Dallas, TX
Dallas Park Board President wants complete reset at Fair Park. Will Fair Park First stay?
Dallas Park Board President Arun Agarwal says he wants a “100% reset” of the organizations managing Fair Park and wants a public process to deliberate if Fair Park First, the nonprofit that raised about $60 million for a long-promised community park and refurbishing a collection of historic buildings at the 277-acre complex, should retain its fundraising role.
“We will do everything to make sure donor confidence is not compromised,” Agarwal told The Dallas Morning News on Friday, adding that a public process was necessary to reverse perceptions of malfeasance in the park’s finances.
Nearly $6 million in restricted donor funds were misspent on park operations, according to a report released last year. The nonprofit and venue management company are still negotiating a pathway to recoup the misspent dollars.
While that’s still underway, the city announced Wednesday it would terminate its contract with the nonprofit and its subcontractor Oak View Group. The contract gave Oak View Group the authority to control financial decisions and set up bank accounts, though the venue management company contends it was acting under the nonprofit’s direction.
While noting the need for a fundraiser, the city’s announcement was silent on whether Fair Park First would continue the work of raising funds, managing community engagement and overseeing the construction of the park.
Veletta Forsythe Lill, Fair Park First’s board chair, said the nonprofit was moving into a conservancy model and was committed to constructing a park to make amends to nearby communities that had been razed using eminent domain in favor of building parking lots.
Lill has been emphatic about the nonprofit’s perspective and has said the goal to tweak the contract was to stabilize and give the organization ability to oversee its own operations.
“Fair Park First, in its narrow prescribed operations over the last six years, has done what it was supposed to do in terms of raising money, engaging the community and doing community programming,” Lill said.
The burning concern is how the recent developments might influence donor confidence. “All of the grants are direct contracts with Fair Park First, not others,” she said. “Those are the contracts that have to be honored in the building of the park.”
The city has not entered a new contract with the nonprofit, though at least one elected official, council member Adam Bazaldua, has said in a previous statement that he looked forward to working with Fair Park First.
Ryan O’Connor, a top park official who oversees partnerships and strategic initiatives, said the Park Board and the City Council will still need to vote on a contract with a nonprofit organization to perform fundraising and other related services.
The nonprofit will also sign a development agreement to give the entity the right to develop the community park, though the organization would still need city approval for design and other related services.
“From my experience with the city, both being involved with them for many, many decades and being on City Council, I believe that it will have to be an open, competitive process,” said Ron Natinsky, executive director at the Texas Discovery Gardens, which is also a tenant in Fair Park.
The Texas Discovery Gardens have been struggling with nearly a million dollars worth of repairs that have come out of the nonprofit’s rainy day fund and was meant to be overseen by the Oak View Group.
“I’m actually fairly confident with the city’s plan to move forward,” Natinsky said. “The part that would give me some pause would be if indeed the same nonprofit was left in charge as they have been previously.”
From Fair Park First’s perspective, the nonprofit has had limited control over financial decisions at the park. The nonprofit since then has separated donor funds and collaborated with Dallas Foundation, another nonprofit that specializes in helping philanthropic initiatives. They also expect to hire a new CEO later this year.
Former council member Lee Kleinman, who was on the City Council when officials were deliberating the public-private partnership, said the model was envisioned to oversee three components: fundraising and advocacy management, concession stands and building a park.
“If we can say OK, [Fair Park First] did OK at fundraising, let’s keep them there,” Kleinman said, adding that the parks department could oversee the management of the concessionaire and build the park for South Dallas.
The Dallas Park and Recreation Department, he said, “has built almost a billion dollars worth of park and park amenities in the last 20 years. So let’s give it to the people who can do the job, and that would be, to me, a good outcome.”
DALLAS – Slow-moving thunderstorms brought localized flash flooding to parts of North Texas on Tuesday evening, blocking highways near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and dropping several inches of rain in portions of Tarrant and Parker counties.
Flash Flood Warnings
Local perspective:
Flash flood warnings are in effect for Hopkins, Hunt, Rains and Van Zandt counties until 7:45 p.m.
Flooding was reported along Texas 183 near Valley View Lane south of DFW Airport, where stranded vehicles and water-covered roadways created hazardous travel conditions.
A flash flood warning remained in effect near the airport, although rainfall rates had begun to diminish as the storm weakened.
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings
The National Weather Service also issued a severe thunderstorm warning for northern Hood County, citing the potential for gusty winds and small hail. Forecasters reported hail ranging from pea-sized to marble-sized in parts of Hood, Parker and Denton counties.
Forecasters attributed the weakening storms in Denton County to an outflow boundary, a meteorological feature that can disrupt thunderstorm development.
The warning area was reduced as the storm weakened near sunset.
LIVE RADAR
What they’re saying:
FOX 4’s Kylie Capps said the storms moved unusually slowly from east to west, allowing heavy rain to accumulate over the same areas for several hours.
Rainfall estimates showed some locations in eastern Parker County and western Tarrant County received nearly 5 inches of rain during a six-hour period, while areas near DFW Airport recorded more than 2 inches.
Elsewhere in North Texas, northern Rains County received nearly 5 inches of rain.
7-Day Forecast
What’s next:
Forecasters expect a quieter overnight period, with only isolated showers lingering into the evening. Additional thunderstorms are possible Wednesday afternoon, though coverage and the threat of severe weather are expected to remain limited.
Temperatures are forecast to reach about 90 degrees Wednesday.
Rain chances are expected to continue through the remainder of the workweek and into the weekend as an upper-level low-pressure system sends multiple disturbances across North Texas.
The Source: Information in this article was provided by FOX 4’s Weather Team
Monday was a wild day for the NFL with two blockbuster trades. First was Myles Garrett, who both the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles were rumored to have interest in.
Cowboys fans never bought into these rumors, knowing that Jerry Jones was unlikely to make such an investment. The Eagles, however, have been known to get aggressive. Thankfully for Dallas fans, they didn’t make the move as the Cleveland Browns sent Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams for Jared Verse and a package of picks.
Not long after that trade was finalized, the Eagles did wind up making a trade. After months of speculation surrounding A.J. Brown and the New England Patriots, the two sides made it official as Brown was reunited with Mike Vrabel in exchange for a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-rounder.
Dallas Cowboys could take the NFC East crown in 2026
The writing has been on the wall all offseason regarding Brown, who has been unhappy with the Eagles for a while. His departure seemed confirmed when they traded up with Dallas in the 2026 NFL draft for USC receiver Makai Lemon.
While Lemon has the tools to be a difference-maker, he won’t be able to perform at the same level as Brown during his rookie season. The Eagles do still have DeVonta Smith at receiver as well as running back Saquon Barkley and quarterback Jalen Hurts.
That said, there’s no denying that they’re weaker this season than they were with Brown. Just as important, however, is the fact that general manager Howie Roseman didn’t pull off a shocking move for Garrett, which would have made them the overwhelming favorites in the division.
Cowboys chances hinge on defensive changes
Another reason the Cowboys are confident they can hang with Philadelphia this season is the presence of Christian Parker, who they hired as their defensive coordinator after he spent the past two seasons as the passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach with the Eagles.
Parker brings in a new scheme and plenty of confidence, but more importantly, he has several new weapons at his disposal. Dallas traded for veterans Rashan Gary and Dee Winters, signed Jalen Thompson and Cobie Durant, and selected Caleb Downs and Malachi Lawrence in the draft.
Those are just some of the moves they made on defense, and they’re banking on that to be enough to help propel them past the team that has won the division the past two seasons.
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