Dallas Mayor Who Achieved Wright Compromise Will not Seek Reelection

Mayor Laura Miller announced Thursday that she will not seek re-election in May, saying she's accomplished nearly all she wants to at Dallas City Hall and misses spending time with her children.

Now that her chief accomplishment -- the Wright amendment compromise -- and ironing out the details of the 2006 bond package are behind her, Ms. Miller said, she can't imagine campaigning and spending four more years in office.

"I'm desperate to be with my kids," she said. "My kids have always been in politics. They've always been in the limelight. This is about my quality of life, and theirs."

Although she's had setbacks as mayor, Ms. Miller last month reached what many saw as the apex of her political career: helping broker a compromise between Dallas and Fort Worth and American Airlines and Southwest Airlines on the decades-long battle over flight restrictions at Love Field.

It was an agreement she had sought since her early days as a City Council member, the No. 1 item on her to-do list.

And in what was arguably her brightest hour, Ms. Miller thrived on high-profile negotiations with airlines, legislators, and many of the region's key business leaders.

"It will be what she's remembered for -- finally bringing an end to this debate," said Dallas businessman Tom Dunning, who has worked closely with the mayor on homeless and downtown issues despite losing to her in the 2002 mayoral race.

But that victory came on the heels of a rough year. Voters twice rejected referendums that would have given the Dallas mayor more power, a move Ms. Miller readily endorsed.

And her tenure became synonymous with discord on the City Council, as she took controversial and consistent stands against her colleagues around the horseshoe.

"Under the city manager form of government, there's not that much that the mayor can accomplish without the support of the council people," said Betty Culbreath, the mayor's appointee to the City Plan Commission and her most prominent black political ally. "I just think that it's a tug of war, and who wants to do that every day?"

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