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OK.

Let's do this.

Colleen McCain Nelson of The Dallas Morning News editorial board has suggested it was tasteless of me to publish former DART chair Lynn Flint Shaw's personal e-mails on our blog, Unfair Park, on March 11, the day after Shaw and her husband, Rufus, were found dead of an apparent murder-suicide.

"I would have delayed publication," Nelson wrote that day on the Morning News editorial page blog. "This article feels like a somewhat random jab at the dead. Why not wait a week?"

Why? Let me try to answer.

The first answer, the more personal one and less important, is that I realized I had transacted some difficult business with the Shaws shortly before their deaths, and I thought I needed to be the one to say so.

The less personal and more important reason was this: The e-mails I published on Unfair Park raise serious questions about the way public money and public contracts are handed out in this city and about the ethics of high public officials. Delaying mention would have played to the advantage of people eager to paper over these problems with platitudes, very much including The Dallas Morning News editorial page.

Generally speaking, the News' coverage of the Lynn Flint Shaw story—by the paper's regular news reporters—has been aggressive and comprehensive. But the paper, especially the editorial page, gets suddenly very tasteful and shy where the Shaw story collides with the story of Mayor Tom Leppert.

The ownership of the News is engaged right now in a strong-arm push for the development of a city-owned hotel downtown near large properties owned by the owners of the News. Leppert is carrying that water at City Hall, as he carried the News' water on the Trinity River referendum.

Like it or not, Leppert is a central figure in the Lynn Flint Shaw story. It was important to get the real story out and into the public discourse immediately. The best time to disinfect is while the wounds are fresh.

Lynn Flint Shaw, as my collection of e-mails clearly shows, was engaged in setting up a small group called "The Inner Circle" to control minority contracting with public entities in the city, especially at City Hall and at Dallas Area Rapid Transit. The Inner Circle's leverage comes entirely from the role this same handful of people played in getting Leppert elected mayor and helping him and the Dallas Citizens Council defeat the Trinity River toll road referendum.

Willis Johnson, the lead member of The Inner Circle, was Leppert's paid political consultant for his mayoral campaign in southern Dallas, a fact he still advertises on the Web page for his public relations company, JBJ Marketing.

In the e-mails I published, Lynn Flint Shaw promises the members of The Inner Circle that she will see to it Leppert pays up. In one e-mail, Shaw tells Leppert in very direct terms that any and all contacts between him and the black community must go through Johnson, a radio personality and entrepreneur:

"Willis is the guy," she writes Leppert. "He is the 'go to' person in all things southern sector and African-American. No one and I mean no one should be going around and usurping his authority..."

After receiving this e-mail, Leppert named Flint Shaw treasurer of "Friends of Tom Leppert," his political fund-raising committee, then helped engineer her ascent to the chairmanship of DART, an agency that carries roughly half a billion dollars' worth of public contracts at any given point in time. She told friends proudly that she was serving as DART chair, "because the mayor wants me to."

Johnson, the "go-to guy," is himself a contractor at DART and with other public entities in the city, providing radio and security equipment through another of his companies, Wai-Wize Inc.

A consistent theme in the e-mails is the stream of helpful information that Shaw fed to Johnson concerning contracts at DART, where she was a board member. For example, in one series of e-mails Johnson was fishing for information about how certain people "got on the GEC team." GEC is an abbreviation for general engineering consultant.

A former DART board member, speaking to me not for attribution, told me, "The GEC is a gigantic slush fund for contracts." He explained that only the prime contractor—the main general engineering consultant—has to go through intense scrutiny and vetting.

There is much less scrutiny of the subcontracts. "No one cares who does the lighting fixtures," the former board member said. Therefore, a person with access to inside information about GEC subcontracts, not to mention access to a key board member, could shoulder aside other contractors on the way to the gravy train.

When Johnson asks Shaw about it in the e-mails, she answers him back quickly: "I need to talk to you about this. Found out some stuff."

Rule 21 of the DART board's rules of procedure provides: "If a Board member is contacted by anyone concerning an active DART procurement or ongoing procurement dispute, the Board member should not discuss any specific procurement information."

Leppert's response to any and all inquiries about these e-mails, the existence of an Inner Circle or the role of Willis Johnson has been sarcastic and dismissive. When Dallas Observer reporter Sam Merten asked him at a public event last week if Johnson had a special role as gatekeeper for minorities seeking contact with him, Leppert said, "If you look at my schedule, and you look at what I did, and anybody does, they would laugh in your face."

So I looked at his schedule. I'm not laughing.

Write Your Comment show comments (12)

  1. This story affirms the necessity of our having strong, independent reporters in Dallas, because without Jim Schutze, this news would have been peremptorily minimized, avoiding the real story of government contracting in the shadow of blatant impropriety. Our mayor needs to rise to the ethical challenge by focusing transparent scrutiny on the entire process of procuring favorable treatment in such municipal contracts.

