Neil Emmons, who has served more than eight years on the City Plan Commission, has some advice for the city.
"In this economic downturn, Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm is reducing the planning department, and I think that’s the wrong thing to do. This is exactly the time the city should ramp up their efforts to plan for the times ahead," Emmons said.
Emmons’ tenure on the plan commission is ending, and he’s had some real throwdowns over nearly a decade of service. But he says he’s most proud of the "quiet victories," when commercial and residential interest found common ground. "The vast majority of the work we do is reaching consensus where everyone profits," he says.
Emmons quoted Our City Dallas, a 1927 book by Justin F. Kimball, which states, "The most important planning decision Dallas will make is what we will do with the Trinity River." Nothing has changed, Emmons says.
District 14 Council member Angela Hunt has nominated Julian "Bill" Peterson for the vacated spot. City Council must approve her nomination.
