Posted on 10/06/2005 10:18:56 PM PDT by Ol' Sparky
Miers' time on Dallas City Council provides some insight
BY DAVE LEVINTHAL
The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS - (KRT) - She may have no judicial record, but Supreme Court justice nominee Harriet Miers took firm stances on issues ranging from taxation to democratic reforms abroad as a one-term member of the Dallas City Council, a Dallas Morning News study of city records indicates.
For example, in 1991, Miers voted in favor of a council resolution reaffirming economic sanctions Dallas had imposed against South Africa, then under a white minority-rule apartheid government. The council adopted the resolution by a 6-2 vote with three absences.
At the time, President George H.W. Bush was considering repealing federal economic sanctions against the country.
A 1989 city ordinance prohibited Dallas government from buying goods that originated in South Africa or conducting business with firms that sold goods or services there for use by the police, military or prison system.
"As she goes through this nomination process, something like that should cheer the liberals and lead to gnashing of teeth among the very conservative social conservative," said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University, Miers' alma mater. "Hers was the appropriate moderate Republican position of the day, but beating up on South Africa wasn't a way to win friends with conservatives."
It was one of several council votes that will be scrutinized as her court nomination moves forward. She served between June 1989 and November 1991.
Miers was one of 10 Dallas council members to unanimously approve a 1989 agenda item that revised minimum height, weight and vision requirements for Dallas firefighters to facilitate "promotion of certain ranks in the Fire Department," particularly women.
The agenda item's title: "Implementation of Fire Department Affirmative Action Plan."
In one of her first meetings as a council member, Miers sponsored a resolution "recognizing democratic aspirations of students and civilian population in Beijing, China." The council ratified the resolution 10-1.
"It's important for the city to let those people know we realize what they're going through," Miers said at the time, a few weeks after the Chinese government violently quashed pro-democracy rallies centered in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
Records from council meetings during her tenure also indicate that she:
_Voted for a 1990 resolution requesting that Congress "pass legislation which would prohibit judicial taxation of local governments." The council unanimously adopted the resolution, which came at a time when courts in some places had seized control of floundering school districts and administered taxes. "This is a position that would be almost universally accepted by Republicans," Jillson said.
_Abstained from an otherwise unanimously adopted 1990 resolution urging Congress to pass legislation bolstering AIDS emergency treatment programs and provide funding to local governments for such programs. Before the vote, Miers said she had a conflict of interest, although no record detailing that conflict was available.
_Voted to ratify a 1990 resolution urging the governor to call a special session of the Texas State Legislature and consider a bill that aimed to limit state power and return regulatory jurisdiction over pawnshops to municipalities. The council ratified the resolution by an 8-2-1 vote.
_Voted in 1989 to levy property taxes on "business personal property temporarily located within the state." The agenda item passed 10-1, but the record indicates Miers directed Dallas' city manager to search for alternate revenue streams so that the tax could be repealed in 1991.
_Was absent when the council in 1990 unanimously resolved to install City of Dallas and U.S. flags within all municipal parks.
_Was absent in 1991 when the council formally urged Congress to pass the Brady Bill, which limited gun accessibility. The council adopted the resolution unanimously.
_Voted in 1991 to ratify a resolution urging the Texas State Legislature to observe the Rev. Martin Luther King's birthday as a state holiday. The council unanimously ratified the resolution.
_Voted in 1991 to ratify a resolution supporting passage of the federal North American Free Trade Agreement. The council ratified the resolution by a 7-2-2 vote.
_Voted in 1991 in favor of a resolution urging Congress to approve a presidential request for "fast track" trade negotiation authority. The resolution passed 5-2-3.
_Abstained from voting on a resolution urging Congress to allow toll road development along interstate highway right-of-ways. Records did not indicate why Miers abstained; the resolution passed by a 6-1 vote with three absences and an abstention.
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Are you serious?
You're against equal rights?
bet ya Chyna could get the old boy down safely, no problem
oh great
more inspiring revelations....
Stupid PC statement.
I doubt that minimal requirements allow a 110 lb person to qualify for a fireman's position. I'm sure their is a minimum weight and height requirement, adjusted for female stature but not one open ended. And I'm sure that all firefighters, M or F have minimal lifting requirements. Police departments also have minimum height, weight and physical ability requirements, slightly adjusted for the female stature.
Hell yes it's wrong...and stupid....unless they are just dispatchers
screw your equal rights PC BS. When it comes to firefighters, there is no damn such thing as equal rights. My home is on fire, I want the strongest, biggest damn firefighters that can be hired to respond.
don't you just feel reassured by it all?
Wait, you're supposed to ignore these stories. Only pay attention to the ones were people say how great she will be.
You should have seen the video smuggled out of LAFD. The female recruits couldn't even pull the hoses over a 6' wall.
And what did those PC SOBs do. They went after those that smuggle the vidoe out. It was pathetic. 90 pounds of gear etc and they were basically helpless. It was a joke.
Who in the F**k do you want showing up at your home when it's on fire? A 120 pound female, or someone that can do the damn job?
Do you have a vested interest in this woman being defeated?
Because it sure looks like it; you're been posting derrogatory comments about her for the last four days almost non-stop.
I'll bet Chyna meets the height and weight requirements.:)
Watch your mouth.
heh...somehow I knew a person like howlin would try to twist this around.
If my house is on fire, I don't want a 5' 4" woman trying to break down the door because some politician thought they needed more women on the force. I want a big, burly firefighter who is going to have the size and weight to get my family out of there ASAP.
tell that to the people telling ann counter to get some new batteries.
Ya think maybe because bigger, stronger men that weigh more might have a better chance of carrying someone out of a burning building?
PC idiot.
do you have any reason to justify lowering the standards of a force whose primary job duty is to use their bodies to save lives?
Or are you just rationalizing again?
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