In what attendees say was a shocking display of rudeness and elitism, former Dallas Mayor Laura Miller and her husband Steve Wolens disrupted yesterday’s Preston Hollow Patrol Association meeting at Lovers Lane Methodist Church where Dallas HERO Executive Director Pete Marocco was invited to speak on this November’s citizen-driven charter amendments that are on the November ballot.
The Dallas HERO Amendments Marocco was scheduled to speak on are propositions S, T & U and require a minimum ratio of 3 police officers to every 1,000 citizens, performance based compensation based on crime, roads, homelessness, litter and aggressive panhandling, and require city leader accountability.
The Preston Hollow Neighborhood Association has been experiencing off duty officer shortage issues and invited Marocco to explain how HERO could help alleviate some of the department’s staff constraints.
Shortly after Marocco began presenting Dallas Police Department statistics on officer attrition, Wolens interrupted Marocco mid-sentence and hijacked the meeting. Ms. Miller then stood up and walked to center of the room demanding, “As a former mayor, I insist on having equal time.” Ms. Miller then announced that she was holding a press conference this Wednesday with other former mayors to voice their opposition to increasing the number of police officers in Dallas.
Ms. Miller notably suggested earlier this year at Downtown Dallas Inc. event that Dallas didn’t have a crime problem. She also named former mayor Mike Rawlings as a participant in Wednesday’s press conference. Mr. Rawlings is leading efforts to form a a PAC opposing the pro-police HERO amendments that poll as high as 72% in favor in neighborhoods like South Dallas where rampant crime problems persist.
The audience was visibly shocked by Ms. Miller’s and Mr. Wolen’s interruption of Marocco’s presentation. One attendee who witnessed the outburst said Miller “looked unhinged”. Another commented that Miller’s behavior was so “shocking and disruptive” that “watching her I thought I was going to throw up.” Another attendee stated Ms. Miller’s interruption was “the most elitist, arrogant display of a former elected official she’d ever seen” and added, “I am ashamed and sorry for how the speaker on the pro-police amendments was treated by the former mayor. Laura Miller didn’t do herself any favors. I’m voting yes, just because of how crazy she acted.”
Marocco said, “It was the most shocking, rude behavior I’ve ever seen in a church. I wasn’t even 30 seconds into my presentation when her outburst began. I was just getting started on the increasing police attrition statistics when I thought someone was trying to ask a question out of order so I didn’t want to speak over them. Laura Miller jumped up and just started demanding to speak right just as I was starting my presentation. The organizers told her she couldn’t but she just kept yelling. After I tried to restart noting that I was looking forward to hearing her questions and challenges, she demanded that the presentation and her rebuttal be pushed to the end of the meeting. People were shouting to let me speak, but the organizers decided they needed to move on to the issue of finding available officers for their off-duty patrol officers.”
Marocco added, “Many people apologized to me and asked me to come back. They took donor cards and told me they were definitely voting for Propositions S, T and U. One made a donation. Everyone except Laura Miller and her husband were very nice and respectful. I was literally in disbelief at her behavior and the level of animus and volatility she exhibited over what should have been a perfectly civil discussion about whether Dallas has enough police officers. I offered for Ms. Miller to speak first following the meeting, but she just stomped off. Really insane egomaniacal behavior. Who acts like that at an HOA meeting in a church?”
One eye witness said, “The irony of Laura’s outburst is that later in the meeting she demanded to know why she couldn’t reach the off-duty police officers when she called with serious crimes happening. One of the police officers present said it was because DPD is so understaffed they get called off their off-duty patrols for 911 calls.”