    Perhaps the higher concern is that we as a society need to examine the culture of material competitiveness and social striving which perhaps energized the behavior of the Shaws, and made them feel that life is a zero-sum game, and if they were not "winning," it was futile to continue living.

    I offer my sincere condolences to friends and relatives of the Shaws, and I join you in mourning such a tragic event.

    Comment by Willie Dysoon — March 19, 2008 @ 11:44PM

  2. "He was a grifter with no visible means of support." The definition of a grifter is a person who obtains money or property by swindling or defrauding others. What evidence does Mr. Schutze have to back up such a harsh claim about the late Rufus Shaw? I have read many things about Mr. Shaw, but I have seen nothing that even hinted that he was some sort of con man. I have enjoyed and admired Mr. Schutze's writing since moving to Dallas nearly 8 years ago, but this does seem over the top and, yes, tasteless.

    Comment by Scott Rowekamp — March 20, 2008 @ 06:51AM

  3. I have to say I am concerned with the 'grifter' remark and I would like some elaboration.

    I am more concerned with the City of Dallas Ethics Rules. Think about this:
    "the proper party to go to the district attorney and make a complaint about violations would in fact be the city or a high city official. Like the mayor."
    The mayor is very possibly involved in this mess. The DA had a close relationship with the Shaws and with several members of the 'Inner Circle'. Who is left? Is there a councilmember willing to air out the dirty laundry?

    The city fathers and Belo, Inc. want to rush blindly into a convention center hotel deal which is going to cost Dallas taxpayers millions. The last thing they want is an investigation about how they do their "bidness". Does anyone know the number to the FBI corruption hotline?

    Comment by El Rey — March 20, 2008 @ 01:17PM

  4. As far as I can tell Rufus Shaw had lots of talent and no accomplishments other than figuring out how to use the race-card at City Hall to get a piece of minority contracting. His wife also figured that out.... as well as wrangling an apointment to make decisions about rapid-transit/contracts- a post for which she had NO qualifications. It adequately positioned her to tell the mayor that one guy is the "go to" guy for everything African-American in South Dallas. South Dallas ought to be insulted by this revelation- as if everyone else is to stupid to know their own good unless the Shaws and Mr. "Go-to" render the blessing ( and take a cut).

    "Nothing in the lives of the Shaws merited their deaths"- I agree. However, the rest of Dallas is sick and tired of getting taken to the cleaners by the city which appears to be a trough for the "connected" to get rich and the "rich" to get richer.

    Comment by Ben — March 21, 2008 @ 03:32PM

  5. Hey Jim,

    Does the Dallas Observer verify the ages of the female models shown in the adult services section? If so may we see the proof?

    Comment by wick olson — March 21, 2008 @ 03:37PM

  6. I can't thank Schutze enough for the public service he does with his investigative journalism. Some in the public sense this corruption, but no way would we be able to connect the dots without Schutze's diligence. He summarized it well. I feel for the Shaws and their ending. Indeed, let's hold accountable those with the greatest power who misuse our tax dollars and deceive us.

    I remember in 2007 when I learned of the DART fare increase. I nearly cried thinking of all the inner city poor, elderly, disabled, young and fixed-income people I saw every day on my busy route from East Dallas to downtown. I remember how some brave souls challenged the board at their hearing on this fare increase. They were disrespected and disregarded, because it was, afterall, a done deal. They had no voice.

    So, I ask, on behalf of those that do not get heard and steadily pay with nickles and dimes, in addition to the taxpayer, if you could further connect some more dots. Could you please explain the connection of this unethical mess to the billion dollar shortfall and the 2007 fare increase of which the DMN said on Jan. 4, 2007: "The sharpest increases would affect seniors, children and people with disabilities as the cost of a monthly reduced-fare pass rises from $15 to $25, a 67 percent increase."?

    Comment by Anonymous — March 21, 2008 @ 10:36PM

  7. And it only gets awesomer! Great job Jim. I can't wait to see what turn this story takes next!

    Comment by Matt Minyard — March 24, 2008 @ 09:00AM

  8. Re: Comment 1 by Scott Rowekamp & Comment 2 by El Rey -

    Its so typical of Dallas that a couple of sensitive guys have gotten their Jockey’s in a twist over Jim describing Rufus Shaw as a grifter. Hey, guys....here's a clue: "the Shaw story collides with the story of Mayor Tom Leppert." Seems like now that City Hall, the News, and DART are the only story left, suddenly all anybody wants to focus on is how Jim's not playing well with others and calling Black people names.

    Here's another clue: had either of you bothered even a cursory review of Mr. Shaw's published works, you might have wet those Jockeys, too!!! So, allow me.

