Is Lancaster mayor in Perot family pocket?

It’s hard to find another explanation, unless it involves John Wiley Price

Lancaster, Texas Mayor Marcus Knight appears to continue to be fighting his city’s best interest by stubbornly supporting (along with John Wiley Price) the alleged “need” for Lancaster to join Dallas County and the North Central Texas Council of Governments in an 18-month master plan study for the Dallas Logistics Hub site, which covers Dallas, Lancaster, Wilmer, Hutchins and unincorporated Dallas County.

The 6,000-acre development, proposed by The Allen Group, a major developer of intermodal transportation sites, and partially falling in a proposed federal free trade zone/inland port area, would bring thousands of jobs and millions of tax dollars to the area.

That is, if an 18-month “study,” which appears to be heavily pushed by Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert on behalf of his Perot family buddies.

So, why is Knight so in favor of the study, to the degree that, after a Dec. 8 Lancaster City Council public hearing on the matter got about two dozen comments against the proposed study, and none in favor, is keeping the public hearing “open” until a later date, presumably to get somebody, if anybody, to talk about how good the study is?

I even Googled the name of Knight’s company, “ARC Waste Hauling” + “Perot” and got no hits, thinking there has to be a connection somewhere.

Per the Observer story, we KNOW why JWP is apparently in the Perot’s back pocket. The old political phrases about “it’s all about the money” and “follow the money trail” probably could have a picture of JWP next to them for illustrative purposes.

We know that, in other cases, such as a bridge in Hutchins related to Union Pacific’s intermodal hub, JWP doesn’t like it if other political leaders won’t play ball with him, whether it’s hiring the right subcontractors, stroking him the right way or whatever.

Maybe that’s it with Knight. John Wiley Price has co-opted him in some way and gotten him to play ball, where Hutchins Mayor Artis Johnson never would.

Rather than fling around well-poisoning “carpetbagger” epithets, JWP needs to give a more convincing explanation of why he’s shooting his own constituents in the foot.

And, to avoid further speculation about his motives, Marcus Knight probably needs to do the same.