is Enough is being produced by The Wolf Group, a Dallas-based advertising and communications firm. The TV ad was shot locally using local talent.

“Having a local firm that understands Dallas and how we do things is a whole lot better than having a San Francisco ad firm come here and attack our leaders,” Steinhart concluded.

For the full transcript of the ad see below, or to view it, please log on to EnoughDallas.com.

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Dallas real-estate mogul Harlan Crow doesn’t want his city to build a planned convention-center hotel. After all, he owns a big hotel a couple of miles away.

Mr. Crow and his family’s investment vehicle, Crow Holdings, are the primary financial backers of an initiative seeking to prohibit city ownership of convention hotels. The initiative is responding to a plan by the Dallas City Council to build a $356 million, 1,000-room hotel on eight acres adjacent to the Dallas Convention Center. Dallas voters cast ballots on May 9.

The Crow-led antihotel effort has raised roughly $2.7 million, mostly from Crow interests. They argue the hotel will burden the city’s balance sheet.

Often left unsaid is that the Crow family owns the 30-year-old, 1,600-room Hilton Anatole hotel, which hosts its share of convention-goers.

Mr. Crow, the 59-year-old scion of the late development-and-brokerage magnate Trammell Crow, declined to comment.

City officials say the hotel plan will succeed because the city can borrow at lower rates than private developers and a planned $50 million reserve account for the hotel will cover shortfalls. The city would issue revenue bonds to finance the hotel, to be managed by Omni Hotels.

I see that the pro-hotel group, Enough is Enough, has Roger Staubach doing radio ads telling folks to vote no. I also see, flashing above me, that they’ve bought a banner ad on FrontBurner, the magazine run by the man who has said the hotel financing plan is poorly conceived. Well played, EiE.