    Shaw's debut work is entitled "How to be a Rich N-gger: The Most Significant Book Written for N-ggers Since The Bible." This self-help text features eye-catching chapters like "Good Cities for Rich N-ggers" and "How to Deal with White Folks." In it, Shaw introduces us to his alter-ego, an entity named Sugarwolf – the Prophet of Profits. Sugarwolf’s espoused raison d'etre is to disseminate the divine "N-gger Master Plan." Golly...I betting that suddenly Jeremiah Wright seems downright Uncle Tom to you boys now, huh?
    And an interesting divine plan it is. Feel-good burdens like social responsibility are dispensed with by Shaw who, quoting none other than Jehovah himself, asserts that people in poverty "needn't worry about things being right and fair,...just make cash money." Hmmmm, Shaw seems like a prime candidate for the Gordon Gecko Prize for Business Ethics. But maybe I'm wrong, and maybe those two Mr. Sensitive guys were right. Yes, I could be mistaking a gifted economic theorist for a low-life street con.

    Similarly incensed readers bearing white men’s burdens can find comfort by affirming in the mirror every morning for a month that Shaw's tongue was firmly in cheek. That is, they could were it not for Shaw’s sequel, "Hustling: The Art of Black Financial Survival." Well, at least it has a less grandiose subtitle, right? Sensitive Dallas types don't mind Black people, 'cept when they're all highfallutin and uppity.

    Well, this subsequent ground-breaking expose surely solidified Shaw's status as enfant terible among the Dallas nouveau riche de'negro. Any budding grif…........er, uh…entreprenuer would do well to study closely this treasure trove of eye-popping information. It even contains a sprinkling of social darwinism: "a strong person must...identify the weak...manipulate them, make them feel strong...some can be manipulated with conversation...its natural for a man to lie and cover-up...(because) all men are motivated by money, power, drugs, ego, and/or sex...others must be controlled by force." You see…you boys needn't have worried about ol' Rufus...he had a lot of views in common with all the good ol’ boys down at City Hall. Turns out Rufus was an upstanding, free-market paleo! Wouldn’t H.L have been proud at how far we’ve come? Now...let's get that hotel built.

    Yet…I remain troubled that so many feigned shock that the Shaws could possibly have gotten so cozy with White Dallas' power elite. I guess its still kinda hard for some folks to accept financial miscegenation. Aren’t we past all that, folks? After all, its all green, isn’t it? I believe the Shaw's skill at Machiavellian machinations demonstrates we still tend to underestimate the political cunning of people like Rufus and Lynn. When you assume someone's less sophisticated simply by virtue of ethnicity that's kinda like racism, don’t you think?

    But, on the other hand, can I just say how proud I am to have a mayor who can outplay the playas! Rufus might have had a divine Master Plan, but Leppert’s got game! But it’s all good - Sugarwolf saw it all coming. Turns out he was more prophetic than anyone ever realized: "…there is no government to save the incompetent…just two types of people - people who are used and people who use…the weak will try to destroy all...and they will perish because they should."

    Yeah, I hear ya…Tom coulda at least been white about it and reminded Rufus that it's hard out here for a pimp…hey wait a minute…that sounds hipper than grifter…Uptown loves hip…And pimp’s, like, a good thing now, right? Can we go with pimp…’cause maybe - just maybe - it’s the truer word for Rufus, too.

    Comment by michael palmer — March 26, 2008 @ 02:35AM

  9. Michael Palmer: I wear boxers, not Jockeys. As for Rufus Shaw's books, so what? Writing controversial books or blogs does not equate with being a swindler or a con-man.

    Comment by Scott Rowekamp — March 26, 2008 @ 04:26PM

  10. mustnotfeedthetrolls
    mustnotfeedthetrolls
    mustnotfeedthetrolls

    Comment by michael palmer — March 26, 2008 @ 06:39PM

  11. Hey Jimmy Schutze, you certainly love to write about interesting comlex conspiracy theories. But I have a question for Jimmy: "Can you explain your alliance with Councilwoman Angela Hunt and Don Hill? You love to slander other politicians, but you praise Angela as if she's a goddess. Has it ever occurred to you that Angela is hated by many people because they think she's a power-hungry, vindictive, over-bearing, and manipulative b****. I won't say where I met you, but we once made eye contact and I could immediately tell you suffer from paranoia. Too bad, the Dallas Observer encourages you to stay paranoid by printing all your articles and giving you a hefty paycheck in return. They say reporters must work without fear or favor, but you seem to be Angela's press agent. Do you work for her because she's your friend or are you scared of her?

    Comment by Ricky — March 27, 2008 @ 04:10PM

  12. Keep fighting the good fight Jim. Do it for us, "we the people", who are kept blind by the City's greed and misuse of the public's trust.

    I will re-iterate a few words from the late great Dr. Thompson and say only this:

    First - "In a [city] ruled by swine, all pigs are upright mobile."
    Second - "We would be fools not to ride this torpedo to the end."

    and

    Third - "Just because you are paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you!"

    Comment by just a citizen — April 19, 2008 @ 09:23AM

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