Local real estate developer Scott Beck underscored the importance of local elections during a recent Metroplex Civic & Business Association (MCBA) luncheon in Dallas.
The MCBA identifies itself as a non-partisan, non-profit business organization dedicated to the success and prosperity of the DFW metroplex. The Dallas-based association champions charitable and civic engagement among member companies throughout the region.
During Tuesday’s MCBA luncheon, keynote speaker Scott Beck, founder and CEO of Beck Ventures, highlighted the numerous ways in which businesses are impacted by local policy decisions.
“In Dallas, local city elections carry significant importance,” Beck told The Dallas Express.
“Each of our City Council members in Dallas acts as their own mayor or CEO of their districts. Some of these districts have a couple hundred thousand people in them — which is the size of some of the cities that surround Dallas,” Beck explained.
“We want our City Council members to be effective at advocating and leading for the things that are going on within their specific district,” Beck said.
Beck believes that City Council members should have a background in some form of finance. Otherwise, decisions might be made that end up costing Dallas and interfering with its potential growth and prosperity.
“If you don’t have a finance background, it’s very difficult to understand the present value or time value of money related to a tax increment financing district, or a municipal utility district, or a public improvement district and the mechanisms with which those things are very useful,” he said.
Beck gave The Dallas Express a prominent example in the City of Dallas’ choice to push back on supporting a new stadium for the Dallas Cowboys in their city.
“There’s a consequence to the City of Dallas and the County of Dallas deciding not to give Jerry Jones $600 million to build the new Cowboys Stadium,” Beck said.
“There’s an economic cost-benefit analysis, and there is a business-benefit analysis. Ultimately, our municipality at the time chose to utilize an antiquated model. And as opposed to the sound and practiced decision-making business people might utilize to make those decisions, the consequence now is that Fair Park doesn’t have the new Cowboys Stadium,” he explained.
The exodus of companies from Dallas for more cooperative and business-friendly cities around North Texas is, unfortunately, fairly common, according to Louis Darrouzet, founder and CEO of MCBA.
“Several of our member companies that had offices in and around Dallas are now opening up shops in Frisco, Prosper, Las Colinas, and Celina,” Darrouzet told The Dallas Express.
He said other city councils are much more welcoming than Dallas, taking an approach that says, “Hey, come, we’ll help you get the zoning,” and “Oh, you don’t need that many parking spaces? Okay. Not a big deal.”
Until Dallas City Council improves its decision-making, Dallas will continue to set itself back despite the great opportunities it holds at its fingertips, according to Beck. Beck noted the city’s proximity to DFW International, Love Field, and the Alliance airports.
“[The City of Dallas] shouldn’t be doing slightly better than everybody else, we should be doing 20 times better than everybody else,” Beck told The Dallas Express. “Because of inadequate policies, we consequently see neighboring towns and cities just multiplying like wildfire.”
Beck concluded by saying, “The City of Dallas is doing good, but not unbelievably fantastic, which is what we should be doing.”