For those interested in reading more about the convention center hotel downtown, Dave Levinthal with the DMN offers a simple summary/recap of the issues in this recent story. If you don’t know much about the hotel, the story is a good primer on the main issues. If you are pretty conversant with the facts already, you may not need to make time to read this one.

Another interesting development: You might have seen some R.I.P Dallas signs/posters hanging around town — this appears to be a manufactured "slogan" for the pro-hotel people. The website ripdallas.com is worth a look if you have a barf pail handy, since it’s pretty clear the guys funding this deal (more than likely the same people funding the rest of the pro-hotel campaign) are hoping for some type of viral campaign that will scare voters into backing the hotel.

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The main headline on the page, "We have come too far to let one man destroy our downtown", is laughable, because downtown — thanks to millions and millions of taxpayer subsidies for developers — already is on the upswing. And the new arts district shaping up along Ross Avenue is going to be a true gem for the city. Going downtown for a weekend lunch is actually a fun activity these days, and the people who have made that happen deserve our thanks.

Saying that Harlan Crow somehow is going to single-handedly destroy any of that is just silly.

So far, the hotel campaign on both sides has been pretty civil, but if the R.I.P. Dallas initiative is any indication, this thing is going to get down and dirty pretty darn fast. That’s too bad, because a $500 million taxpayer investment is worth an intelligent discussion rather than devolving into scare tactics and out-and-out falsehoods.

Give us voters and taxpayers a little credit, people.