Regular visitors here know that I think the worst budget calamity in a city budget full of calamities is the approximately $250,000 earmarked for the city’s “vertiport” at the convention center. Why, when we’re cutting so much else, we haven’t cut this, is beyond me. Spending money for a heliport so rich people can land their choppers downtown symbolizes everything in Dallas that drives me crazy — elitism, misplaced priorities, and cronyism.

So here’s my offer to the city council. I’ll donate a bottle of wine to the campaign of any council member who votes to take the vertiport out of the budget. Yes, I know what you’re thinking — Siegel is offering a bribe. Heaven forfend. That certainly doesn’t happen in Dallas. (Appropriate pause for readers to snicker.) This is not a quid pro quo. Rather, any council member who votes to eliminate funding will have demonstrated to me that they’re the kind of person I can support with a contribution.

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And sorry it’s only a bottle of wine. Unfortunately, I’m only a cranky ex-newspaperman, and not some real estate developer with an open checkbook.