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ted in the Waxahachie jail while he was awaiting trial for a robbery of which he was acquitted. And he went on talking about the police murders of Santos Rodriguez and the Johnson brothers and others to these well-turned out daughters of North Dallas who won’t be voting in his election. “Because you have influence, you could get these men off the force.” Back at the Center, Lipscomb goes about his business of organizing the community and trying to organize his campaign. The tasks are not quite synonymous, though he would like to think so. Meanwhile members of his staff are plotting precinct strategy on large maps of the district and repeating that they hope to shake him loose from the Center long enough to get the necessary exposure among the voters. He has the help this time of a number of sharp young tacticians, headed by Ernest McMillan, who seem determined to keep him on the right track until Dec. 9. While Kirven, with his establishment backing, might be considered the favorite, he is surely gnashing his teeth over the fact that he has to run for the council at all. He would simply have been appointed with Allen’s blessing in the paternal tradition of the Dallas City Council had it not been for the discovery by a member of the city attorney’s office that such a method of filling a vacancy was illegal under a statute of the state. More than likely this discovery was brought to the attention of the council not for Lipscomb’s benefit, but for the benefit of those who might wish to run for mayor if Wes Wise jumps from the throne next year to run for Congress. So Kirven, who insiders say is not the most willing candidate, was plucked from a cushy appointment and hurled into a horserace at the eleventh hour. And the fact that he has run unsuccessfully for the school board and the state Legislature and carried the torch for Richard Nixon isn’t helping any. There is little doubt this is the best chance Lipscomb has ever had of being elected. He has a hard-core following in the center of the district, plus support from chicanos _on the west end and young whites in the northern precincts which jut into Oak Lawn. He has on his side the fact that a lot of middle class voters may sit the election out, unable to vote for a Republican or a notorious activist. He got an unexpected boost when Juanita Craft, a 73-year-old NAACP leader, decided to 16 The Texas Observer enter the race on the last day before the filing deadline. While she would be a long shot to win, she can be counted on to pull a portion of older middle class voters away from Kirven, dividing the conservative forces. The newly registered, younger voters are more apt to move into Lipscomb’s camp. Kirven has money, the mantle of Uncle George, and poor name identification, as they say. Lipscomb’s followers are full of the conviction that they can win it. They think the old guard has finally slipped and that the mandate for new leadership is on the way. If they’re proved right, the politics of South Dallas, are in for a big change. As for the council, Lipscomb’s election would give independents a 6-5 majority over the CCA members. On the porch at the information Center, which looks out across Pennsylvania Street to a vacant lot, one of Lipscomb’s oldest friends stands and reflects on the beating that black progressives have taken in Dallas over the years. “You know, you ask me what Al has achieved, and I’d have to say that mainly he’s survived. Look at what’s happened to all the black people who’ve tried to get the show movin’ over here. Man, they all got run out of town or put in jail or they just disappeared. Al survived and he’s still on the case after goin’ through all that. You don’t know what an achievement this is.” 1 Dialogue Attribution requested I quote from your article “New Charter Foundering”, page 7, as follows: “Calvert insisted that Briscoe’s contention that the new constitution would require extensive and costly legal interpretation is ‘flatly untrue,’ not to mention ‘specious and ridiculous.’ ” In our press conference following Governor Briscoe’s public statement of his position on the constitution, I spoke only to that part of the statement concerning the Judicial Article. At no time since have I, either publicly or privately, commented on the Governor Briscoe’s contention that the new constitution would require extensive and costly legal interpretation. While I strongly differ with Governor Briscoe’s position on the proposed constitution, our long and personal friendship would prohibit my characterization of his comments as “flatly untrue” and “specious and ridiculous.” I do not know where you came by the statements attributed to me in the above quotation, but they have no foundation in fact. I hope you will see fit to correct these statements attributed to me and recognize that an apology is in order. Robert W. Calvert, Fifth Floor, Texas State Bank Bldg., 900 Congress Ave., Austin, Tex. 78701. The Observer took the quotations in question from an article by Bo Byers in the Oct. 15 Houston Chronicle. The article was exclusively concerned with Briscoe’s position on the new constitution and on reactions to Briscoe’s announcement. Byers wrote: “Calvert said the contention that the proposed charter would require extensive and costly legal interpretations is `flatly untrue.’ Without referring to Briscoe by name, he said that such an argument against the new cbnstitution is ‘specious and ridiculous.’ ” Ed. Prison reform I hope that the “Estelle Incident” \(Obs., major resolution passed at CURE’s First People’s Convention held in Huntsville, Sept. 27 and 28. This resolution encouraged the Board of Corrections and the Legislature to implement the recommendations of the 1974 report of the Joint Legislative Committee on Prison Reform. The thrust of this report concerns the structuring of community based corrections throughout Texas. These programs should drastically reduce the incredibly high prison population and stop many problems of brutality caused by this warehousing of humanity. Mr. Estelle estimates that 40 percent of the prisoners could be released if adequate community corrections existed. Thus, CURE’s challenge for the late Seventies will be to convince Texans to keep their errants in the community and only as a last resort, ship them in most instances hundreds of miles to East Texas. Thanks! As you can see, we need all the help we can get. Charles Sullivan, executive director, Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants, 1926 Newning Ave., Austin, Tex. 78704. Still fighting EEO Regarding Dave Morris’ letter in your last issue, please let it be known that my petition to overturn Austin’s radical equal employment opportunities law is just beginning despite an almost total news blackout of the homosexual privilege portion of the law and of my petition campaign. . . . Bob Lusk, 1415 Fairwood, Austin, Tex. 78722. Postmaster: If undeliverable, send Form 3579 to The Texas Observer, 600 West 7, Austin, TX 78701.