By BJ Austin, KERA Reporter
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-787859.mp3
Dallas, TX – The petitions calling for a vote on a downtown Dallas Convention Center Hotel are being certified today, one day ahead of the deadline. KERA's BJ Austin reports the Mayor is ready for a battle on the ballot in May.
Citizens Against a Taxpayer Owned Hotel needed 20,000 confirmed voter signatures to force the May referendum. The group submitted nearly 60,000.
Mayor Tom Leppert believes the group got enough signatures, but he is confident this referendum will fail, as did the vote on the Trinity toll road and the strong mayor proposal.
Leppert: This is a major investment for the city of Dallas. It is absolutely critical that we move forward. We've established a timetable and we're going to be following that timetable.
Anne Raymond, leader of the anti-hotel group, says the timing for a new, 1,000-room hotel is rotten.
Raymond: You know, IBM cancelled every meeting they had in the country for the fourth quarter, and all their first quarter meetings are on hold. And that's a perfect example of how risky the hotel business is.
Raymond wants the City Council to stop all spending on the $500 million hotel until after the May vote. Mayor Leppert says not likely.